The 19th Filmfest Hamburg surprises yet another year with extraordinary topics and remarkable focuses. ”We will show around 140 national and international feature films, documentaries and experimental films“, says festival director Albert Wiederspiel. ”Amongst this selection are touching films on music, aggravating films about environmental issues, exciting thrillers and romantic love stories.“ Most of them are national, European or even world premieres which are shown for the first time in German cinemas.

This year’s new section MUSIK! consists of nine productions; one of them is the Icelandic documentary “Backyard“ which gives an insight to the best Icelandic bands, performing their music for their fans in a backyard in Reykjavik with pizza and pancakes.

A completely different perspective on the music world offers the American documentary “God Bless Ozzy Osbourne“. American directors Mike Fleiss und Mike Piscitelli accompanied the “Prince of darkness“ on tour over the time span of two years. It’s an unvarnished portrait giving friends and family members their chance to speak. “The section MUSIK! is the successor of last year’s section KUNST!. The most exciting tensions emerge at these intersections of different art forms“, says Albert Wiederspiel.

Eyes on PARIS – Classic movies and the art of photography

”We are very proud, that his year’s edition also pays tribute to the film city Paris. Everybody has a personal connection to Paris. All of us associate certain images with this metropolis“, festival director Albert Wiederspiel explains. ”Paris takes the leading role or offers the setting for more than 7000 movies.“ The retrospective Eyes on PARIS shows nine classics from 1938 to 2007, from “Hotel du Nord“ by Marcel Carné to “Chanson d’amour“ by Christophe Honoré. This section is presented in cooperation with Deichtorhallen Hamburg. The exhibition “Eyes on PARIS – Paris im Fotobuch 1890 bis heute“ will be inaugurated at Haus der Photographie on September 15th.

Due to its big public success, the section Drei Farben Grün will once again be part of the program, attributed to the European Green Capital Award 2011 received by the city of Hamburg. Filmfest Hamburg presents nine international documentaries on environmental issues. One of this section’s highlights is the German-Turkish coproduction “Ecumenopolis: City Without Limits” which was supported by Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig Holstein. The film portrays Istanbul’s rapid rise to a world metropolis and the dues the city had to pay for that: a third Bosporus bridge is about to be built and the last remaining woodland in the north has to disappear.

“Detroit Wild City“ deals with another current problem. This American production not only shows the apocalyptic downfall of the former center of the automobile industry but also possible solutions. Out of necessity ecological pioneers transform abandoned urban spaces into fertile fields.

Focus on power: political dramas and revolutions

Throughout the whole program of Filmfest Hamburg “power” appears to be a recurrent theme. “This year there is a remarkable amount of films about political power structures. Unfortunately films with current political background are rare in Germany,“ says Albert Wiederspiel. “The Minister“ by French director Pierre Schoeller gives an impressive insight into the life of Bertrand Saint-Jean. We accompany the minister of transport as he rushes from one appointment to another, be it official or private. A riveting drama about the madness of politics. Pierre Schoeller was already represented in the 2008 program of Filmfest Hamburg with his film “Versailles“.

The omnibus film “18 Days“ from Egypt focuses on the country’s present political developments. Ten Egyptian directors capture the Egyptian revolution based on individual destinies. A young woman from the slums gets into a street battle, while a technician is being tortured during interrogation. On the other hand, a small tailor is clueless about the ongoing events and believes in an Israeli invasion. The central site is the Tahrir place in Cairo, which came to be a symbol of the Arab Spring.

Several films in the section “Agenda 11“ have been confirmed. “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia“ by the multiple award winning Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan is especially noteworthy. Twelve men start the search for a corpse in the middle of the night. Details are unveiled and discussions about whether death is an incomprehensible mystery or a banality of nature arise. It is impossible for the audience to escape this film’s exceptional intensity. “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia“ received this year’s Grand Prix in Cannes.

American director Gus Van Sant became world-famous for his films “Good Will Hunting“ (1997) and “Milk“ (2008). Filmfest Hamburg now shows his latest film “Restless“ which portrays the unconventional love between two very different teenagers: the morbid Enoch – his best friend, the spirit of a Japanese WW II pilot, only exists in his imagination – and Annabel who loves life and nature.

New films from Argentina – masterpieces from Iceland

Special attention should be given to Argentinian movie “Las Acacias“ in the section Vitrina. Contrary to several of its neighbors, this Latin American country has a longstanding cinematic tradition. The road movie “Las Acacias“ shows a laconic truck driver transporting timber from Paraguay to Argentina. His life changes when he has to take a young woman and her five-month-old baby with him. This movie won the Camera d’ Or in Cannes for best debut feature.

Classic films from Iceland are shown in the section Deluxe at Filmfest Hamburg 2011. “No other small country in the world produces more films in relation to its population – which is about as big as the Hamburg city quarters Eimsbüttel and Ottensen together. Perhaps it originates from their tradition of storytelling. Their ancient sagas are the basis of the Icelandic national identity,“ explains Albert Wiederspiel. In addition, Iceland is this year’s Guest of Honour at the Frankfurter Buchmesse.

“The Ring Road“ (1985) by Fridrik Thor Fridriksson is an impressive experimental film. The director installed a camera on the car top and surrounded the island on the main motor way, taking a picture every ten meters for over 1300 kilometers. The result is an almost psychedelic trip through a bizarre and beautiful landscape.

This year the section Nordlichter with films from Hamburg and  Northern Germany  shows “Simon”, a film based on a novel written by the Swedish bestselling author Marianne Fredriksson. The film deals with the story of a German Jewish family who fled to Sweden from Nazi Germany and their friendship with a Swedish family. One of the main characters is played by German actor Jan Josef Liefers who learned Swedish especially for this film.

Henna Peschel, who won last year’s Montblanc script award, directed the new trailer of Filmfest Hamburg 2011 which can be seen in selected Hamburg theaters starting from August 11 and on the website of Filmfest Hamburg.

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