2016 will again see a film by a director from Germany screening in the Sundance Feature Film Competition after Bastian Günther was represented there in 2013 with HOUSTON and David F. Wnendt came to the festival with WETLANDS in 2014. WILD by actor-director Nicolette Krebitz will celebrate its world premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 32nd Sundance Film Festival (21 – 31 January 2016). Another five German co-productions have been programmed in this section as well as the other competitions, the festival announced.
Director Nicolette Krebitz tells a story of freedom and happiness in her new film WILD. She is by turns powerful, sensuous, fascinating and disturbing in the way she draws us into the unfettered world of a young woman (Lilith Stangenberg --who you could just see at TIFF15 in THE STATE VS. FRITZ BAUER) who, after coming upon a wolf on her way to work, revokes our tacit agreements with civilization and fearlessly opts for a life without safety net or false bottom. A woman who gradually sets herself free with each step into the "wilderness".
WILD is Nicolette Krebitz's third feature film as a director after JEANS and THE HEART IS A DARK FOREST. The film will launch in German theatres on 14 April 2016.
An American in Heidelberg:
MORRIS FROM AMERICA by Chad Hartigan, which was shot mostly in Germany, will have its world premiere in the US Dramatic Competition. Cast members are Markees Christmas, Craig Robinson, Carla Juri, Lina Keller, Jakub Gierszal, Eva Löbau and Patrick Güldenberg. Morris (Markees Christmas) is an overweight, dark-skinned American kid. Every one of these characteristics makes him stand out in Heidelberg. He lives there with his father Curtis (Craig Robinson), who is one of the coaches of the local football team. Morris’s mother passed away not so long ago. The only people Morris has contact with in Heidelberg are his dad and Inka (Carla Juri), his German tutor. She would like Morris to meet other young people and advises him to visit a youth centre. That is where he meets Katrin (Lina Keller) and falls in love at first sight. The film will be in German cinemas in 2016.
Apart from WILD, the World Cinema Dramatic Competition will also present
HALAL LOVE (AND SEX) by Assad Fouladkar (DE/LB), with four interconnected tragicomic stories about devoted Muslim women and men trying to cope with their love lives without breaking any religious rules.
The
documentary SONITA by Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami (DE/IR/CH) will have its North American premiere in the World Cinema Documentary Competition following its successful participation at IDFA where it won the Audience Award. The Documentary Competition has also programmed THE LAND OF THE ENLIGHTENED by Pieter-Jan de Pue (BE/NL/IE/DE) and THE SETTLERS by Shimon Dotan (FR/CA/IL/DE).
The Sundance Film Festival is being held in Park City, Utah from 21 to 31 January 2016. It is regarded as the most important North American festival for independent film and is organized by the Sundance Institute which was founded by Robert Redford in 1981. The festival is held in high esteem as a springboard particularly for new indie talents.
image: WILD Ania Guckloch c Heimatfilm
