FILM FESTIVAL
German Films at Chennai International Film Festival 2021
In cooperation with Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation
Ever since the Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation (ICAF) first organized the Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF) in 2003, the event has seen a gradual growth in its popularity over the years. Now organizing the 18th edition of the CIFF, the event will be held from 18th - 25th February 2021. The aim of this festival is dual in nature- it focuses on presenting the best of International and Indian films in Chennai while also taking the opportunity to showcase the best of Tamil films to the world. CIFF is dedicated towards creating a platform through the medium of cinema that enables people from different backgrounds, such as nationalities, cultures and ethnicities, to come together and appreciate the film cultures of different countries in the context of social and cultural ethos.
Goethe-Institut, Chennai, has been participating in the film festival every year. The film selections for the same include current award-winning productions that can enable Chennaiites to experience contemporary German Films and expose them to German culture, thereby bridging the cultural barrier between the two countries.
GERMAN CONTEMPORARY FILMS @ CHENNAI INTL. FILM FESTIVAL
Tuesday, 23.2.2021, 3.30 pm, Santham (PVR Complex), Royapettah
UNDINE
Dir.: Christian Petzold | 2020 | Feature | Germany | 90 min.
Undine is a historian who works as a museum guide in Berlin. She knows all about the Humboldt Forum, and has the knack of choosing just the right blouse and suit. She is nonchalantly beautiful, and the way she imparts her knowledge about the city that was built on a swamp is as professional as it is graceful. And yet, time and again, her gaze wanders over to the courtyard café at the Stadtmuseum to see if he is there, or is still there, or if he’s there again. Him. But Johannes is leaving, leaving her, and Undine’s world is collapsing.
The magic has gone... Christian Petzold reworks the myth of the mysterious water spirit as a modern fairy-tale in a disenchanted world. His Undine defies her role as a powerless and spurned woman and falls in love anew, with Christoph, who dives into the sunken world of a reservoir. Petzold’s deeply assured work reimagines this legend by way of his own cinematic vision, in which precise everyday gestures are combined with ghostly hyperrealism. The story of a life-or-death love, splendidly and effortlessly told.
BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ
Dir.: Burhan Qurbani | 2020 | Germany | 183 min.
Adaptation of Afred Döblin's 1929 novel, set in contemporary Berlin: Fleeing from Guinea-Bissau, Francis set on a dangerous journey from Africa to Europe. When the boat he is on is hit by a storm, he swears to be an honest man if he is saved. Eventually, he makes it to the European coast unharmed. He eventually arrives in Berlin, determined to fulfill his oath. Yet his good intentions are compromised by his friendship with German drug dealer Reinhold, who continuously manipulates the well-meaning and naïve Francis into taking part in his criminal schemes. When Francis falls deeply in love with kind-hearted Mieze, his life finally seems to take a turn for the better. But Reinhold isn't willing to let go of his "protégé".
IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME (CLEO)
Dir.:Erik Schmitt | 2019 | GErmany | Feature | 99 min.
Either you stay here and nothing happens. No more pain. Just nothing. Or you go back to the Teufelsberg and everything can happen. Everything that hurts, but everything that is beautiful too.
The choice is yours."His ingenuity knows no bounds, and his use of original visual effects is as stunning as ever: following his short films "Nashorn im Galopp" ("Rhino Full Throttle") and "Berlin Metanoia", Erik Schmitt is back to present his first feature film at Generation, once again co-starring Berlin itself. The film plumbs the depths of the city's soul, casually rewinding its eventful history all the way back to the Big Bang.
The ghosts of Berlin's legendary figures spout their wisdom, while Cleo tries desperately to reverse the misfortunes of her childhood. A treasure of mythological proportion promises the solution. Together with three quirky but loveable companions, Cleo sets off to find it, on a quest that takes her all over Berlin, back into time and deep into her own emotional world.
I WAS, I AM , I WILL BE (Es gilt das gesprochene Wort)
Dir.: Ilker Çatak | 2019 | Feature | Germany | 122 min.
The pilot Marion usually has her life under control, mostly because she is good at keeping feelings away from her. When she is diagnosed with cancer, she does not even tell her partner about it. Instead, she travels to Turkey, where she meets Baran, a much younger Turk who makes his living by prostituting himself for tourists.
Unexpectedly and spontaneously, Marion decides to marry Baran in order to give him a better life in Germany. What at first appears to be a selfless good deed, soon reveals the soul and emotional life of Marion and it turns out that, despite their very different lives, Baran and her are two people meeting at eye level. It is not least this realization that brings a new and unexpected dynamic into the relationship between the two.