For 26 years now, every autumn Film Festival Cologne (formerly Cologne Conference – after such a long time, a change of name was in order) has been celebrating the best of cinema culture. This year’s programme, which runs from 7 to 14 October 2016, is a highly intriguing mix consisting of an expert conference (with lectures and workshop-style talks) and a large number of premieres of international TV shows and feature films. As per usual, in making its selection the FFC team has gone to great lengths to ensure that all facets and genres of cinema culture are represented and demonstrate what new trends and impulses are currently shaping the scene.
Here are my personal highlights from the Top Ten TV, Look, Kino, Made in NRW and Showcases sections – although it was tough restricting myself to just one recommendation per category, so please be sure to take a good look at the remainder of the programme available at www.filmfestival.cologne.
TOP TEN TV
Top Ten TV showcases the ten best recent international made-for-TV productions.
Weiner
Documentary | USA 2016 | 96‘| OV (English)
Directors: Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg
With: Anthony Weiner, Huma Abedin, Amit Bagga, Sydney Leathers
Anthony Weiner served New York’s 9th congressional district until a scandal brought him down in 2011: he was found to have tweeted sexually explicit images of himself to various women, although he was married at the time to then pregnant Huma Abedin, a close associate of Hillary Clinton. Weiner observes Anthony Weiner’s 2013 attempts at a political comeback as he runs for mayor of New York City. The campaign was going well until it was disclosed that he had continued sexting even after resigning from Congress. From this point onwards the camera team and in turn, the audience follow developments at close quarters, watching as the disaster unfolds.
This documentary offers a fascinating insight into the world of politics, the human psyche, society at large, and the dynamics of power and the media. Weiner’s naivety and staying power are a bit like a car crash – it’s impossible to look away.
NRW premiere
Sunday 9 October 2016, 2:30 pm
Thursday 13 October 2016, 4:30 pm
Residenz, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring 30–32, 50672 Cologne
LOOK
Look presents visually exceptional films that cross the boundaries of formal aestheticism.
Homo Sapiens
Documentary | Austria 2016 | 94’ | No dialogue
Director: Nikolaus Geyrhalter
Viewers of Homo Sapiens, by international award-winning documentary film-maker Nikolaus Geyrhalter, should come armed with plenty of zen: they will experience, over the length of a typical feature film, the absence of humans and human dialogue and the presence of silence and isolation accompanied by grandiose, poetic images. The film features places around the world that have been abandoned by their human residents – half-ruined cinemas, derelict Soviet palaces, decaying leisure parks. The images are almost meditative, inspiring thoughts about the finite nature of human existence and possibly also questioning the balance of power between nature and humanity. A romantic dystopia or utopia, depending on how you look at it.
NRW premiere
Saturday, 8 October 2016, 6 pm
Thursday, 13 October 2016, 2 pm
Residenz, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring 30–32, 50672 Cologne
KINO
Kino offers a selection of outstanding international cinema productions.
Nocturama
Opening film
Feature film | France, Germany, Belgium 2016 | 130‘ | OV (French) with German subtitles
Director: Bertrand Bonello
Cast: Finnegan Oldfield, Vincent Rottiers, Hamza Meziani, Manal Issa, Martin Guyot, Adèle Haenel
In times like these, with terror omnipresent in society and in the media, director Bertrand Bonello cleverly trains his gaze on a group of radicalised youths that commit a series of attacks in Paris before retreating to a large department store to hide. The film refrains from showing and saying too much, so it’s become the target of much controversial debate. Bonello deliberately leads the audience to come up with their own thoughts on the subject; in fact some critics have even accused him of framing terrorism as if it were a cool thing to so. Whether that’s true remains to be seen; to me, the main issue is that the film is all about a generation that is driven to escape its fears about the future, as well as the rampant commercialism and excess of our times, by committing such crimes. In a way, it’s a predicament that is scarily recognisable to all of us.
German premiere; the film team will be present.
Saturday, 8 October 2016, 8 pm
Residenz, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring 30–32, 50672 Cologne
MADE IN NRW
Made in NRW features were either made in NRW, produced by NRW-based producers, or made by NRW-based directors.
Das kalte Herz
Feature film | Germany 2016 | 118‘| OV (German)
Director: Johannes Naber
Cast: Frederick Lau, Milan Peschel, Moritz Bleibtreu, Henriette Confurius, Sebastian Blomberg
In 1827 the German writer Wilhelm Hauff published his literary tale Das kalte Herz (The cold heart), using mystical elements to describe a changing society on the brink of industrialisation. Peter, a collier’s son, sells his heart to dodgy Holländermichel in return for a leg up the social ladder so he can marry Lisbeth, a glassmaker’s daughter. Once upon a time there used to be a glut of incredible screen adaptations of fairy tales; maybe they’ve raised the bar so high that only few modern-day directors dare to approach the genre. I’ve read Hauff’s tale and have also seen a stage adaptation, so in my informed opinion this modern interpretation is a great success. True, the story could have been narrated a little more quietly, but the Black Forest backdrop is breath-taking and a great foil for the dark dramatic theme of the story.
NRW premiere; the film team will be present.
Wednesday, 12 October 2016, 8 pm
Cinenova, Herbrandstraße 11, 50825 Cologne
SHOWCASES
Showcases teams up with German and international media companies to present exclusive film and TV productions.
Tempel
TV show | Germany 2016 | 3×30′ (6×30′)‘ | OV (German)
Director: Philipp Leinemann
Cast: Ken Duken, Chiara Schoras, Michelle Barthel, Antje Traue, Thomas Thieme, Leslie Malton, Hiltrud Hauschke
Protagonist Mark Tempel lives in Berlin with his family, a frustrated man with money worries. His wrath is directed mainly at the real estate sharks thanks to whom his neighbourhood is progressively gentrifying. In true Robin Hood style, Tempel takes up the fight but soon finds himself entrenched in a difficult situation as he tries to tell right from wrong.
Produced by ZDFneo, an offshoot of German public broadcaster ZDF, Tempel is so recent there’s barely any information to be had on it, not even a preview. So if you want to be the first to discover this German show, this exclusive screening is a perfect opportunity.
In cooperation with ZDFneo
Thursday, 13 October 2016, 6 pm
Residenz, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring 30–32, 50672 Cologne
Leave a Comment