IGNFA MOVIE CLUB
in association with
GOETHE INSTITUTE, MAX MUELLER BHAVAN, KOLKATA
proudly presents
GERMAN FILM FESTIVAL
AUGUST 02 - 03, 2008
PREVIEWS
AUG 02 3.00 p.m The Miracle of Bern
(German title: Das Wunder von Bern)Director: Sönke Wortmann, colour, 117 min., 2003
In 1954, nine years after Germany had lost WW II a man is coming home to his family from Russia, where he had suffered as a prisoner of war for many years. The man has difficulty coming to terms with his family and his former work in a coal mine in the industrial core area of Germany (“Ruhrpott”). He does not like the fact that his wife and daughter are operating a bar to earn the families living. His younger son Matthias admires the local football player Helmut Rahn who is becoming a member of the German team for the World Championship in Bern (Switzerland). At the end of a dramatic tournament Germany surprisingly wins the final. It is a very German film describing the situation when Germany was recovering from the lost war and starting to become a leading industrial nation again.
AUG 02 5.30 p.m The Voyager
(German title: Homo Faber)
Director: Volker Schlöndorff, colour, 109 min., 1991
The famous German filmmaker Schlöndorff adapted the story from the novel “Homo Faber” written by the Swiss novelist Max Frisch in 1957.
The film tells the fictional story of the 50 year old engineer Walter Faber, played by Sam Shepard - a man portrayed as devoted to saving the world through development of massive dams. Set in 1960, the film begins with Faber surviving a plane crash in Mexico. Through a series of coincidences, Faber then meets a woman in her early twenties, played by Julie Delpy. This person strongly reminds him of his former girl-friend in Germany (before WW II) and he begrudgingly acknowledges the attraction. The film beautifully illustrates their travels across Europe (France, Italy, and Greece) together. Well regarded by critics and telling a coherent and unusual story, The Voyager has an explosive theme - revealed only in the ironic twist ending.
AUG 03 3.00 p.m Lumber Kings
(German title: Die Könige der Nutzholzgewinnung)
Director: Matthias Keilich, colour, 94 min., 2004
The likable good-for-nothing Krischan comes back to the village he hails from after 12 years. There he finds his old friends and former colleagues in a desperate situation of unemployment. They all had been lumberjacks before the reunification of Germany but lost their jobs due to the restructuring of the forest service. Krischan suggests to organise a lumberjack competition in order to attract tourists and earn some money. After a series of technical difficulties and personal problems his idea becomes a success. The film nicely reflects the present situation of huge parts of former Eastern Germany (“German Democratic Republic”) where many jobs got lost after the reunification in 1990. It also gives a good impression of forests and forest work in a German mountain area.
AUG 02 5.30 p.m Jacob the Liar
(German title: Jakob der Lügner)
Executing Producer: Robin Williams, colour, 116 min., 2004
The story in based on a book of the German author Jurek Becker. Location is a Jewish ghetto in Poland during WW II. The German occupants torment the Jewish people. Jacob occasionally hears some radio news about the progress of the Russian troops fighting aganst Hitler´s army. He tells a friend about this. The news is immediately spread and creates hope for a soon liberation. To keep optimism alive in the desperate situation of the people around him Jacob creates new good stories. Finally the Germans hear about such news and want to find out who illegally owns a radio.
YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED
IGNFA New Hostel Auditorium
Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA)
FRI Campus, Dehradun
