A program made up of 6 titles that will be screened at the Academia de Cine and Cineteca Madrid
Each edition of the Films by Women Madrid Festival has a guest country, with the aim of reflecting its recent film production. This year, the Focus Section will be dedicated to German cinema, with the intention of giving visibility to the talent of its women professionals and transmitting their vision of the world to the attending audience, as well as facilitating their encounter with Spanish experts.
Steffi Niederzoll. Focus Alemania
Why FOCUS GERMANY?
German cinema has a long history of women directors: from pioneers such as Rosa Porten, the screenwriter Thea von Harbou, Lotte Reiniger and her animated works, through Leni Riefenstahl, to the later Jutta Bruckner, Helma Sanders Brahms, Margarethe von Trotta –a symbol of the New German Cinema– and Caroline Link, winner of an Oscar in 2002; are just some of the most recognized ones. Therefore, for us, it seemed to be time to focus on current cinema made by women in Germany.
The program is made up of six films, produced between 2019 and 2023, without previous commercial release in Spain or Madrid: two documentary films – which have participated in many festivals – and four recent fiction films, demonstrating the variety of genres, narratives, and themes. The feature films will be screened at the Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España and Cineteca Madrid between October 25th and November 3rd.
This program has the support of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany the Goethe-Institut in Madrid and the collaboration of German Films, an entity that contributes to the acknowledgment and promotion of German films in the international market.
Furthermore, every year we invite directors and experts to present their films live, as well as to discuss with other professionals in the sector and with the audience, thus enriching the screening events. On this occasion, we will be accompanied by the directors Hanna Doose, Simone Geißler, and Steffi Niederzoll, the producer of “Elaha”, Emina Smajić, and the artistic director of the IFFF Dortmund Köln, Maxa Zoller, who will participate in our Professional and Formative Activities.
PROGRAMMING
ACADEMIA DE LAS ARTES Y LAS CIENCIAS CINEMATOGRÁFICAS
SALA DE CINE
Zurbano, 3
Admission: 3,15€
Wednesday, October 25th, 7:00 pm
Wann kommst du meine Wunden küssen (Kiss my Wounds)
Hanna Doose, Germany
Fiction, 2022, 111’
Premiere in Spain
Presented by Hanna Doose
Friday, October 27th, 6:00 pm
Haus der Stille (House of Silence)
Simone Geißler, Germany
Fiction, 2023, 84’
Premiere in Spain
Presented by Simone Geißler
Friday, October 27th, 20.00h
Elaha
Milena Aboyan, Armenia / Germany
Fiction, 2023, 110’
Premiere in Spain
Presented by Emina Smajić
CINETECA MADRID
SALA PLATÓ
Plaza de Legazpi, 8
Admission: 3,50€
Wednesday, November 1st, 9:00 pm
Sieben Winter in Teheran (Seven Winters in Teheran)
Steffi Niederzoll, Germany
Documentary, 2023, 97’
Premiere in Spain
Presented by Steffi Niederzoll
Thursday, November 2nd, 7:00 pm
Pelikanblut (Pelican blood)
Katrin Gebbe, Germany
Fiction, 2019, 121’
Premiere in Madrid
Friday, November 3rd, 9:30 pm
Merkel
Eva Weber, Germany
Documentary, 2022, 94’
Premiere in Spain
Maxa Zoller. Focus Alemania
PARTICIPATION OF THE GERMAN EXPERTS
The Professional and Formative Activities are a unique opportunity to learn first-hand about the work and experience of German experts in the film industry. For this edition, we have prepared three round tables, which will take place at the Espacio Fundación Telefónica and at the Goethe-Institut Madrid:
WEEK I: FROM OCTOBER 24th TO OCTOBER 29th
Thursday, October 26th, 7:30 pm
Espacio Fundación Telefónica
Round table. “Balance statement: results of gender incentives in the audiovisual industry”, with the participation of the German expert Maxa Zoller, artistic director of the IFFF Dortmund+Köln, Beatriz Navas, former director of the ICAA, and Alexia Muiños, president of the European Women's Audiovisual Network (EWA). The event will be moderated by Cristina Andreu, president of CIMA.
Thursday, October 26th, 5:30 pm
Goethe Institut in Madrid
Round table with the participation of the German director Hanna Doose and the producer of "Elaha", Emina Smajić.
WEEK II: FROM OCTOBER 30th TO NOVEMBER 5th
Thursday, November 2nd, 7:30 pm
Espacio Fundación Telefónica
Round table. “Making films in times of conflict”, with the participation of the German director Steffi Niederzoll, who will talk about her latest documentary film “Seven Winters in Tehran”, Kateryna Shevchenko, director of the Ukrainian Film Week in Madrid; and the Afghan actress Shabnam Rahimi. The event will be moderated by Elena Manrique, film producer and member of the festival's programming committee.
SUPPLEMENTARY PROGRAMMING: DEBUT FILMS - GOETHE-INSTITUT MADRID
As a supplement to Focus Germany, the Goethe-Institut Madrid will screen six debut films by a selection of German directors:
Goethe Institut in Madrid
Zurbarán, 21
Free entrance until maximum capacity.
https://www.goethe.de/ins/es/es/ver.cfm?fuseaction=events.detail&event_id=25034070
Thursday, October 26th, 7:00 pm
The Case You
Alison Kuhn, Germany
Documentary, 2020, 80’
Thursday, October 26th, 8:30 pm
Nico
Eline Gehring, Germany
Fiction, 2021, 75’
Friday, October 27th, 7:00 pm
Home
Franka Potente, Germany
Fiction, 2020, 100’
Monday, October 30th, 7:00 pm
Bilder (m)einer Mutter (Life on tape)
Melanie Lischker, Germany
Documentary, 2021, 79’
Tuesday, October 31st, 7:00 pm
Le Prince
Lisa Bierwirth, Germany
Fiction, 2021, 125’
Thursday, November 2nd, 7:00 pm
Mein Sohn (My son)
Lena Stahl, Germany
Fiction, 2021, 94'
GERMAN CO-PRODUCTIONS AT OUR FESTIVAL
In addition to the program above, this year four German co-production films will also be screened: El Eco/Das Echo/The Echo (2023) by Tatiana Huezo -International Competition- which will feature a presentation by the director and a subsequent discussion; “Drei Frauen und der Krieg (Trained To See: three women and the war)” (2022) by Luzia Schmid, at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum; “The sultana's dream” (2023) by Isabel Herguera -Spanish Competition-; and “Elfriede Jelinek - Language Unleashed” (2022) by Claudia Müller, in the special sessions at the Sala Berlanga.
OTHER EDITIONS OF THE FOCUS SECTION
Previous editions of the Focus Section were dedicated to Sweden (2018), Switzerland (2019), Poland (2020), China (2021) and the Netherlands (2022). Each section was celebrated thanks to the invaluable collaboration of each guest country through their embassies, film institutes, and cultural centers in Spain.
