|  (GERMANY)
THE EDUCATORS-
Hans Weingartner
Jan and Peter, self-styled political activists,
are the ‘Edukators’. Their instructive prank
is to break into wealthy people’s houses, rearrange
their furniture and possessions, and leave anti-materialist
notes designed to wake the owners from their capitalist
stupor. Nothing is ever stolen, no one ever gets hurt.
At the very least their poetic protests beat having
to do anything to actually overcome the injustices and
lack of opportunity they see in society. One night,
with unwitting accomplice-girlfriend Jule in tow, their
cover is blown and they make the rash decision to kidnap
their rich capitalist victim rather than let him call
the police. Holded up in a mountain cabin, face-to-face
with the enemy and with no idea what to do next, its
time for a surprising reality check. Managing to balance
suspense, comedy and social commentary in highly entertaining
fashion, The Edukators is an articulate and amusingly
drawn look a new generation’s attempt to reconcile
’60s radical politics and idealism with the individualist
impulses of our age. (2:06:00) Print courtesy
of IFC Films.
Filmography:
White Noise (02)
Showtimes:
12 -02-2005 | 6.15PM | WH
15-02-2005 | 6PM| GU
21-02-2005 | 7PM| B1 |
_09.jpg) THE
FLYING CLASSROOM -
Tomy Wigand
Based on a classic story by celebrated
German children’s novelist Erich Kästner
(author of Emil and the Detectives), The Flying Classroom
is a charming, madcap adventure that celebrates courage
and friendship. 12-year old Jonathan has one last chance
when he arrives at the St Thomas boarding school in
Leipzig—he has already been tossed out of six
other schools. This time he has promised to adapt and
does— until he and his new pals get into a skirmish
with the day students. The kind-hearted Headmaster’s
punishment is for them to put together something special
for the coming Christmas program. When they come across
the script of a play entitled “The Flying Classroom”
in the abandoned rail car they use as their secret hideout,
they decide to inject it with some hip-hop style and
present it at the show. Unaware of who authored the
play, the boys have no idea the effect their presentation
will have. (1:54:00) Print courtesy of Bavaria
Film International.
First Feature
Showtimes:
12-02-2005 | 1PM | B1
13-02-2005 | 12.30PM | B1
26-02-2005 | 2.30PM | B1 |
| -kl.jpg) HEAD-ON
- Fatih Akin
After a heavy night of drinking, 40-year
old Cahit, on a path of self-destruction, drives his
car head-on into a building in Hamburg. He enters a
psychiatric clinic where he is approached by the young,
somewhat carefree Sibel, who asks him to marry her.
Desperate to escape the constraints of her fanatic Muslim-Turkish-German
family, Sibel had already attempted suicide and now
she sees a culturally acceptable marriage as her only
means of freedom. Reluctantly, he agrees to the union
and the two move in together. Against the odds, the
mismatch works; with regular meals and a clean apartment,
Cahit starts to clean up his act, while Sibel relishes
her new life, going clubbing and picking up guys as
she wishes. But convenience and friendship soon turn
to love, a complication that sends Cahit towards destruction,
Sibel to Istanbul and the possibility of their relationship
lasting problematic. “Head-On is an intense, romantic,
funny-sad, sometimes harrowing, always moving portrait
of cultural estrangement and the power of love.”—The
Hollywood Reporter. Winner of the European Film Award
for Best Film and German Film Awards for Best Picture,
Best Direction, Best Actress, Best Actor and Best Cinematography.
(2:03:00) Print courtesy of Strand Releasing.
Filmography:
Kurz and Schmerzlos (98), Solino (01).
