Munich Film Festival
An “incredible opening” on Thursday
Uschi Glas and her husband Dieter Hermann at the opening of the Munich Film Festival with the film premiere of “Corsage” on Thursday evening in Munich.
© IMAGO/APress
The Munich Film Festival opened with a red carpet and a big party – at which the war in Ukraine was not forgotten.
The Munich Film Festival opened on Thursday evening (June 23) in the Isarphilharmonie. After the small summer pop-up edition in Freimann 2020 and the outdoor version 2021 in the city’s open-air cinemas, around 1,600 invited guests “finally celebrated a great party again”, as festival director Diana Iljine (57) said in her opening speech said. The artistic director, Christoph Gröner, even raved about an “incredible opening” in view of the impressive backdrop of the hall.
And in fact, filmmakers – including Veronica Ferres (56) and daughter Lily Krug (21), Michael Fitz (63) and son Emanuel (born 1992), Maria Furtwängler (55) or Udo Wachtveitl (63) – ran over like in the old days the new red carpet in front of the concert hall, which opened in October 2021. In a good mood, they posed for the photographers and answered questions from the journalists.
Munich’s largest concert hall was converted into Munich’s largest cinema hall for the film festival. “I’m really excited and I’m looking forward to the hall because I’ve read a lot about it and haven’t been here yet,” said actress Julia Koschitz (47) of the news agency spot on news. She was also really looking forward to the opening film. “I wanted to see it anyway. They were just in Cannes and had great success there.” Everything just comes together: “Finally another film festival under relatively normal circumstances – let’s hope it goes well.”
Historical drama as the opening film
The opening film was the historical drama “Corsage” by director Marie Kreutzer (44) with actress Vicky Krieps (38) as Empress Elisabeth “Sisi” of Austria (1837-1898). The strip had its world premiere at the film festival in Cannes, southern France, and leading actress Krieps was awarded the actor’s prize in the “Un Certain Regard” section.
The Austrian actor Manuel Ruby (43), who plays Sisi’s cousin and confidante Ludwig II (1845-1886) in the film, traveled with the team. “I think it’s really nice to be part of the opening film and that there’s a big and dignified spectacle. It’s kind of part of the job.” However, he was not nervous before the film screening. “The film’s already finished, so I’m not that excited anymore. Also, there is a certain certainty from the success in Cannes,” he admitted.
Star director Sönke Wortmann (62) also did not miss the start of the film festival. Is he also a Sisi fan? “I’m only marginally interested in royals, queens, European royal families, but I’m excited about the film and the actors,” says the director.
Partying two hours flight away from the war in Ukraine?
Actress Uschi Glas (78) was also looking forward to the screening in the large hall, because she had read good reviews of “Corsage” and was therefore “very excited about the film”. Incidentally, the “Sissi” trilogy (1955, 1956, 1957) with Romy Schneider (1938-1982) is not on TV at Christmas. “Of course I know the films and have seen them so often that I don’t watch them anymore. But I think they have their place and are simply classics,” Glas laughed. “You shouldn’t weigh these old films against newer productions either. That was just a different time and of course it was a smash hit back then. That’s really unique.” When asked about current world events, however, Uschi Glas became thoughtful and spoke of a bad conscience about going out to party. The time is difficult, “the war is a catastrophe”.
This topic was also addressed by Munich’s second mayor Katrin habenschaden (44, Greens) in her opening speech: “How much cinematic escapism can you afford when hell on earth is raging just a two-hour flight away?” she asked. Her answer: “The power that art can develop also influences our society. We cannot overestimate that.” In his speech at the opening of the Cannes Film Festival in May, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (44) explained what the film, the big screen, could achieve: “He said: ‘If there is another dictator, if there’s another war of liberation, then it all depends on our solidarity again. We need a new Charlie Chaplin [1889-1977]which proves that cinema is not silent these days.'” With this he skilfully made the connection from Chaplin’s film “The Great Dictator (1940) to the political function of the film.
With this in mind, habenschaden wished the premiere guests “a strong film, an unforgettable summer evening” and said: “Today there is another party, we all missed it for far too long.” And while the majority of the guests were still partying to DJ music, drinks and appetizers after the successful film screening, a few had already disappeared into Munich’s stormy night.
Around 120 films from all over the world and a homage to Doris Dörrie
Until July 2, the film festival is showing around 120 films from all over the world, including works by Ukrainian filmmakers and current Russian films that take a stand against violence and authoritarian systems. This year’s CineMerit award goes to the Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher (43). Exceptional director Doris Dörrie (67) is honored with a tribute. “I’m very happy about that, because getting a tribute always expresses a certain appreciation,” she said spot on news.