To Friends of Documentary Cinema
For more than ten years German documentaries have served as a symbol for the high quality of independent filmmaking in Germany. And, for the tenth time in succession, the Yamagata Festival will provide a showcase for international documentary filmmaking and focus public attention on this unique film genre. Now, for the first time ever, the Yamagata Festival will present a program of German documentaries to offer discerning filmgoers a wide range of interesting and remarkable insights into a distinctive type of film. The whole initiative is in cooperation with the promotion center German Films and the Goethe-Institut, and will be presented under the heading of “Facing the Past—German Documentaries.” In order to maximize public interest, the fifteen films selected will deal with a wide range of topics centered around Germany’s recent history. Some of these historical events bear similarities to Japan’s own recent past and will therefore provide ample opportunity for comparison and discussion.
This German film program is presented by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Dokumentarfilm (AG DOK), which now numbers over 800 members and member companies in the German film industry and is therefore the biggest association of its kind. Set up in 1980, the AG DOK association now represents virtually all of Germany’s best-known documentary-film writers, directors, and producers, and offers a wide range of professional services from technical information to expert legal advice. The AG DOK represents German independent filmmakers on various committees in matters of both film and media policy and negotiates with film-sponsoring institutions and television channels for better contractual and working conditions for producers and directors. The setting up of “Facing the Past” has created a platform for international exchange and a channel of negotiation for international co-productions. The German entries for this year’s YIDFF International Competition are good examples of what this kind of cross-cultural exchange can bring.
It therefore gives us great pleasure to welcome visitors interested in high-quality German documentary films to this German documentaries program in Japan. We hope you will be inspired by what our cinema has to offer, and we take this opportunity to wish you an enjoyable cinematic experience.
Thomas Frickel
Chairman and Managing Director, AG DOK
Symposium: “Facing the Past”
Two days of public-forum discussions with German filmmakers.
* Free admission, simultaneous Japanese and English translation will be provided.
- Date:
- October 8 (Mon) 13:00–15:00
Symposium I: The Nazis Past and Present
October 9 (Tue) 13:00–15:00
Symposium II: Divided by the Wall
Venue:- Yamagata Central Public Hall 4F
- Moderator:
- Sato Takeo (Professor at Takushoku University)
Guests:- Marc Bauder, Last to Know
Christian Beetz, My Life as a Terrorist (producer)
Jürgen Böttcher, The Wall
Jan Peter, The Rebel
Jens Schanze, Winter’s Children
Marcel Schwierin, Eternal Beauty
Andres Veiel, Black Box Germany, The Kick
Brigitte Krause (AG DOK)
Jörg Witte (AG DOK)