TRIBUTE TO HANNELORE ELSNER
in cooperation with
Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation
Hannelore Elsner was one of the most popular German actresses. When she died in April this year, the news spread rapidly all over Germany. Immediately her films and interviews were broadcasted widely. Not just as a beauty queen, but with her impeccable role play and humaneness, she has touched the hearts and moved the souls of many of her fans.
Born in 1942, she started her film career in the late 1950s in entertainment movies. She gained huge popularity with her leading role in the popular TV series 'Die Kommissarin' (The Commissioner). From 1994 until 2006, she played the title character Leo Sommer in more than sixty episodes. Her performance won her several awards. Elsner achieved international recognition for her lead role in the 2000 film 'Die Unberührbare' (No Place to Go) by Oskar Röhler, shown at the Cannes Film Festival, which recounts the last days in the life of a writer, based closely on the life of Gisela Elsner, who took her own life in 1992. Hannelore Elsner received numerous awards for her impressive portrayal of this broken character, including the German Film Award in the year 2000. Other important roles for which she won relevant awards were in Oliver Hirschbiegel's 'Mein letzter Film' (My Last Film) and Dany Levy`s comedy 'Alles auf Zucker'. (Go For Zucker – An Unorthodox Comedy).
In March 2019, 'Kirschblüten & Dämonen', Doris Dörrie's sequel to her successful film 'Kirschblüten - Hanami' (Cherry Blossoms - Hanami) premiered in German cinemas, with Elsner once more in the role of Trudi alongside Elmar Wepper. In 2019 one could see Elsner in Dörrie’s kind of proplongation 'Kirschblüten und Dämonen'.
'For me Hannelore Elsner was a great adventurer, who threw/launched herself into every role and her life with curiosity, dedication and bravery. I will miss her a lot.' said Dörrie.
Go for Zucker
Dir.: Dani Levy | 2005 | 90 min.
"I'm in deep shit," muses Jaeckie Zucker about the current state of his life, "but at least the view′s good." Actually, Jaeckie was born as Jakob Zuckermann in 1947, but since 1961 he wants nothing to do with the Jewish "club".That was when his mother fled to the West with her first-born son Samuel as the Wall was built, leaving Jaeckie to fend for himself. He became a celebrity sports reporter, but has been down on his luck since the fall of the Wall. He barely makes ends meet by playing billiards and gambling. Jaeckie owes the bank a huge sum of money, which the branch manager – his son Thomas – is trying to collect, and his wife wants a divorce. His only hope is to win the 100,000 euro jackpot at the European Pool Tournament, but just before it starts his mother dies. Her will provides that her two sons will only inherit her fortune if they reconcile their differences and stay indoors during shivah, the seven-day period of mourning – just when the tournament is taking place.
For Woody Allen, Roberto Benigni or Mel Brooks it's the most natural thing in the world, but till now in Germany almost unthinkable: an audacious, politically incorrect, self-ironical Jewish comedy. With this unorthodox family tale of two brothers separated by the Wall, politics and belief, Dani Levy has succeeded in painting a deeply human, sympathetic picture of Jewry in present-day Germany.
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