15th Festival of German Films to open in Paris

The 15th Festival of German Films will be held in Paris from 29 September to 5 October, 2010. A total of eleven new feature films, six shorts and the NEXT GENERATION 2010 program of shorts will be presented in the Cinéma L’Arlequin.

The festival will open with Pia Marais’ AT ELLEN’S AGE (IM ALTER VON ELLEN) which was enthusiastically received at the international festival in Locarno. Members of the cast and crew will be present.

Other new German films to screen include: THE ALBANIAN (DER ALBANER, Johannes Naber), ALL MY FATHERS (ALLE MEINE VAETER, Jan Raiber), BERLIN `36 (Kaspar Heidelbach), IN THE SHADOWS (IM SCHATTEN, Thomas Arslan), THE LAST EMPLOYEE (DER LETZTE ANGESTELLTE, Alexander Adolph), MY WORDS, MY LIES – MY LOVE (LILA LILA, Alain Gsponer), RUN IF YOU CAN (RENN, WENN DU KANNST, Dietrich Brueggemann), GRAVITY (SCHWERKRAFT, Maximilian Erlenwein), DANCING DREAMS (TANZTRAEUME, Anne Linsel, Rainer Hoffmann) and VINCENT WANTS TO SEA (VINCENT WILL MEER, Ralf Huettner). Some of the directors will be travelling to Paris to present their films in person.

EVERYONE ELSE (ALLE ANDEREN) by Maren Ade, THE ROBBER (DER RÄUBER) by Benjamin Heisenberg and THE CITY BELOW (UNTER DIR DIE STADT) by Christoph Hochhaeusler will be shown in the "Nouvelle Vague allemande" sidebar being programmed by the Goethe Institut.

Full details: Festival du Cinéma Allemand

Balada Triste de Trompet picks up screenwriting award at Venice

The implausibly named "Balada Triste de Trompet" (Trumpet's sad ballad?) picked up the scriptwriting award at the 67th Mostra de Venezia. Writer/director Alex de la Iglesia is perhaps best known for the bitter comedy "Ferpect Crime" in 2004. He also picked up the Best Director award at Venice.

Complete list of winners
The Venezia 67 Jury, chaired by Quentin Tarantino and comprised of Guillermo Arriaga, Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Arnaud Desplechin, Danny Elfman, Luca Guadagnino, Gabriele Salvatores, having viewed all twenty-four films in competition, has decided as follows:

GOLDEN LION for Best Film:
SOMEWHERE by Sofia COPPOLA (USA)

SILVER LION for Best Director to:
Álex de la Iglesia for the film BALADA TRISTE DE TROMPETA
(Spain, France)

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE to:
ESSENTIAL KILLINGby Jerzy SKOLIMOWSKI
(Poland, Norway, Hungary, Ireland)

COPPA VOLPI
for Best Actor:
Vincent GALLO
in the film ESSENTIAL KILLING by Jerzy SKOLIMOWSKI
(Poland, Norway, Hungary, Ireland)

COPPA VOLPI
for Best Actress:
Ariane LABED
in the film ATTENBERG by Athina Rachel TSANGARI (Greece)

MARCELLO MASTROIANNI AWARD
for Best Young Actor or Actress:
Mila KUNIS
in the film BLACK SWAN by Darren ARONOFSKY (USA)

OSELLA for Best Cinematography to:
MIKHAIL KRICHMAN
for the film SILENT SOULS (OVSYANKI) by Aleksei FEDORCHENKO (Russia)

OSELLA for Best Screenplay to:
Álex de la Iglesia
for the film BALADA TRISTE DE TROMPETA by Álex de la Iglesia
(Spain, France)

SPECIAL LION FOR AN OVERALL WORK to:
Monte HELLMAN

"Sophie Scholl" writer to act as ScriptEast creative advisor

German scriptwriter and author Fred Breinersdorfer, who wrote the Oscar-nominated “Sophie Scholl” is will participate in the 5th edition of ScripTeast as a Creative Advisor. Over 7 days of the workshop in Sterdyn, Poland, he will discuss the scripts submitted by the participating screenwriters at one-on-one meetings.

Educated as a lawyer and writer, Breinersdorfer wrote 12 novels and numerous theatre and radio plays before becoming a screenwriter. He’s an author of 65 screenplays, many of which were internationally recognized and awarded, including the German Film Award and Adolph Grimme Preis mit Gold - called “German Oscar”.

Breinersdorfer gained international acknowledgement as the author of "Sophie Scholl” - the shocking portrayal of one of the legendary fighters of the Nazi regime in Germany. The film was nominated to the Oscar and received 16 international awards, including two Silver Bears in Berlin - Julia Jentsch for The Best Actress and Marc Rothemund for the Best Director and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. International recognition of the film is a double success for Breinersdorfer, who was not its screenwriter, but also the co-producer. Breinersdorfer is a member of the German film Academy. He was the President of the German Writers Association and ran for the German parliament.

ScripTeast is a training program for existing scripts from Central and Eastern Europe. One-on-one meetings with international professionals in different creative disciplines allow the authors to sharpen their objectives for the story and determine the best way to tell it. For details, visit ScripTeast.