German Film @ Canada - Goethe-Institut

Hollywood stars like Jennifer Lawrence, George Clooney, Halle Berry and Benedict Cumberbatch have been announced to descend upon TIFF17, and the German talent are not far behind, with a record VIP list of guests en route to Toronto:

Director Valeska Grisebach (script consultant on last year’s run-away hit TONI ERDMANN) comes from Berlin for her North American premiere of WESTERN (trailer). Unveiled and a critical hit at Cannes Film Festival 2017, the modern-day Western is part of Contemporary World Cinema at TIFF17. ""Rarely has German cinema been more present or intelligent," gushed FAZ newspaper. Review to follow here for the TIFF opening on 7 September.

Fatih Akin, last in town with SOUL KITCHEN eight years ago, returns to TIFF with the North American premiere of his political thriller IN THE FADE (trailer), a Special Presentation. Acting in her native German for the first time, Diane Kruger won Best Actress at Cannes 2017 for her difficult role in this film – catch her on the red carpet with Akin at TIFF17. Continue reading "Massive German talent at #TIFF17" »

Schwentke, Wenders, Akin, Zabeil, Grisebach, Odar, Tabak - the Toronto International Film Festival (7 - 17 September 2017) includes a number of world and North American premieres for German filmmakers and an astounding four titles in the prestigious Special Presentations. (Here's the full German Films brochure.)

55 STEPS by Bille August (DE/BE), with Germany's Elsani Film as delegate producer, will be screened as a world premiere in the exclusive red carpet Gala Presentations.

The Special Presentations section is reserved for outstanding films by prominent directors. THE CAPTAIN by Robert Schwentke (D/FR/PL) was invited from Germany and will have its world premiere in Toronto. The filmmaker has already enjoyed blockbuster status in the USA with such films as R.E.D. with Bruce Willis. Another world premiere -as previously announced- will be Wim Wenders' latest feature film SUBMERGENCE (DE/FR/ES) headlined by international stars Alicia Vikander and James McAvoy. Wenders has been invited to the Masters section at TIFF for the third year in a row following EVERY THING WILL BE FINE in 2015 and THE BEAUTIFUL DAYS OF ARANJUEZ in 2016. This year will also see him serving as a jury member for the Platform competitive section.


IN THE FADE by Fatih Akin (DE/FR) and THREE PEAKS by Jan Zabeil (DE/IT) will be continuing their respective successful festival careers after the launch in the Cannes competition and on Locarno's Piazza Grande.
Continue reading "Big German #TIFF17 ahead (& win tix)" »

At the end of the school year, we will leave you with some homework: Learn German with "The History of German Film", a quick overview of highlights from over 100 years of movie history, from the pioneering Skladanowsky brothers to Cannes darling Fatih Akin. Just click on the German key words to hear the pronunciation*. Wow your friends with some smart talk about Der Neue Deutsche Film at your next summer party (we'll test you in September and you might win a TIFF ticket @GoetheToronto):


The year 1895 is considered the birth of German film (der Film). The brothers Max and Emil Skladanowsky presented their Bioscop and produced their first short films. The Bioscop was a precursor of the Lumière brothers’ cinematograph.

The era of German silent movies (der Stummfilm) began after the First World War with Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, Fritz Lang and the director (der Regisseur, die Regisseurin) of comedies Ernst Lubitsch. Expressionist films in particular also appealed to audiences (das Publikum) in other countries due to their grim atmosphere. In 1929, Emil Jannings was the first actor to win an Academy Award.
Continue reading "Learn German with "The History of German..." »

After mixed reviews for his Armenian drama “The Cut” this summer, Hamburg’s Fatih Akin is busy working on his next film, “Aus dem Nichts” (roughly “From Nothing”), a film which targets social exclusion and radicalization. This will likely land him in no less trouble than a contentious genocide film: his new protagonist is heavily overweight Ilias, an outsider who falls in with left-wing radicals and begins to plan a bloody attack.

Christoph Hochhäusler‘s new German-French thriller “Die Lügen des Siegers“ (“The Winner’s Lies”), featuring an ambitious investigative journalist who gets tangled up in a web of lies and deceit, should be out before the Berlinale. The Berlinale, coming up in February, could be a big one for German film if both Wim Wenders and Werner Herzog finish their films -- “Everything Will Be Fine” and “Queen of the Desert“ respectively—which weren’t ready in time for the fall festival circuit.

Austrian master Michael Haneke also tackles a media-critical topic that couldn’t be farther from his usual fare. In “Flashmob”, a French production, he “explores the fragile relationship between media and reality”, following a handful of people who connect via the Internet, then unite in a flash mob. The project is being held up though because Haneke’s unnamed number 1 choice for lead actress isn’t available at the moment - and because he hasn’t decided on his aesthetic approach, Sight & Sound reported.

Director Uli Edel of “The Baader Meinhof Complex“ fame will be back in 2015, Continue reading "Waltz & Brühl go bad, Ganz does good: New..." »

Thank you to our loyal Akin fans old and new, who came out to 6 films over 3 nights in Toronto these past 8 days. Now that our Fatih Akin retrospective is over, let me tell you what you didn't see (just because Fatih makes too many good movies):


SENSIN - YOU'RE THE ONE! (1995)
Right off the bet, Fatih's first won the Audience Award at the International Short Film Festival Hamburg in 1996. He wrote, directed and starred in the short comedy "Sensin".
The story:
Kubilei, a young Hamburg Turk, knows exactly what his dream woman is like: She loves Marlboro, punk and Robert de Niro. And she has to be Turkish...
(Can you tell it's 1995 from the picture quality?) Continue reading "8 Akin Films We Didn't Show You" »