Milwaukee Film Festival 2013 - Passport: Germany

With a community that is deep in German heritage, it is only natural that today's announcement of Milwaukee Film

Festival's Passport: Germany is bound to resonate in the community.

Past features have been focused on India and China.

This year's Passport: Germany features Eight German and one Australian filmmaker with films at least partially set in Germany and subjects connected to the country.

In the release from Milwaukee Film, Artistic and Executive Director, Jonathan Jackson says 

“We’re hoping that Milwaukee’s own strong German heritage makes this year’s Passport program even more special for our audience.”

Not only will the special program feature eight films, but it will also include a lecture from Dr. Sara Hall (no relation) of the University of Illinois-Chicago on the current trends and concerns in German cinema. 

The lineup for Passport: Germany

Almanya, Welcome to Germany
(Germany / Director: Yasemin Samdereli)

In 1964, Huseyin leaves his native Turkey in order to create a better life for his family in Germany. Nearly fifty

 years later, the patriarch insists on a group road trip back to the motherland. This colorful, family-friendly look at the amorphous world of cultural identity tackles the immigrant experience with a richly deserved warmth and humanity. Director Yasemin Samdereli expertly cuts between both past and present, pulling at your heartstrings and making you laugh out loud in equal doses, as she shows that no matter how the world changes, the question of what determines who you are remains ageless.

Hannah Arendt

(Germany / Director: Margarethe von Trotta)

An intelligent and powerful biopic following the most memorable and controversial moment in the life of the German-Jewish political philosopher, whose series of New Yorker articles surrounding the 1961 Eichmann trial introduced her now-famous “banality of evil” concept and won her plaudits and condemnation alike the world over. Esteemed German director Margarethe von Trotta nimbly intercuts real trial footage into her dramatization, managing the herculean feat of making the inner life of an intellectual both honest and cinematically engrossing. Barbara Sukowa's magnetic lead performance centers the film, capturing the massive humanity and intellect behind the name.

 
Lore
(Australia, Germany, United Kingdom / Director: Cate Shortland)

Lore (portrayed by the stunning Saskia Rosendahl) must lead her three younger siblings on a perilous five hundred mile journey through the Bavarian wilderness after the imprisonment of her Nazi parents during the regime’s dying throes in rural Germany. Her own staunchly anti-semitic feelings are put to the test along the way, as they encounter the enigmatic Thomas, a Jewish runaway who may be their best hope for reaching safety. Director Cate Shortland coaxes remarkable performances from her predominantly adolescent cast, making the multiple award-winning Lore into a tale of childhood’s end that provides a visually stunning glimpse into the damage wrought by hateful ideologies.

Ludwig II
(Germany / Directors: Marie Noelle, Peter Sehr)

This lush, sprawling epic surrounds the unexpected ascension and reign of the Bavarian king who wished to “remain an eternal enigma.” A believer in the transformative power of art and culture, King Ludwig II (both a patron and admirer of Wagner) ran afoul of the political elite with his focus on musical instruments of construction instead of weapons of destruction. Ludwig’s idyllic vision is shattered by the Franco-Prussian War, and the choices he’s forced to make have calamitous results. In the vein of Marie Antoinette before it, Ludwig IIfinds the humanity behind the history and brings the ‘mad monarch’ soaring to life.

Oh Boy
(Germany / Director: Jan Ole Gerster)

A fresh voice in German cinema emerges in Oh Boy, Jan-Ole Gerster’s French New Wave by way of Woody Allen day-in-the-life slacker comedy.  Cut off by his father after his multi-year college dropout status is revealed, separated from a girlfriend who requires commitment and, perhaps worst of all, unable to acquire a normal cup of coffee; Niko's day couldn't be more exapserating. The jazz soundtrack and gorgeous black and white cinematography lend a classic flavor to this modern tale of youthful ennui that was the big winner at the 2012 Lolas (Germany’s answer to the Oscars).

Oma and Bella
(Germany / Director: Alexa Karolinski)


Regina Karolinski and Bella Katz are octogenarians living together in modern Berlin who spend their days preparing the delicious comfort food with an eye towards creating a cookbook to keep alive the heritage and memories of their youth. They first met in the immediate aftermath of World War II, both having had endured concentration camps and the loss of their families. A heartwarming, appetite-stoking visit with to two wonderful women who pay tribute to their past while staying fully engaged in the present, Oma and Bella is a moving portrait of a cooking-as-therapy that provides a honest portrait of two irrepressible spirits.

This Ain’t California
(Germany / Director: Marten Persiel)


Dogtown and Z-Boys meets The Lives of Others with a pinch of Exit Through the Gift Shop thrown in for good measure in this dazzling hybrid documentary tight-rope act that explores the little-known skateboarding subculture in 1980s East Germany through the lives of three close friends following their bliss on handmade boards through the concrete jungle of the GDR. Stunningly-crafted recreations in Super 8 film blend seamlessly alongside period-specific newscasts as director Marten Persiel tells his tale of youthful rebellion in an era of political tumult with vibrant energy—a joyous celebration built to awaken the dormant anti-authoritarian in all of us.

Wings of Desire
(Germany / Director: Wim Wenders)


A rare opportunity to experience classic cinema in its intended 35mm glory, Wim Wenders acclaimed city symphony posits a world where invisible angels glide effortlessly above a divided Berlin, listening to our hopes and fears. We follow Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) as they weave their way through the city, until Damiel’s affection for a trapeze artist leads him to make the fateful decision to shed the immortal coil and become human.  More driven by a love of humankind than the plot, Wender's gentle pacing and expert touch create a cinematic tone poem that enchants all who encounter it.

Visit Milwaukee Film for tickets (including 6-packs) and more -- and watch for the continuing coverage of the festival here.  The festival runs September 26 - October 10, 2013.