3rd German Film Week, an engaging showcase of contemporary classics
The third edition of the much anticipated German Film Week offers the best and latest in contemporary German Cinema. Now on its third edition, the festival offers a mix of genres from romance to action to comedy.
The five-day filmfest will be held from November 6 to 11, 2018 at SM Aura in Taguig and at SM North EDSA in Quezon City, as well as in Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, and Baguio!
A curated selection of 5 out of the original 10-film line-up will also be screened in the cities of Baguio, Cebu and Cagayan de Oro after the first week in Manila.
The films in the slate are:
Only God Can Judge Me (2017)
November 6 and 11, Tuesday and Sunday, 7 p.m. (SM Aura Premier)
November 8, Thursday, 7 p.m. (SM North EDSA)
The week opens with a boost of adrenaline as gangsters, with producer Moritz Bleibtreu as Ricky at the forefront, and a particular police officer by the name of Diana, play hide and seek, mirroring that of a wild hunt between predator and prey.
With the added touch of the characters of Rafael, Ricky’s brother, and Latif, a partner in crime, this thrilling movie is charged with topics of heists, drugs, and prisons, making gunshots reverberate throughout the storyline.
In the Fade (2017)
November 10, Saturday, 9:30 p.m. (SM Aura Premier)
November 9, Friday, 9:30 p.m. (SM North EDSA)
Following her plight– with a husband and son dead from a terrorist attack– Katja, who dwelled first in the comforting but self-detonating embrace of drugs and suicide, looks for justice when she failed to see one. From here on, one question we can pocket in our minds when we enter the cinema is what seeking for “vigilante justice” looks like in this part of the world.
Rock My Heart (2017)
Rock My Heart, as a film, connects three main things: a stallion by the name of ‘Rock My Heart’, a 17-year-old girl with a heart illness, and an overall film which can rock our hearts altogether both for its drama and energy born out of horseracing.
Accompanied by the character of Paul, a race trainer, plus a heartrending storyline of taking a hold of one’s dreams to the finish line, Rock My Heart (2017) is a film about pushing one’s self to the limit and breaking free.
Forget About Nick (2017)
November 7, Wednesday, 7 p.m. (SM Aura Premier)
November 11, Sunday, 7 p.m. (SM North EDSA)
One could definitely get a vibe of Les Diaboliques (1955) in this film, but while Les Diaboliques can be considered one of the earliest, if not the first horror film where two women join forces to take a man they once loved down, Forget About Nick (2017) is a comedic story about two women who sees themselves helping each other up to forget one man. This will definitely be a story worth telling– and watching!
The Captain
November 7, Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. (SM Aura Premier)
November 11, Sunday, 9:30 p.m. (SM North EDSA)
The Hollywood Reporter’s Todd McCarthy, stirs the fire, even more, when he related how The Captain (2018) is “sure to stir controversy in Germany” and we definitely need to know why.
But when the plot introduces a storyline of a young private hidden under a cast-off uniform of a captain and goes about to accomplish what seems to him as Hitler’s assignment, we get an inkling why. More importantly, questions from this arise. Who is the owner of the uniform, and do we get to know who? We have yet to find out!
303
November 11, Sunday, 9:30 p.m. (SM Aura Premier)
November 8, Thursday, 9:30 p.m. (SM North EDSA)
Good conversations lead to good relationships, but what if you have just met and one was left stranded while the other is on the way to meeting her own destiny? What relationship can be born out of longer rides and deeper topics of conversation including capitalism and monogamy? Surely a lot more; and surely we are with Jan and Jule to reach where they need to be in 303.
Styx (2018)
November 10, Saturday, 7 p.m. (SM Aura Premier)
November 9, Friday, 7 p.m. (SM North EDSA)
The River Styx in Greek Mythology resembles that of a limbo between heaven and hell, and indeed, a boat filled to the brim with refugees as the boat bobs hopelessly on an ocean can mirror that of a limbo. With the character of Rike, a doctor, starring in this existential drama, surely this will lead us to take a peek to her own struggles as she seeks a holiday getaway which turned 180 degrees into a life and death situation.
The Final Journey
November 9, Friday, 9:30 p.m. (SM Aura Premier)
November 10, Saturday, 9:30 p.m. (SM North EDSA)
The past can be haunting as it is, but however traumatizing it can be, a need to face it again may arise in order to move forward from it. In this film, 92-year-old Eduard, with his memories of wartime as a former officer, was accompanied by his granddaughter, Adele, to a journey looking for his love. While Adele carries no love for him, the journey brought together two families with a common ground– the memories of wartime, murder, and the sorrow that comes along with it. With a love growing from the midst of this, are all the journeys from the past worth it?
The Invisibles (2018)
November 8, Thursday, 9:30 p.m. (SM Aura Premier)
November 7, Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. (SM North EDSA)
Among the 1,700 survivors of the Nazi wars in Germany set in 1943, the lives of four witnesses are to be the central aspect of The Invisibles (2018). What makes these four Jews invisible? A blonde hair, forged passports, and faux identities. With film critic Richard Bolisay’s stamp of approval regarding the altruism seen in the most horrific of time, The Invisibles promises a detailed story of four people in a time where tears wash down their true identities.
Transit (2018)
November 9, Friday, 7 p.m. (SM Aura Premier)
November 10, Saturday, 7 p.m. (SM North EDSA)
Based on a novel by German novelist Anna Seghers during her experiences as an exile during the Second World War, Transit (2018) is, therefore, one of the beautiful artistic expressions born out of dangerous times.
Among the many things we can look forward to in this film are the characters of the present meeting the past, taking Georg’s character, who has put on a dead writer’s identity, to the fore.
The 3rd German Film Week is made possible by Goethe Institut, in partnership with the Film Development Council of the Philippines and SM Cinemas.
