In our Monthly Film Series, we will show a variety of GERMAN or GERMAN language films from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. On the 2nd Wednesday of each month, audiences will now have a chance to see these films on a regular basis at the CLINTON STREET THEATER. (Children movies will be playing on Sunday afternoons – please check our website.) All films are with English subtitles.

Operation Curveball (Curveball)

WEDNESDAY, April 13, 2022 – 7:00 PM

Germany – 2020 – 108 minutes

Director: Johannes Naber

Cast: Sebastian Blomberg, Dar Salim, Virginia Kull, Michael Wittenborn, Thorsten Merten

Although he already has searched Iraq unsuccessfully for weapons of mass destruction as a member of a UN mission, German bio-weapons expert Arndt Wolf is still obsessed with the idea that Saddam Hussein is hiding something. Nobody around him is interested in this topic any more. This changes abruptly when an Iraqi asylum seeker claims to have been involved in the manufacture of biological weapons. The German Federal Intelligence Service summons Dr. Wolf to ascertain the legitimacy of the claims made by the informant, who has been given the code name “Curveball”. Meanwhile, the 9/11 attacks have shaken the world and put Americans on edge… Johannes Naber shrewdly observes the burgeoning friendship between two unlikely men who find themselves engulfed by the absurd drama they have set in motion. Moreover, as we are warned from the outset, this is – unfortunately – a true story. Naber’s outrage is contagious. Even those previously aware of the facts cannot be anything but dumbstruck as the surreal sequence of events unfold that were to lead to the 2003 Iraq invasion.

Born in Baden-Baden, Germany in 1971, he studied documentary film directing at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg. In 2009, he made his debut feature film Der Albaner, for which he also wrote the screenplay. The film won the Silver St. George at the Moscow International Film Festival and the Max Ophüls Prize. Zeit der Kannibalen screened in the 2014 Perspektive Deutsches Kino at the Berlinale and won Bronze at the German Film Awards. In 2016, his historical adventure film Das kalte Herz, adapted from the fairy tale by Wilhelm Hauff, was released in cinemas.

Filmography

1999 Popstar · Popstar 2005 Anfassen Erlaubt · Anfassen erlaubt 2007 Der Zweifel · Der Zweifel 2009 Der Albaner 2010 Der Albaner 2013 Zeit der Kannibalen · Zeit der Kannibalen 2015 Das kalte Herz 2019 Ohne Titel (Untitled)

© Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2020

German Film Awards 2021

Winner Film Award in Bronze	Outstanding Feature Film (Bester Spielfilm) Amir Hamz Christian Springer Fahri Yardim
Winner Film Award in Gold	Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Beste darstellerische Leistung – Männliche Nebenrolle) Thorsten Merten
Nominee Film Award in Gold	Best Screenplay (Bestes Drehbuch) Oliver Keidel Johannes Naber

La Roche-sur-Yon International Film Festival 2020

Nominee Grand Prix du Jury

Compétition internationale Johannes Naber