Mark October 1st in your calendars: That day the German Film Office opens for business!
The joint New York based office of German Films and the Goethe-Institut is being established to pool resources and activities and use the synergies of this collaboration to position German films even more soundly on the North American market.
“I want to give the utmost support to German films and its many talents so they receive the attention they deserve on the international stage. German Films has long been a reliable partner of our federal government’s film funding program. The German Film Office in New York will now shine an additional spotlight on German filmmaking and recommends itself – particularly due to the partnership with the Goethe-Institut – as an engine of cultural dialogue between Germany and the US. I am happy to support this prolific alliance. Exchange on the basis of mutual understanding is a central goal of our national and international cultural policy.”, declares Minister of State for Culture and Media, Monika Grütters, who is supporting the project in 2020/2021 with 50.000 Euro.
An additional 50.000 Euro of support are provided by the Federal Foreign Office. Minister of State for international cultural policy, Michelle Müntefering states: “It is an excellent step for the Goethe-Institut and German Films to join forces. The German Film Office in New York is a chance to closer connect the German and US film industries. The aim is to enable greater visibility of German productions in the US film market, but also to strengthen the cultural relationship between our two countries.”
Simone Baumann, managing director of German Films states: “The opening of the German Film Office marks a new stage in our long-term, worldwide partnership with the Goethe-Institut and we hope it is a strategic milestone for many other joint projects. We are very happy to work with the Goethe-Institut to create even more of an impact with German movies and series in the United States.”
Johannes Ebert, secretary-general of the Goethe-Institut, says: “Film has always been a major part of the work of our institutes in the United States. In California we are organizing the Berlin & Beyond Festival in San Francisco and the German Currents Film Festival in L.A. with the support of German Films, which are enjoying growing popularity. At the latest German productions have really arrived in the US with BABYLON BERLIN. We are pleased that we now have even stronger structures in place to meet and support this interest.” For more than fifty years, the Goethe-Institutes in the United States have been presenting repertory and contemporary films from Germany in partnership with local organizations, thereby securing the presence of German productions in theaters, museums, and online.
In 2019, the Northamerican market was again hugely important for the German film industry. With revenues of almost 8 million euros for majority German films, it contributed to the international box office success of German films with a market share of 12.8 percent.
Who – What – Where
• Sara Stevenson, who has been responsible at the Goethe-Institut New York for film and arts programming since 2011 will head the German Film Office.
• Attached to the Goethe-Institut New York the German Film Office has the following mission
and goals:
– Presenting and promoting the full range of German films and co-productions
– Observing new trends in the US film market and in the
New York film scene
– Strengthening the presence of German films in art house cinemas, relevant institutions and
digital platforms in New York and the US
– Providing support for film sales to the US market
• German Film Office inaugural slate of events:
SNEAK PEAK
In collaboration with SundanceTV, the German Film Office will present an online sneak peak of the first two episodes of DEUTSCHLAND 89 followed by an online panel discussion with the cast and crew.
Date: October 24 and 25, 2020
GERMAN MOVIE NIGHTS
Drive-in screening of Visar Morina’s film EXILE (2020), co-presented with Rooftop Films at the Brooklyn Army Terminal; online screening as part of the German Movie Nights series
Dates: October 18, 2020 (drive-in), October 30 – November 1, 2020 (online)
FORUM 50
Presented in collaboration with: The Museum of Modern Art and Arsenal – Institut für Film und Videokunst e.V.
Online film series with selected films from the Berlinale’s anniversary program and online panel.
Date: late fall 2020
KINO! Germany NOW! 2021 DISCOVER FRESH TALENT
Curated film package consisting of eight current feature films and a selection of short films by young German directors which will tour the US – in-theater as well as online screenings presented with guests and an accompanying event program.
Date: starting in the first half of 2021
Please find all other screenings, sneak previews, movie nights, and collaborations with festivals and other organizations and institutions on the German Film Office website.
You can reach the German Film Office and Sara Stevenson here:
German Film Office
c/o Goethe-Institut
30 Irving Place
New York, NY 10003
www.germanfilmoffice.us
sara.stevenson@goethe.de
