SHANGHAI, China, June 8 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The 10th Shanghai International Film Festival will take place from June 16th to June 24th. For the third time, German Films is organizing FOCUS GERMANY, starting on June 18th with the screening of WHERE IS FRED? In total, 13 German feature films, one documentary and 9 short films will be shown.
This year, two German films have been selected for the festival's competition: ACCORDING TO THE PLAN (FREI NACH PLAN), the second film by Franziska von Meletzky, and Sebastian Bieniek's debut film THE GAMBLER (DER SPIELER).
ACCORDING TO THE PLAN has an impressive cast including Corinna Harfouch, Dagmar Manzel, Christine Schorn and Kirsten Block. Schorn and Block will be present at the Shanghai screening, together with director Franziska von Meletzky. THE GAMBLER will be presented by Sebastian Bieniek and his leading actress.
In 2005, the Shanghai International Film Festival proved to be a great success for German films, with Chris Klaus' FOUR MINUTES (VIER MINUTEN), a film about a young musical genius turned killer, winning the best picture award. As a result, FOUR MINUTES has been screened all around the world and leading actress Hannah Herzsprung has since become one of Germany's young rising stars.
The opening film, WHERE IS FRED?, will be presented by director Anno Saul and actress Tanja Wentzel. The male lead, Til Schweiger, is already well known to Shanghai audiences, having starred in last year's BAREFOOT (BARFUSS). WHERE IS FRED? is a witty comedy and has been very popular with German audiences.
Two of the films shown as part of this year's FOCUS GERMANY will also be of particular interest to the Chinese audience: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's THE LIVES OF OTHERS, winner of the 2007 Oscar for Best Foreign Film as well as the Bavarian Film Award, the German Film Award and the audience award in Lorcarno, and THE PERFUME, a worldwide box office hit by celebrated director Tom Twyker will be showing.
On the occasion of FOCUS GERMANY's opening, a reception will be held on June 18 at the residence of the German Consul General, in collaboration with the Goethe Institute Shanghai, an official partner of the German film selection at the 10th Shanghai International Film Festival.
Part of the FOCUS GERMANY program will be shown at the opening of the German Cultural Year in Nanjing in autumn of 2007, organized by Germany's Foreign Ministry and the Goethe Institute.
FOCUS GERMANY is an essential part of German Films' successful initiative to introduce and popularize German films in China.
Films in Focus Germany
1. Where is Fred? (WO IST FRED?) by Anno Saul
Presented in Shanghai by: Anno Saul, actress Tanja Wentzel and
producer Christoph Menardi
2. Yella von Christian Petzold
3. Hounded (Verfolgt) by Angelina Maccarone
Presented in Shanghai by: producer Ulrike Zimmermann
4. Heavyweights (Schwere Jungs) by Marcus Rosenmüller
5. Emma's bliss (Emmas Gluck) by Sven Taddicken
Presented in Shanghai by: producer Hajo Emons
6. The counterfeiter (Die Falscher) by Stefan Ruzowitzky
Presented in Shanghai by: Nina Bohlmann and Babette Schroder
7. French for beginners (Franzosisch fur Anfanger) by Christian Ditter
Presented in Shanghai by: producer Christof Menardi
8. Impossibly yours (Der Liebeswunsch) by Thorsten Fischer
Presented in Shanghai by: producer Heike Richter-Karsten
9. The last train (Der letzte Zug) by Joseph Vilsmaier and Dana
Vavrova
Presented in Shanghai by: Joseph Vilsmaier and Dana Vavrova
10. Lives of the others (Das Leben der Anderen) by F. H. von
Donnersmarck
11. The perfume (Das Parfum) by Tom Tykwer
12. The wild soccer bunch 4 (Die wilden Kerle 4) by Joachim Masannek
13. Nothing else matters (Was am Ende zahlt) by Julia von Heintze
14. The big sellout by Florian Opitz
Presented in Shanghai by: Director Florian Opitz
9 Short films, among them:
Jackie in the Sky by Felix Binder
Presented in Shanghai by: Director Felix Binder
German films in Competition:
1. According to the plan (Frei nach Plan) by Franziska von Meletzky
Presented in Shanghai by: Franziska von Meletzky and the actresses
Christine Schorn and Kirsten Block
2. The gamblers (Die Spieler) by Sebastian Bieniek
Presented in Shanghai by: Sebastian Bieniek und Darstellerin
Frederike Nass
German films in Panorama:
1. Living with hannah (Leben mit Hannah) by E. von Moeller
2. SIS (Schwesterherz) by Ed Herzog
3. Autopilots (Autopiloten) by Bastian Günther
4. Vineta by Franziska Stunkel
5. Sunny by Thorsten Wettcke
6. Hui Bui by Sebastian Niemann
7. Children of the moon (Mondscheinkinder) by Manuela Stacke
