12 German Films Screened Online at KinoFest Festival Throughout March

12 selected German films are being screened at the 2022 KinoFest film festival from Feb. 18 to March 31, reported VNA.

Screenings take place online, accessible to audiences in eight countries in Southeast Asia. Photo courtesy of the producer

The film festival is being organised by eight Goethe institutions in Southeast Asia on an online platform called Goethe-On-Demand.

The films set to be screened during this two-week long film festival include Fabian Or Going To The Dogs by Dominik Graf, Draw A Line - Richard Siegal and the Ballet of Difference by Benedict Mirow, Curveball by Johannes Naber, Free Country by Christian Alvart, The Royal Game by Philipp Stoelzle, and Whiskey with Vodka by Andreas Dresden.

Fabian or Going to the Dogs careens through the twilight hedonism of pre-Nazi Germany in this adaptation of Erich Kästner’s early-1930s-set autobiographical romance while Draw A Line - Richard Siegal and the Ballet of Difference accompanies Richard Siegal and Ballet of Difference during the rehearsals for On Body up to the celebrated world premiere. It shows how the diverse troupe blossoms into one of the best dance companies of today.

Curveball, on the other hand, is a 2020 German political satire film drama directed by Johannes Naber. It is based on true events leading up to the Iraq War of 2003.

A remake of the Spanish film Marshland, and tensely staged by genre expert director Chrisitian Alvart, Free Country is an edge-of-your-seat thriller that will have you questioning everyone. It tells the story of two detectives are plunged into the troubled waters of a place where the effects of the East German regime still muddy the waters after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The Royal Game is about highly intellectual Austrian Lawyer Josef Bartok hastily trying to escape to the USA with his wife but is arrested by the Gestapo. Bartok remains steadfast and refuses to cooperate with the Gestapo that requires confidential information from him. Thrown into solitary confinement, Bartok is psychologically tormented for months and begins to weaken. However, when he steals an old book about chess it sets him on course to overcome the mental suffering inflicted upon him, until it becomes a dangerous obsession.

In Whisky With Vodka, the comedy stars Henry Hubschen as a lovable but alcoholic actor whose career and love life are sliding off the rails.

The event also includes three documentaries, including Cleaners by Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck, Dear Future Children by Franz Böhm, and the Berlinale Film Festival-winning film Mr. Bachmann and His Class by Maria Speth.

The Cleaners is a 2018 documentary film directed by Hans Block. The documentary details the work experience of content moderators for social media websites. The film won seven awards and was nominated for nine. The Cleaners shines a light on a corner of the internet that is meant to be hidden from the average user. The film contrasts the poverty of those who work in content moderation and those in the technology profiting off of their labor.

Dear Future Children is a documentary film directed by Franz Böhm about young activism worldwide. Three young female activists in Hong Kong, Chile, and Uganda cope with the staggering personal impacts of their activism.

Filmed over six months, Mr Bachmann and His Class takes us inside the classroom of a German primary school for immigrant students, led by an inspiring teacher. Filmmaker Maria Speth works in the tradition of Frederick Wiseman, using an immersive approach and expansive length to capture Bachmann’s progressive approach to teaching.

The films are shown online for free and subtitled in four national languages (Indonesian, Thai, Burmese, and Vietnamese) plus English.

The organisation of an online film festival, in addition to ensuring the prevention and control of the pandemic, also aims to bring films to audiences in rural areas, creating conditions for them to evaluate and criticise movies.

Through the films, the audience can understand more about the country, contemporary people and development of German cinema.

France’s City Screens Film in Support Vietnam’s AO/Dioxin Victims "We don't give up the fight! Please join us!" That's the statement of Nicole Duchet Trampoglieri, president of the France-Vietnam Friendship Association in Choisy-le-Roi when ...

Vietnamese Expats Receive Praise at Los Angeles Film Awards Great achievement from France-based and Australia-based artists honored at the Los Angeles Film Awards 2022.

An Egyptian in Hai Phong: Understanding New Lands via Photography Meet Mo (Mohamed Fayed), a Hai-Phong based teacher who seeks out pretty Vietnamese vistas with his trusty camera.