From mid-June the ball will be rolling again, the ball that is supposed to inspire, cheer up and unite the people of the country. Quite a few even dream of a new summer fairytale. There is nothing wrong with that, but nobody wants to leave the field entirely to the European Football Championship. The cultural and leisure activities on offer are too diverse, and in the Munich cinemas alone there is still a lot on offer in the weeks before the film festival begins.
The Theatiner Kino, for example, is jumping on the Euro Kicker bandwagon and will be showing football films from four decades from June 12 to 26. Under the lovely title “After the film is before the film: A small football programme”, cinematic gems such as Paolo Sorrentino’s feature film debut L’uomo in più – The Man on the Sidelines or Wim Wenders’ Handke adaptation The goalkeeper’s fear of the penalty performed, including the ludicrous film satire Diamantino (with an almost real Cristiano Ronaldo) is on the program.
A home game awaits the makers of the documentary Straight outta Giasingwhich follows the rise of the Munich beer underdog Giesinger Bräu. The premiere took place a few weeks ago in the Sechzger Stadium, and since then the film has been on tour, including in Fürstenfeldbruck, Holzkirchen and Munich (in the Mathäser, Leopold, the Museum Lichtspielen or in the Westpark at “Kino, Mond und Sterne”). Giesinger Bräu boss Steffen Marx will be a guest at some of the screenings.
Guests are also expected at the Monopol cinema: Joana Georgi will present her film Never alone, always together The documentary filmmaker from Berlin accompanies five activists who are committed to social struggles: They demonstrate at “Fridays for Future”, campaign for the investigation of racially motivated violence or denounce the care crisis. Sometimes they go astray, but these five young people cannot be accused of a lack of commitment.
The city’s LGBTIQ community is also particularly active at the moment, with many events planned for Pride month, including Christopher Street Day on June 22. Several cinemas are getting in the mood: Spanish-language short films can be seen in the Werkstattkino on June 8 and 9 (Fancine Queer: Children), the Arena Kino will show the drama on 12 June Mom (about the life of a young trans man in New York), and the excellent British drama God’s Own Countryin which a sheep farmer (Josh O’Connor) falls in love with a Romanian migrant worker.
In the movie museum Guests are expected on 6 June: On the occasion of the Underdox halftime The Swiss avant-garde filmmakers Pula Roy and Peider A. Defilla will be arriving, showing films from 1974 and 2001, which were made with the Munich-based cameraman Christoph Wirsing. And then there will be a reunion with the French film legend Jacques Tati, whose films have (almost) no dialogue and are full of visual gags: the wide-screen cinema Schloss Seefeld will be showing the comedy classics Tati’s Shooting Festival (followed by a film discussion), Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday and Playtime shown.