LONDON -- Two years after it was founded, the German Film Academy is starting to flex its muscles.
Having successfully taken over the running of the 55-year-old German Film Prize last year, the young org is now seizing the opportunity of the Berlin Film Festival (Feb. 9-19) to open a dialogue with international filmmakers.
The academy, in partnership with
Variety, will host a series of panels in which prominent Teutons, including cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, director Tom Tykwer and producer Stefan Arndt will debate their art and craft with foreign counterparts, such as Michel Gondry, Emily Watson and Chan-wook Park.
"We need to be more open-minded toward the world industry," says Arndt, the founding chairman of the academy. "Our job is to fight together for better films to be made in Germany. One way we can do that by meeting and discussing with people who really know what's happening elsewhere."
Arndt, whose company X-Filme was behind such hits as "Run, Lola Run" and "Goodbye, Lenin!" is part of an increasingly self-confident and outward-looking generation of German filmmakers who form the core of the academy's membership.
"There is a new generation in the past five years who are much more successful than the people before," Arndt says. "We understand what the international market is looking for -- not the old stupid comedies, but intelligent ones."
The academy launched in September 2003 with 100 members, but has already grown to 700. Entry requirements are tough -- members must have at least three film credits at head of department level.
It was a coincidence, but a hugely symbolic one, that the academy opened its doors on the day after the death of Leni Riefenstahl, best known for her Nazi propaganda movie "Triumph of the Will."
"We had to wait until the last of that old generation had gone," Arndt explains. "We had to wait until we didn't have to discuss or fight with people we didn't want to be involved. We had been talking about the idea of an academy for many years, in hundreds of meetings, but we couldn't get past that political problem."
The first major role of the new academy was to take over the Lolas, Germany's state-financed film awards. Previously they were run by the federal government.
The decision to let the industry take charge was initially attacked by people who feared the cash prizes, totalling a hefty $3.6 million, would go straight into the pockets of the most powerful production companies.
Such fears proved unfounded. But Arndt won't be happy until the cash element of the awards is abolished entirely, which he hopes will happen within five years.
"It should only be a prize for the honor, and you should earn the reward at the box office," he says. His film "Go For Zucker," was re-released after winning six Lolas, and sold another 350,000 tickets on top of the 700,000 on its first run six months earlier.
The 2006 ceremony has been moved from July to the end of April or early May, in the hope it will have more impact on the box office of German movies still in release.
In the absence of a strong lobbying body for producers, the German Film Academy is also taking an active role in debating film policy with the government. Hot topics include the reform of Germany's film funds, and the lack of financial support for German filmmakers from local broadcasters.
"It's ridiculous that 'Amelie' got $12 million for its first French TV showing, but 'Goodbye, Lenin!' got $1.2 million for its German TV premiere," Arndt says.
At the Berlinale, the German Film Academy will be holding open house every lunchtime from Feb 13-17 at the HomeBase building just off Potzdamer Platz. There will be food and drink from 1pm to 3pm, and a panel discussion each day from 1.45pm to 2.30pm.
The line-up is still provisional, but the panels will include a discussion about the distribution of German films in the U.S., featuring Arndt and U.S. buyers (Feb 13); a dialogue between Tykwer and Gondry (14th); an encounter between Emily Watson and German actress Jasmin Tabatabai (15th); a conversation between Park and another German helmer yet to be confirmed (16th); and finally a debate about cinematography between Ballhaus, Chris Doyle, Ed Lachman and Benedict Neuenfels (17th).
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