(SPOT.ph) Language barriers mean nothing to those who truly love cinema. This November, movie buffs can get their fix of foreign language films at the 3rd German Film Week. The opening night will take place at SM Aura Cinema 2 on November 6 with the movie Only God Can Judge Me—and you can watch it for free on a first-come, first-served basis!
The festival will run until November 11 in both SM Aura and SM North EDSA. People from Baguio, Cebu, and Cagayan de Oro will also be able to enjoy the festival at later dates. The rest of the screenings won't be free, but at P100 per ticket, who’s complaining?
From rom-coms to war films, melodramas to crime thrillers, this year’s selection of films is sure to have one or two (or 10!) movies you would just love to see.
Only God Can Judge Me (2017)
Director: Özgür Yildirim
Screening Schedule: November 6 at 7 p.m. (SM Aura); November 11 at 7 p.m. (SM Aura); November 8 at 7 p.m. (SM North EDSA)
This crime-thriller follows the story of Ricky (Moritz Bleibtreu), a small-time gangster who just finished serving his time for a botched robbery attempt. Now that he’s out, his partner-in-crime offers him a surefire way to get rich quickly. Ricky hesitates at first, but eventually agrees. Things get complicated when a policewoman named Diana (Birgit Minichmayr) enters the picture (pun not intended).
Forget About Nick (2017)
Director: Margarethe von Trotta
Screening Schedule: November 7 at 7 p.m. (SM Aura); November 11 at 7 p.m. (SM North EDSA)
Two women fight over who gets to keep a luxurious loft in New York, left to them by their twice unfaithful ex-husband Nick (Haluk Bilginer). Both Jade (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) and Maria (Katja Riemann) were dumped by Nick when they turned 40. You won’t need subtitles for this comedy since it’s all in English.
The Captain (2017)
Director: Robert Schwentke
Screening Schedule: November 7 at 9:30 p.m. (SM Aura) and November 11 at 9:30 p.m. (SM North EDSA)
A couple of weeks after WWII ends, a young German soldier fights for survival after deserting his company. He discovers the abandoned uniform of a Luftwaffe captain and dons it. Masquerading as an officer, he finds his way back to camp and gathers soldiers around him to complete an imaginary assignment supposedly "from Hitler himself"—revealing his true nature.
Rock My Heart (2017)
Director: Hanno Olderdissen
Screening Schedule: November 8 at 7 p.m. (SM Aura) and November 7 at 7 p.m. (SM North EDSA)
This feel-good, family drama centers around two unlikely pair—a young girl with a congenital heart defect and a reclusive old man. Unaware of her worsening condition, Paul (Dieter Hallevorden) trains Jana (Lena Klenke) to become a horseracer with Rock, a seemingly wild stallion only she has been able to tame.
The Invisibles (2017)
Director: Claus Räfle
Screening Schedule: November 7 at 9:30 p.m. (SM North Edsa) and November 8 at 9 p.m. (SM Aura)
Another film about the war, but with a completely different feel compared to The Captain, The Invisibles tells the story of Jews who survived by going into hiding during the Holocaust. It’s February 1943 and the capital has just been announced “free of Jews.” Based on true accounts of Holocaust survivors, the Invisibles is a gripping story of survival that will keep you on your toes—and then make you cry.
Transit (2018)
Director: Christian Petzold
Screening Schedule: November 9 at 7 p.m. (SM Aura) and November 10 at 7 p.m. (SM North EDSA)
With German troops just outside Paris, Georg (Franz Rogowski) escapes to Marseille, assuming the identity of a writer who took his own life out of fear of persecution. There he meets Marie (Paula Beer), a young woman who is desperately looking for her missing husband—the very man Georg has been impersonating.
The Final Journey (2017)
Director: Nick Baker-Monteys
Screening Schedule: November 9 at 9:30 p.m. (SM Aura) and November 10 at 9:30 p.m. (SM North EDSA)
It’s 2014 and a 92-year-old former German Officer leaves to search for the woman he fell in love with during the war against the Red Army, not knowing if she’d survived. Eduard (Jürgen Prochnow) is joined unwillingly by a granddaughter who hates him. Forced on a journey together, the pair go through war-torn Eastern Ukraine, braving the dangers they face amidst the tension between Russia and Ukraine.
Styx (2018)
Director: Wolfgang Fischer
Screening Schedule: November 10 at 7 p.m. (SM Aura) and November 9 at 7 p.m. (SM North EDSA)
The film follows the story of Rike (Susanne Wolff), a successful doctor who goes out to sea in her private yacht. She aims to fulfill her long-cherished dream of sailing to a small tropical island in the middle of the Atlantic on her own, but her plans take an unexpected turn when she finds a badly damaged boat overloaded with refugees desperately struggling to survive. In the face of massive calamity, Rike finds herself in the face of helplessness.
In the Fade (2017)
Director: Fatih Akin
Screening Schedule: November 10 at 9:30 p.m. (SM Aura) and November 9 at 9:30 p.m. (SM North EDSA)
Katja's (Diane Kruger) life falls into shambles after her Turkish husband and their son are killed in a terrorist bombing. The investigation leads to two suspects, a neo-Nazi couple, but the court acquits them due to lack of evidence. Katja, devastated by the result, decides to take matters into her own hands.
303 (2018)
Director: Hans Weingarter
Screening Schedule: November 11 at 9:30 p.m. (SM Aura) and November 8 at 9:30 p.m. (SM North EDSA)
Everyone loves road trips—and road trip movies, even more so. The film 303 follows the story of two strangers in their mid-twenties, brought together by circumstances. Jan (Anton Spieker) wants to see his biological father in Spain while Jule (Male Emde) plans to visit her boyfriend in Portugal. The two decide to take the trip together. One charismatic boy, one charming girl, on the road together. What could possibly go wrong?
For more information, visit Goethe-Institut Philippinen’s Facebook page.
