From 24 August-4 September, the 16^th edition of the Fünf Seen Filmfestival will unspool in the south of Germany. The gathering is devoted to cinema from Central Europe and organises a selection of premieres of major productions. We talked to festival director Matthias Helwig about the history and the peculiarities of the event.

Cineuropa: You founded the festival in 2007. Could you tell us the story behind it?
Matthias Helwig: I studied Film at the HFF Film University in Munich and made cinema myself, thinking I would be able to earn a living from it. I was always an enthusiastic festival-goer. I realised that there were so many films that never got a release in cinemas, and I thought I would like to change this situation and show these movies in my own cinema. I started down this path in 1986 and slowly thought about founding a proper festival based in this region, which finally happened in 2007. My focus is on films from the German-speaking countries.

Why did you opt for this focus?
Firstly, it made sense because of the venue for the festival. I was most interested in films produced close to this cultural region. Then I realised that, in fact, there was no major platform for movies from these countries. After that, I slowly found out that it is quite difficult for a German festival to get German films. Most productions want to be released and premiered in Hamburg or Munich, and we are not a priority. It's easier to secure films from Switzerland or Austria.

How did you develop the programme of the festival over the years?
I started getting more and more interested in films from Southeastern Europe, such as those from Romania, for instance. I extended the programme to include these movies, as I like them very much. It's a pity that it’s so difficult for them to get a big cinema release in Germany. Often it's because the world rights cost too much.

How would you describe your audience?
I can tell you how it was up until the pandemic: the majority of the audience are people closely in tune with culture, mostly middle-class folk, maybe 50 years old or older. Since we are located in the suburbs of the big city of Munich, we have fewer students. We try to attract more young people with a sizeable short-film programme, though. But the pandemic changed a lot of things. We will need to wait and see how the figures turn out in the end. I guess – and I am ready to do so – we have to start almost from scratch to inspire people to come and watch films.

How would you describe the region and the different venues you have access to?
By organising the festival in several venues, our intent is to respect the structure of the region, which doesn't have any big city at its centre. I still think it's a nice idea, even though it can be difficult on a logistical level, since at times you have to drive 20 km or more to get from one place to another. But each of them has its own charm. Starnberg is rather sophisticated, a little mainstream, then Seefeld is more for the hardcore film buffs, and Gauting has a modern cinema. It’s also much closer to Munich and attracts some of the audience from there.

Did any topics in particular stand out while you were choosing this year's programme?
I select films that I like personally. I have observed that the festival audience normally doesn't like too many dramas. Comedies and tragicomedies are the most popular. And I like this genre, too, as they make for good entertainment. The films I have selected for our programme were mostly made before the pandemic, so it is not a specific topic of the movies themselves. However, I have the impression that a lot of pictures may have been influenced by it. As for the documentaries, for example, many private stories are told in them. But they use the private in order to unveil more overarching and general ideas and thoughts. It's similar for the fiction features. One of the most important topics is still the perspective of women and how they are trying to find their way in this patriarchal world.