A film by Ray Ashley, Morris Engel, Ruth Orkin. In English with German subtitles. 

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Seven-year-old Joey lives in Brooklyn. When his mother goes to visit his sick grand­mo­ther, older brot­her Lennie is left to watch Joey. Babysitting ruins the 12-year-old’s plans for the day, so he enlists his fri­ends to play a prank on Joey. They give him a (toy) gun to play with and when it goes off, Lennie plays dead. Thinking he’ll be arres­ted as a mur­de­rer, Joey takes off. With six dol­lars in his pocket, he heads for Coney Island, whe­re he wan­ders the beach and goes on the rides … Using a 35mm came­ra strap­ped to his body, pho­to­grapher Morris Engel docu­ments the amu­se­ment park from the per­spec­ti­ve of his young hero. As Joey rides the carou­sel, throws a base­ball, eats cot­ton can­dy, and coll­ects depo­sit bot­t­les, the film­ma­kers use the oppor­tu­ni­ty to prof­fer up cine­ma­tic sket­ches of Americans at lei­su­re – strol­ling, flir­ting, swim­ming, and sun­bathing. As if cap­tu­red with the won­de­ring eyes of a seven-year-old, Little Fugitive casts an amu­sed and anthro­po­lo­gi­cal eye over the peo­p­le in the crowd in a mas­ter­pie­ce of black-and-white cinematography.

For the 2023 Retrospective, inter­na­tio­nal­ly renow­ned direc­tors, actors, and screen­wri­ters were asked to sel­ect their per­so­nal coming-of-age favourites.

I think Ruth Orkin’s own words and pho­to­graphs pro­vi­de an elo­quent intro­duc­tion to the won­derful film she made with Morris Engel and Raymond Abrashkin [aka Ray Ashley] back in 1953.

Wes Anderson on his sel­ec­tion: “Usually when peo­p­le in Hollywood direct their first movie it’s becau­se they’ve had expe­ri­ence in other parts of movie-making; script­wri­ting, acting, cine­ma­to­gra­phy, editing, assistant direc­tor or the thea­ter. And when they sit in the director’s chair for the first time they have a who­le expe­ri­en­ced crew to back them up. We had only our inex­pe­ri­en­ced sel­ves.
We couldn’t have made the movies if we hadn’t been pho­to­graph­ers first”.

Credits:

US 1953, 75 Min., engl. OmU
Regie: Ray Ashley, Morris Engel, Ruth Orkin
Kamera: Morris Engel
Schnitt: Ruth Orkin, Lester Troob
mit: Richard Brewster, Winnifred Cushing, Jay Williams, Will Lee, Charley Moss, Tommy DeCanio, Richie Andrusco

Trailer:

nach oben

A film by Rodrigo Sorogoyen. In French and Spanish with German subtitles.

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The French cou­ple Vincent and Olga sett­led in a small vil­la­ge in the inte­ri­or of Galicia and lead a tran­quil exis­tence as far­mers. Despite their fri­end­li­ne­ss, the local far­mers tre­at the two stran­gers with sus­pi­ci­on and dis­da­in. When Vincent and Olga refu­se to agree to the buil­ding of a wind farm, the mood chan­ges com­ple­te­ly and the situa­ti­on in the vil­la­ge escala­tes. In the beau­tiful set­ting of the Galician coun­try­si­de, Oscar-nomi­na­ted direc­tor Rodrigo Sorogoyen stages a high-ten­si­on thril­ler that is as ori­gi­nal as it is grip­ping – a real blast!

Credits:

As Bestas
ES/FR 2022, 137 Min., frz, span. OmU
Regie: Rodrigo Sorogoyen
Kamera: Alejandro de Pablo
Schnitt: Alberto del Campo
mit: Denis Menochet, Marina Foïs, Luis Zahera

Trailer:

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A film by Jeanne Herry. In French with German subtitles.

