Heinz Badewitz, the director of the Hof International Film Festival, died on 10 March 2016 at the age of 74.

Mariette Rissenbeek, managing director of German Films: "The news reached us quite unexpectedly at the weekend that the long-standing director of the Hof International Film Festival, Heinz Badewitz, had passed away during his stay at the film festival in Graz. For almost 50 years, Heinz Badewitz had been running the Hof International Film Festival which he had co-founded. He knew all the German filmmakers and they all knew him and loved coming to Hof to present their films to the audiences. But Heinz Badewitz wasn't only active in Hof. He was responsible over several decades for the "German Cinema" section at the Berlinale. He was also connected with German Films through his long years of service as a jury member for the NEXT GENERATION short film program as well as overseeing the "New German Films" showcase at the film market in Cannes. Although Heinz Badewitz was very well informed about (German) filmmakers and films and had a great knowledge of cinema and a big heart, his knowledge went far beyond subjects about cinema. Conversations with Heinz could have unexpected twists and touch on subjects that one personally didn't know anything about, but gladly listened to what he had to say. His enthusiasm, his fighting spirit and his commitment set him apart. We will miss him."

Glorious sunshine welcomed the German Oscar^® nominees at the Villa Aurora in Los Angeles on 27 February 2016. German Films hosted a reception together with Villa Aurora and the German Consulate General of Los Angeles in the garden of the artists' residence a day before the awards ceremony. It honored German director Patrick Vollrath, nominated for his short EVERYTHING WILL BE OK (DE/AT), and Bernhard Henrich, the Oscar^®-nominated production designer for BRIDGE OF SPIES (US/DE/IN), and their teams as well as representatives of the nominated productions AVE MARIA (PS/DE/FR), MUSTANG (FR/DE/TR/QA) and THE DANISH GIRL (UK/US/DE). 

Very special guests were the German Minister of State for Culture and the Media Prof. Monika Grütters and the Governing Mayor of Berlin Michael Müller. Mariette Rissenbeek (Managing Director of German Films), Annette Rupp (Managing Director of Villa Aurora), Dr. Markus Klimmer (Chairman of Villa Aurora), and the German Consulate General in Los Angeles Hans-Jörg Neumann welcomed around 400 guests from the German and international film industries. Around 50 German and international members of the press had an opportunity for interviews with an impressive backdrop of the hills of Pacific Palisades.

In her speech, State Minister Monika Grütters gave a positive review of last year in German cinemas and once again banged the drum for Germany as a production hub: "The high degree of expertise of crews in Germany, the excellent production infrastructure, utmost professionalism and absolute reliability of the service-providers and staff are acknowledged around the world." The six-times Oscar^®-nominated thriller BRIDGE OF SPIES is an excellent example of this. The shooting was largely done in Germany. Studio Babelsberg was responsible for the shoot as a co-producer and executive production company and was delighted at the Oscar^® for Mark Rylance as Best Supporting Actor. He appeared opposite such German actors as Sebastian Koch (HOMELAND, THE LIVE OF OTHERS), Burghart Klaußner (THE PEOPLE VS. FRITZ BAUER, THE WHITE RIBBON) and Max Mauff (VICTORIA).

More photos on Facebook...

And the reception in moving images...

The official sponsors for the reception were: Bertelsmann, Porsche Design, Engel & Völkers, AMI, Belvoir, BWR, Selters and Volvic.

The reception was supported by: Federal Government Commissioner for Culture & the Media, Federal Foreign Office, BE Berlin, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, MFG Medien- and Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg.

The international film market FILMART in Hong Kong has become a very important bridge between West and East for European sales companies to make sales to Asia and particularly to the big Chinese market. This is also shown by the fact that, with each new year, more and more German sales companies are attending FILMART. Due to the large German presence with eight sales companies this year, 2016 will see a dedicated German section being created for the first time in the expanded European Pavilion. European Film Promotion (EFP) is organizing the Pavilion with support from German Films.

European Pavilion at FILMART (14 - 17 March 2016)
#1C E13

Meet the German sales agents:  
Beta Cinema: Tassilo Hallbauer
Films Boutique: Louis Balsan
Global Screen: Alice Buquoy
m-appeal world sales: Aleksandra Abykova
media luna new films: Ida Martins
MIRAMEDIA: Wolfgang Wilke
Picture Tree International: Yuanyuan Sui
Pluto Film: Patricie Pouzarova

More information about the participants and their titles can be found in the European Film Promotion brochure here.

The 44th Hong Kong International Film Festival (21 March - 4 April 2016) is staged immediately after the film market. A total of 18 German films and co-productions have been programmed there...