KINO! has been the longest running showcase for German Films in the United States at the Museum of Modern Art, MOMA, featuring for 35 years many award winning selections from major international film festivals such as the Berlinale. The programs have always offered a survey of themes and styles of the latest creative film making in Germany, frequently surpassing the boundaries of traditional cinematography.  KINO!  has programmed numerous films and plays an important role in promoting German language films in the United States for theatrical distribution and other venues. This has included, but is not limited to ALLES AUF ZUCKER (Dani Levy), SOPHIE SCHOLL (Marc Rothemund), HANAMI (Doris Doerri), THE WHITE RIBBON (Michael Haneke),  SOUL KITCHEN (Fatih Akin), VISION (Margarethe von Trotta), THREE (Tom Twyker), YOUNG GOETHE IN LOVE (Philipp Stroelzl) and  from the 2013 KINO! edition OH BOY [A Coffee in Berlin] (Jan Ole Gerstner) and the noted documentary FORGET ME NOT (David Sieveking). Two films from the 2014 selection were picked up, the dramatic feature WEST by Christian Schwochow and the reggae documentary JOURNEY TO JAH by Noel Dernesh and Moritz Springer.

KINO! was founded by MOMA’s Laurence Kardish and held there until 2013. Since MOMA decided last year to discontinue programs focusing on national cinemas KINO! relocated in 2014 to the lower Manhattan Quad Cinema venue. It presented from June 13-19 13 features, documentaries and award winning shorts. KINO! 2014 was programmed by New York industry professionals and organized by the publicly funded German Films Service agency.  WEST was the center piece for the June 12 opening gala at the Museum of Moving Image in Queens. 

Among the outstanding films were the following:  WHISPERS BEHIND THE WALL by Grzegorz Muskala, a well scripted and directed superb thriller about Martin, a young law student moving into a run-down flat and getting involved with the seductive landlady Simone living next door in an apartment linked to his. Their relationship becomes obsessive and turns violent with a climax of Simone being killed by Martin. He had become suspicious of Simone’s intentions. A previous tenant Robert had disappeared leaving a creepy sex diary behind and Martin finds clues to the possible murder of Sebastian, Simone’s boyfriend in one of her art works. Most of the action takes place in the apartment. Its well-designed, moody and surreal set, including Martin’s creepy flat,   reinforce the dark unsettling plot. The unpredictable Sebastian and a disheveled superintendent who had shown Martin’s picture to Simone for approval, as well as an apparently unhinged neighbor, Mrs. Schaffrat, who insists that Marin is Robert, complete the bizarre scenario, perfectly supporting the plot.  

Christian Schwochow focuses in WEST on the rarely presented fate of refugees from East Germany once they enter the “golden” west. If identified by the German secret service (BND) and other Western intelligence agencies as important sources of information they are subjected to pressure and discrimination unless they cooperate. Set in 1978 in a run-down West Berlin refugee camp, WEST covers convincingly the story of Nelly and her son Aleksej who were granted permission to leave East Germany. In the DDR she was involved for several years with Wassili, a Russian scientist suspected to work as a spy who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Nelly is advised that he may be alive and is interrogated for several months by intelligence agencies. She experiences now the same questioning she had received before by the east German intelligence agency STASI, one of the reasons she left the DDR.  Schwochow shows the bleak nature of the camp and the pervasive suspicion by the refugees of being spied on and develops convincing portraits of the people stuck there unless they get the necessary papers. Nelly is growing increasingly frustrated since she does not know whom to trust and cannot find out what really happened to Wassilij. Though WEST ends on a positive note with Nelly finding employment, her own apartment and a partner, the film offers a sobering view of the refugees’ experience of the west. Their passage was difficult and frequently met with ignorance and hostility by many West Germans.   

In the documentary NAN GOLDIN – I REMEMBER YOUR FACE Sabine Lidle tracks the career of this extraordinary American photographer whose controversial work exerted great influence on her generation. Following her development through Goldin’s travels and life in New York, Berlin, Paris and the numerous art shows celebrating her photographic work, Lidle introduces us to Goldin’s wide ranging themes from exploration of subcultural topics to sexual encounters and moving imagery to name but a few. Interviews with close associates about her work and friendships give additional insights.  Maximilian Erlenwein directed STEREO which was one of the two KINO!’s surprise films. As distinct from the more linear and traditional program features A PACT (Denis Dercourt) and BANKLADY (Christian Alwart) STEREO is a demanding, superbly executed psychothriller, with standout performances by the lead actors Moritz Bleibtreu and Juergen Vogel. Based on a rather original concept the story evolves around the former violent gangster, Eric, who has taken up a quiet harmonious life style but suffers from apparent amnesia about his past. His life is interrupted when the strange character of Henry suddenly appears. Invisible to anyone but Eric, Henry is constantly harassing him, offering guidance to Eric in all situations, yet demeaning the ‘lie’ of Eric’s new peaceful life. Henry is Eric’s long suppressed criminal alter ego and forces him back into the past after numerous criminal characters show up requesting that Eric kill a crime overlord.

FINSTERWORLD directed by Frauke Finsterwalder is indeed as the German half of the title ‘finster’ suggests an ominous and dark portrait of contemporary Germany as observed through the relations of a diverse set of characters. In Finsterwalder’s first feature film, the different strands of the story are loosely connected. Contradictory characters inhabit the tale and their secret lives and desires run counter to being ‘normal’. There is pedicurist who collects skin shavings from the foot of Mrs. Sandberg, a handicapped old lady he loves, and uses it for cookies he bakes for her. Starved of emotions and abandoned by her family she decides to live with him. Her son and his wife are wealthy and engage in few verbal bickering surface exchanges though refuse to rent a Nazi cars for a travel to Paris. Their spoilt son Maximilian attends a preppy high school and bullies his class mates, specifically the brighter ones, such as the close friends Dominick and Natalie.  A policeman Tom is most at ease in the costume of a bear frolicking with similarly furry clad friends but is afraid of sharing his obsession with his girlfriend, a frustrated documentary film maker. Not knowing what to document she leaves for Africa disgusted by Tom’s desires. On a class trip to a concentration camp Dominick departs midway. At the concentration camp Maximilian locks Natalie in an oven and frames the instructor for it, who is imprisoned.  Dominick is picked up by the Sandbergs after being beaten savagely by Mr. Sandberg for having watched his wife urinating. In the car Dominick engages the Sandbergs in a discussion deploring the absence of role models and observing that precarious Germany is branded by the Nazi period.  A hermit living peacefully with a pet raven in a forest returns to his vandalized cabin. In a rage he grabs a rifle and shoots at the first car he sees on the highway hitting Dominick. In the final scenes Natalie has become the admiring girlfriend of Maximilian.  Whoever is depicted seems disconnected from the community and lacks the ability of openly emoting and expressing the self. Silence rather than meaningful communication prevails. Characters shown do not seem to have a strong sense of identity, a dilemma that may be applicable not just to Germany but to other postindustrial societies too.

As a documentary filmmaker Frauke Finsterwalder has a finely tuned mind for details and non-linear storytelling, nothing in Finsterworld seems superfluous and everything has its intellectually stimulating place. Discontinuities force the alert viewer to engage in reflection, including the stark contrast between the exemplary cinematography of a beautiful landscape and the somber content of this dark tale. To date the film has garnered numerous awards. As in many other outstanding European films, Arte is a co-producer.

Hopefully KINO! will continue on its long successful path with challenging productions and must see films.

Claus Mueller

filmexchange@gmail.com