Cream of German cinema to be screened at film festival
Some of German cinema’s very best works are heading to Ayr Town Hall this month.
As part of the Fokus - Films from Germany Festival, Ayr Film Society have teamed up with Glasgow’s Goethe- Institut and Filmhouse Edinburgh to bring a selection of tremendous films from the European powerhouse.
The first of five films is We are Young, We Are Strong on Thursday, January 26 at 7.30pm.
Directed by Burhan Qurbani, the 2013 film is the gripping story of one night in August 1992 in the East German town of Rostock, as a racist mob watched by 3,000 onlookers attacked an apartment building containing more than 100 Vietnamese women and children.
Next, at 7.30pm on Friday, January 27, is Ruediger Suschland’s 2015 documentary From Caligari to Hitler, covering the story of the Weimar Republic which ruled the country in the inter- war period of 1918 to 1933.
The wild years were characterised by disruption, crisis and cultural brilliance, but also brought about the most important period of German cinema, a time of wonders and invention.
Saturday, January 28 sees a triple header of films to bring the curtain down on the festival.
Nicolette Krebitz’ 2016 film Wild starts the day, a story of a young woman’s relationship with a wolf, which starts with a strange encounter on the way to work.
The film promises to be as powerful, sensual and fascinating as it is disturbing.
Next, at 4.30pm, 4 Kings is a 2015 release from director Theresa von Eltz.
Christmas is approaching, and with it, the desire for harmony, beauty, light and hope.
Being unable to cope with her parents’ conflict, Alex makes a radical decision and finds herself in the adolescent psychiatric emergency unit where she meets three other young people, and the four of them spend a Christmas together than none of them will ever forget.
Finally, The People versus Fritz Bauer, directed by Lars Kraume in 2015, is the story of Attorney General Bauer, a Jewish man, who has been trying to take crimes from the Third Reich to court since his return from Danish exile.
In 1957, Bauer received crucial evidence on the whereabouts of SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Adolf Eichmann.
There has been no success thanks to the fierce German determination to repress its sinister past - so Bauer contacts the Israeli Secret Service, Mossad, and in doing so commits treason making for a truly gripping story.
Tickets are available on the door, costing £ 5 or £ 2 for students and unwaged. Film Society members go free.