Church film festival Recklinghausen

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The Recklinghausen Church Film Festival is the first German church film festival - and the only ecumenical one at all. The program primarily addresses current social issues such as migration , integration , identity , compassion , justice , love and solidarity . Selected German and international feature and documentary films will be shown. Filmmakers discuss with the audience in the cinema - that is a central and consistent feature of this event. The participation of a film in the festival is connected with the obligation that at least one representative of the film (director, producer, actor etc.) presents himself to the discussion with the audience.

Origin & development

In addition to the film festival, the organizer, the Church & Cinema Group , has been showing a series of monthly films since 2002, in which socially relevant and existentially significant topics are presented and discussed with experts and directors after each performance. The Recklinghausen Church Film Festival emerged from this working group. Outside of the festival dates, the working group in Cineworld shows one film per month that has little chance in the usual film business, especially in the provinces, but which attracted attention due to the emphatically artistic design and / or the selected topic.

During the festival, films will be shown and awarded that are socially committed and also deal artistically convincingly with people in the tension between the world of work, cultures and religions. A children's film will also be awarded a prize as part of the festival. The artistic director of the festival, Michael Kleinschmidt (Institute for Cinema and Film Culture, Wiesbaden ), specifies the motives of those responsible: It is by no means a “super pious” event, as many film directors who are contacted think; in fact, the film festival stands for the responsibility of the church for the world; The films are about the preservation of creation, about solidarity with the weak - all of this is reflected in the selection of films . According to Kleinschmidt, film is still underestimated as a medium in Germany; he has the power to talk to us, to trigger something and even to change something .

In the fifth year of its existence (2014), the management committee of the festival decided to expand the event from three to five days. The conversations between the audience and the actors and directors during the film days will be expanded. The festival's circle of supporters was also opened: fans, friends and sponsors (companies) can now act as regional supporters under different conditions. With the greater financial possibilities, further film actors would be brought in and young directors would be supported.

One of the idea generators and founders of the festival, Thomas Damm, left at the end of the events in March 2018 for professional reasons. He told a journalist from the Bauer media company that it was never important to him to work in a missionary manner. The film festival is above all a festival of encounters . The dialogue between filmmakers and the audience was important to him.

chronology

The festival started in 2010 with the German premiere of the documentary " There are many apartments in my father's house ".

