San Francisco: German Oscar candidate with guest star Dan Stevens

San Francisco
German Oscar candidate with star guest Dan Stevens

The producer Lisa Blumenberg and the actor Dan Stevens visit the “Berlin & Beyond” film festival. Photo: Barbara Munker / dpa

© dpa-infocom GmbH

Initiated by the Goethe-Institut in San Francisco, a film festival is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Who celebrated with?

Maria Schrader’s tragic comedy “Ich bin dein Mensch” (I am your person), which is going into the Oscar race for Germany, opened the “Berlin & Beyond” festival in California with star guest Dan Stevens.

The British lead actor and the German producer Lisa Blumenberg presented the film on Tuesday night in San Francisco in front of a live audience in the sold-out cinema. “We shot the film in Berlin during the pandemic and were very lucky with it, and now we are very lucky to bring it here,” said Stevens of the German press agency.

“We went a crazy way with this film and were already rewarded with prizes and appreciations in Germany. And now we are the German contribution to the Oscar, which is of course great, ”says Blumenberg. The team would now present “I am your person” in the USA at festivals, in film rounds and specifically for members of the Oscar Academy. Of course it is “a hope” to be involved in the Oscars, says Stevens with a wink.

In Schrader’s futuristic film, Maren Eggert plays a scientist who is supposed to test a humanoid robot named Tom (Stevens) as a partner. At the beginning of October, the tragic comedy won four awards at the German Film Prize, including the Golden Lola for the best feature film. The Oscar nominations will be announced at the beginning of February and the award ceremony will be at the end of March.

Three Oscar applicants will be shown this week at the “Berlin & Beyond” festival in Northern California. Also in the program of the largest German-language film festival in the USA are the feature film “Große Freiheit” by Sebastian Meise, which will enter the Oscar race for Austria in 2022, and the Swiss-nominated film “Olga” by director Elie Grappe.

The film festival launched by the Goethe-Institut in San Francisco is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The main event last May was, due to the corona, a hybrid with virtual film screenings and screenings in the drive-in cinema. The current autumn edition will again take place with a live audience.

dpa

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