The 7th instalment of the German Film Series – presented by Kelab Seni Filem in collaboration with Goethe-Institut Malaysia
@HELP University College, Pusat Bandar Damansara, KL
Enquiries: 012-2255136
Admission by membership: RM60 for 1 year (students RM30); RM40 for 6 mths; RM30 for 4 mths; or RM10 per day. Donations are welcome.
Free admission for Alliance Francaise members; HELP students; students of German (Goethe-Institut Malaysia, German-Malaysian Institute; UPM, Kolej Bandar Utama and INTEC-UiTM).
Each film will be introduced by Dr Torsten Schaar, lecturer in German at INTEC-UiTM, who is also the programmer of this series.
Saturday 14 Nov 2.00pm
The Days Between (In den Tag hinein)
Maria Speth; 2001, 114 mins
Lynn (22) lives with her brother in Berlin, enjoying the advantages of family life without really feeling involved in it. She does not have any precise aim in life, but manages to awaken the interest of many people with her direct and spontaneous character. Her boyfriend David is very different: he is a disciplined swimmer engrossed in training for the world championships, and does not intend to allow himself to be distracted by his relationship with Lynn. When Lynn meets the Japanese student Koji, everything gets more complicated. They can’t exchange many words, but it is clear that their moments together mean a lot to both of them.
Saturday 14 Nov 4.30pm
Summer in Berlin (Sommer vorm Balkon)
Andreas Dresen; 2005, 106 mins
Hot summer. Nike has a balcony, Katrin has a son, Ronald drives a truck, Tina’s a waitress, Oskar and Helene are old and alone. At the beginning, middle or end of their lives – they all ask the same question: Can love last through the seasons? Or is it something affecting the brain that just comes and goes?
Sommer vorm Balkon is the story of two girlfriends, who, from their balcony – between heaven and earth – gaze down at their turbulent and difficult universe, where the right men are all too often exactly wrong, and to get ahead even a good-looking woman had better be strong. An enchanting tragicomedy, full of human warmth, sincerity and delightful humour – a film about life.
Saturday 14 Nov 7.00pm
Offbeat (Kammerfilmmern)
Hendrik Hölzemann; 2004, 96 mins
“Crash” isn’t his name, but it’s what they call him. Orphaned at the age of seven after a car accident killed both of his parents, Crash grew up with a scar on his face and a scar in his soul. A fear of intimacy has turned him into a melancholy loner; a longing to help others has led him to become a medic on a rescue team. When he’s not out on the streets saving lives, he dreams – of escaping, of finding the young woman who always appears just before he wakes. One night, he comes face to face with the woman of his dreams: November is her name.
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Sunday 15 Nov 2.00pm
Berlin Stories (Stadt als Beute)
Irene von Alberti; 2005, 93 mins
Berlin Stories was shot in Berlin and is inspired by the theatre: three directors developed three astounding tales about the German capital based on rehearsals of a play by Volksbuehne-playwright René Pollesch. The film comments on the relationship between art and life in a tongue-in-cheek way.
Marlon, a young acting student, has to forget the rules of acting he has just learned before he can know how to flesh out his role. He plunges into the vortex of the city for two days and nights.
Lizzy constantly stages herself, but it always goes wrong: no money, no agency, no red carpet. She meets the cute callboy Julian in a bar and turns his biography into her story.
Ohboy, a flâneur, is afraid of the theatre rehearsals, so he does not attend them. In a long walk down Potsdamer Strasse, which unites all of Berlin’s facets, he faces his fear of the script, and above all himself.
Sunday 15 Nov 4.15pm
We (Wir)
Martin Gypkens; 2004, 93 mins
A summer trip to Berlin offers a fleeting glimpse into the lives of the country’s youth in this vibrant, character-driven drama from director Martin Gypkens. When twenty-something Florian arrives in town to pay a visit to long-lost pal Pit, the duo quickly reminisce before heading out to a party. As they meet up with Pit’s acquaintances, the film follows various intersecting lives as they are woven to create an intricate, microcosmic look at life’s ups and downs as seen through the eyes of Germany’s youth.
Sunday 15 Nov 6.30pm
Night Shapes (Nachtgestalten)
Andreas Dresen; 1998, 97 mins
The Pope is in town and the night of his visit is anything but heavenly for some of Berlin’s inhabitants. A homeless man dreams of finding a room for the night. A farmer dreams of romantic love – in the red-light district. A businessman dreams of a big career unaware that it’s too late. The down-and-out, the rich and the poor, the police, the street kids and taxi drivers, in search of happiness, all end up going for a harrowing odyssey through the labyrinth of the big city. The heroes of Andreas Dresen’s metropolitan elegy are dreamers confronted with bitter reality. A bitter, hard-edged comedy set in contemporary Berlin.