2010
For the feature film Die Fremde , director Feo Aladag was awarded the festival's first prize. The leading actress Sibel Kekilli was also present.
2011
Director Britta Wauer accepts the award for the documentary film "In Heaven, Below Earth - The Jewish Cemetery Weissensee".
2012
Leo Khasin received the film award for directing the film “ Kaddisch für eine Freund”, in which the coexistence of Palestinians and Jews from Eastern Europe (in Berlin-Kreuzberg) is portrayed. ". . . a wonderful story of the absurdity of hatred and the power of friendship ”.
2013
In addition to rarely shown documentaries, the following were presented: Hannah Arendt , the philosopher's confrontation with the Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann , and Five Years of Life , the story of the German-Turk Murat Kurnaz , who was a US prisoner in Afghanistan and Guantanamo for five years (Director: Stefan Schaller). This year's award winner was Sheri Hagen for her film “At Second Sight”, which deals with the lives of blind or visually impaired people; the director’s first full-length film, which will be released on October 10 this year. The festival is gradually becoming an institution presenting alternative films. With around 1800 visitors, the 2013 festival was the most popular so far.
2014
With 2000 visitors, the 5th festival on March 7th to 9th again had a visitor record. Filmmakers and actors such as Feo Aladag , André Feldhaus , Heinrich Hadding, Leon Lucev, Johannes Naber, Vincent Poymiro, Pablo Ribet Buse, Hüseyin Tabak , Stephanie Weimar and David Wey were guests. The 2014 award winner was Srdan Golubovic (see also Heimatfilmfestival , Freistadt ( Upper Austria )) for “Circles”.
2015
The decision of the management committee to extend the festival by two days fell in favor of a more visitor-friendly version: to show the (now 12) films in the evening to make visits easier. "So we can (...) present a combative program, (...) The 6th Church Film Festival is in the midst of the controversy of the present," wrote the organizers in the announcement. The 2015 film award went to Gerd Schneider ( Germany , 2015) for the film “Misconduct” ( director and screenplay), in which the sexual abuse of children is discussed using the example of a young pastor (Schneider himself is a former theology student) who adopts Youth in his community passes away. In the laudatory speech, Auxiliary Bishop Dieter Geerlings (Münster) said that the film worked on what some - even in the church - would rather keep quiet. The prize of the children's jury went to the film “Rico, Oskar and the Deep Shadows” (2014) by producer Philipp Budweg (based on the novel of the same name by Andreas Steinhöfel ). With 2500 visitors there was a new visitor record; the five evening performances were sold out days in advance.
2016
7th Church Film Festival: March 9th to 13th, 2016: With his new film Junge Licht , Adolf Winkelmann received the 2016 Festival Prize. Michael Kleinschmidt, the artistic director of the film festival, said in his laudation: “The film is a wonderful reminiscence of the Ruhr area of ​​the 1960s. It shows a childhood in a coal pot that no longer exists today. ”The film was shot in Bottrop , Bochum , Dortmund and at the Auguste Victoria colliery in Marl . During the festival, 25 films were shown, which present an arc of tension from the past of this region to the latest films of the present, about immigration to the FRG. The Finn Marjut Komulainen received the prize for children's and youth films ("Vilja and the robbers"). It opened with the film “Mustang”, which is about five sisters who defy the rigid norms of male violence in eastern Turkey. "The film very clearly accuses women of all over the world being treated like second-class people," Kleinschmidt said of the conflict film. The opening film ( Mustang ) was sold out a few minutes after ticket sales opened. With 3100 visitors, the number of visitors at the festival last year was again exceeded.
2017
8th Church Film Festival (March 15-19, 2017): The program comprised 12 selected feature films and documentaries, many of them as previews before the national launch. Filmmakers (directors, authors, actors, producers) from home and abroad have confirmed their attendance for almost all films. The main prize went to the French director Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar for the feature film: “Heaven will wait”. The side prize went to the young actress Naomi Amarger (as Mélanie in this film). The city of Recklinghausen also awarded the Children's and Youth Film Prize as part of this festival. This year it went to the German documentary “Not without us!”. Director Sigrid Klausmann and producer Walter Sittler accepted the award on March 18, 2017. In addition to the city of Recklinghausen, the Catholic district dean Jürgen Quante donated this award. The 8th film festival ended with a record attendance: 3400 film buffs came; all evening events were sold out. Also Heiner Geissler and Annette Schavan had come as guests for audience discussion.
2018
During the 9th Church Film Festival, the film with the ambiguous title "Camino a la Paz" (translated: Way to La Paz or Way to Peace) by the Argentinian director Francisco Varone (born 1978 in Buenos Aires ) won first prize (German producer : Gunter hemp yarn). There was an unusual performance on the second day of the festival: the digitally restored work of the classic “Faust” (1926) by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau was premiered again in St. Peter's Church; Music accompaniment live by church musician Thorsten Maus. The feature film Die Pfefferkörner and the Curse of the Black King (DE 2017) is awarded the Children's and Youth Film Prize. Producer Holger Ellermann and leading actress Marleen Quentin were present. The prize was donated by the city of Recklinghausen and the Catholic city and district dean provost Jürgen Quante. The number of visitors in 2018 increased slightly compared to last year (3500 visitors).
2019
A newly created honorary award was awarded. The honor was given for the life's work of Wim Wenders and especially for his film "Pope Francis - A Man of His Word". The prize of the children's jury went to the actor Tobi Krell ("Checker Tobi") for the film "Checker Tobi and the secret of our planet". The Ecumenical Film Prize was awarded to the producer Tobias Siebert , whose film " Of Fathers and Sons - The Children of the Caliphate " was shown at the festival; Director: Talal Derki . A total of 18 short, documentary and feature films on the topics of migration, the future of work and the dialogue of cultures were shown.
2020
The film festival was canceled by the organizers on March 13, 2020: falls victim to the coronavirus . The 2020 award of the festival goes to the German-Austrian work Gipsy Queen by director Hüseyin Tabak .

program

As part of the church film festival, feature films and documentaries on topics such as humanity , compassion, ethics , justice , solidarity and structural change in the region are shown, not explicitly religious and / or religiously related films. The festival wants to enable encounters , create insights and access, stimulate discussions . Directors , actors and critics are invited to talk to the audience . The now well-attended festival sees itself more and more as a mediator between filmmakers and the public, where there is more of a radio silence in commercial cinema. The numerous visitors enjoy direct contact with producers, actors and directors after the individual performances. The prerequisite for the presentation of a film during the festival in Recklinghausen is the commitment of one of the people involved in the film production to answer questions from the audience.

