Status Quo German Film – Taking Inventory
Linda Söffker, Svenja Böttger und Thorsten Schaumann
Host: Urs Spörri
Nobody watches as many German films as the makers of festivals and film series that occupy themselves with German cinema. Many of these films, however, are visible outside of the safe space of the festival. We’re questioning them on why that is, what the strengths and weaknesses of the German cinema of the present are, on the career chances of young directors and why German films so rarely succeed at the big international festivals.
Linda Söffker is the head of the section Perspective German Cinema of the Berlinale. The studied culture- and theatre scholar is also a member of diverse film- and funding juries.
Since 2016, Svenja Böttger manages the Max-Ophüls-Prize of Saarbrücken, one of the most important festivals for German film. Böttger studied at the Film University Konrad Wolf in Babelsberg.
Thorsten Schaumann took on the place of festival director at the Hofer Filmtage 2017 after the unexpectedly deceased founder Heinz Badewitz. The economist who formerly worked for Bavaria Film and Sky now directs one of the most renowned festivals for German film, but international cinema as well.
Urs Spörri is a film scholar, cultural manager and host of numerous festivals. For the German Filmmuseum in Frankfurt he curates the film programme with an emphasis on German film and is involved with the content of this congress. He is a column writer for kino-zeit.de on the developments of current German film scene.