Young German cinema also provided evidence of its quality and international popularity in Cannes. The world premiere of NEXT GENERATION SHORT TIGER 2015, the program of shorts organized  by German Films and the FFA, was held at a capacity screening with 350 spectators. Due to the program's growing popularity in recent years, it was held in the Olympia Cinema, the Marché du Film's largest available cinema, for the first time and reached 100 more spectators than in 2014 – including representatives of international festivals, journalists, producers and buyers. In addition, two young talented directors from Germany presented their short films at the festival alongside 11 German co-productions: Eliza Petkova presented ABSENT in the Cinéfondation and Patrick Vollrath was in the Critics' Week with EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY. MUSTANG by Deniz Gamze Ergüven (FR/DE/TR) – co-produced on the German side by VISTAMAR Filmproduktion and Uhland Film – won the Europa Cinemas Label in the independent sidebar of the Directors' Fortnight. German actors were also featured in the Cannes program: Max Riemelt was one of the leads in Barbet Schroeder's AMNESIA which was shown as a Special Screening. Urs Rechn and other actors from Germany appeared in the Grand Prix winner SON OF SAUL by László Nemes.

German Films showed 25 new German productions, including 15 market premieres, to professional delegates at the Marché du Film in its "New German Films" showcase. The German Pavilion appeared on its 15th anniversary in a new modern design and was again a much frequented meeting place in the International Village. Another popular meeting place for around 1,000 guests was the German Films Cocktail at the La Plage – Majestic Barrière in honor of German cinema and the films with German participation showing in the festival. State Minister for Culture & the Media Prof. Monika Grütters gave the opening speech. Musical entertainment was provided by Christian Friedel - recently nominated for this year's German Films Awards in the category Best Leading Actor for 13 MINUTES - with his band Woods of Birnam. German Films thanks its sponsors SIXT and VGF for their support.

More photos from Cannes on Facebook.

More on the guests at the Cocktail...

"It's not only the expanding economy and the rapidly increasing cinema admissions which make Turkey such an extremely interesting market for German cinema. The recent shared German-Turkish history is also an important basis for the reception of German films in Turkey. That's why we would like to intensify our work here and give both the audiences and the professionals an opportunity to get to know the diverse quality of German filmmaking," says Mariette Rissenbeek, the managing director of German Films. 2015 has therefore seen German Films placing a new focus on its presentation of German cinema abroad by joining with the Goethe-Institut to organize a Festival of German Films in Turkey for the first time. Numerous guests presented a wide selection of contemporary German cinema during the largest Turkish film festivals in Istanbul und Ankara. The screenings of the German films attracted very good attendances at both the 34th Istanbul Film Festival (4 – 19 April 2015) with around 5,000 admissions and the 26th Ankara International Film Festival (23 April – 3 May 2015) with around 1,000 cinema-goers. MISS SIXTY by Sigrid Hoerner (Bavaria Pictures, moneypenny film, Senator Film) attracted the attention of distributor Medyavizyon/Sinema TV in Istanbul and the world sales company Picture Tree International sold the film to Turkey. Ten German films then travelled on from 5 to 10 May 2015 to the Karaca Sineması Cinema in the coastal city of Izmir. The Festival of German Films will have its last stop in fall 2015 in Diyarbakir.

More photos on Facebook…

More on the German films in Istanbul and Ankara...

Huge success for LABYRINTH OF LIES (Claussen + Putz Filmproduktion, Naked Eye Filmproduction) in France. Released on 29 April 2015 by Sophie Dulac Distribution, the film by Giulio Ricciarelli with Alexander Fehling in the lead had already racked up around 76,000 admissions by the first weekend. LE LABYRINTHE DU SILENCE has since posted around 245,000 admissions and a box office of over 1.3 million euros. The French press also had special words of praise: Le Monde spoke of a "moving and dignified film", Le Parisien found it to be "absolutely worth seeing" and Le Figaro praised the performance of Alexander Fehling. LABYRINTH OF LIES has so far been sold by sales agent Beta Cinema to more than 50 territories, including the USA where Sony Pictures Classics will open the film in cinemas on 25 September 2015.

More about German cinema in France in 2015...