German Currents 2021 Virtual Screenings

ABOUT THE FILMS

U.S. Premiere! CLEO: IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME, 2019, Global Screen, 99 min. Dir. Erik Schmitt

The imaginative Cleo (Marleen Lohse) has an almost magical connection to her hometown Berlin. Since childhood, she could see people and things from the city’s past that no one else could. But what she wants most of all is to turn back time to before the death of her parents. A treasure of mythological proportion, a magical clock, promises the solution. Together with three quirky but loveable companions, Paul (Jeremy Mockridge), Zille (Maximilian Mauff), and Günni (Heiko Pinkowski), Cleo sets off to find it embarking on a quest that takes her all over Berlin, back into time, and deep into her own emotional world. Schmitt’s debut feature is an artfully crafted cinematic fairytale for adults that is a love song to both the city of Berlin and to the power of imagination.

AVAILABILITY: Viewers in the United States

COCOON (KOKON), 2020, Film Movement, 95 min. Dir. Leonie Krippendorff

For the shy 14-year old Nora (Lena Urzendowsky), this record-hot summer in Berlin will be like no other. Often the silent observer who tags along with her older sister Jule (Lena Klenke) and her clique of high school friends, Nora knows that she sees the world differently. However, when she meets and falls in love with Romy (Jella Haase), an older schoolmate, she begins to understand why. She slowly emerges from her cocoon to become a confident butterfly, ready to spread her wings and fly into adulthood. Krippendorff’s debut feature is an intimate coming-of-age story and a moving character study set in the macrocosm of Berlin-Kreuzberg. In addition to nominations at the Berlin International Film Festival, COCOON won the Bavarian Film Awards for directing and for its lead actress, Lena Urzendowsky.

AVAILABILITY: Viewers in California

Los Angeles Premiere! CORTEX – ARE YOU AWAKE?, 2020, Playmaker, 97 min. Dir. Moritz Bleibtreu

Two men, two lives, and one fateful encounter. Family man Hagen (MoritzBleibtreu) suffers from regular nightmares that are so vivid, that he is slowly unable to distinguish between what is a dream and what is reality. When his strained relationship with his wife Karoline (Nadja Uhl) drives her to an affair with the small-time criminal Niko (Jannis Niewöhner), a series of disturbing events is set in motion, and the lives of both men will never be the same. Bleibtreu’s directorial debut is a visually stunning psychological thriller that leads viewers on an intricately crafted, nightmarish journey.

AVAILABILITY: Viewers in California

Los Angeles Premiere! CURVEBALL, 2021, Rocksalt Releasing, 108 min. Dir. Johannes Naber

Bioweapons expert Wolf (Sebastian Blomberg) of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) is convinced that anthrax is still being produced in Iraq. When Rafid Alwan (Dar Salim), an Iraqi asylum seeker, claims to be a former engineer for Saddam Hussein’s secret bioweapons program, it is a rare triumph for the German secret service. However, the search for hard evidence doesn’t prove easy when Alwan, codenamed “Curveball,” uses his value to the CIA and the Germans to his advantage. Soon, a fabrication becomes reality, a lie becomes truth, and the events that follow will forever change the global political landscape. Director Johannes Naber’s dark political satire is captivating, absurd, as profound as it is funny and yet highly entertaining. Nominated for Best Feature, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor at the 2021 German Film Awards.

AVAILABILITY: Viewers in the United States

Free Screening! Short Film Showcase – U.S. Premiere! Next Generation Short Tiger Program

Presented by German Films and the German Federal Film Board (FFA), the 11th edition of this beloved annual showcase presents the year’s most remarkable new directors and outstanding student short films to international audiences and the film industry. The program combines young talents – the NEXT GENERATION of German Cinema – together with the best German shorts under 5 minutes – the winners of the FFA’s SHORT TIGER Award 2021. This year’s program of 11 short films was selected by an expert jury: Katrin Küchler (MDR unicato), actress Marleen Lohse, and Dr. Christian Bräuer (Yorck Cinemas). Representing Germany’s diversity of forms, genres and skillful filmmaking talent that international audiences have come to expect from German shorts, these deeply personal and universal stories confirm the notion that short film is an independent art form deserving of the big screen and the awareness of audiences worldwide.

AVAILABILITY: Viewers in California

U.S. Premiere! NO ONE’S WITH THE CALVES, 2021, Weydemann Bros., 116 min. Dir. Sabrina Sarabi

It’s summer in the middle of nowhere in Mecklenburg, Germany. For 24-year-old Christin (Saskia Rosendahl), the exciting post-reunification years that defined her childhood are long gone. Now, she lives on a farm with her long-term boyfriend Jan (Rick Okon) and his parents, with nothing but fields for miles around.  Stuck in an unhappy relationship, Christin numbs her pain with cherry liqueur and dreams of escaping the drudgery of her daily life. In the heat of summer, time seems to stand still – that is, until 46-year-old wind energy engineer Klaus (Giese) arrives from Hamburg and sets the world spinning again. Sarabi’s second feature is a moving social study and was a highlight of the Locarno Film Festival, where Rosendahl received the Leopard for Best Actress for her powerful performance.

AVAILABILITY: Viewers in California

U.S. Premiere! THE CASE YOU, 2020, Grasshopper Film, 80 min. Dir. Alison Kuhn

During a 2015 casting call, 300-400 young actresses, including some minors, were groped, beaten or abused by both men and women, all while a camera was rolling. These traumatizing experiences resurfaced years later when the footage of the auditions was released as a documentary without their permission. THE CASE YOU follows six of these women as they relive their grief, anger, and disbelief, sharing their experiences for the first time with others who have been through the same ordeal, including its filmmaker Alison Kuhn. Kuhn’s powerful film neutralizes the camera’s predatory eye and instead turns the lens into a liberating channel to express anger and demand justice, in turn serving as a stunning indictment of the entertainment industry’s toxic environment for women.

AVAILABILITY: Viewers in North America

Free Screening! California Premiere! TOO FAR AWAY, 2019, Weydemann Bros., 89 min. Dir. Sarah Winkenstette

For 12-year-old Ben (Yoran Leicher), home means playing on his village’s soccer team. When the nearby coal mine expands, forcing his family to move to the city, Ben must leave everything he loves behind. At his new school, Ben struggles to fit in both in class and on the soccer field. When Tariq (Sohbi Awad), an 11-year-old newcomer from Syria – who happens to be an ace soccer player, arrives and steals the show, Ben only sees the new boy as competition. But the rivalry between the two boys doesn’t last long, as they soon learn that they share more in common than they think. Winkenstette’s debut feature is a touching coming-of-age story suitable for the whole family that masterfully combines entertainment, emotion, and meaningful storytelling.

AVAILABILITY: Viewers in the United States