11/03/2010

Among the 12 new releases hitting German theatres today are six diverse and varied local titles and two internationally-acclaimed European films.

First up, Majestic is launching a superb film shown in the Panorama section at last month’s Berlin Film Festival: When We Leave [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Feo Aladag
interview: Feo Aladag
film profile]. This debut film by Feo Aladag traces the journey of a young Turkish-German woman who is forced to choose between her own and her child’s safety and her family and cultural obligations.

Produced by Berlin-based Independent Artists Filmproduktion, When We Leave features a deeply moving and understated performance by Sibel Kekilli (star of Fatih Akin’s Head-On [+see also:
trailer
film profile]).

Meanwhile, Constantin is releasing Philipp Stennert and Cyrill Boss’s mainstream comedy Jerry Cotton, in which an FBI agent wrongfully accused of murder ends up in a race against the clock, police and gangsters to prove his innocence. This title, produced by Christian Becker for Munich’s Rat Pack Filmproduktion, stars Christian Tramitz opposite Moritz Bleibtreu. Constantin is launching the film on Austrian screens tomorrow.

In a genre that is immensely popular in Germany, the football-themed film for children, Universal is releasing Devil’s Kicker [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Granz Henman (who co-penned the screenplay with Christoph Silber, screenwriter on Goodbye Lenin!). The film, starring Benno Fürmann, is based on Frauke Nahrgang’s eponymous novel and produced by newly re-founded company UFA Cinema. UPI will release it in Austrian theatres tomorrow.

The list of new German releases continues apace with Marc Rensing’s skateboarder-themed Parkour [+see also:
trailer
film profile], produced by Zum Goldenen Lamm and Rüdiger Heinze Filmproduktion. The film, distributed by Projektor, was presented in the German section at the latest Berlinale.

Mindjazz Pictures is launching Thomas Lauterbach’s documentary Bastion of Sin, which centres on a Turkish-born mother and housewife who is hired to play Medea in a theatre production.

Meanwhile, Neue Visionen is releasing Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani’s German/Israeli co-production Ajami [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

Two other German titles are hitting Austrian screens: Parallax is launching Nikolai Vialkowitsch’s 3D documentary Das Auge 3D, about one of the largest telescopes in the world; and Luna Film is distributing Andreas Nickel’s Zum Dritten Pol, about the Himalaya expeditions of Dr. Günter Dyhrenfurth and his family.

For its part, Thim Film is releasing Robert Dornhelm’s Austrian documentary Udo Proksch - Out of Control, about the inventor’s crazy life.

And last but certainly not least on the line-up are a few European titles. Alejandro Amenábar’s Spanish mega co-production Agora [+see also:
trailer
film profile] is being released by Tobis today in Germany and tomorrow in Austria. German audiences will also get the chance to discover Jacques Audiard’s A Prophet [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacques Audiard
interview: Jacques Audiard and Tahar R…
film profile] (distributed by Sony Pictures), which was the major winner at the French Cesar Awards.

(Translated from French)