French director Alanté Kavaïté hosted a screening of her film ÉCOUTE LE TEMPS at the Goetheschule in Hannover. The screening was part of the school cinema project KINEMA. 150 pupils attended the screening last Wednesday.

The thriller about the young sound engineer Charlotte who while investigating the murder of her mother discovers strange recordings, that mix sound of the present with those from the past, struck the chord of the audience.

Lower Saxony ? in French that means ?Basse-Saxe?. For the 7^th time the Festival du Cinéma Nordique in Rouen dedicated a special programme to ?Cinéma en Basse-Saxe?.

Together with directors Felix Randau, Gordian Maugg and Matthias Klimsa, festival director Volker Kufahl (Braunschweig International filmfest) and Johannes Wilts (head of school cinema project KINEMA) travelled to Northern France, invited by the regional film foundation Pôle Image Haute-Normandie. They presented three films to the festival?s audience and to several school classes.

From March 1st filmfest can be found in its new offices. Our new address, phone and fax number:  

Internationales filmfest Braunschweig e.V.
Neue Straße 8
D-38100 Braunschweig
Germany

From the summer of 2009, after two years of meticulous planning, an arthouse cinema will open, offering local audiences quality viewing all year round. Located right in the middle of town (Neuen Straße 8), the re-opened venue, on the premises of the former Universum cinema, will feature two spaces for watching films, and a café. This endeavour is the product of a newly established company, Universum Kinobetriebs GmbH, comprised of members of the organisation behind the International filmfest Braunschweig.

The six partners in this new firm include the artistic director of the film festival, Volker Kufahl, as well as Edgar Merkel and Marit Vahjen, both long-serving members of the festival's board of directors, Angela von Schreiber-Stroppe, a journalist who also works for filmfest, Peter Wentzler (from the advertising agency, “Hinz und Kunst”) and a founding member of the festival, and Heinz Wilke, an architect who contributed designs and drawings for the new cinema. Volker Kufahl is now also managing director of the Universum Kinobetriebs GmbH.

The Italian production "Cemento armato" ('Concrete Romance') wins the audience award "The Heinrich" at the 22nd Braunschweig International film festival. Director Marco Martani’s captivating drama, which was presented as a German premiere, tells the dramatic story of an unequal duel between a young man and a Mafioso. The prize money of € 10,000, sponsored by Volkswagen Financial Services AG is equally divided between the director and a German distributor who releases the film in Germany theatrically (world distribution Visual Factory, UK).

Winner of the French-German Youth Award KINEMA is the French father-and-daughter-comedy "Les Grandes Personnes" ('Grown ups') by director Anna Novion (German distributor: Alamode Filmverleih). Presided by director Felix Randau, a jury of five young adults aged 17 to 22 selected the winner who receives a 35mm print with German subtitles. The KINEMA prize is supported by the Haut conseil culturel franco allemand (French-German Council on Culture). Patron is German actress Hanna Schygulla.

Under the title "Can a video game make you cry? Film and game ? a confrontation" the 22nd Braunschweig International film festival (November 4-9) presents a series of events featuring the topic of emotionality in films and games. In presentations, lectures, a retrospective and a workshop, media scientists, artists and experts from the game industry will investigate the diffenrences and common grounds of movies and computer games.

The two most important branches of entertainment industry continuously grow together. Convergence is the buzzword. What applies to the content ? the movie-turned-game or game-turned-movie are well established ? also accounts for the production, where the same digital technology is used. In terms of economics the game has outstriped film. Does that mean that not the cinema but the computer game is going to be the dream factory of the 21st century?

165 events – screenings, two film concerts, one workshop, lectures and a photo exhibition – await visitors 22nd Braunschweig International film festival, taking place from November 4-9.

15 of a total of 60 long films will celebrating their German premiere in Braunschweig, among Clint Eastwood’s new masterpiece "Changeling" and Baltasar Kormakur’s "White Night Wedding". More premieres are to come in the sections "New international cinema", "New German films" and in the "Heinrich".

Two French and three Germans, aged 17 to 22 years form this year?s jury of the French-German youth award KINEMA. The prize for the best German or French debut film will be awarded for the second time at Braunschweig International Film Festival (November 4-9). Out of six competition films the jurors will choose the winner, who will be announed on the filmfest-Gala on November 9th.

The five jurors are Rémy Albaut, 17 years old, pupil from Monchy-sur-Eu (Haute-Normandie), the 18-year-old Julia Boulet, student from Rouen, and the three Germans Yulia Lokshina, 22, student in Passau, 18-year-old pupil Johannes Jancke from Braunschweig and Finnja Volbrecht, 21, who studies in Freiburg.

Out of 60 European submissions, candidates for this years’ audience award "The Heinrich" have now been selected. The 10,000 Euros award for the best debut or second feature film will be presented at the Braunschweig Film Festival for the 10th time. The prize money, donated by the main festival sponsor Volkswagen Financial Services, is awarded to both the director and the distributor.

The nominees are:

At the 22nd Braunschweig International Film Festival (November 4-9, 2008) the French-German Youth Award KINEMA will be awarded for the second time.

Six debut and second feature films participate: three long feature films in French and three films in German language. A jury of five young adults from France and Germany will choose the winner who will be announced on November 9th at the closing ceremony in the Braunschweig State Theatre.