Films & Schedules - GERMANY

Chris and Gitti are a happy couple on the surface, but when they meet a happier, more successful couple on vacation, their fragile relationship starts to fall apart.

On the surface, architect Chris and his girlfriend Gitti seem to enjoy perfect, amorous bliss during a getaway on their Sardinia vacation. But their playful romps, secret rituals, and silly habits hide an underlying tension. The two are actually polar opposites. Full of verve, the idiosyncratic Gitti is fearless in expressing her love and devotion for Chris, while he is more reserved in his outlook on life and crippled by varying degrees of personal and professional insecurity. When this odd couple casually meets a happier and more successful couple, everything starts to fall apart. Taking a leaf out of the other couple’s book, Chris tries to show his willful girlfriend who’s boss (he thinks it’s him). Gitti attempts to conform to his new ideal, but what begins as a playful experiment soon turns into a quiet struggle with her own personality. Thanks to their newly developed personas, Chris and Gitti get a second chance to be as happy as everyone else.

Filmography: Forest for the Trees (03).

Winner, Grand Jury Prize, Berlin Film Festival.

119 Minutes    

Interests: Narrative Feature.

A true-story account of a German businessman who saved more than 200,000 Chinese during the Nanjing massacre in 1937-38.

Ulrich Tukur (The Lives of Others) gives a gripping performance as John Rabe, a German industrialist in China who, in 1937, intervened to save an estimated 200,000 Chinese civilians from the rape and slaughter perpetrated by the invading Japanese army. Reluctantly drawn into the relief effort by a coalition of fellow internationals, including an American doctor (Steve Buscemi) and a French school headmistress (Anne Consigny), Rabe and company create a safety zone at Rabe’s Siemens plant where refugees fleeing the Nanking massacre can take shelter. But mounting pressure from the aggressive Japanese commanding officer (Teruyuki Kagawa) pushes their resolve to the breaking point. Based on Rabe’s diaries (published as “The Good Man of Nanking: The Diaries of John Rabe”), Gallenberger’s film is the winner of four German Film Awards including Best Film and Best Actor.

Filmography: Tango Berlin (97), Shadows of Time (04).

134 Minutes    

Interests: Narrative Feature, History, Literature.