BOLD, TOPICAL, AND TIMELY
WHO IS WITHOUT FAULT
photo: Anita KrämeR | Relevantfilm | SWR
The Munich International Film Festival has established itself as the number-one platform for German filmmaking. This year, in the New German Television Productions section alone, ten films and five series will have their world premiere on the big screen. The festival will also give audiences the opportunity to see celebrity guests in person.
"Television hasn’t been this furious, factual, and forceful in a long time. Nor has it been this varied," says program curator Dr. Ulrike Frick. This year’s productions reflect the burning issues of our time. They address antisemitism and far-right extremism (SHADOWTOWER, starring Heiner Lauterbach), climate change and social divides (NOTHING AS IT WAS, starring Charly Hübner and Jördis Triebel), trans identity (JOSEFA’S RETURN, starring Adele Neuhauser and Eva Mattes), mental health (FOREVER US, starring Marie Leuenberger), and the war in Ukraine (MY CHILD – МОЯ ДИТИНА, starring Maximilian Brückner and Lisa Maria Potthoff).
Several of the productions shine a harsh light on some brutal realities. Examples include AT THE END OF TRUTH, an intense drama about the blaming of victims of sexual assault, and SUPERMAD, a feminist dramedy about a maid who battles sex offenders using superpowers she’s developed after she is raped. The young protagonist of WHERE WE COME FROM witnesses violence in his own family, battles social inequality, and searches for opportunities that don’t really exist.
Damian Hardung And Maria Furtwängler in AT THE END OF TRUTH
Photo: Boris Laewen
Rainer Bock in HALLO SPENCER - THE MOVIE
Photo: Gordon Timpen | SMPSP | Network Movie
SOULS WITHOUT WALLS – CHOREOGRAPHING AN ERA
Photocredit: Stanislav Honzík | ZDF | Odeon Fiction
The New German Television Productions section also offers some classic tales about heroes. CALL ME LEVI tells the fascinating story of how Levi Strauss, the pioneer of blue jeans, rose to success. SOULS WITHOUT WALLS – CHOREOGRAPHING AN ERA looks at the comeback of figure skater Katarina Witt in 1994 and her coach, Jutta Müller, played by Dagmar Manzel, as the two strive for Olympic gold as well as to maintain their identity in a unifying Germany. And HALLO SPENCER – THE MOVIE is a nostalgic reunion with Spencer, Elvis, Lulu, and other lovable puppets who must now save their home — in a screenplay by popular satirist Jan Böhmermann.
Crime thrillers are just as much a part of this year’s lineup as are surprising love stories. While a criminal investigator is targeted in INTO THE DARK – HUNTING SHADOWS, a man must confront his own demons after a night of drinking in WHO IS WITHOUT FAULT. Lighter in tone are the romantic comedy THE PERFECT MISS, starring Anke Engelke and Bastian Pastewka, about starting over at age 50, and the unusual series LOVE SUCKS, which cleverly interweaves a romantic drama and elements of the fantasy genre.
We’re looking forward to a strong and varied lineup in the New German Television Productions section with 15 world premieres of feature films and series. See you on the Isar Carpet!
