Actor: Rainer Egger

Frantz

In the aftermath of WWI, a young German who grieves the death of her fiancé in France meets a mysterious French man who visits the fiance’s grave to lay flowers.

Alone in Berlin

Berlin in June of 1940. While Nazi propaganda celebrates the regime’s victory over France, a kitchen-cum-living room in Prenzlauer Berg is filled with grief. Anna and Otto Quangel’s son has been killed at the front. This working class couple had long believed in the ‘Führer’ and followed him willingly, but now they realise that his promises are nothing but lies and deceit. They begin writing postcards as a form of resistance and in a bid to raise awareness: Stop the war machine! Kill Hitler! Putting their lives at risk, they distribute these cards in the entrances of tenement buildings and in stairwells. But the SS and the Gestapo are soon onto them, and even their neighbours pose a threat.

The Red Violin

300 years of a remarkable musical instrument. Crafted by the Italian master Bussotti (Cecchi) in 1681, the red violin has traveled through Austria, England, China, and Canada, leaving both beauty and tragedy in its wake. In Montreal, Samuel L Jackson plays an appraiser going over its complex history.

Do You Sometimes Feel Burned Out and Empty?

Plot unavailable

Jack

Delving deep into the soul of one of Austria’s most infamous real-life convicts, Jack is a fascinating, unprejudiced look at the path to redemption and the obstacles that bar the way.

Phoenix on the Corner

Felix, a young projectionist, daydreams himself out of the loneliness of his projection booth and into a fantastic universe in which the characters in the films become his own. His dreams, wishes and reality become one in the fuzzy reflection on the projection window. A surreal play by Peter Patzak.

Life Guidance

The film is set in the near future, in a world of perfect capitalism. Society is sustained by a class of top achievers; meanwhile, so-called minimum recipients live under sedation in Fortresses of Sleep. The great majority of top achievers view themselves as happy. An outsourced agency has been established for the rest: Life Guidance is charged with turning these individuals into optimal people as well. Alexander has internalized the system but one wrong word to his child triggers Life Guidance. He starts to rebel and encounters the horror of the system in all its brightness and affability.

Tales of Franz

Franz is by far the smallest in the class, has blond ringlets and gets a high-pitched squeaky voice when he gets upset. Luckily, two best friends help: Gabi and Eberhard. When Franz discovers Hank Haberer's "10 rules for a real man" for himself one day, turbulence is inevitable and the friendship of the three gets into trouble.