Director Jannis Alexander Kiefer will be travelling to China with his ‘Brandenburg film’, as he calls it, and competing there with 13 other films in the Main Competition for the Golden Goblet Award. The dark comedy ANOTHER GERMAN TANK STORY (Maze Pictures, Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf, Goldstoff Filme, Jannis Alexander Kiefer Produktion) centres on the sleepy East German village of Wiesenwalde where exciting things rarely happen. When an American film crew arrives to shoot a series about the Second World War, the villagers are determined to use the opportunity to pursue their personal dreams - until a sudden power cut and a missing tank threaten to ruin all of their plans.

Three German productions can be seen in the SIFF Doc section. The documentary portrait JACKIE THE WOLF (Orinokia Filmproduktion) by Tuki Jencquel is about a woman in Paris who has decided that she wants to die and triggers a media frenzy with this decision. JOHATSU - INTO THIN AIR (Ossa Film) by Andreas Hartmann and Arata Mori deals with the night moving companies that have obscure ways of making people disappear in Japan. The programme also features ETERNAL YOU (Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion) by Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck. The documentary, which looks at artificial intelligence and how digital avatars of the deceased could help the grieving, had its world premiere at the Sundance Festival at the beginning of this year.

Twelve German productions, including the black-and-white drama THE UNIVERSAL THEORY (ma.ja.de Fiction) by Timm Kröger and the children's film THE FLYING CLASSROOM (UFA Fiction, Albolina Film, Leonine Studios) by Carolina Hellsgård, will be shown in the Focus Germany section this year.

To mark the 70th anniversary of German Films, the Shanghai International Film Festival will also be showing three films from the ‘70 Years of German Cinema - A Success Story’ retrospective:  THE WHITE RIBBON  (X-Filme Creative Pool) by Michael Haneke, I’M YOUR MAN (Letterbox Filmproduktion) by Maria Schrader and GOOD BYE, LENIN! (X-Filme Creative Pool) by Wolfgang Becker.

The German director Matthias Glasner, whose latest film DYING (Port au Prince, Schwarzweiss Filmproduktion, Senator Film Produktion) is also being screened in the Focus Germany sidebar, will be one of the seven jury members in Shanghai deciding on the winner of the Golden Goblet Award in the Main Competition.  

An overview of all of the German productions and co-productions in Shanghai:

Main Competition
ANOTHER GERMAN TANK STORY by Jannis Alexander Kiefer (Maze Pictures, Filmuniversität Babelsberg Konrad Wolf, Goldstoff Filme, Jannis Alexander Kiefer Produktion) 
SILENCE OF THE SEASHELL by Kamar Ahmad Simon (BD/DE, Weydemann Bros.)

SIFF Doc
JACKIE THE WOLF by Tuki Jencquel (DE/FR, Orinokia Filmproduktion)
JOHATSU - INTO THIN AIR (JOHATSU – DIE SICH IN LUFT AUFLÖSEN) by Andreas Hartmann, Arata Mori (Ossa Film)
ETERNAL YOU by Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck (DE/US, Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion)
FOUR DAUGHTERS by Kaouther Ben Hania (FR/TN/SA/DE, Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion)

Global Village: Focus Germany
THE UNIVERSAL THEORY (DIE THEORIE VON ALLEM) by Timm Kröger (ma.ja.de Fiction)
THE INTANGIBLE JOY OF LOVE (DIE UNSCHÄRFERELATION DER LIEBE) by Lars Kraume (X Filme Creative Pool)
WEEKEND REBELS (WOCHENENDREBELLEN) by Marc Rothemund (Wiedemann & Berg Filmproduktion, Leonine Studios, SevenPictures Film)
SCORCHED EARTH (VERBRANNTE ERDE) by Thomas Arslan (SCHRAMM FILM Koerner Weber Kaiser)
ARTHUR & DIANA by Sara Summa (German Film and Television Academy Berlin - DFFB)
THE FLYING CLASSROOM (DAS FLIEGENDE KLASSENZIMMER) by Carolina Hellsgård (UFA Fiction, Albolina Film, Leonine Studios)
BARK by Marc Schölermann (Widescreen Entertainment) 
15 YEARS (15 JAHRE) by Chris Kraus (DE/AT/LU, FOUR MINUTES Filmproduktion, Dor Film)
DYING (STERBEN)  by Matthias Glasner (Port au Prince, Schwarzweiss Filmproduktion, Senator Film Produktion)
EMPTY NETS (LEERE NETZE)  by Behrooz Karamizade (DE/IR, Basis Berlin Filmproduktion)
LIVING LIKE CANDICE by Dirk Rosenloecher (Dirk Rosenloecher Media Service)
COSMIC MINIATURES by Alexander Kluge (Kairos Film)

70 Years of German Films
THE WHITE RIBBON (DAS WEISSE BAND) by Michael Haneke (DE/AT/FR/IT/CN, X-Filme Creative Pool)
I’M YOUR MAN (ICH BIN DEIN MENSCH) by Maria Schrader (Letterbox Filmproduktion)
GOOD BYE, LENIN! by Wolfgang Becker (X-Filme Creative Pool)

SIFF Highlights: Cannes Express
ARMAND by Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel (NO/NL/SE/DE, One Two Films)

Spectrum - SIFF Rhapsodies
ANSELM by Wim Wenders (Road Movies)

Tribute To Masters
FAUST by Jan Svankmajer (CZ/FR/UK/DE, Pandora Filmproduktion)

New From Auteur
ABOUT DRY GRASSES by Nuri Bilge Ceylan (FR/SE/DE/TR, Komplizen Film)
ASTEROID CITY by Wes Anderson (US/DE, Studio Babelsberg)

The Belt and Road Film Week
THE SETTLERS (LES COLONOS) by Felipe Gálvez (CL/UK/FR/DK/AR/DE, Sutor Kolonko)
GOODBYE JULIA by Mohamed Kordofani (SDN/EGY/DE/FR/SA/SWE, Station Films)

Spectrum:  Alternatives
SIDONIE IN JAPAN by Élise Girard (FR/DE/CH/JP, Lupa Film)

Spectrum: Midnight Fantasy
WAXWORKS (DAS WACHSFIGURENKABINETT) by Paul Leni (Neptun Film)

SIFF Sci-Fi: The Fantasy and Reality of Artificial Intelligence
COSMIC MINIATURES by Alexander Kluge (Kairos Film)
METROPOLIS by Fritz Lang (Universum Film)  
I'M YOUR MAN (ICH BIN DEIN MENSCH) by Maria Schrader (LETTERBOX Filmproduktion)

Viva La Festival
BLAGA'S LESSONS by Stephan Komandarev (BG/DE, 42film)
BASTARDEN (THE PROMISED LAND) by Nikolaj Arcel (DK/DE/SE, Zentropa International Berlin)  
PEPE by Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias (DOM, NAM/DE/FR, Pandora Film Produktion)

The New Wave goes on presented by Bvlgari
LOVE IS COLDER THAN DEATH (LIEBE IST KÄLTER ALS DER TOD) by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Antitheater-X-Film)

SIFF Short Films
TENDER CORDS by Rosana Cuellar (Human-Made Films)

4K Restoration
KOHLHIESEL’S DAUGHTER (KOHLHIESELS TÖCHTER) by Ernst Lubitsch (Tobis-Filmkunst)
THE PIANIST (DER PIANIST) by Roman Polanski (PL/FR/UK/DE, Studio Babelsberg)