New international Cinema

New International Cinema once again takes us on a cinematic journey around the world with the newest work of 15 directors from 11 different countries. Among them: Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki’s "Lichter der Vorstadt"; Ken Loach’s Cannes award-winner "The Wind That Shakes The Barley" Robert Altman’s "The Prairie Home Companion"; South Korean Chan-Wook Park’s "Lady Vengeance"; Chilean Alicia Scherson’s directing debut "Play"; Martin Koolhoven’s film "Schnitzelparadies" from the Netherlands; independent-icon Steve Buscemi’s film "Lonesome Jim"; "Salvador" from Spanish director Manuel Huerga; and French film "The Singer" from Xavier Giannoli.

We hope these and the others (in more detail on the following pages) make clear what our intention was and is – to present lively international cinema with new and old film faces representing different countries - every one worth a look.




Play
Director: Alicia Scherson, RCH/RA 2005, 100 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
Actors: Viviana Herrera, Andres Ulloa, Aline Küppenheimt
Sa, November 11 1:00 pm CinemaxX 2
Su, November 12 11:00 am CinemaxX 2


The young nurse Christina has moved from the country to the big city and loves listening to music with her big headphones on as she wanders through Santiago de Chilé in summer. One day she meets Tristan, a young, temporarily out-of-work architect with a broken heart and is soon hot on his heels.




The City of the Sun (Slunecni Stat)
Director: Martin Sulik, CZ/SLO 2005, 95 min, 35 mm, colour, ES
Actors: Oldrich Navratil, Ivan Martinka, Lubos Kostelny
We, November 8 3:15 pm CinemaxX 1
Su, November 12 8:00 pm CinemaxX 1


When work-colleagues and friends Karel, Vinco, Tomás and Milan lose their jobs they take fate into their own hands and buy a delivery van in order to start a removal company. Soon they discover things do not run to plan, especially when the different family and relationship problems come into play...




The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Director: Ken Loach, UK/IRL/D 2006, 127 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
Actors: Cillian Murphy, Padraic Delaney, Liam Cunningham
Th, November 9 8:00 pm City-Filmpalast
Fr, November 10 5:30 pm City-Filmpalast
Su, November 12 8:15 pm CinemaxX 2


1920s Ireland – torn apart by civil war and at war for independence from Britain. Brutal assaults by a notorious English police unit lead two brothers to join the IRA. Soon the freedom movement faces conflict not just with its enemy, but also internally and the brothers get caught in the middle.




Lichter der Vorstadt (Laitakaupungin valot)
Director: Aki Kaurismäki, FIN/D/F 2006, 78 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
Actors: Janne Hyytiäinen, Maria Heiskanen, Maria Järvenhelmi
We, November 8 5:30 pm City-Filmpalast
Fr, November 10 8:00 pm City-Filmpalast


Koistinen is watchman in a Helsinki suburb. One day he meets Mirja, a blond angel, and becomes hopelessly obsessed with her. It emerges that she is part of a group of gangsters, who proceed to play dirty tricks on the poor man. Sometimes life is tragic, but maybe there is a flicker of hope for Koistinen...




Toi et moi
Director: Julie Lopes Curval, F 2005, 90 min, 35 mm, colour, ES
Actors: Marion Cotillard, Julie Depardieu, Eric Berger
Sa, November 11 11:00 am CinemaxX 2
Su, November 12 6:00 pm CinemaxX 2


Ariane writes photo-novels for ‘Toi et moi’ taking inspiration from her own life and that of her sister, Léna. Their lives are, however, no photo-novel: Ariane clings to the disinterested Farid, while Léna grows bored of her boyfriend François. Will the sisters ever find true love in real life?




Lady Vengeance (Chinjeolhan geumjassi)
Director: Chan-wook Park, ROK 2005, 112 min, 35 mm, colour, ES
Actors: Yeong-ae Lee, Min-sik Choi
We, November 8 10:30 pm CinemaxX 3
Th, November 9 2:45 pm CinemaxX 3


Geum-ja just turned 19 when convicted of the murder of a young boy. Most shocking is not the deed itself, but the angel-like, attractive appearance of the murderess. Her willingness to help makes her many friends inside and during her sentence she plans her revenge. After 13 years she is released...




Princesas
Director: Fernando León de Aranoa, E 2005, 113 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
Actors: Candela Peña, Micaela Nevárez, Mariana Cordero
Fr, November 10 2:45 pm CinemaxX 2
Su, November 12 8:00 pm City-Filmpalast


A Madrid hair-salon acts as retreat for the long-term resident prostitutes. Here they get the latest gossip and make fun of the newcomers - exotic Latin-American girls ruining the market with low prices. One of the salon-regulars starts a friendship with her newcomer neighbour...




