Finally, big cinema on the big screen again: the FILM WITHOUT BORDERS festival 2020 has come to an end with a huge success. Thanks to numerous corona measures the fim festival was one of the few live Brandenburg cultural events this year. From Thursday to Sunday, films on the main topic of courage were shown – for the first time in the open-air cinema – and in the culture barn picturesquely situated on the Scharmützelsee. The audience was very enthusiastic: all performances were sold out! Guests such as actress Leonie Krippendorf and director Gesa Hollerbach visibly enjoyed being able to present their works to an audience again at last, even though the seating capacity was a third of the previous years due to the pandemic. Actress Adriana Altaras: “It’s so nice to finally be able to go to the cinema again here – and to realize: this is exactly what I was missing so much.
On show were 14 feature and documentary films on the subject of COURAGE in its various facets, including Leonie Krippendorf’s summer love film KOKON, Vadim Perelman’s survival drama PERSISCHSTUNDEN (with Lars Eidinger and Nahuel Biscayart and the FIRST STEPS winning film TRADING HAPPINESS by Duc Ngo Ngoc. Janna Ji Wonders’ documentary film WALCHENSEE FOREVER, which is also in the pre-selection for the European Film Award 2020, caused thunderous applause in the Culture Barn. On the Sunday of the festival, there was the traditional round table discussion on the main topic, moderated by Andrea Thilo and Jörg Thadeusz. Talk guests in the Culture Barn were the author Deborah Feldman, the actress and author Adriana Altaras, the entrepreneur and CDU politician Diana Kinnert as well as the director Erwin Wagenhofer.
The guests discussed until late in the evening at the campfire, among other things. with actress Jella Haase, director Leonie Krippendorf, Brandenburg’s Minister for Science, Research and Culture Dr. Manja Schüle, managing director of Medienboard Kirsten Niehuus, director Gesa Hollerbach, producer Sol Bondy, actor Felix von Bredow, filmmaker Philipp Grieß, cinematographer Susanna Salonen, marine physicist Dr. Stefanie Arndt, director Janna Ji Wonders, photographer Anna Werner, director Duc Ngo Ngoc, producer Tonio Kellner, producer and festival advisory board member Peter Hartwig, producer Peter Rommel, Max Hopp as well as actress Ulrike Krumbiegel, screenwriter Wolfgang Kohlhaase, director Jean Boué, journalist & presenter Jörg Taszman and prominent representatives of the Daimler community “Be a Mover Julia Dorny, mixed martial arts world champion and journalist, influencer and actress Marijke Smitt as well as actor Steve Windolf.
The FILM WITHOUT BORDERS-Team would like to thank all contributors, supporters, sponsors and the audience – and is looking forward to seeing you again in 2021!!
Photo: Boris Trenkel/FILM WITHOUT BORDERS
