13 Nov) The Goethe Institute/Max Mueller Bhavan Mumbai is celebrating the 25th anniversary of German reunification, with a five -day festival of critically-acclaimed, award-winning German films, which recall the turbulence around this historic moment in German history.And at the Liberty cinema, Osianama, a cultural institution, is holding a four day program of Russian Film Days in partnership with the Filmmakers Union of the Russian Federation (the schedule was unavailable at the time of going to press and may be accessed at www.osianama.com Monday,November 16) Both festivals open at 6.30 pm on Monday, Osianama hosting the World Premiere of “Without Borders” a rom com about love and adventure while MMB starts with the East German classic Der geteilte Himmel / The Divided Heaven. Helmed by Konrad Wolf, the film has been acknowledged as one of Germany’s 100 Most Important Films and is based on Christa Wolf’s second book whose publication in 1963 brought her national and international fame.The title refers to the erection of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961, which finalised Germany’s division in the Cold War. The title also indicates the structure of the novel – the division of a (former) whole into (now) two halves which are mirror images of each other. The German Consul General Mr. Michael Siebert will address the audience on November 17 at 6.00 pm, followed by the film Das Leben der Anderen / The Lives of Others directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. Set in that Orwellian year, 1984 in East Berlin, the film’s central character is an agent of the secret police, who is spying on a writer and his lover, and finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed in their lives.
Donnersmarck’s debut drama won 75 awards globally, including best foreign film at the Oscars and BAFTA. Good Bye Lenin! directed by Wolfgang Becker, will be screened November 18.Nominated for a Golden Globe and BAFTA, it won 32 awards and tells the story of a young man who in order to protect his fragile mother from a fatal shock after a long coma, must keep her from learning that her beloved East Germany as she knew it has disappeared. Barbara (Director: Christian Petzhold) which will be screened November 19,all about bagged a doctor working in 1980s East Germany who finds herself banished to a small country hospital. The film bagged the prestigious Silver Bear for Best Director at the 62nd Berlin International Film among ten other global awards. Westen / West directed by Christian Schwochow, closes the fest on November 20.The film follows a single mother Nelly Senff and her son Alexej from the GDR to the FRG where they try to start a new life. But in the West, the Allied secret services demand information on her dead ex lover who was a spy. Jördis Triebel won several awards for her portrayal of the increasingly paranoid woman who can’t escape the past.
