October 11–16, 2018

Belgrade Cultural Center, Kolarceva 6

This year marks the seventh return of Goethe Institute and Belgrade Cultural Centre festival of contemporary German movie – GoetheFEST, with the slogan – A NORMAL LIFE? The festival’s location will also move to the cultural centers in Nis and Novi Sad.

The festival offers a selection of 10 award-winning and well-received movies from Berlinale festival, and some are nominated for the German Film Award. Once again, this festival gives insight into the current German movie production, although the adjective ’German’ should be taken loosely: most German movies were in fact filmed in co-production with other countries.

The slogan, ’’A normal life?”, questions the concept of normality. Who decides what normal is? This year’s festival explores the experimental, art and philosophy discourse and the banality of life restricted by social norms.

The festival opens with the screening of a movie Touch Me Not, directorial debut of Adina Pintli. The movie is one-of-a-kind exploration, balancing between fiction and reality and it recieved the Golden Bear at the 68th Berlinale. Its radical approach has caused quiet a stir in Germany, as well as its trumph at Berlinale. Generally speaking, the movies at this year’s Goethe FEST have a potential to polarize the audience and the public. It will be interesting to see the reaction of the public in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Nis. We would recommend Thomas Stuber’s movie In the Aisles, for which Franz Rogowski recieved Great German award for the best actor; and the movie installation Manifesto, directed by Julijana Rozefeld – an experimental movie in which American actress Kate Blanchet appears in all 12 stories and interprets 12 different characters, each representing one of the cultural, historical or political aspects.

Many people will probably agree with the opinion that these movies are finally telling stories that should have been told many years ago, while others will see them as another product of the ’typical German’ affinity for difficult topics. Of course, there will be no lack of irony nor lightheartedness, the only thing is that, this year, these two are sneaking up on us.

Individual stories, different perceptions of life… movies which answer these questions but also ask many new ones, about Germany, world and the purpose of life.

Tickets are sold at box office of the Belgrade Cultural Center, from 4–9 pm, every day. The price is 250 RSD.

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