Berlin & Beyond Film Festival returns to the Bay Area
03 Feb, 2017
The 21st Edition of the Berlin & Beyond Film Festival returns to the Bay Area at the historic Castro Theatre (Feb. 3-5), DocDay Oakland at Pro Arts Gallery (Feb. 4), and the Goethe-Institut San Francisco (Feb. 6-8). With annual attendance over 10,000 film goers, the festival has presented over 500 films from German speaking countries in its 21 years. Past guests have included Mario Adorf, Fatih Akin, Moritz Bleibtreu, Daniel Brühl, Doris Dörrie, Hannelore Elsner, Anke Engelke, Bruno Ganz, Werner Herzog, Maria Schrader, Barbara Sukowa, and Wim Wenders.
Opening Night:
The festival opens February 3 at the Castro Theatre with the international premiere of SCRAPPIN’ (Germany 2016) directed by Max Zähle and starring Lucas Gregorowicz, Frederick Lau, Anna Bederke, Lars Rudolph, Heiko Pinkowski, Jan-Gregor Kremp, Alexander Scheer. Director Max Zähle and Screenwriter Johanna Pfaff will be in attendance. The 2016 Film Festival Max-Ophüls-Preis Audience Award Winner, following his Oscar®-nominated short Raju, Max Zähle dedicates his feature film debut to a largely unknown culture marked by long-standing tradition: scrap dealers. Scrappin’ sheds light on this sometimes weird but loveable milieu and tells the story of a family that needs to overcome its differences in order to keep the family business alive.
Above Featured Image: SCRAPPIN’ directed by Max Zähle; starring Lucas Gregorowicz and Frederick Lau
©PortAuPrincePictures
Saturday, February 4, is also a big star-studded and eventful day with an Award Tribute to Julia Jentsch as Berlin & Beyond will be celebrating the actress’ ongoing career achievements. Jentsch will be receiving the Spotlight Award in Acting and there will be a screening of her latest film 24 WEEKS (Germany 2016), directed by Anne Zohra Berrached. Julia Jentsch was born in 1978 in Berlin, and attended the renowned Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts. She began her theater career at the Munich Kammerspiele, where she was a permanent member of the ensemble from 2001-2006. She made her breakthrough as a film actor in 2004 when she was featured in Hans Weingartner’s The Edukators. In 2005 Julia Jentsch appeared as Sophie Scholl in Marc Rothemund’s film, Sophie Scholl: The Final Days. This role won her Best Actress honors at the Berlin International Film Festival (Silver Bear), the German Film Award in Gold, and the European Film Award. In addition, the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Also we are looking forward to a Special World Premiere of SILICON VALLEY REVOLUTION, directed by Jan Tenhaven and starring Dan Bricklin, Bruce Damer, Mary Eisenhart, Lee Felsenstein, Bob Frankston, Andy Hertzfeld, Daniel Kottke, John Markoff, Tim Paterson, Heidi Roizen, Larry Tesler, Jennifer Warnes and Jim Warren. This documentary tells the forgotten stories of some of the most influential personal computer pioneers in the San Francisco Bay Area. In the late 1960s, big mainframe computers owned by large corporations and the government were seen as tools of control. The Hippie movement and the anti-Vietnam war protests served as a hotbed for a revolutionary idea: creating an affordable home computer to be used by ordinary people – as a counterbalance to Big Brother. The rest is history, but what has happened to the early ideals and the initial ethos of free sharing? As one of the visionaries puts it: “It’s true that what I helped to create is today’s establishment. That’s what I was trying to get rid of: the establishment.”
We look forward to you joining us at this year’s Berlin & Beyond Film Festival! Stay tuned for coverage of this prestigious and special film event!
21ST BERLIN & BEYOND FILM FESTIVAL
Since 1996, Berlin & Beyond Film Festival has been the leading festival of contemporary German cinema in the Americas, and has presented over 500 motion pictures, along with the presence of celebrated film figures, including Fatih Akin, Moritz Bleibtreu, Daniel Brühl, Hannelore Elsner, Florian David Fitz, Bruno Ganz, Maria Schrader, Barbara Sukowa, Wim Wenders. The festival is presented by the Goethe-Institut San Francisco, an official cultural institution of the Federal Republic of Germany. Berlin & Beyond’s minifestival in Hawaii will have its fourth edition April 8-9, 2017 at the Doris Duke Theatre of the Honolulu Museum of Art. The 21st Berlin & Beyond Film Festival will take place February 3-5, 2017 at the Castro Theatre, February 6-8, 2017 at the Goethe-Institut San Francisco, and a day of documentaries at Pro Arts Gallery in Oakland on February 4th . Including seasonal programming, Berlin & Beyond receives a combined attendance of over 12,000 people annually. For festival information, go to BerlinBeyond.com
The 2017 Berlin & Beyond Film Festival salutes its 40 partners and sponsors, including Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in San Francisco, the Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco, Mercedes-Benz Research and Development North America, the Excelsior German Center Oakland, Dee Vine Wines, the German International School of Silicon Valley, United Swiss Societies of Northern California, the Consulate General of Austria in Los Angeles, Lufthansa Group, and German Films.
GOETHE-INSTITUT SAN FRANCISCO
Celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2017, the San Francisco branch of the Goethe-Institut has been promoting German culture and language since 1967. Its year-round cultural activities include art exhibitions, film screenings, and special events with local cultural institutions. The Goethe-Institut is Germany’s official cultural center comprised of 159 institutes in 98 countries, and exists to promote art and films from Germany, the study of the German language, and encourage the international cultural exchange with Germany. Official website: Goethe.de/SF
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