This year the section of International New Film spans four continents and thirteen countries. Thirteen directors of the most varied dispositions have stood behind their cameras. The rising French star director Cedric Klapisch is here with two films: the thriller "Not for not against" and the comedy "L'Auberge Espagnole" ; and there is Stephen Frears' much-praised drama "Dirty pretty things".

From Sweden comes Lukas Moodysson's new film "Lilja 4-ever". His Japanese colleague Kei Kumai, has masterfully completed Akira Kurosawa's last film "The sea is watching". Eccentric film director Larry Clark made "Ken Park". Of a different calibre is the satirical film "Barbecue people" (Yossi Madmoni, David Ofek), the light melancholy of the Czech contribution "Autumn Spring" by Vladimir Michalek, or the Dutch musical "Yes Sister No Sister". Denys Arcand celebrates humour of a blacker sort in "Barbarian Invasion"; "The inheritance" by Per Fly was a great Danish box-office-hit while "The Suit" by Bakhityar Khudonazarov is an example of an exciting new Russian cinema. From india comes "Mr. and Mrs. Iyer" by Aparna Senand and from Algeria Yamina Bachir.s film "Rachida".




Autumn Spring (Babi Leto)
Director: Vladimír Michálek, CS 2001, 97 min, 35 mm, colour, GV, german premiere
Tu, October 30 11:00 CinemaxX 3
Fr, October 31 19:45 CinemaxX 3
Su, November 2 15:00 CinemaxX 2



Wh at sense does life have when I.m old? "Autumn Spring" asks this question and presents two opposing views on the subject, using the example of the Hánas, an elderly married couple. While the wife Emilie is busy saving money for the "upcoming" funeral, her husband Fanda spends all his time with his friend Eda.

"Autumn Spring" is touching in both its happy and sad moments; the kindly characters and the good actors are very convincing.




Barbarian Invasion
Director: Denys Arcand, CND/F 2002, 99 min, 35 mm, colour, GV
We, October 29 11:00 CinemaxX 3
Sa, November 1 12:45 CinemaxX 2
Su, November 2 19:45 CinemaxX 2



Even while he is lying on his deathbed, the fur flies between a history professor and his son, a broker, who provides for luxury in the hospital. He has friends flown in and tries to make his father's last days more tolerable. This includes doses of heroin to lessen the pain. One last time the circle of friends chats about past loves and about large and small-scale politics.

This tremendous tragicomedy pitilessly reflects "the errors of love and life, the state of the world and the memory of political illusions". (Blickpunkt Film)




Not for not against (Ni pour ni contre)
Regie: Cédric Klapisch, F 2003, 111 Min, 35 mm, Farbe, ES
Mi, 29. Oktober 17:30 Universum 1
Do, 30. Oktober 22:30 Universum 1



This is a suspenseful story of loyalty, honour, trust, deceit and a beautiful woman in a man's world of crime. The young camera woman Caty is tired of her life in the big city and lets herself be hired by the charismatic gangster Jean to film a break-in by his gang. Fascinated by the life of luxury now opened to her, she becomes more and more involved in gang life.




The Inheritance (Arven)
Director: Per Fly, DK/S 2003, 115 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
We, October 29 22:30 CinemaxX 1
Th, October 30 14:45 CinemaxX 3



A Danish family from so-called better circles learns that inheriting is not always an easy thing. Christoffer, who runs a restaurant in neighbouring Sweden, returns to Denmark at his mother's insistence to accept a supposedly lucrative inheritance, a large steel concern; but little does he realize how high a price he will have to pay for all the dark family secrets come to light...

A gripping story told in cool pictures, it was awarded with the Norwegian critics' prize.




L'Auberge Espagnole
Director: Cédric Klapisch, F/E 2002, 122 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
We, October 29 17:00 CinemaxX 3
Sa, November 1 19:45 CinemaxX 3
Su, November 2 11:00 CinemaxX 1



Paris science student Xavier has a good chance of getting a job in the French ministry of trade. Since knowledge of Spanish is a prerequisite he decides to go to Barcelona for a year. There he moves into a commune which is cheerfully turbulent and international. Influenced by this completely new life style, he changes, but at the end, back in Paris, Xavier finally has to decide which way he will take.




Ken Park
Regie: Larry Clark/Edward Lachman, USA/F/NL 2002, 96 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
We, October 29 22:30 Universum 1
Th, October 30 20:00 Universum 3
Fr, October 31 11:00 CinemaxX 4
Sa, November 1 24:30 CinemaxX 2



Vi salia is a suburb in a Californian no-man's land. Four teenagers meet every day in Skate Park, where, on their skateboards they attempt to escape from the bleakness of their lives. The only way out seems to be in sex and drugs.

Ever since its first showing "Ken Park" has been a much disputed film at festivals and its presentation of violence and sex has caused public uproars. However, international film critics are united in claiming "Ken Park" is a revolutionary film worthy of discussion.




Yes Sister No Sister
Director: Pieter Kramer, NL 2002, 104 min, 35 mm, colour, ES
Sa, November 1 17:15 CinemaxX 3
Su, November 2 17:30 CinemaxX 3



Sister Klivia runs a rest home for a group of cheerful but very eccentric elderly people - much to the chagrin of nasty neighbour and landlord Boordevol, who has other plans for the house and who would like to get rid of the sister and her wards.