Showtimes:
13 -02-2005 | 7.15PM | GU
20-02-2005 | 2.30PM | WH |
THE RITCHIE BOYS
- Christian Bauer
One of the many secrets of World War II was
the existence of a special stealth unit of German-Americans
engaged in intelligence gathering and psychological warfare
against the Nazis. Calling themselves “the Ritchie Boys”
for the Camp Ritchie in Maryland where they trained, this
passionate group of German émigrés, many of
them Jewish, used their intimate familiarity with German culture
and language to devise unique strategies for demoralizing
German troops and effectively interrogating prisoners. Bauer’s
engaging film, rich with rare archival footage, photographs
and mementos, gathers surviving Ritchie veterans for the first
time, all of who offer lively stories about their training
and missions in the efforts leading up to D-Day and the development
of psychological warfare. (1:30:00) Print courtesy
of Tangram.
Selected Filmography:
The Man Who became A Camera (01).
Showtimes:
13-02-2005 | 3PM | B2
16-02-2005 | 5.30PM | B2
|  DOWNFALL
- Oliver Hirschbiegel
That you know the ending doesn’t
make Downfall any less fascinating, gripping or just
plain powerful. What was it like in Hilter’s bunker
during the final days of the fall of Berlin in 1945?
Drawing on an array of historical records and stories,
Hirschbiegel weaves fact and fiction to create a novel
and epic recreation of what it might have been like.
As Hitler, played with convincing allure and force by
Bruno Ganz (Wings of Desire) holds court, friends, family
and staff—and a procession of generals and key
ministers come and go. Each has their own calculation
of the situation as the end nears, and their individual
actions—some blindly loyal and others cunning
betrayals—constitute a string of decisions that
etched history. Much of the film’s authenticity
and detail are derived from the memoirs of Traudl Junge,
Hitler’s secretary from 1942 until his suicide.
In fact, the chaos of these times and the overall story
is seen largely through her eyes—those faithful,
naive and courageous eyes that both worshipped and feared
der Führer. This year’s German submission
for the Best Foreign Oscar. (2:30:00)
Filmography:
The Experiment (01), My Last Film (02) and Downfall
(04).
Showtimes:
20-02-2005 | 7.30PM | WH
23-02-2005 | 7PM | WH |
| TOUCH
THE SOUND -
Thomas Riedelsheimer
Riedelsheimer, who brilliantly documented
Andy Goldsworthy's ephemeral art in Rivers and Tides,
has made another captivating portrait. Almost totally
deaf due to a neurological disorder, Scottish percussionist
Evelyn Glennie has a rare ability to use her whole body
to capture sounds and transform them into stunning music.
Glennie performs in cities from New York to Kyoto with
a variety of classical, found and experimental instruments,
from which she is able to coax a startling variety of
sounds. She entrances onlookers in Grand Central Station
with her beloved snare drum, while in Japan she taps
out a rhythm on detritus she finds in a café,
while in an abandoned warehouse, she performs magical
duets with guitarist Fred Frith. Filmed over the course
of a year, Touch the Sound is a poetic exploration of
the primal relationships between body, rhythm, and sound—a
lesson in listening and allowing our senses to really
sense. (1:39:00)
Filmography:
Lhasa (97), Rivers and Tides (01), Touch the
Sound (04)
Showtimes:
12-02-2005 | 3.45PM | B1
13-02-2005 | 1PM | WH |
|  SCHULTZE
GETS THE BLUES - Michael Schoor
When Schultze and his buddies get laid
off from their life’s work in the mines in the
small East German town of Saxon Anhalt there is not
much to do but go fishing, drink beer and play his favorite
polka tunes on his accordion. Fun for a while, but something
has to change life’s all-too familiar routine.
One day it does when a lightning bolt of hot Cajun zydeco
comes over the radio. Schultze becomes Creole-crazed,
grooving to a new beat, practicing new rhythms, cooking
jambalaya and saving up for a musical pilgrimage to
Louisiana. With a comic, bittersweet tinge that recalls
the films of Aki Kaurismäki’s, Schultze’s
bayou road trip offers a deadpan parable about the redemptive
power of true passion, no matter how late it comes in
life. And, of course, lots of great music. Winner of
the Special Jury Award for Best Director, Venice Film
Festival. (1:54:00) Print courtesy of Paramount
Classics.
First Feature
Showtimes:
18-02-2005 | 6.30PM | WH
19-02-2005 | 3.15PM | WH |
|
