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FESTIVALS Germany

German films big success in Russia

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Held in Moscow (December 3-6), St. Petersburg (December 5-11) and Novosibirsk (December 6-13), the 8th Festival of German Films in Russia, organised by German Films in collaboration with the Goethe Institut, was a big success in all three cities. Although the festival had to be reduced by one day, attendance figures remained virtually unchanged from last year.

Opening film Whisky With Vodka [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andreas Dresen
film profile
]
screened to a packed house in Moscow’s Kino 35mm when the German ambassador to Russia, Dr. Walter Juergen Schmid, formally opened the festival on December 3. The film’s star, Henry Huebchen, and producer, Christoph Mueller, presented their film to an enthusiastic audience and gave numerous interviews.

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Director Ina Weisse and lead actor Josef Bierbichler were given a similarly warm reception by Russian audiences at a sold-out screening for the closing night film in Moscow, The Architect [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, as was Lancelot von Naso with his debut feature, Ceasefire.

Ines Christine Geißer represented the short film program Next Generation as the director of Rose-Coloured. The cinema was also packed for the screenings of Alain Gsponer’s My Words, My Lies - My Love, Kai Wessel’s Hilde [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, the omnibus film Germany 09 [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
and the documentary In Berlin [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Michael Ballhaus and Ciro Cappellari.

Interest in German films is currently high in Russia: both Whisky With Soda and children's film Jasper: Journey to the End of the World by Eckart Fingberg Kay Delventhal, also shown at the festival, have already been sold to local distributors Kino Bez Graniz and Super Music, respectively. Negotiations are moreover underway for My Words, My Lies… and Florian Gallenberger’s John Rabe [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
.

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