The sixth German Film Festival kicks off on Wednesday. Organised once more by the German–Maltese Circle, in collaboration with the Goethe Institute, this year’s edition offers seven movies.
Sirka Vella-Facklam, who has been organising the event since its inception in 2009, says about this year’s choice: “Most stories relate closely to questions we are faced with today.”
The festival offers something for everyone. In Between Worlds (Zwischen Welten) tells the story of a German soldier on a mission in Afghanistan, while What Can You Leave Behind (Westen) is a film that takes the audience back to the Cold War, when people from East Germany were seeking freedom .
Age of Cannibals (Zeit der Kannibalen) is a mix of black comedy and social drama, while Stations of the Cross (Kreuzweg) tells the pretty controversial story about a young girl taking her faith to the extreme.
The fantasy Finsterworld is a potpourri of apparently unrelated and unspectacular every day stories which ultimately offers a surprisingly intense insight into modern German society, while Super Egos (Über-Ich und Du) offers a rather entertaining intellectual challenge.
The festival offers something for everyone
The festival also features a family film, Sputnik, whose plot is closely related to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Asked whether, over the years, the audiences have been predominantly German, Vella-Facklam says quite emphatically that they were not. “It is definitely not an event dedicated to or aimed solely at the German community and the audience has mainly been Maltese. The festival has proven a good way to keep up with what is happening in the German film industry.”
Once more the festival will be showcasing the works of a prominent German director. Wim Wenders has been chosen this year. What lies behind this decision?
“Wim Wenders is the third big name linked to the international success of German Cinema, alongside Fassbinder and Herzog. And this year we commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and two of Wenders’s films form the perfect link to this event.”
The festival is showing 1987’s Wings of Desire which was shot in Berlin before the fall of the Berlin Wall as was its sequel Faraway, So Close, shot in 1993. “Unfortunately, I could not obtain a copy of Faraway, So Close with English subtitles, so we had to settle for one of Wenders’s other classics, The American Friend, which was the film that brought Wenders international acclaim.”
The Festival takes place between Wednesday and next Sunday. All films are in German with subtitles in English. Booking from St James Cavalier, Valletta, except for the Wim Wenders Classic Film Night which is heing held at Palazzo Messina and is complimentary.