FOCUS GERMANY Will Shine in the 10th Shanghai International Film Festival

FOCUS GERMANY Will Shine in the 10th Shanghai International Film Festival

June 08, 2007

    SHANGHAI, China, June 8 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The 10th
Shanghai International Film Festival will take place from
June 16th to June 24th. For the third time, German Films is
organizing FOCUS GERMANY, starting on June 18th with the
screening of WHERE IS FRED? In total, 13 German feature
films, one documentary and 9 short films will be shown. 

    This year, two German films have been selected for the
festival's competition: ACCORDING TO THE PLAN (FREI NACH
PLAN), the second film by Franziska von Meletzky, and
Sebastian Bieniek's debut film THE GAMBLER (DER SPIELER). 

    ACCORDING TO THE PLAN has an impressive cast including
Corinna Harfouch, Dagmar Manzel, Christine Schorn and
Kirsten Block. Schorn and Block will be present at the
Shanghai screening, together with director Franziska von
Meletzky. THE GAMBLER will be presented by Sebastian
Bieniek and his leading actress.

    In 2005, the Shanghai International Film Festival
proved to be a great success for German films, with Chris
Klaus' FOUR MINUTES (VIER MINUTEN), a film about a young
musical genius turned killer, winning the best picture
award. As a result, FOUR MINUTES has been screened all
around the world and leading actress Hannah Herzsprung has
since become one of Germany's young rising stars. 

    The opening film, WHERE IS FRED?, will be presented by
director Anno Saul and actress Tanja Wentzel. The male
lead, Til Schweiger, is already well known to Shanghai
audiences, having starred in last year's BAREFOOT
(BARFUSS). WHERE IS FRED? is a witty comedy and has been
very popular with German audiences.

    Two of the films shown as part of this year's FOCUS
GERMANY will also be of particular interest to the Chinese
audience: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's THE LIVES OF
OTHERS, winner of the 2007 Oscar for Best Foreign Film as
well as the Bavarian Film Award, the German Film Award and
the audience award in Lorcarno, and THE PERFUME, a
worldwide box office hit by celebrated director Tom Twyker
will be showing. 

    On the occasion of FOCUS GERMANY's opening, a reception
will be held on June 18 at the residence of the German
Consul General, in collaboration with the Goethe Institute
Shanghai, an official partner of the German film selection
at the 10th Shanghai International Film Festival.

    Part of the FOCUS GERMANY program will be shown at the
opening of the German Cultural Year in Nanjing in autumn of
2007, organized by Germany's Foreign Ministry and the Goethe
Institute.

    FOCUS GERMANY is an essential part of German Films'
successful initiative to introduce and popularize German
films in China.

    Films in Focus Germany

     1. Where is Fred? (WO IST FRED?) by Anno Saul
        Presented in Shanghai by: Anno Saul, actress Tanja
Wentzel and
        producer Christoph Menardi
     2. Yella von Christian Petzold 
     3. Hounded (Verfolgt) by Angelina Maccarone  
        Presented in Shanghai by: producer Ulrike
Zimmermann
     4. Heavyweights (Schwere Jungs) by Marcus Rosenm¨¹ller

     5. Emma's bliss (Emmas Gluck) by Sven Taddicken 
        Presented in Shanghai by: producer Hajo Emons
     6. The counterfeiter (Die Falscher) by Stefan
Ruzowitzky 
        Presented in Shanghai by: Nina Bohlmann and Babette
Schroder 
     7. French for beginners (Franzosisch fur Anfanger) by
Christian Ditter 
        Presented in Shanghai by: producer Christof Menardi

     8. Impossibly yours (Der Liebeswunsch) by Thorsten
Fischer 
        Presented in Shanghai by: producer Heike
Richter-Karsten
     9. The last train (Der letzte Zug) by Joseph Vilsmaier
and Dana
        Vavrova 
        Presented in Shanghai by: Joseph Vilsmaier and Dana
Vavrova
    10. Lives of the others (Das Leben der Anderen) by F.
H. von
        Donnersmarck 
    11. The perfume (Das Parfum) by Tom Tykwer 
    12. The wild soccer bunch 4 (Die wilden Kerle 4) by
Joachim Masannek
    13. Nothing else matters (Was am Ende zahlt) by Julia
von Heintze 
    14. The big sellout by Florian Opitz 
        Presented in Shanghai by: Director Florian Opitz 

    9 Short films, among them:

    Jackie in the Sky by Felix Binder 
    Presented in Shanghai by: Director Felix Binder

    German films in Competition:

    1. According to the plan (Frei nach Plan) by Franziska
von Meletzky 
       Presented in Shanghai by: Franziska von Meletzky and
the actresses 
        Christine Schorn and Kirsten Block
    2. The gamblers (Die Spieler) by Sebastian Bieniek 
       Presented in Shanghai by: Sebastian Bieniek und
Darstellerin
       Frederike Nass

    German films in Panorama:

    1. Living with hannah (Leben mit Hannah) by E. von
Moeller 
    2. SIS (Schwesterherz) by Ed Herzog 
    3. Autopilots (Autopiloten) by Bastian G¨¹nther 
    4. Vineta by Franziska Stunkel 
    5. Sunny by Thorsten Wettcke 
    6. Hui Bui by Sebastian Niemann 
    7. Children of the moon (Mondscheinkinder) by Manuela
Stacke


    For more information, please contact: 

    Germany:
 
     German Films  
     Mariette Rissenbeek
     Mobile: [phone]
     Email:  [e-mail] 

    China:

     German Films China
     Anke Redl
     Mobile: [phone]
     Email:  [e-mail]

     Christine Howald 
     Mobile: [phone]
     Email:  [e-mail]