Titel: Playoff
Erstelldatum: D/F/ISR 2011Genre: Feature FilmRegie: Eran Riklis
Darsteller: Danny Huston, Amira Casar, Max Riemelt, Hanns Zischler
Kamera: Rainer Klausmann
Drehbuch: David Akerman, Gidon Maron, Eran Riklis

It was a medium-sized sensation in the sporting world and beyond, when the Israeli basketball star Ralph Klein, born in Berlin and son of a Holocaust victim, took over the management of the German national team in 1983. Perfect material for Eran Riklis (The Syrian Bride, Lemon Tree), who knows all about historically charged tense situations as a result of his films about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He moves the story to a Frankfurt where the ghosts of the past are still present, but where everything is changing as a result of immigration and political movements. Between the trainer, called Max Stoller in the film (played by the Israeli star Danny Huston), his lover, the Turkish immigrant Deniz (the incomparable Amira Casar), and his angry student Thomas (Max Riemelt) the contemporary tension is turned into a transfixing drama.

Part of the LICHTER Audience Prize 2013

Titel: Promised Land
Untertitel: Universal Filmlounge presents:
Sprache: DeutschErstelldatum: USA 2012Genre: Feature FilmRegie: Gus van Sant
Darsteller: Matt Damon, John Krasinski, Frances McDormand, Rosemarie DeWitt, Hal Holbrook, Lucas Black
Produktion: Chris Moore, Matt Damon, John Krasinski
Drehbuch: John Krasinski, Matt Damon,

“Nothing easier than that!” the company representative Steve Butler (Matt Damon) thinks as he tries to win over the residents of a small American town for the expansion plans of his natural gas company. With the novel method of “fracking”, the breaking down of shale layers, previously inaccessible reserves deep within the earth are unlocked. Butler persuades the province’s population to abandon their farms that had been unprofitable for a long time and promises fabulous purchase prices. He conceals the environmental risks of the extraction method. But suddenly resistance is building up among the villagers. Steve, who grew up in the country himself and knows the truth, must decide which side he is on. Is he the representative of the profit interests of the company or will he return to his roots? Promised Land is a highly relevant drama with the two Oscar winners Matt Damon (The Bourne Trilogy) and Frances McDormand (Fargo).

Titel: Silvi
Sprache: Dt. OmeUErstelldatum: D 2013Genre: Feature FilmRegie: Nico Sommer
Darsteller: Lina Wendel, Harald Polzin, Iván Gallardo
Kamera: Alexander du Prel
Produktion: Nico Sommer
Drehbuch: Julia Stiebe

Silvi has spent her entire life with one man – in a marriage, which has become more and more a boring routine. At the start of this film, which was produced with a relatively small budget and support from crowd funding, this marriage comes to an abrupt end. The 47-year old pro-tagonist has to find her own way in life, and above all in love. As a mix of inexperienced teenager and grown woman, she meets a series of men who confront her with very unusual sexual desires. The film shows its main figure humorously, directly and without inhibitions, she seems to accept her situation with childlike wonder. Nico Sommer, who with Silvi has al-ready been represented at LICHTER five times, uses subtle slapstick to portray a society, which is still copy uncertainly with new forms of living together.

Part of the LICHTER Audience Prize 2013

In Attendance of the director Nico Sommer.

Titel: Shanghai
Info: german premiereSprache: Hindi OmeUErstelldatum: IND 2012Genre: Feature FilmRegie: Dibakar Banerjee
Darsteller: Emraan Hashmi, Abhay Deol, Prasenjit Chatterjee
Kamera: Nikos Andritsakis
Drehbuch: Vasilis Vasilikos, Urmi Juvekar, Dibakar Banerjee

The ambitious Governor Madamji wants to turn the sleepy, provincial town of Bharat Nagar into the Indian Shanghai, a shiny city of offices and luxury apartments. That people get left behind is not a problem. When Dr. Ahmedi, a well-known critic of the project, is killed in a hit-and-run incident after an appearance in the town, the investigative ambition of the camer-aman Joginder stirs. On an accidentally recorded tape, he discovers evidence of the corrupt machinations behind the project. A racing, action thriller is the result, which is based on plot of the famous novel “Z” – filmed in 1969 by Costa-Gavras. With the bling of Bollywood and an associated amount of political commitment, Shanghai highlights the dark sides of Indian politics.

Part of the LICHTER Audience Prize 2013