exground hits 20

by Bénédicte Prot

19/11/2007 - The 20th edition of the German festival exground (November 16-25) is in full swing in Wiesbaden. This year the event is screening around 300 films from 35 different countries in its 13 sections.

The international section offers a particularly enticing selection, with 11 titles on the programme, many of them multiple award-winners, including four debut films, and the vast majority of them European: Cannes Palme d'Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [trailer, film focus] by Romanian director Cristian Mungiu, French titles Crime Insiders [trailer] by Frédéric Schoendoerffer and On Fire [trailer] by Claire Simon, Hotel Very Welcome by German director Sonja Heiss (see interview), Swedish title Exit by Peter Lindmark, French/Spanish co-production Lola [trailer] by Javier Rebollo, the German/Danish film Nimmermeer by Toke Constantin Hebbeln and UK productions The Baker by Gareth Lewis and The Living and the Dead [trailer] by Simon Rumley.

As part of its 20th anniversary celebrations, exground will screen a selection of key titles from its 19 previous editions with the emphasis on daring creations such as the German film Nekromantik by Jörg Buttgereit (1987) and Michele Soavi’s French/Italian zombie picture Of Death, Of Love (1994), one of the most impressive of its kind.

For more information, visit the festival website.

(Translated from French)