Lonesome Jim
Director: Steve Buscemi, USA 2005, 91 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
Actors: Casey Affleck, Liv Tyler, Mary Kate Place, Seymour Cassel
Fr, November 10 12:30 am CinemaxX 2
Sa, November 11 3:00 pm City-Filmpalast


Jim returns to Goshen after a failed venture as writer in NYC. As he recalls what he’d originally run away from, he’d prefer to turn back. Then he meets Anika in a bar and later loses sight of her. A fateful car accident brings them together and she becomes his reason to stay, for the time being...




Salvador
Director: Manuel Huerga, GB/E 2006, 134 min, 35 mm, colour, ES
Actors: Daniel Brühl, Tristán Ulloa, Leonardo Sbaraglia
Sa, November 11 10:30 pm City-Filmpalast
So, November 12 3:00 pm City-Filmpalast


The film tells the true story of Puig Antich, a fighter in the battle against the Franco dictatorship in Spain and one of the last victims of the then-dominant perversions of justice. Puig’s decision to fight for freedom and the terrible price he had to pay, makes him an icon of his generation.




Chanson d`amour (Quand j‘étais chanteur)
Director: Xavier Giannoli, F 2006, 112 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
Actors: Gérard Depardieu, Cécile De France, Mathieu Amalric
Fr, November 10 10:15 pm City-Filmpalast
Sa, November 11 8:00 pm City-Filmpalast


Alain lives for music and has been singing in bars for 20 years. But his life is shadowed by routine and loneliness. When he meets Marion things spring into action. Moving around one another like dancers - sometimes close, sometimes distant - they try to find an affectionate approach to each other.




A little trip to Heaven
Director: Baltasar Kormákur, IS/USA 2005, 98 min, 35 mm, colour, english OV
Actors: Forrest Whitaker, Julia Stiles, Peter Coyote
Th, November 9 10:30 pm City-Filmpalast
Su, November 12 5:45 pm City-Filmpalast


Insurance detective Holt is friendly and good-natured, yet an ice-cold professional. Consigned to the investigation of a puzzling car accident, he is pushed to his limits and becomes entrapped in a bizarre world of relationships connecting an obscure couple with the silent residents of a small town.




Love is in the Air (Ma vie en l‘air)
Director: Rémi Bezançon, F 2005, 103 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
Actors: Vincent Elbaz, Marion Cotillard, Gilles Lellouche
We, November 8 10:15 pm City-Filmpalast
Su, November 12 3:30 pm CinemaxX 2


Yann Kerbec operates a flight simulator for pilot training purposes. Paradoxically he has a fear of flying and holds it responsible for the loss of his dream woman, unable to follow her to Australia. Now 30, despite his flight safety crusade and efforts to stabilise his love-life, he’s left hanging...




The Violin (El Violin)
Director: Francisco Vargas, MEX 2006, 98 min, 35 mm, bw, ES
Actors: Don Ángel Tavira, Dagoberto Gama, Gerardo Taracena
We, November 8 3:30 pm CinemaxX 3
Th, November 9 5:30 pm City-Filmpalast


Don Plutarco, his son and grandson lead double lives – musicians by day, by night supporters of the Campesina Guerrillas, trying to bring an end to the regime’s oppression. When their village is occupied, they escape and must leave their munitions behind. Plutarco tries to get into the captain’s favour...




A Prairie Home Companion
Director: Robert Altman, USA 2006, 105 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
Actors: Tommy Lee Jones, Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline
Fr, November 10 3:00 pm City-Filmpalast
So, November 12 1:15 pm CinemaxX 3


Since 1974 "A Prairie Home Companion" has run on 558 radio channels in the USA. During a live broadcast presenter Garrison Keillor discovers this is to be the final show. The unit manager and his assistant are trying to keep the failing show on course. Arguments escalate and the plug is about to be pulled...




Das Schnitzelparadies (Het Schnitzelparadijs)
Director: Martin Koolhoven, NL 2005, 82 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
Actors: Mounir Valentyn, Bracha van Doesburgh, Mimoun Oissa
We, November 8 8:00 pm City-Filmpalast
Sa, November 11 11:30 am CinemaxX 3


Nordip’s proud father believes his son could study medicine, but secretly Nordip prefers to work in the dirty hotel kitchen at "Zum Blauen Geier", where Dutch, Moroccans, Serbs and Turks fight with schnitzels, dirty pans and their chubby boss...

A comedy of cultures filled with delicious self-mockery.




Little Miss Sunshine
Director: Jonathan Dayton/Valerie Faris, USA 2006, 101 min, 35 mm, colour, GV
Actors: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear
Sa, November 11 5:30 pm City-Filmpalast


Six year-old Olive dreams of becoming "Little Miss Sunshine". Through chance she is invited to the competition and her entire family accompany her on the trip to California. Although the journey is marked by problems and disasters, the trip brings the family closer together when the small, chubby outsider meets her highly-styled nightmarish competitors.

Sensitive feelings and weird humour harmonise in Jonathon Dayton and Valerie Faris’ counteraction to the American dream. The directing debut, with a satirical, but deeply human perspective, was celebrated with a standing ovation at the Sundance Festival in 2005.




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