German Film Fest Launches

Head to London's Curzon Soho cinema for a week of the finest films that Germany has to offer.

Nov 26 2004

The Seventh Festival of German Film kicks off today at the Curzon Soho cinema, and with its blend of modern movies, documentaries, family films and shorts, the event underlines the recent renaissance in German cinema.

The whole shebang opens this evening with 'En Garde', Ayse Polat's moving ode to friendship that won the Silver Leopard at the 2004 Locarno Film Festival.

There then follows films about everything from the events of World War II ('Napola' and 'The Ninth Day') and the effects of suicide ('Between Night and Day') to the trials and tribulations of a young football team ('The Wild Soccer Bunch').

Elsewhere the German Dox section includes '7 Brothers', the moving story of a group of siblings born between 1929 and 1945, and 'Blue Skin', an entertaining account of three elderly German gentlemen bonded by their love of tattoos.

'Next Generation' meanwhile, offers young German filmmakers the opportunity to present their work to an international audience, while the short film section has been expanded by screening several shorts in front of selected films.

There will also be a tribute to one of Germany's most successful and sought-after actors, Joachim Krol, with screenings of his films 'Trains 'N' Roses', 'Gloomy Sunday' and 'Soundless', a brilliant thriller in which he plays cool calm and collected assassin Viktor, a silent angel of death.

Finally, the festival concludes on Thursday December 2 with a screening of Eric Till's eagerly anticipated 'Luther'. Telling the tale of the revolutionary monk Martin Luther, the film stars Joseph Fiennes, Alfred Molina and Sir Peter Ustinov.

Tickets are available from the box office on 020 7734 2255.