A YEAR AGO IN WINTER (IM WINTER EIN JAHR) opens the 11th Festival of German Films in London (28.11. – 4.12.2008)

The past eleven years has seen German Films offering the London public an overview of filmmaking in Germany each year in the run-up to Christmas at the Curzon Soho Cinema.

This year also boasts a wide-ranging selection of new German feature films, documentaries and shorts on show. The festival will open with the new film by Caroline Link A YEAR AGO IN WINTER (IM WINTER EIN JAHR) in the presence of the director and the producer Uschi Reich.

The program of feature films will include the following films this year:
ABSURDISTAN (Veit Helmer), BEAUTIFUL BITCH (Martin Theo Krieger), CHIKO (Oezguer Yildirim), THE STRANGER IN ME (DAS FREMDE IN MIR, Emily Atef), CHERRY BLOSSOMS - HANAMI (KIRSCHBLUETEN – HANAMI, Doris Doerrie), THE MOON AND OTHER LOVERS (DER MOND UND ANDERE LIEBHABER, Bernd Boehlich), A HERO'S WELCOME (NACHT VOR AUGEN, Brigitte Maria Bertele), NORTH FACE (NORDWAND, Philip Stoelzl), TRADE (TRADE – WILLKOMMEN IN AMERIKA, Marco Kreuzpaintner), BERLIN-BUENOS AIRES (DIE TRAENEN MEINER MUTTER, Alejandro Cardenas Amelio) and CLOUD 9 (WOLKE 9, Andreas Dresen ).

The following films can be seen in the documentary program: ALONE IN FOUR WALLS (ALLEIN IN VIER WAENDEN, Alexandra Westmeier), DRIFTER (Sebastian Heidinger), LENIN ONLY GOT AS FAR AS LUEDENSCHEID (LENIN KAM NUR BIS LUEDENSCHEID, Andre Schaefer) and TWO MOTHERS - THE SEARCH BEGAN IN RIGA (MEINE MUETTER – SPURENSUCHE IN RIGA, Rosa von Praunheim).

German Films will also be presenting its new reel of shorts with outstanding productions from the German film schools in NEXT GENERATION 2008.

The increase in German-international co-productions will be documented by a small selection of co-productions: THE ANARCHIST'S WIFE (DIE FRAU DES ANARCHISTEN, Marie Noelle und Peter Sehr), ECHOES OF HOME (HEIMATKLAENGE, Stefan Schwietert) and MACHAN (Uberto Pasolini). German Films and the UK Film Council will be inviting British producers to an industry event on this subject: Kirsten Niehuus of the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg will lead a discussion with German and English producers about „How to structure your co-production with Germany".

The Goethe Institut in London will be programming a Focus within the framework of the festival on the director Andres Veiel, who will introduce his films BLACK BOX GERMANY (BLACK BOX BRD) and ADDICTED TO ACTING (DIE SPIELWUETIGEN) to the London au diences in person.

Other guests in London: the directors Emily Atef, Brigitte Maria Bertele, Alejandro Cardenas Amelio, Veit Helmer, Lars Kreyssig, Martin Theo Krieger, Uberto Pasolini and Peter Sehr; the actress Krystyna Malerova and the producers Thomas Kufus, Jens Meurer and Steffen Reuter as well as the painter Florian Suessmayr.