ENCORE SCREENING OF THE 2018 EUFFTO AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS
Presented by the Goethe-Institut & German Consulate General Toronto
WELCOME TO GERMANY (WILLKOMMEN BEI DEN HARTMANNS, Germany, 2016, 114 min), comedy-drama directed by Simon Verhoeven, with Senta Berger, Heiner Lauterbach, Eric Kabongo, Elyas M’Barek, Florian David Fitz, Uwe Ochsenknecht, and others
PG rating - families welcome
German Film Awards Audience Award 2017
European Film Awards Nominee 2017
German Cinema Award for Peace at Munich International Film Festival 2017
Best Film at Bambi Awards 2017
Best Production & Best Film at Bavarian Film Awards 2017
German Film Critics Association Nomination for Best Actor for Eric Kabongo 2017
Meet the Hartmanns – retired teacher Angelika, her physician husband Richard, their daughter Sofie (31 and still at university) and her brother Phillipp (divorced) plus his 12-year-old son Basti. All bundled in one house, but that's not enough: The well-off Munich family keeps on growing. As Angelika donates used clothes at a refugee centre, she spontaneously decides to adopt a refugee – Diallo. Diallo, from Nigeria, soon makes friends among the family members, cultural misunderstandings and all. But the family idyll is put to the test by everyday racism, bureaucracy and terror suspicions.
©German Currents San Diego
"
Welcome to Germany is one of the best German films of the year!" –
Deutschlandfunk Kultur
"The refugee crisis as comedy? Yes, it works." –
Berliner Morgenpost
“Awesome courage for political topicality.”
– Der Spiegel
"
Welcome to Germany is also a social satire and of course sometimes politically incorrect. I think especially in these times of general German confusion and tension, it is very important that we don’t lose our sense of humour and keep on laughing at ourselves. First and foremost, the film is one big comedy with whirlwind stories and real, lovable people.” –
director Simon Verhoeven
“Rarely has one heard such funny dialogues in a German film. Meanwhile, all sides are being targeted: helpers, Nazis, refugees. Verhoeven’s film largely refrains from moral judgments and relies on a lightness that has long been lost in many parts of the political debate. A fast-paced and fantastically cast comedy, down to the supporting roles.” –
Münchner Abendzeitung
Simon Vincent Verhoeven (born 1972 in Munich) is a German filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He studied acting, jazz, film music and direction in New York and Boston. He celebrated his first success as a director with the award-winning comedy
Men in the City. In 2016 he was internationally successful with his film
Friend Request. When
Welcome to Germany hit cinemas in 2016, the film climbed to #1 on the box-office charts with over half a million viewers on the first weekend. After exceeding the 3-million viewer mark, the production was ranked as the most successful film of 2016. Verhoeven received the coveted Lola at the German Film Awards 2017 for the most-watched film of the year.
Welcome to Germany was subsequently adapted for the stage at Akademietheater Vienna.
Part of the Goethe-Institut's focus on German Film
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