This year's focus of the 37th Braunschweig International Film Festival (BIFF) is already clear at the start: Together with the Braunschweig State Orchestra, the film festival presents an opening film concert for THE RED TURTLE in the form of a world premiere. For the first time, Laurent Perez Del Mar's music for the animated film by Michael Dudok de Wit, which was awarded "Best Original Score for an Animated Film" by the International Film Music Critics Association, will be performed live. This is the first time the Braunschweig International Film Festival will start with an animated film.
"Animated film is a multifaceted art form that is unfortunately underestimated far too much in Germany and is also usually mistakenly understood "only" as a children's film," outlines Karina Gauerhof, co-festival director of the BIFF. This year's "Focus on Animation" therefore features exciting current feature-length film productions that address adult audiences in particular. The special series brings together a selection of special European productions. Gauerhof explains, "In addition to themes such as war, trauma, and flight, personal confrontations with one's own identity are represented here, as well as gripping genre fare such as the Spanish UNICORN WARS (2022) by Alberto Vásquez, which take us into worlds ranging from realistic to playfully dreamy with different animation styles."
The Belgian with the charming smile: die EUROPA for Cécile de France
The most highly endowed prize at BIFF - the European acting prize Die EUROPA - will be awarded this year to Cécile de France. The Belgian-born actress is one of the most sought-after actresses in France, having appeared in more than 50 theater and film productions, and has received around a dozen awards for her work over the past 20 years.
She made her mark in Europe in 2002 with the Spanish-French comedy film L'AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE by Cédric Klapisch, followed a year later by her definitive international breakthrough with the striking French horror film HIGH TENSION by Alexandre Aja. In the 2010 film HEREAFTER by Clint Eastwood, she starred alongside Matt Damon, and in Wes Anderson's THE FRENCH DISPATCH (2021), she co-starred with the likes of Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton and Owen Wilson. She can be seen in one of the leading roles in the widely reviewed ZDF thriller series DER SCHWARM (2023) - as well as in the romantic drama WILD SEAS (2022), which recently opened in German cinemas. BONNARD, PIERRE ET MARTHE (2023), which premiered at Cannes this year and will not open in German theaters until next year, will join five other major films by Cécile de France at BIFF this year. Whether it's drama, horror, thriller or even comedy, this year's EUROPA award winner covers a wide range of genres - and always with her unmistakable smile.
Big anniversary for the audience award Der HEINRICH
As is well known, the main competition of the Braunschweig Film Festival focuses on young European cinema. Ten current European debut & second films, including nine German premieres, compete for both the audience award Der HEINRICH and the Volkswagen Financial Services Film Prize, which is awarded by a three-member jury. Both prizes are supported by the main sponsor Volkswagen Financial Services with 10,000 euros each. The audience award Der HEINRICH celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. "Once upon a time, Chris Kraus received a BIFF career boost by winning this tradition-steeped young talent award for his sophomore effort FOUR MINUTES (2006). Now he presents the sequel 15 YEARS with us in the New German-Language Films series," says Thorsten Rinke, Chairman of the Filmfest Association, pleased about the reunion with old familiar faces. Anthony Bandmann, member of the board of the main sponsor Volkswagen Financial Services, also comments on the HEINRICH anniversary: "I think the continuity of our commitment makes it clear that the Braunschweig International Film Festival is a matter of the heart for us. It's impressive to see how the biographies of previous winners:in have evolved over the years."
This year, the Braunschweig International Film Festival will award a total of ten prizes with a total value of 68,000 euros - the grand awards ceremony will take place on the Saturday of the festival (November 11) at 7:30 p.m. in the Great House of the Braunschweig State Theater. The moderator will be Denise M'Baye from Hanover, who most recently appeared in Sophie Linnebaum's award-winning film THE ORDINARIES, for which she was awarded the Heimspiel Prize at last year's BIFF. A true jack-of-all-trades, M'Baye is also active as a singer, narrator for audio books, radio plays and dubbing, as well as a dancer and rapper. In addition, the Lower Saxon is involved in social projects on the subject of sustainability, among other things, and hosts NDR Kultur's philosophy podcast.
