The following four films indicate the range of the festival selection: a World War II story, tourists abducted in Pakistan for ransom, a fake news story, and a portrait of former Chancellor Angela Merkel. [All of them are based on actual events.]
THE LOST TRANSPORT, Netherlands/Luxembourg/Germany. Starring Hanna van Vliet, Eugenie Anselin, Anna Bachmann, Bram Suljker. Directed by Saskia Diesing. 100 minutes.
There is always another story to be told, even after 80 years and more, about World War II, the Holocaust and the concentration camps. This is one of those stories, horrific in its background, hopeful in its humanity.
The setting is early 1945. The Russians have advanced into Germany and a train of 2500 Jewish prisoners from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp stops in a field near a German village. The starving and suffering Jewish prisoners desperate are abandoned by the German soldiers.
While a lot of attention is given to the broad drama – the needs of the abandoned prisoners, the German overseers fleeing and Russian troops entering the village – the film focuses on one couple from the transport, Simone (van Vliet) and Isaac, from Holland, eager to find a way home. A chance encounter results in the couple from the train, and Red Army sniper Vera (Anselin) being assigned to stay at the house of distrustful villager Winnie (Bachmann).
This is the story of three women. Simone is a strong character, determined to get home to Holland, loving Isaac, caring and protecting him. Vera is strong-minded, having to make decisions about the village, about the transport sufferers. There is interaction with Simone, sometimes hard, sometimes brittle, but, ultimately, Vera’s humanity comes through, breaking through the letter of regulations.
The third character is Winnie, a young German teenager. She and her friends are very sure of themselves but as the transport arrives and the refugees come into the town searching for food, she is resistant. However, we see the slow change in each of the women and their human interactions, Simone becomes more accepting, Vera questions the severity of her ideology, Winnie learns to accept defeat, accept hardships, and bond with the two women.
This is the kind of story of World War II that is always relevant.
AND TOMORROW WE WILL BE DEAD/ Und Morgen Seid Ihr Tot, Switzerland/Germany. Starring Morgane Ferru, Sven Schelker. Directed by Michael Steiner. 117 minutes.
A German Swiss production about two young German Swiss travelling in Pakistan who are abducted by the Taliban, and held for more than seven months with the Taliban asking for a ransom.
The audience is invited to identify with the young couple, Daniela and David, his ambition to travel the Silk Road, their young enthusiasm, travels in Asia, rapt in their experience, the amazing scenery, encountering fellow travellers and then venturing into Pakistan, with police guards, then moving out on their own and being ambushed.
The audience is not only invited to identify with the young couple in themselves but also to share the experience of the abduction, the fear and terror, the uncertainties, the mixture of harsh and sympathetic treatment, the interactions with their captors, their being made privy to some of the details of negotiation, allowed to communicate with their families at times, David with a severe bout of malaria, Daniela becoming stronger as the months go by, their decision to escape.
And, in the background, there are scenes of both sets of parents and their concern, discussions with the Swiss authorities, phone calls and letters, a father angry with the delay in negotiations, demands for the release of Taliban prisoners, the escalating amount of ransom money demanded, his compromising the safety of the couple by his rash attempted publicity.
It is something of a shock at the end when, after the escape, they return to Switzerland for a press conference where some of the journalists question the truth of what they are saying, are critical of their going to Pakistan in the first place . . . As the information is given at the end, the couple did not stay together except for writing a book about their experiences on which this film is based.
A THOUSAND LINES/ Tausend Zeilen, Germany, 2022. Starring Elyas M'Barak, Jonas Nay, Jorg Hartmann, Maria Burchard, Michael Ostrowski, Michael Maertens, Sara Fazilat, Jeff Burrell. Directed by Michael Herbig. 93 minutes.
The German title is straightforward – the poster for the English title is able to make a sardonic comment that the German title cannot: A Thousand Li(n)es.
This is a film about the fabrication of news, based on actual characters and events, the prestigious German magazine Der Spiegel, and a multi-award-winning young journalist. (With an acknowledgment to Wikipedia providing a great deal of information about characters and events, it is worth Googling Claas Relotius to read the background of this fictionalised version and how it keeps quite close to real-life events.)
The drama focuses on a Spanish-born German journalist for Der Spiegel, Juan Romero, who wrote the book on which this film is based. But, there is some joking in the introduction about this being a fiction, based on fact, but allegedly mostly made up – honestly. This sets a tone that this treatment is sometimes satiric, sometimes a parody, with quite funny moments. The film has been criticised by some for its parody tone, the critics wanting a more straightforward, deeper exploration of the journalist creating stories, being hailed for his writing, winning many awards, investigated and exposed.
The journalist of this film, Claas Relotius (Nay) is presented as a naive journalist, active in the field, Syria, US, Mexico . . . And finding dramatically significant stories which go on to win (as they did in real life) many press awards. Only gradually is the true Relotius revealed. But the dramatic focus of attention is on Juan Romero (M’Barak), a sincere journalist, who is invited by Relotius to collaborate in articles, then found wanting, but also determining that there are inconsistencies in Relotius’ stories, his travelling to Mexico and the US with his photographer to try to find out the truth.
However, in its satirical way, the film is highly critical of the editors of the magazine. While there have been many serious films about investigations of journalistic fraud, the satiric tone of this film engages the audience imagination and sense of humour as it exposes the fraud.
MERKEL, Germany, 2022. Directed by Eva Weber. 95 minutes
The publicity synopsis for this cinema portrait of Germany’s first woman Chancellor, Angela Merkel, puts it in a nutshell: Driven by extensive archive material and interviews with those who know her, this is the astonishing story of how a triple outsider – a woman, a scientist, and an East German – became the de facto leader of the Free World, told for the first time for an international audience.
The film is described as a biography but a biography that satisfies audiences wanting to know details of the subject’s life but going into depth is not quite possible in 95 minutes cinema. It would be more accurate to call this film a portrait.
During her 16 years leading Germany and considered by many the de facto leader of the European Union, Angela Merkel made a powerful impression, in a leadership, in diplomacy, in guiding Germany and the European Union, often offering a compassionate face to the world, especially in 2015 and the vast number of refugees from the East entering Europe and allowed into Germany.
This portrait offers the opportunity to learn about Angela Merkel’s early years, her growing up in East Germany, her family, her pastor father, her studies and achievement, her science background. The portrait-building shows the humane side of Merkel. Then, it moves to the political situation and her somewhat surprising ascendancy as Chancellor.
The film does give some insight into how she handled the politics of 2006 to 2021, a female leader on the world stage, her relationships with other world leaders (from Trump to Putin), and her achievement by the end of her Chancellor leadership.
The filmmakers obviously admire Angela Merkel, with most of the documentary positive, but presenting critical aspects. The film offers an opportunity for audiences to learn something about Angela Merkel and give a perspective on her achievement.
German Film Festival
Screening Australia wide at Palace Cinemas
Sydney: 2–24 May
Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide: 3–24 May
Melbourne, Perth, Byron: 4–24 May