Press Release Filmfestival Münster 2011

Turkish debut feature film „Çogunluk“ (Majority) wins award for best director

The Filmfestival Münster 2011 awards the Turkish director Seren Yüce for his film „Çogunluk“ (Majority) with the jury award for best director in the European Feature Film Competition, endowed with Euro 7,500.

The raw and authentic „family film“ and desperate „love story“, written and directed by Fatih Akin’s former assistant director premiered at the film festival in Venice in 2010 and was honored there with the Luigi De Laurentiis Award for the best debut feature film.

The international jury of the Filmfestival Münster, the Dutch actor Egbert-Jan Weeber („Bollywood Hero“), German director Sven Taddicken („Emma’s Bliss“), the film journalist Oliver Baumgarten and the producer Markus Halberschmidt („Armin“, Croatia’s Oscar-entry in 2006), decided unanimously to give out the award to Seren Yüce.

For the fourth time the European Feature Film Competition at the Filmfestival Münster is based upon a special topic. Eight films had been nominated for best direction on this year’s topic of „What keeps life together“. And the things that keep life together can vary in so many ways. In an era of crises, catastrophes and rapid changes to structures and society, the question of what keeps life together becomes increasingly more important. Is it your family, friendships and relationships in general, is it a sense of belonging, your personal view on the world, a sense of security or attitudes? Esteem, trust, professional achievement and acknowledgement – are they enough?

What gives life meaning seems to depend on how people find what sustains them emotionally, individually and within the community, how they experience trust, what desires they can make come true, what challenges they take on, whether they can leave a mark.

Welcome to the 2011 Münster Film Festival, the 14th one yet

Together with our promoter Filmwerkstatt Münster, we are celebrating 30 years with our biannual festival. Our programme offers films that are long and short, special and unexpected, local and scary, and much more. Everything centres around the idea of live and let live. What keeps life together is reflected in many different ways, especially in the eight selected European feature films.

Be prepared for illustrious guests, stimulating discussions, amazement and discoveries. We cordially invite you to be intoxicated, seduced and surprised by our selection of films and we look forward to an exciting festival!

The festival team

P.S.: And please note: we also have interesting and entertaining extras such as intimate film evenings, the short film slam, the video art exhibition “times are us”, the “Tage des Provinzfilms” (provincial life on film series), the legendary festival party and much more concerning our festival.

Venues: Cineplex Münster; Cinema Münster; exhibition hall for contemporary art (azkm Münster) and more.  More information...

Let’s get started

The 14th Filmfestival Münster, organised by Filmwerkstatt Münster, is ready to roll. Wednesday 12 October is the starting date for both our programme of over 140 films and the accompanying competitions with award money worth €16,500 in total. For five days and nights, a cinematic programme that is as exciting as it is varied will transform Münster into a hotbed of film fever.

Simply taking part and putting in an appearance is the key to the festival, and this also goes for the filmmakers we have invited from all over Europe. To name a few, director Oleg Novkovic will travel 1,622 km from Belgrade just to be with us and personally introduce his Serbian drama “White White World”. David Wnendt, writer and director of “Kriegerin” (Combat Girls), a German-made film in the running for the awards, will be with us to provide some insights into his gripping debut film, which has already won the First Steps award....

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Opening Film 2011

A FAMILY OF THREE !

Wednesday 12.10.  7:00 pm  //  8:00 pm

The provincial town of Muenster, Westphalia, is home to the Dewenters, your average picture-book family, but at first glance only: Christian (Goetz Schubert), the father, hurls himself into one affair after another, much to the scorn of son Lars (Max Riemelt) who moved off to Berlin right after college. Naturally, his teenage sister Elaine (newcomer Mathilde Bundschuh) fends off all things family as well, as she and her best friend Merle (Lucie Hollmann) paint the town, respectively its nightlife. Andrea (Lena Stolze), wife, mother and hobby writer of belles lettres, tries to hold them all together in vain – when one night she gets into a fatal car accident...

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TIMES ARE US - 11 types of video art

An exhibition within Filmfestival Münster 2011

Official Opening 30.09. at 7:30 pm

For a long time, video art was the reserve of specialists. As technology increasingly becomes easier to use, videos become an accessible and variable medium for artists. The presented artists use video to depict performances done for the camera and play with digital effects. They reflect a concept, create an interactive room installation or use strange materials, which only turn into a piece in their own right once they have been assembled.

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First films for the European Feature Film Competition

20-year-old Marisa is a member of a group of right-wing extremists in a small East German town. Her life is aimless and governed by small-minded prejudices. Marisa begins to question her convictions after violence and attacks against innocent people increasingly escalate.

“Kriegerin” (Combat Girls), the feature-film debut of writer-director David Wnendt, is part of the European Feature Film Competition at the 14^th Filmfestival Münster (12-16 October 2011). The film, precisely observed and featuring a series of impressive performances, represents a no-holds-barred depiction of right-wing radicals and the hollow rituals they cling to.

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