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Face to face: in her new film, Jeanne Herry tack­les the sen­si­ti­ve sub­ject of perpetrator/victim encoun­ters. At first glan­ce, Gregoire, Nawelle, Sabine and Chloe have not­hing in com­mon – apart from the fact that they are all vic­tims of crime. Now they are vol­un­t­a­ri­ly taking part in a pro­gram­me in which they meet cri­mi­nals doing time for their cri­mes. For both sides, an emo­tio­nal and dif­fi­cult jour­ney beg­ins, in which cou­ra­ge, trust and fri­ends are neces­sa­ry to get past the ran­cour – and may­be find ways to con­quer the shadows of the past.

Credits:

Je ver­rai tou­jours vos visa­ges, FR 2023, 118 Min., frz. OmU, Regie: Jeanne Herry, Kamera: Nicolas Loir, mit: Adèle Exarchopoulos, Dali Benssalah, Leïla Bekhti, Birane Ba, Anne Benoît, Elodie Bouchez, MiouMiou, Gilles Lellouche

Trailer:

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A film by Ken Loach. In English with German subtitles.

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A pub as a place of divi­si­on, but also inter­ac­tion: In his new film, Ken Loach is once again a keen-sigh­ted, warm-hear­ted seis­mo­graph of British socie­ty. The Old Oak is the only remai­ning public place whe­re peo­p­le in the once thri­ving North English mining com­mu­ni­ty of Easington can meet. After 30 years of decli­ne, TJ Ballantyne, the land­lord, is despe­ra­te to save the pub, but with the arri­val of Syrian refu­gees two dif­fe­rent rea­li­ties meet head-on. When TJ makes fri­ends with Yara, a young Syrian woman, the two try to bring the two cul­tures clo­ser tog­e­ther. For a bet­ter future – and for The Old Oak.

Credits:

GB/FR/BE 2023, 113 Min., engl. OmU
Regie: Ken Loach
Drehbuch: Paul Laverty
Kamera: Robbie Ryan
Schnitt: Jonathan Morris
mit: Dave Turner, Ebla Mari, Debbie Honeywood, Reuben Bainbridge

Trailer:

OmU!

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A film by Babak Jalali. In English, Farsi and Kantonese with German subtitles.

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Beautiful and trou­bled 20-some­thing Donya, an Afghan trans­la­tor who used to work with the U.S. govern­ment, has trou­ble slee­ping. She lives by hers­elf in Fremont, California, in a buil­ding with other Afghan immi­grants and often dines alo­ne at a local restau­rant wat­ching soap operas. Her rou­ti­ne chan­ges when she’s pro­mo­ted to wri­ting the for­tu­nes at her job at a for­tu­ne coo­kie fac­to­ry in the city. As her for­tu­nes are read by stran­gers throug­hout the Bay, Donya’s smol­de­ring lon­ging dri­ves her to send a mes­sa­ge out to the world, unsu­re whe­re it will lead.

Shot in black and white, and with warmth and a wry sen­se of humor, direc­tor Babak Jalali has craf­ted a loving por­trait of a young woman haun­ted by the past but still fil­led with desi­re for com­pa­n­ion­ship and con­nec­tion. Featuring a cast of unfor­gettable, uni­que cha­rac­ters, and ancho­red by a begui­ling debut per­for­mance from real-life Afghan refu­gee Anaita Wali Zada, Fremont is an ode to the curious beau­ty of try­ing to build a new life in a stran­ge land.

Credits:

US 2023, 91 Min., engl.-farsi–kantonesische OmU
Regie & Schnitt: Babak Jalali
Kamera: Laura Valladao
mit Anaita Wali Zada, Hilda Schmelling, Jeremy Allen White, Avis See-tho 

Trailer:

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A film by Matt Johnson. In English, with German subtitles.