The young woman Jet brings a kleptomaniac boyfriend home with her and a barber moves in across the way, a "good friend" of Boordevol's. The action suddenly picks up.




Lilya 4-ever
Director: Lukas Moodysson, S 2002, 109 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
We, October 29 20:00 Universum 1
Th, October 30 23:00 CinemaxX 3



Sixteen-year-old Lilya lives in a slum district in the former USSR. Her mother has broken offa ll contact with her. Having little money, she is forced to move into a delapidated apartment. In these hopeless circumstances she falls in love with Andrei, who is much older than her and who seems capable of freeing her from her miserable situation.

In "Lilya 4-ever" Moodysson shows us life from the perspective of a young person whose innocence and childhood are taken from her in the cold neon-lit world of poverty, drugs and bought sex.




Rachida
Director: Yamina Bachir, DZ/F 2002, 100 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
Fr, October 31 12:45 CinemaxX 2
Sa, November 1 14:45 CinemaxX 2
Su, November 2 19:45 Universum 2



In Algeria during the worst years of political terror Rachida, a young teacher, lives and works in a busy part of Algiers. On her way to work without head covering one day she is forced by a group of young men, among whom is a former pupil of hers, to lay a bomb in the school. She refuses and is shot and seriously wounded. After her rescue she moves with her mother to stay with a friend in the country - but fear reigns here as well. This time it is not turban-wearing Moslem extremists who make her life a hell on Earth but members of the sports-shoe-generation.




The Barbecue People (Ha Mangalistim)
Director: David Ofek/Yossi Madmoni, IL 2002, 102 min, 35 mm, colour, ES
Fr, October 31 17:30 CinemaxX 1
Sa, November 1 10:45 CinemaxX 2
Su, November 2 20:00 CinemaxX 1



"The Barbecue People" tells the story of the Ida family in four episodes. It develops over two generations, beginning in Iraq where the parents have experienced love and loss, and going on to New York where the children become involved in a strange murder case.

The various episodes are skilfully woven into a story line which contains a number of surprises. In the end all the separate threads of the plot are drawn together and the Ida family tries to come to terms with its past in order to find a way into the future.




Mr. and Mrs. Iyer
Director: Aparna Sen, IND 2002, 120 min, 35 mm, colour, ES
Fr, October 31 20:00 Universum 1
Sa, November 1 22:30 Universum 1
Su, November 2 17:30 Universum 1



In a bus driving along an Indian mountain road we encounter Meenakshi Iyer with her baby and the moslem photographer Raja Chowdhury. Extremist Hindus whose village had been burnt to the ground by Moslems suddenly stop the bus looking for those responsible. As the situation in the bus escalates Meenakshi, a high-caste Brahmin, makes up her mind to save Raja.s life. She claims that she and Raja are married. When they are finally forced to leave the bus they are on their own.




The Sea is watching
Director: Kei Kumai, J 2002, 119 min, 35 mm, colour, ES
Th, October 30 11:00 CinemaxX 2
Sa, November 1 20:00 Universum 2
Su, November 2 15:00 Universum 1



In a japanese red-light district at the end of the 19. century the prostitute O-Shin hides the fugitive samurai warrior Fusanosuke. She falls in love with him but any true relationship between the different classes in feudal Japan is unthinkable. Abandoned by her lover, O-Shin encounters the next misfortune when a typhoon causes huge waves that destroy the whole redlight district.




Dirty Pretty Things
Director: Stephen Frears, GB 2002, 107 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
We, October 29 17:15 CinemaxX 2
Fr, October 31 13:15 CinemaxX 1
Su, November 2 12:45 CinemaxX 2



The Nigerian docter Okwe and the Japanese housemaid Senay (star actress Audrey Tautou - "Amélie") are secret lovers and work illegally in a London hotel. One night Okwe discovers a blocked drain and thus comes upon a gang of body organ dealers who try to force him to become an accomplice in their criminal activities. Torn between moral objections and his own freedom he seeks a way out.




The Suit (Shik)
Director: Bakhtiar Khudojnazarov, TD/D/RUS 2002, 92 min, 35 mm, colour, ES
We, October 29 11:00 CinemaxX 2
Th, October 30 15:00 Universum 1
Su, November 2 20:00 Universum 1



Three close friends from a small village near the Black Sea are torn between youthful exuberance, uncontained joie de vivre and difficult circumstances at home. All three have one goal: a stylish designer suit from a nearby coastal town which stands for all their dreams and hopes but which unfortunately will not bring them just happiness...




Kopps
Director: Josef Fares, S/DK 2002, 90 min, 35 mm, colour, GV
We, October 29 14:45 CinemaxX 2
Fr, October 31 24:15 CinemaxX 2



In a small town somewhere in Sweden things are quiet, a crime rate does not exist. The four rural policemen Jacob, Benny, Lasse and Agneta play games, eat hotdogs and at best protect a flower garden from a stray cow. One day they are informed that their office is being closed. A shock! In order to protect their jobs the four decide to raise the crime rate themselves.




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