The Amerikahaus was the festival center of the 39th Munich Film Festival!
From June 23 to July 2, 2022, we rolled out the red carpet and welcomed numerous visitors, film teams and journalists as the new festival center of the 39th Munich Film Festival 2022!
The Amerikahaus was the exclusive location for the “Filmmakers Live!” series, and it hosted many great film screenings and provided a lively festival atmosphere. After the films and talks, audiences were able to visit the beer garden and relax in the visitors' lounge under tent roofs, enjoying the great atmosphere and celebrating summer and film.
Film Festival meets Amerikahaus
The film screenings in Amerikahaus kicked off with the world premiere of Paloma on Friday, June 24, 2022, for which leading actress Kika Sena, actress Ana Marinho, director Marcelo Gomes and co-producer Ernesto Soto Canny were present. Paloma narrates the struggle of a trans woman in Brazil to fight for her right to a traditional wedding. The film team answered questions from the audience after the screening and director Marcelo Gomes revealed that he had read about Paloma di Silva's story in a newspaper about ten years ago, and this was the inspiration for the film. Kika Sena emphasized that Paloma is a portrait of many Brazilian women and represents not only the willpower of Brazilian trans women, but of all Brazilian women. Another film thematically fitting to our exhibitions TransTrans: Transatlantic Transgender Histories and TransMünchen: Geschichte und Gegenwart Münchner Trans*Menschen was the documentary portrait Ein Hauch Leben, which tells the story of Lucy, the oldest transsexual woman in Italy, and one of the few remaining survivors of the Dachau concentration camp. In it, her turbulent life becomes a metaphor about the human will to persevere.
In addition, many other films from Latin America with a wide variety of topics and genres were shown on our cinema screen. Filmmakers of El Hoyo En La Cerca, Domingo Y La Niebla, Utama and Marte Um addressed with their films social inequality and social change attributed to the increase of financial and territorial exploitation of Latin America. Two films set in the USA were also shown in Amerikahaus: The Taking deals with the violent cultural appropriation of one of the world's most famous stretches of land: Monument Valley. The unique red rock formations in the southwestern U.S., which served as the backdrop par excellence for classic Western films, belong to traditional Navajo territory. A climactic end to the film festival on its final evening was a showing of The Humans, an American kitchen-sink arthouse feature with a high-profile, star-studded cast.
Impressions of the Munich Film Festival in Amerikahaus
Doris Dörrie in Amerikahaus. The exceptional film director and screenwriter was a guest of honor at the Munich Film Festival 2022.
Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher was the second guest of honor, and she received the Cinemerit Award 2022 for her contributions in cinema.
Roll out the red carpet!
The Amerikahaus with Filmfest flags
After the world premiere of Corsage, opening film showing of the 39th Munich Film Festival, director Marie Kreutzer (in photo on the right, here with lead actress Vicky Krieps at the Film Festival opening) was a guest at the Amerikahaus for a "Filmmakers Live!" Talk titled "Sisi-Entfesselt".
Festival director Diana Iljine (right) welcomes National Secretary of Culture Claudia Roth (left) to the Amerikahaus. Roth participated in the panel discussion "Teilhabe Ermöglichen: Die Deutsche Filmindustrie im Aufbruch" on diversity in German film.
Alex Bakker (right), curator of our exhibition TransTrans: Transatlantic Transgender Histories discussed the representation of trans* people in film with directors Daniele Coluccini and Matteo Botrugno (Ein Hauch Leben), actress Kika Sena de Nascimento and director Marcelo Gomes (Paloma).
Actress Anke Engelke presented her film Mutter at the 2022 Munich Film Festival and spoke about it at Amerikahaus as part of the "Filmmakers Live!" event series.
Jury member Sönke Wörtmann, National Secretary of Culture Claudia Roth and actress Veronica Ferres made themselves comfortable at the "Beergarden Convention" in the Amerikahaus garden.
A quantum of cowboys in Amerikahaus: director Geoff Marslet, actress Lily Gladstone, HFF professor Michael Coldewey and composer Howe Gelb.
Head-turner in the Amerikahaus foyer: At the Filmfest box office, Filmfest fans could buy tickets for every single film showing.
Visitors and filmmakers alike relax in the visitors' lounge in the Amerikahaus garden. The camera got a snapshot of Christoph Gröner of the Filmfest team (right).
