The films have been selected by a jury of Hungarian film experts, including editor-in-chief of Vox Magazine Viktor Dudás, Budapest Film acquisitions manager Krisztina Páldy and Szimpla Film acquisitions manager Attila Kiss.
The feature film Eden will open the festival on Thursday, with director Michael Hoffmann presenting it. The film is about a woman, Eden, who falls under the spell of ?erotic cuisine? á la Chef Gregor. Eden and Gregor?s gastronomic adventures serve as an escape to the daily routines of small-town life. But Eden?s husband Xavier soon finds out what?s cooking and realises he must make a move before he loses his wife.
Among the festival's other feature films are Hans-Christian Schmid?s Requiem, which shows a girl?s struggles with severe epilepsy, and Detlev Buck?s The Red Cockatoo (Der Rote Kakadu), which follows Siggi and his poet girlfriend Luise?s entrance onto the social scene at the local dance locale in Dresden. Buck?s film Rock Hard (Knallhart) will also show at the festival. Rock Hard tells the story of 15-year-old Michael and his mother, who move from the posh suburbs to a run-down neighbourhood populated by immigrants. The boy makes friends in his new surroundings, but at school he is bullied by Errol and his gang.
The TV movie Maria?s Last Journey (Marias letzte Reise) by Rainer Kaufmann traces the last days of a dying woman as she returns home to say goodbye to her loved ones. The documentary Last to Know (Jeder Schweigt von etwas anderem) shows political prisoners of the former DDR speaking about their ordeals in public for the first time. And the children?s film The Robber Hotzenplotz (Der Rauber Hotzenplotz) is adapted from a popular fairytale hero.
The main programme will be complemented by German Films? successful short film programme Next Generation 2006, which will feature ten shorts by film school students, including three animated films. These films will be shown in German with English subtitles.
Last year?s Festival of German Cinema sold out, and three of the five feature films shown were bought for Hungarian distribution.
Source: port.hu