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Two mis­mat­ched entre­pre­neurs – egg­head inno­va­tor Mike Lazaridis and cut-throat busi­ness­man Jim Balsillie – joi­n­ed forces in an endea­vour that was to beco­me a world­wi­de hit in litt­le more than a deca­de. The device that one of them inven­ted and the other sold was the BlackBerry, an addic­ti­ve mobi­le pho­ne that chan­ged the way the world work­ed, play­ed and com­mu­ni­ca­ted. But just as BlackBerry was rising to new peaks, it also star­ted losing its way through the fog of Smartphone wars, manage­ment inde­cis­i­on and out­side dis­trac­tions, even­tual­ly lea­ding to the break­down of one of the most suc­cessful ven­tures in the histo­ry of the tech and busi­ness worlds.
In his ear­lier works (The Dirties, Operation Avalanche), Matt Johnson has pro­ven how irre­sis­ti­ble an urge it is for cine­as­tes equip­ped with a came­ra to cap­tu­re on film that which seems incre­di­ble, or even impos­si­ble. His are the sto­ries of see­mingly unre­mar­kab­le indi­vi­du­als who are tempt­ed to achie­ve some­thing that nobo­dy else has. Coupled with his own brand of sava­ge humour, Johnson ama­zes us with this sto­ry of two Canadian guys who, in bet­ween movie nights, inven­ted the tool that, for bet­ter or worse, chan­ged our way of doing pret­ty much everything.

Credits:

CA 2023, 121 Min., engl. OmU
Regie: Matt Johnson
Kamera: Jared Raab
Schnitt:Curt Lobb
mit Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, Matt Johnson, Cary Elwes, Saul Rubinek, Michael Ironside, Rich Sommer, Sungwon Cho, Michelle Giroux, Mark Critch

Trailer:

OmU!

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A film by Tatsunari Ota. In japa­ne­se with German subtitles.

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As ele­gant and decep­tively simp­le as its title, Tatsunari Ota’s Ishi ga aru, redu­ces nar­ra­ti­ve and plot to ques­ti­ons of time, move­ment, and encoun­ter.
The film opens with a name­l­ess woman arri­ving in a small town, out of see­ming nowhe­re. “Is the­re any­thing nice around here?” she asks a local, “Something fasci­na­ting?” Her inquiry met with a near-blank sta­re, she thus drifts, even­tual­ly encoun­tering a man skip­ping stones by the river. Together they pass the after­noon enga­ged in playful out­door acti­vi­ties like balan­cing sticks, stack­ing stones and more. Finally, they part – their time tog­e­ther curtail­ed by the ine­vi­ta­ble waning day­light – with the unex­pec­ted emo­tio­nal import of their time tog­e­ther left ripp­ling like the water over one of their sub­mer­ged peb­bles.
While struc­tu­red around cen­tral cha­rac­ters and nar­ra­ti­ve in natu­re, the film invi­tes a form of spec­ta­tor­ship more clo­se­ly asso­cia­ted with dance or per­for­mance art. Throughout, Ota empha­si­s­es the phy­si­cal and emo­tio­nal exch­an­ges bet­ween stran­gers, as well as bet­ween humans and natu­re. As if in respon­se to the woman’s ear­ly query, Ishi ga aru quiet­ly reo­ri­ents our expec­ta­ti­ons and under­stan­ding of fascination.

Credits:

Ishi ga aru – 石がある
Jp 2022, 104 Min., japan. OmU
Regie: Tatsunari Ota
Kamera: Yuji Fukaya
Schnitt: Keiko Okawa
mit:An Ogawa, Tsuchi Kanou

Trailer:

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A film by Colm Bairéad. In Gaelic and English with German subtitles.

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“There are no secrets in this house. Do you hear me? … If the­re are secrets in a house, the­re is shame in that house.”

