From September 23rd to 27th 2015 the Filmfestival Münster takes place for the 16th time and comes up with several German premieres and one European premiere at Cineplex. Three competitions in the feature and short film sections, carefully selected side programs, media art and photo exhibitions, a program for children and youngadolescents as well as a symposium addressing alternative ways of filmmaking and Films from the Countryside are part of the program.

The oldest competitive festival in Westphalia, presented by the Filmwerkstatt Münster since 1981, has become firmly established within the festival scene over the last 34 years. Because of the warm and personal atmosphere and the closeness between filmmakers and the enthusiastic audience, it is held in high esteem. Special attention is turned to young talents – numerous filmmakers presented their early works at the Filmfestival Münster or won awards for the first time in their career here.

In the European Feature Film Competition, eight feature films compete for the award for best directing (endowed with 5,000 Euro) which is awarded by an international jury. On September 23rd at07:00 pm the festival opens with the Norwegian competition entry “Out of Nature” by Ole Giæver, a preposterously melancholic tragicomedy, which has already caused a sensation at the Berlinale and won the Preis der Europa Cinemas.

The British entry “Winter” by director Heidi Greensmith is the festival’s European premiere. This intense character study stars “Sons of Anarchy” actor Tommy Flanagan, Tom Payne (“The Physician”) and Stacy Martin (“Nymphomaniac”). The German premiere within the European Feature Film Competition has a similarly top-class cast: The ensemble drama “Ladygrey” is set in front of the majestically beautiful Drakensberg in South Africa and unites an international cast around Peter Sarsgaard, Jérémie Renier, Emily Mortimer and “Game of Thrones” actor Liam Cunningham.

Furthermore, five of the eight entries in this section are debut films, among them the first feature films by Nikias Chryssos and Micah Magee, whose short films caused a sensation at past festivals in Münster.

The traditional Short Film Competition has ever since the first festival addressed filmmakers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. A selecting committee chose the 37 most creative, unconventional and convincing works out of nearly 500 submissions, among them this year’s winner of the Students’ Oscar™, “Everything will be okay” by Patrick Vollrath, which is only one of several highlights.

The section Focus NL, featuring contemporary films from the Netherlands, is unique in all of Germany and comes up with two further German premieres. One of them is the equally warmhearted and intriguing documentary “Hollywood Banker” about a seemingly inconspicuous financier from the Netherlands, without whose support international hits such as “Platoon” or “Dances with Wolves” could never have come into existence. The other German premiere is the psychological thriller “Sunny Side Up” starring the former jury member Egbert-Jan Weeber.

Also, the Filmfestival Münster pays tribute to one of the most significant cinematographers in Europe: The Dutchman Robby Müller, who shot numerous films with Wim Wenders (“Paris, Texas”), Jim Jarmusch (“Dead Man”) or Lars von Trier (“Breaking the Waves”), is the guest of honor at the festival. Over the course of the festival, three films are screened exemplarily for Robby Müller’s complex career: Peter Lilienthal’s “Calm Prevails over the Country” (1975) as an example for Müller’s cooperation with directors of the New German Cinema, William Friedkin’s “To Live and Die in L.A.” (1985), which provides an insight into his US works from the ‘80s, and Michael Winterbottom’s “24 Hour Party People” (2002) as an example for his later European films. Furthermore, there will be a photo exhibition at the Foyer der Bezirksregierung at Domplatz Münster with polaroids of Robby Müller.

The former section “Münster Connection” with films from the region has been expanded to the whole of Westphalia this year. Two music videos, shot and edited by Münsteran adolescents between 10 and 14 years over the course of two summer workshops as part of the Kulturrucksack program, are screened in this section as well. The Filmfestival Münster also shows two feature films for this young audience. The Brazilian animated movie “The Boy and the World” and the British coming-of-age drama “X + Y” are two award-winning films which provide the kids and teens with access to international film art.

The new label “Nightwatch” comprises spectacular genre films such as Quentin Dupieux’s (“Rubber”, “Wrong”) newest cinematic trip “Reality” – an ironic title, that is for sure. Another film in this section is Dario Argento’s occult masterpiece “Suspiria” from 1977, screened for the first time as freshly restored HD-version.

In the exhibition “and in the meantime a latte macchiato” at Kunsthalle Münster, young artists from North Rhine-Westphalia and the Netherlands present their latest positions on video and media art. The third international symposium “filmLab” concentrates on the connection between independent organizations film studios, which produce films on a low budget, host screenings, and impart film knowledge as well as DIY-culture. And finally, “Films from the Countryside”, presented by Filmservice Münster.Land and Cinema, take a documentary look at people and their stories far from the cultural centers, along the lines of “See, that’s what you look like – The countryside portrayed”.

Background

The Filmfestival Münster 2015 is presented by the Filmwerkstatt Münster. Sponsors are the Stadt Münster, the Ministerium für Familie, Kinder, Jugend, Kultur und Sport des Landes Nordrhein-Westphalen, the Film und Medien Stiftung NRW, the Kulturstiftung der Sparkasse Münster, and the Botschaft des Königsreichs der Niederlande. Media partners are the WDR Studio Münster and the Münstersche Zeitung. Cooperation partners are the Kuturrucksack NRW, the Kulturamt der Stadt Münster, the Münsterschen Filmtheater-Betriebe, the Kunsthalle Münster, the Filmservice Münster.Land, the Deutsche Lufthansa AG, the hotel Kaiserhof Münster, the Audi Zentrum Münster – Auto Krause and GUCC grafik & film.

More information: www.filmfestival-muenster.de