Films by Country

Germany

Antichrist

Lars von Trier

Appalling many, thrilling others, outraging all, hailed as a brilliantly hellish vision, dismissed as a stunt, Lars Von Trier’s psychosexual horror film was the one that dominated the headlines from Cannes.

The Baader Meinhof Complex

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex

Uli Edel

The major German film of the year. This vivid, provocative thriller traces the activities of the violent group of self-styled anti-fascists who called themselves the Red Army Faction and terrorised West Germany.

Chéri

Stephen Frears

A stunning Michelle Pfeiffer reunites with Dangerous Liaisons director Stephen Frears to play a cynical courtesan in love with a younger man in this sumptuous Belle Epoque drama. With Rupert Friend, Kathy Bates.

Double Take

Johan Grimonprez

Video artist Johan Grimonprez has made a stimulating, highly entertaining mash-up of Hitchcock TV intros, 60s newsreel footage and instant coffee ads tracing the Cold War origins of catastrophe culture.

Flame & Citron

Flammen & Citronen

Ole Christian Madsen

The myths surrounding the Danish Resistance during World War II are scathingly reassessed through the eyes of two of its legendary heroes in this action-packed thriller. With Mads Mikkelsen.

Jerichow

Christian Petzold

A taut 21st-century refit of Depression-era pulp classic The Postman Always Rings Twice by leading German director Christian Petzold with his mesmerising regular actress Nina Hoss. “A world-class talent.” — Variety

North Face

Nordwand

Philipp Stölzl

“A mountaineering adventure more tense, more edge-of-the-seat suspenseful, than Touching the Void? Almost incredibly, this German drama, based on a true story [the Eiger, 1936], is that film.” — The Independent

Song from the Southern Seas

Pesni juzhnykh morej

Marat Sarulu

Counteracting the damage wrought to the national image by Borat, here’s a smart, completely engaging film from Kazakhstan that brings humour and the civilising values of a rich traditional culture to its fable-like tale of neighbouring couples.

Spies

Spione

Fritz Lang

Fritz Lang’s delirious 1928 epic of espionage, opium, fiendish gadgetry and sexual intrigue set the template for virtually every spy movie for the next 80 years. Accompanied by visiting UK piano legend Neil Brand.

The Strength of Water

Armagan Ballantyne

New Zealand premiere screenings of the feature debut by Armagan Ballantyne from an original screenplay by Briar Grace-Smith. Already a popular and critical success at the Rotterdam and Berlin Film Festivals.

Teza

Haile Gerima

Haile Gerima’s Ethiopian epic was named as the Best African Film of the year at the 40th Pan-African Film Festival. An impassioned account of a country at war – and at war with itself – for 40 years.

Trip to Asia: The Quest for Harmony

Trip to Asia: Die Suche nach dem Einklang

Thomas Grube

Fascinating doco penetrates the mysterious inner life and communal ego of the famously closed, elite Berlin Philharmonic during a breakneck concert tour of Asia with conductor Sir Simon Rattle.

Tulpan

Sergey Dvortsevoy

A mesmerising, weirdly perfect blend of fish-out-of-water character comedy, ethnographic documentary and awesome landscape photography, Tulpan provides an unforgettable journey to the Kazakh steppe.

The White Ribbon

Das Weisse Band

Michael Haneke

Direct from Cannes, the Palme d'Or winner from Austrian cine-provocateur Michael Haneke. Strange events happen in a small village in the north of Germany during the years before World War I, which seem to be ritual punishment. Who is responsible?