Organizer and partner

The organizer is the Working Group Church & Cinema of the Protestant Church District Recklinghausen and the Catholic District Deanery Recklinghausen. The ecumenical working group, a forerunner of the festival, has been bringing films onto the screen and into conversation in Recklinghausen since 2002 with the series “bilderwelten / weltenbilder - Kirche & Kino”. The partners of the festival are the city of Recklinghausen, Cineworld Recklinghausen and the Institute for Cinema and Film Culture e. V. (IKF). Epd Film and film-dienst are involved as media partners. The moderator was Thomas Damm (Schwerte), pastor, film officer of the Evang. Church and author who left the preparation team because of a move in 2016. Horst Walther and Michael M. Kleinschmidt are the artistic directors.

The following film-making guests at the church film festival are honorary members of the support group: Feo Aladag (director and award winner 2010 with “Die Fremde”), Sheri Hagen (director and award winner 2013 with “Auf den second Blick”), Stefan Hering (director of “Abseitsfalle”) , Michael Loeken (director of "Losers and Winners"), Johannes Naber (director of "Zeit der Kannibalen"), Beatrice Meier (screenwriter of "Abseitsfalle"), Hüseyin Tabak (director of "Your beauty is worth nothing ..."), and Britta Wauer (director and award winner 2011 with “In Heaven, Below Earth”).

Cooperations

  • Patrons are: President Annette Kurschus ( Evangelical Church of Westphalia ), Bishop Felix Genn ( Diocese of Münster ), Mayor Wolfgang Pantförder ( Recklinghausen City Administration )
  • The cooperation partners : City of Recklinghausen, Cineworld Recklinghausen, Institute for Cinema and Film Culture e. V. (IKF).
  • The following are named as sponsors : Catholic District Deanery Recklinghausen, German Bishops' Conference , Evangelical Church of Westphalia, Evangelical Foundation for Protestantism, Education and Culture , Evangelical Adult Education Center Westphalia-Lippe, Evangelical Church District Recklinghausen, Community Foundation Church and Diakonie in Ev. Recklinghausen church district, department for adult education in the Recklinghausen Protestant church district, Recklinghausen city marketing, Sparkasse Vest Recklinghausen, Ostermann furniture store Recklinghausen, Rotary Club Recklinghausen-Vest
  • Media partners : epd film , film-dienst , arte , K for KIRCHE (radio format on local radio station Radio Vest), Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation.

criticism

  • For the fifth time this year, the film festival (...) was devoted to works that revolve around topics such as the modern search for meaning and fulfillment, the question of humanity, the dialogue between cultures and religions, flanked by discussions with filmmakers or other experts, that can contribute something interesting to the topic of a film. The program included a. the successful contributions in the competition of the Berlinale Between Worlds by Feo Aladag and Kreuzweg by Dietrich Brüggemann and Anna Brüggemann - the first a decidedly political film, the second a formally strict study of a fundamentalist variety of Catholicism
  • Stephan Komandarev (director), Bulgaria; Judgment - Limit of Hope , ((Preview, 2015); shown as the opening film at the 6th Film Festival): Establishing a connection between church and cinema is a great idea. The variety of topics here also impresses me. I would like to have something like that in Bulgaria too .
  • Frank Henschke, co-producer of the film “Mustang”: It's about the film getting to the people, to different people. We feel at home where there is interest, where people are open and attentive, where they discuss ,
  • Annette Kurschus , President of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia: Those who come to the church festival come to see and discuss (...) and to think.

