The Winter Film Awards festival showcased from February 25-28 productions on a wide range of topics in feature film, shorts and documentary formats. It has become an important platform for independent productions from the United States and foreign countries with entries in virtually all genres. Compared to past editions, the higher production value of submitted films is noteworthy. This results apparently from film makers’ ingenuity but also from the inexpensive sophisticated production and camera equipment now available.  Thus films shot on a limited budget by an ever-growing number of producers and directors come across as professional creations. The festival is run by unpaid volunteers on a narrow financial basis yet as its data indicates it is growing steadily.  Ticket sales have increased by 50% compared to 2014; about 800 individuals bought them, some attending full days of screenings. Its facebook data show that the festival audience has an even male female split trending towards the 25 – 40 age range. Most of the audience is somehow connected to the film industry.  Doubling from 2014, 450 films were submitted for the 2015 edition. 34 films originated in the United States and 42 in foreign languages. The high proportion of foreign language films in this and last year’s edition reflects the international appeal of the Winter Film Awards fest, an important achievement for a relatively small festival.  About half of the directors and producers selected the WithoutABox submission service with the others opting for FilmFreeway which reportedly scored higher in their satisfaction.  The fest reached  filmmakers through Craigslist, Facebook and related groups, Google’s  non-profit services, local educational institutions and ProductionHub  to name but a few.. Among films that attracted my attention were

INNENKIND, Germany, Thomas Lee,

Innenkind is a probing psychological German feature film which portrays the painful breakdown of a marriage. The husband Rudi can no longer cope with the erratic and unpredictable behavior of his wife Suzanne and her failure to communicate. Even flashbacks to happier times show her persistent questioning of his attachment. Some flashbacks show Suzanne growing up strongly attached to her father. She accuses Rudi of infidelities, interferes with his work, engages in irrational behavior and appears to be depressed and anxiety ridden most of the time. Suzanne is also attacking and insulting members of her own family, suggesting that she was abandoned by her father who has passed away. Rudi cannot make sense of her changed behavior. There is no obvious explanation.  He moves out but she remains obsessed with him pursuing him constantly. Though she has filed for divorce she claims that they are in love and that they can fix their five year old marriage. Suzanne remains totally isolated and takes long lonely walks at night time. Rudi seems to be her only link to reality. She phones strangers to talk but cannot reveal the reasons for her calls. Prompting Rudi to see her again she refers to a secret but cannot share it. One flashback reveals that she was raped as a teenager by her father, an experience she cannot articulate. This is a well enacted study of a troubled character living in despair and isolation haunted by a traumatic past.

LEBEN (Touching Life), Germany, Carolin Faerber

This persuasive short film portrays Ben who lives in social isolation carefully avoiding other people and touching objects. He suffers from a compulsive disorder forcing him to constantly wash his hands and disinfecting whatever he is touches. He tries to break out of this behavioral prison and successfully applies for a job given his outstanding qualifications and even secures a date with a young woman attracted to him in spite of his disorder. He seems to be set free yet a disaster prevents a full escape. This short is certainly successful in its brief presenting of a troubled individual’s condition.

H.O.P.E. Was ereHereHere, USA, Mark Debega

In the U.S. tourism industry there is a relatively new and growing segment aptly called voluntourism serving mainly college students.  Well intentioned work as volunteers during their college vacation in domestic or foreign settings is appealing. Hope was here is a thought provoking documentary about a group of students from a Boston college. They spend one week in the slum of Lima’s Canto Grande area while housed in the religious Peyton Center. Recording the group’s activities the film shows the students in various settings, communicating with school children, helping in clean ups and sports,   engaging in a rehab center, as well as  participating in  excursions. Given the limited time spent there and the linguistic limitations of the students one wonders about the merits of this short form voluntourism.  The brief visits to schools and rehabcenters does not really  contribute to a betterment of these settings, more interrupting than ameliorating the work carried out. They are welcome guests, but they have a hard time spelling out the benefits the slum children will derive from their visits. Coming from upscale backgrounds paying annual college fees of $50,000 or more these students would have more of an impact if they were to donate the costs of their one week stay to the institutions they claim to help. If their limited exposure to slum life and poverty has a lasting impact on their life remains to be seen but is doubtful.

Generation ’89: Growing up in the Year of Change, Germany, Anker Renter

This surprising documentary provides a new perspective on the 1989 unification of Germany which tends to be perceived by most as a resounding story of success. Based on the recollections of six individuals who were teenagers at that time, the film probes their lives in the German Democratic Republic and their interpretation of the dramatic 1989 changes, as well as the rapid collapse of the DDR and its aftermath. Coming from middle strata backgrounds they did not anticipate nor celebrate the unification of Germany. Rather, their critical minds deplore having lost a historical chance of changing the DDR into a democratic state and at least retaining some positive DDR features. Instead, the DDR became part of the federal republic. Massive support from the East German population was drawn by the promise of a higher standard of living, resulting in the majority of votes going to West German parties during the first free elections in May 1880 The CDU and its allied Western parties scored an absolute majority and the  newly formed East German party Buendnis 1989 which was instrumental for the  change received only 2.9% backing. The Berlin wall fell, but the mental wall persisted for many years, differentiating between Ossies (individuals from East Germany) and Wessies (those from West Germany). Some ossies were treated as second hand citizens or as reported in the film ‘as Turks” in the West, many subjected to arrogance. Large demonstrations for democratic changes in the DDR before its breakdown were well covered by the Western press but also demonstrations by democratic groups against unification received scarce media attrition. Such opposition is still rarely if ever discussed in the West and now documented for the first time in this important film. The film maker uses illustrative family images and films from that period. After 25 years the teenagers are now adults and certainly do not desire life in a DDR like state, but they have a fractured sense of what their ‘Heimat’ (homeland) is.

Given this year’s performance one hopes that the Winter Film Awards festival will continue to expand and retain its important function for independent film makers ftrom the US and foreign countries.

Claus Mueller 

filmexchange@gmail.com