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German Cinema film festival explores country’s divided past, reunification
This year's German Cinema film festival featured atmospheric films about the past division between East and West Germany.
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Escape plan: Ballon (Balloon), one of the 12 films featured at the 2019 German Cinema film festival, tells the true story of two families that escaped communist East Germany in a homemade hot-air balloon in 1979. (Studio Canal/Marco Nagel )
T
he seventh edition of the German Cinema film festival this year was bigger than ever, with film screenings held simultaneously in six cities across Indonesia.
The leading program of Goethe-Institut Indonesien kicked off in Jakarta from Oct. 2 at Goethe-Haus in Central Jakarta, while in Denpasar, Bandung, Surabaya, Yogyakarta and Makassar free-of-charge film screenings were held from Oct. 4 until 6 at selected cinemas.
A total of 12 critically acclaimed films released within the past year not only gave a comprehensive picture of Germany but also provided a good idea of the country’s film industry, said Goethe-Institut Indonesien director Stefan Dreyer.
“Nearly 30 years ago, the Berlin Wall came down unexpectedly and history changed forever,” he said, adding that the long process of reintegration had also been captured in the films.
This year’s German Cinema featured three films that touch on issues related to the past division between East Germany and West Germany under the theme of “30 Jahre Mauerfall” – a commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 2021.
Another focus program was Contemporary Black and White, featuring two black-and-white films that explore the lives of prominent film personalities.
“This festival is an opportunity to see really, really good films,” Dreyer said at the opening night on Oct. 1 at CGV cinema in Grand Indonesia, Central Jakarta.