See also

Web links

address

Working Group Church & Cinema, Ev. Recklinghausen Church District, Department for Adult Education, Limperstrasse 15, 45657 Recklinghausen, Telephone: (02361) 206 503

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ according to the organizers; here: Michael Kleinschmidt (Institute for Cinema and Film Culture, Wiesbaden) at the opening of the film festival on March 14, 2018
  2. ↑ Church & Cinema Working Group of the Recklinghausen Catholic District Deanery and the Recklinghausen Evangelical Church District, Marc Gutzeit, Kemnastr. 7, 45657 Recklinghausen, Tel .: 02361-92080; gutzeit@bistum-muenster.de; www.kirchliches-filmfestival.de
  3. ^ Marler Zeitung , February 28, 2015
  4. ^ Marler Zeitung / Medienhaus Bauer, February 28, 2015
  5. ↑ Recklinghäuser Zeitung , February 28, 2015
  6. ↑ Church & Cinema Working Group, Recklinghausen
  7. ↑ Marler Zeitung, November 22, 2014, p. 15
  8. ↑ Medienhaus Bauer, Marler Zeitung, Marl, March 13, 2018, p. 13
  9. ↑ according to the festival homepage; see below
  10. ↑ Director: Margarethe von Trotta
  11. ↑ born in Lagos / Nigeria; grew up in Hamburg ; Prize money 2000 €
  12. ↑ Program: Church & Cinema, Recklinghausen, February 2015
  13. ^ Recklinghäuser Zeitung , March 9, 2015
  14. ^ Carlsen Verlag , Hamburg 2008
  15. ↑ according to the official website
  16. ^ Marler Zeitung, February 26, 2016, in: From the region
  17. ↑ Recklinghausen Zeitung March 14, 2016, p. 14
  18. ↑ http://www.kirchliches-filmfestival.de ; 08.ß3.2017
  19. ↑ after showing the film on March 18, 2017, Recklinghausen
  20. ↑ http://www.lokalkompass.de/recklinghausen/kultur/kirche-und-kino-8-kirchliches-filmfestival-in-recklinghausen-d746199.html
  21. ↑ according to: Medienhaus Bauer / six regional editions / Marler Zeitung etc. March 20, 2017; P. 14
  22. ↑ from 14.-18. March 2018
  23. ↑ Recklinghausen Zeitung March 19, 2018, p. 16
  24. ↑ Communication from the Church and Cinema Working Group, Marc Gutzeit; March 2018
  25. ↑ Recklinghausen Zeitung of March 2, 2018, p. 12
  26. ↑ Recklinghausen Zeitung, March 15, 2018
  27. ↑ http://www.kirchliches-filmfestival.de/presse/kff-re_pm_2018-03-06.pdf
  28. ^ Recklinghausen Zeitung, March 19, 2018; P. 16
  29. ↑ http://www.kirchliches-filmfestival.de/ ; taken: March 24, 2018
  30. ↑ Interview with Wim Wenders : www.medienhaus-bauer.de/wenders
  31. ↑ WDR3 , March 25, 2019, 8:00 a.m. news
  32. ↑ Medienhaus Bauer / Marler Zeitung March 25, 2019, p. 14
  33. ↑ Medienhaus Bauer / Marler Zeitung March 25, 2019, p. 14
  34. ↑ Medienhaus Bauer with all 6 regional newspapers; March 13, 2020; P. 14; "Ali - a woman who fights like a lioness"
  35. ↑ according to the statement of the management team or the church and cinema team of the Evangelical Church District Recklinghausen: Thomas Damm, Ralf Dinand, Marc Gutzeit, Joachim van Eickels, Marler Zeitung March 14, 2016, p. 14
  36. ↑ Thomas Damm retires with the 9th festival due to transfer to Schwerte
  37. ↑ both: Institute for Cinema and Film Culture, Wiesbaden ; see web link
  38. ↑ http://www.kirchliches-filmfestival.de , March 8, 2017
  39. ↑ ( German Coordination Council of Societies for Christian-Jewish Cooperation )
  40. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from February 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.filmdienst.de
  41. ^ Recklinghäuser Zeitung , March 5, 2015
  42. ^ Marler Zeitung, March 10, 2016; about reasons for his presence at the film festival
  43. ^ Recklinghausen Zeitung, March 10, 2016