Addressing a press conference in Hanoi on October 8, Oliver Brandt, director of the Goethe Institute Hanoi, said that KinoFest 2024 would reflect many social issues taking place in Germany, and this is also the first time the German film festival in Vietnam has targeted teenagers, especially during weekend screenings.
The cinematic adventure through Hanoi, Hue, Ho Chi Minh City, and Binh Duong will offer a diverse collection of documentary and fiction films, helping audiences to explore the perspective of younger people in a rapidly changing world.
In Hanoi, the festival will take place at the National Cinema Centre from October 10 to 15, with the curtain raiser The Teacher Lounge by director İlker Çatak.
The film tells a story of a teacher named Carla Nowak. When one of her students is suspected of theft, the teacher decides to get to the bottom of the matter. Caught between her ideals and the school system, the consequences of her actions threaten to break her. Carla attempts to mediate between parents, colleagues, and students. The more she tries, the more desperate the young teacher becomes.
The film is for audiences aged above 12 and was produced in 2023. It won Best Screenplay title at Günter Rohrbach Preis, Best Feature Film, Best Director, and Best Actress at German Film Award 2023. It was also nominated in the Best International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards.
This year’s event will feature eight other films for cinema-goers nationwide, namely The Universal Theory;Winners; Life is Not A Competition but I’m Winning;In The Blind Spot;Shahid;Love and Fear;The Crossing; and Checker Tobi and The Journey to The Flying Rivers.
In particular, Checker Tobi and The Journey to the Flying Rivers features the majestic beauty of Son Doong Cave and Lan Ha Bay of Vietnam, as well as the Amazon forest in Brazil. Through the film, messages about environmental protection and the importance of friendship are conveyed to audiences.
Those films will be screened with German, Turkish, Polish, English, and Vietnamese subtitles. Tickets are to be sold for VND20,000 each which are suitable for audiences, especially students.
