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FESTIVALS Germany

German films screen Down Under

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- Banklady, Odyssee of Heroes and Home from Home – Chronicle of a Vision are the hits at the 13th German Film Festival in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra

German films screen Down Under
Nadeshda Brennicke and Apard Sölter at the opening night of the festival in Sydney (© Tom Koprowski)

The colourful comedy drama Banklady [+see also:
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by Christian Alvart kicked off the 13th German Film Festival in Australia, which has brought more than 50 German movies to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra. “Banklady was my dream project, which I wanted to put on the screen,” states lead actress Nadeshda Brennicke. The true story of the German factory worker and first female bank robber Gisela Werler, which attracted a great deal of media attention in the 1960s, fascinated her so much that she convinced funders to green-light this ambitious filmic adventure.

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After winning the Best Actress Award at the Chicago International Film Festival, Brennicke won over the audience in Australia with her powerful performance as Werler. “Any place in the world where we show this movie, people can relate to it,” reports the actress. 

Banklady really rocks. It is the most successful film here,” asserts Apard Sölter, director of the Goethe-Institut in Sydney, which hosts the German Film Festival in Australia in cooperation with German Films.

The German Film Festival, which spans 26 March-11 April over the different cities, offers several special events, such as one celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall; the Moonlight Mania Horror Party, which features films such as Bela Kiss and The Station [+see also:
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; as well as a programme on World War I: 1914-2014, which Austrian actor/director Justus Neumann opened with his read performance of Karl Kraus’ satire, The Last Days of Mankind, followed by a screening of the period piece Odyssee of Heroes [+see also:
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by Berengar Pfahl. Another festival highlight is Edgar Reitz’s epic drama, Home from Home – Chronicle of a Vision [+see also:
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Over the first few days of the event, the German Film Festival had already welcomed more than 10,000 attendees. Among the special guests who are travelling to the different cities are Nadesha Brennicke; director Constanze Knoche and her co-writer Leis Bagdach,who presented the dysfunctional family drama Visitors [+see also:
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; and Angus McGruther,who stars in the German horror title Bela Kiss by first-time director Lucien Förster. The most popular film voted for online by the Australian audience will be awarded the Golden Garden Gnome.

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