A not entirely unimportant question this evening is: Will everyone go to the cinema? The queue management, as it is called by the organizers, sends the guests of the film festival opening on Thursday through various corridors and stairwells into the cinema halls. Past the red carpet, straight into the hall.
The most important question of this evening is not necessarily how the guests like the opening film. The Bavarian crime comedy “Kaiserschmarrndrama” is a surefire thing, funny and entertaining. The opening of the 38th Munich Film Festival in the Mathäser is more likely to be remembered because it is the first evening in this city of red carpets that a proper one will be rolled out and the madness of bygone times will be unleashed anew in a first attempt.
The fact that cohorts of photographers, penned in a confined space, rushing to shout at motifs passing by, was completely normal for decades for gossip lovers, but for everyone else it was just madness, and now it’s strange for everyone. The lead actor Simon Schwarz is only called very shyly. For many, however, the choice of the opening film is not at all strange. Martin Moszkowicz, head of Constantin Film, says: “Finally a blockbuster!”, Which is hardly surprising, since Constantin filmed the series of books by Rita Falk. But producer Christian Becker also says: “Exactly right! Something funny, especially at this time.”
In the course of the evolution of the red carpet man, various gestures have become established. From the finger colt to the threatened fist on the chin of the man next to you (less of the woman next to you) to classics such as the jump in the air. The question is: what do actors do with their new accessory, the mask? The answer is: stop.
Film festival director Diana Iljine summed up the opening evening as follows: “We are not only celebrating the opening of the film festival, but also the reopening of the cinemas, which we are eagerly awaiting.” Actors Simon Schwarz or Christine Neubauer talk calmly about the film, relieved about the evening. “A redemption,” says Neubauer. You pose at a distance, but without a mask. And maybe everyone is too happy to be foolish about the fact that things are finally starting again.