The Toronto International Film Festival  (8-18 September 2016) holds German cinema in high regard. It's been practice now for many years to invite a large number of German films and co-productions to the program. This year saw 36 titles coming to Toronto. Of particular note was the enthusiasm for TONI ERDMANN, the German candidate in the Oscar® race, as well as for the films by leading German directors Werner Herzog and Wim Wenders, the large German presence in the Wavelengths sidebar, which is dedicated to experimental filmmaking, and the good feedback for German documentaries. 

German Films had a stand in the Industry area - which nine German sales companies used for meetings -, and organized a reception in honor of the German festival titles. In addition, a well-attended Co-Production Breakfast was held for the first time in cooperation with the German regional film funding organizations Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, FFF Bayern and TIFF Industry.

Photos on Facebook…

More...

Director François Ozon was not the only one taken by his lead actress in FRANTZ (FR/DE, X Filme Creative Pool). The critics and industry also feted Paula Beer at the Venice International Film Festival for her performance as a young woman mourning the loss of her fiancé after the First World War, who then meets a French soldier. The jury – which included Nina Hoss – awarded her the Marcello Mastroianni Prize for the Best Young Actress in the Competition. The prize has previously gone to such leading actors as Jennifer Lawrence, Mila Kunis or Gael Garcia Bernal. 

More on the German films and prizes in Venice…

It was a successful ceremony for German short films at the 43rd Student Academy Awards® in Los Angeles on 22 September 2016: the Foreign Narrative category saw INVENTION OF TRUST by Alex Schaad (University of Television and Film Munich) picking up the Gold medal and WHERE THE WOODS END (AM ENDE DER WALD) by Felix Ahrens (Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF) taking home Silver. AYNY by Ahmad Saleh (Academy of Media Arts Cologne) received the Gold medal in the Foreign Animation category, as previously announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the end of August. So, three awards went to German shorts as they had done a year ago.

More...

Just by looking at the numbers, one can see that the Festival of German Films in Buenos Aires (15–21 September 2016) was a complete success: over 6,000 spectators, 12 sold-out screenings, a 30% increase in admissions at the second festival cinema Village Caballito (a new addition in 2015), and around 70 members of the press at the press conference with Wolfgang Becker, the director of the opening film ME AND KAMINSKI (X Filme Creative Pool, ED Productions).

Photos on Facebook…

But numbers aside, there were further remarkable moments for German filmmaking worth reporting from the Argentinian capital...