Four siblings, a mother torn bet­ween care and hel­p­less­ness, a cur­sing father and a wet mat­tress every mor­ning: the­se are the things that make up quiet young Cáit’s life. Her par­ents deci­de it’s best if she spends the sum­mer at the farm of two rela­ti­ves she has never met. Lush green trees flank the road lea­ding up to their pro­per­ty, a respectful silence per­va­ding their bright, clean house. Here, ten­der­ly loo­ked after by Eibhlín, Cáit final­ly feels loved and safe. Initial aloof­ness like­wi­se starts giving way to a deeper bond bet­ween her and Seán, with whom she feeds the cal­ves. The mat­tress stays dry. And yet, in the midst of the scrag­gly beau­ty of the Irish coun­try­si­de, cer­tain secrets seem to lin­ger, which Cáit beg­ins to face with new­found cou­ra­ge and confidence.

Credits:

An Cailín Ciúin
IR 2022, 95 Min., gälisch, eng­li­sche OmU
Regie: Colm Bairéad
Kamera: Kate McCullough
Schnitt: John Murphy
mit: Carrie Crowley, Andrew Bennett, Catherine Clinch

Trailer:

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A film by Christina Ebelt. In German.

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Sandra is impul­si­ve. Sandra is in jail. Sandra is also pregnant. A cine­ma­tic tour de force with a fan­ta­sti­cal­ly ira­te protagonist.

Far along in her pregnan­cy, Sandra is ada­mant that her child remain with her after it is born, even though she is ser­ving a pri­son sen­tence. The social worker and the youth wel­fa­re office are skep­ti­cal about whe­ther she in a con­di­ti­on to rai­se the child. They fear that if Sandra is sub­jec­ted to stress, she will revert to her old pat­tern of beha­vi­or and lose her com­po­sure. Only through flash­backs cle­ver­ly woven into the nar­ra­ti­ve do we learn how ever­y­thing could have come to this.

Credits:

DE 2023, 94 Min.
Regie: Christina Ebelt
Kamera: Bernhard Keller
Schnitt: Florian Riedel
mit Franziska Hartmann, Slavko Popadić, Martina Eitner-Acheampong

Trailer:

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A film by Lila Avilés. In Spanish with German and English subtitles.

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In her second film after The Chambermaid in 2018, Lila Avilés lea­ves behind the cram­ped hotel rooms of her debut but con­ti­nues to work on the con­nec­tion bet­ween rela­ti­onships and inte­ri­or spaces. This time, the set­ting is a lar­ge house whe­re, over the cour­se of a long day, fami­ly and fri­ends meet for a dual ritu­al: it is the bir­th­day of young father and pain­ter Tona, but as it will likely be his last, it is also a fare­well cerem­o­ny. There is dua­li­ty in the film’s soul, too, with the fren­zy of pre­pa­ra­ti­ons and the spon­ta­n­ei­ty of the cele­bra­ti­on con­ce­al­ing the pro­found­ly archaic and spi­ri­tu­al dimen­si­on of the title. Tona’s wea­k­en­ed body is initi­al­ly invi­si­ble, pro­tec­ted in a room whe­re he tri­es to sum­mon up the strength requi­red for the huma­nist cerem­o­ny in which he will be show­e­red with all the love and affec­tion nee­ded to face his final jour­ney.
Like the cha­rac­ter of the bon­sai-loving patri­arch, Avilés takes meti­cu­lous care in sha­ping her own minia­tu­re, ben­ding tra­jec­to­ries and fee­lings, pru­ning all frills and excess. A film that pre­pa­res for loss, Tótem amas­ses signs and forms of life: ani­mals, insects, plants and a para­de of won­derful human beings who are stron­ger together.

Credits:

MX DK FR 2023 95 Minuten
spa­ni­sche OmU (deut­sche und eng­li­sche Untertitel)
Regie, Buch: Lila Avilés
Kamera: Diego Tenorio
Schnitt: Omar Guzmán
mit: Naíma Sentíes
Monserrat Marañon
Marisol Gasé
Saori Gurza
Teresita Sánchez

Trailer:

nach oben