san francisco
Noah Saavedra at the largest German-speaking US film festival
Noah Saavedra in a scene from the film Everything Will Change. The 27th “Berlin & Beyond” festival in San Francisco is scheduled to open on Thursday evening with the science fiction drama by Berlin director Marten Persiel. photo
© —/FlareFilm/BerlinBeyond/dpa
The “Berlin & Beyond” festival is taking place in California for the 27th time. Films from films from Germany, Austria and Switzerland are shown there.
The 27th “Berlin & Beyond” festival in San Francisco is scheduled to open on Thursday evening with the science fiction drama “Everything Will Change” by Berlin director Marten Persiel. The largest German-language film festival in the USA is showing more than a dozen films from Germany, Austria and Switzerland until March 28th.
“Everything Will Change” takes place in the year 2054 and revolves around the extinction of species and the destruction of the earth. Leading actor Noah Saavedra, known from films like “And tomorrow the whole world” or “Egon Schiele – Death and Girl”, will be there as a star guest, festival director Sophoan Sorn told the German Press Agency. The “very emotional” film has a “strong message” about the threat to the environment, Sorn said.
“Nothing New in the West” in cinema format
The anti-war film “Nothing New in the West”, which won four Oscars, will be shown at the end of the festival. Visitors would have a rare opportunity to see the Netflix production in 35mm cinema format, Sorn said.
The family comedy “Der Nachname” by director Sönke Wortmann celebrates its US premiere in San Francisco. The film “Rheingold” by Hamburg filmmaker Fatih Akin about the life of the Iranian rapper Xatar can also be seen in North America for the first time. Also on the program is the tragic comedy “Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush”. Director Andreas Dresen filmed the true story of the Bremen housewife Rabiye Kurnaz, who is fighting for the release of her son from the Guantánamo prison camp.
Virtual and in front of an audience
For the tenth time, students from Canada, Mexico and the USA are also taking part in the youth jury as part of the “Youth 4 German Cinema” program. This time they voted for the winning film “The Ordinaries” by Nuremberg director Sophie Linnenbaum. Main actor Noah Tinwa is expected as a festival guest in California. Screenwriter Petra Volpe is traveling from Switzerland to present the comedy “The Golden Years”.
The “Berlin & Beyond” film festival, initiated by the Goethe-Institut in San Francisco, takes place virtually and with a live audience in the greater San Francisco area.