248 films - nine world premieres and a variety of special events
In total, film fans can look forward to 248 films between November 6 and 12, including 33 German premieres, five European premieres, five international premieres and nine world premieres. The numerous screenings will also be reinforced this year by an extensive supporting program: on November 11, for example, the special screening of LIFE IS NOT A COMPETITION, BUT I'M WINNING (2023) by Julia Fuhr Mann will be followed by a discussion on gender equality in the world of sports in the Red Hall in the castle - and after the German premiere of ZILLION (Belgium, Netherlands 2022, directed by Robin Pront) (November 9) about an almost unbelievable nightclub story, the premiere party "EAT. SLEEP. RAVE THE BEAT." at the Brain Klub continues to party appropriately to techno & trance beats of the 90s and 00s.
Prior to the 37th BIFF, an urban short film walk through Braunschweig's city center will take place on October 21 with A WALL IS A SCREEN. After the great success in 2011, the BIFF invites together with the Hamburg artistic collective under the motto "Mobility and Urban Development" to the discovery tour - the exact route remains a secret until the evening itself. And then, shortly before the festival starts, award-winning writers will read from their books at the invitation of the Raabe-Haus:Literaturzentrum Braunschweig. In this context, in cooperation with the BIFF, we welcome you to the literary film adaptation of NICHTS - WAS IM LEBEN WICHTIG IST (Denmark, Germany 2023, Director: Trine Piil Christensen & Seamus McNally). The film is the adaptation of the scandal-ridden Danish bestseller by Janne Teller - in Denmark the book was temporarily banned in some schools. The nihilistic film goes above and beyond to try to find something worth living for in the void. "During the festival week itself - as well as before and after - BIFF invites you not only to exciting films, but also to extraordinary venues in Braunschweig and Wolfsburg. We thank all our cooperation partners, thanks to whom we can make the cinematic genre accessible in a variety of places," affirms co-festival director Anke Hagenbüchner-Sobiech.
"I am convinced that the BIFF is firmly anchored in Braunschweig's cultural calendar or among the people in Brauschweig - and I believe that the BIFF simply does Braunschweig good," Anthony Bandmann also looks optimistically at the festival season. On Monday, October 23, advance ticket sales for the screenings and events of the 37th Braunschweig International Film Festival will begin on site and online at 3 p.m. For more information and up-to-date festival notices, visit www.filmfest-braunschweig.de, and for daily updates, visit the festival's social media channels.
SPECIFICATIONS
Number of films
feature films: 90
Short films: 94
Short films from universities: 64
Total: 248 films
52 premieres
9 World premieres
5 international premieres
5 European premieres
33 German premieres
Prizes and prize money 2023
The EUROPA | Prize money: 25,000 euros | Sponsor/Supporter: Volkswagen Financial Services
Volkswagen Financial Services Film Prize | Prize money: 10,000 euros | Sponsor/Supporter: Volkswagen Financial Services
The HEINRICH | Prize money: 10,000 euros | Sponsor/Supporter: Volkswagen Financial Services
The TILDA | Prize money: 6,000 euros | Sponsor/Supporter: 75 women from the city society
Braunschweiger Filmpreis | Prize money: 5,000 euros | Sponsor/Supporter: about 30 people from Braunschweig from the urban society
ECHT | Prize money: 2,500 euros | Sponsor/Supporter: Verein für sexuelle Emanzipation e. V. (Association for Sexual Emancipation)
Green Horizons Award | Prize money: 2,500 euros | Sponsor/Supporter: AGIMUS GmbH, ALBA Braunschweig GmbH, HOFFMANN Maschinen- und Apparatebau GmbH, oeding print GmbH
The EDDA | Prize money: 2,000 euros | Sponsor/Supporter: Braunschweiger Land Foundation
German-French Youth Award KINEMA | Prize money: 2,500 euros | Sponsor/Supporter: State of Lower Saxony, German-French Youth Office, Académie de Rouen, Friedrich E. W. Walz Foundation, Institut français, Kinema e. V.
Heimspiel Prize | Prize money: 2,500 euros | Sponsor/Supporter: Braunschweiger Zeitung
Total: Ten prizes | 68,000 euros prize money