25/08/2006

German cinema is expected to take the 31st Toronto International Film Festival (September 7-16) by storm, with no less than 28 special screenings and titles presented, all top-class (co-)productions with a broad range of partners.

While two co-productions – Paul Verhoeven’s Black Book [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Penelope by Mark Palansky – are to have gala screenings at the event, The Lives Of Others [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florian Henckel von Donners…
interview: Ulrich Muehe
film profile] by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, German/US production Fay Grim by Hal Hartley and collective film Paris je t'aime, starring Oliver Schmitz and Tom Tykwer, all feature in the Special Presentations sidebar.

Meanwhile, the Masters section is to host the world premieres of Margarethe von Trotta’s I Am the Other Woman and Volker Schlöndorff’s Strike. This section also includes two German co-productions: Aki Kaurismaki’s Lights in the Dusk [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and The Wind That Shakes the Barley [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ken Loach
interview: Rebecca O’Brien
film profile] by Ken Loach.

Canadian audiences will be treated to nine (co-)productions in the Contemporary World Cinema sidebar, including Hans-Christian Schmid’s Requiem [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hans-Christian Schmid
interview: Hans-Christian Schmid
interview: Sandra Hueller
film profile], Summer 04 [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Stefan Krohmer, Four Minutes by Chris Kraus and Winter Journey [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Hans Steinbichler.

The Real to Reel documentary sidebar features one German/US co-production, while two co-productions each are present in the Visions and Discoveries sections, and three features have been selected in the Wavelengths sidebar.

Festival goers will also have a chance to discover the German/Danish title Princess [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Anders Morgenthaler, a surprise hit at Cannes (see article), and the children’s co-production The Ugly Duckling and Me by Michael Hegner and Karsten Kiilerich.

(Translated from French)