Even the wonderful Film Festival had to come to an end: the afterparty in the visitors' lounge after the final film showing in Amerikahaus.
"Filmmakers Live!" – Film creators up close and personal
For the "Filmmakers Live!" talks, numerous international directors, producers and actors took to the stage in our theater and Karolinensaal.
A first highlight was the talk with film director Marie Kreutzer on Corsage, the opening film of this year's Film Festival. We also welcomed directing legends Doris Dörrie and Rosa von Praunheim. Our guests for further "Filmmakers Live!" talks included actress Anke Engelke and American Lily Gladstone, who plays the leading role alongside Leonardo Di Caprio and Robert de Niro in Martin Scorsese’s upcoming film Killers of the Flower Moon. The red carpet in front of Amerikahaus was bustling with important guests, including Germany’s Secretary of Culture Claudia Roth, who participated in the panel "Facilitating Participation: The German Film Industry Awakes". The panel discussed diversity in the German film world.
The panel "Trans(Visions) in Cinema" - thematically fitting and complementary to our exhibitions TransTrans - Transatlantic Transgender Histories and TransMunich focused on how transgender themes are told in the films Ein Hauch Leben and Paloma. It was moderated by Alex Bakker, one of the curators of our exhibition TransTrans - Transatlantic Transgender Histories. The film teams explained which clichés and taboo topics they tried to avoid. With Paloma, director Marcelo Gomes wanted to show the microagressions experienced by trans*people in Brazil. Gomes found the ideal lead for Paloma in actress Kika Sena, who offered suggestions and tips for script adjustments. The director duo Daniele Coluccini and Matteo Botrugno emphasized with regard to their protagonist Lucy: "Trans people are always very different from each other. Lucy's story is not the story of someone else."
In the "Filmmakers Live!" conversation that followed, "Tradition, Religion und sozialer Wandel im lateinamerikanischen Film," the directors of four great films highlighted profound social issues in Latin American cinema. The discussion with Alejandro Loayza Grisi (Utama), Joaquín del Paso (El Hoyo En La Cerca), Anita Rocha da Silveira (Medusa) and Ariel Escalante Meza (Domingo Y La Niebla) focused on profound sociocultural aspects of Latin American cinema, delving into fields such as tradition and the power of religious institutions. Actresses, screenwriters and directors of Carajita, Marte Um and Medusa spoke of their own experiences in the Latin American film world as panelists in the "Filmmakers Live!" Talk "A New Generation of Women in Latin American Cinema."
It was a great pleasure for us to be this year's festival center and to welcome so many filmmakers and visitors. We would like to thank the Munich Film Festival and everyone who came to Amerikahaus!
A Peak at "Filmmakers Live!" in Amerikahaus
Julia Weigl (left) moderates the "Filmmakers Live!" talk about the documentary Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song with singer Leonard Cohen's former manager Robert Kory and film's director duo Dan Geller und Dana Goldfine.
Directors Fritjof Hohagen (left), Peter Keller (middle) and Stefan Sarazin (right) spoke about their film Nicht Ganz Koscher - Eine Göttliche Komödie with cinema expert Urs Spörri.
Directors Mila Zhluktenko (2nd from left), Maksym Nakonechnyi (middle) and Archie Navarro (2nd from right) spoke with Bernhard Karl (Filmfest München, left) and Julia Weigl (Filmfest München, right) about film and filmmakers from Ukraine.
Director Rosa von Praunheim (left), the King of Queer, spoke about his work and latest film Rex Gildo - Der letzte Tanz with Christoph Gröner (Filmfest München).
Actresses, screenwriters and directors of Carajita, Marte Um and Medusa Camilla Damião (2nd from left), Anita Rocha da Silveira (3rd from left), Ulla Prida (2nd from right) and Cecile van Welie (right), spoke to Florian Borchmeyer (Filmfest München, middle) about a new generation of women in Latin American cinema.
Documentarian Alexandre O. Philippe spoke with Julia Weigl (Filmfest München) about his career in general as well as his newest film, The Taking.
Sophie Linnenbaum (The Ordinaries), Oliver Grüttner (Performer, left) and Kai Eiermann (The Ordinaries, middle) offered a glimpse into their work during the "Filmmakers Live!" conversation "Alltag/Utopie" with cinema expert Urs Spörri (right).
How does a high-quality TV production like the multi-part series Das Netz - Ein Wintermärchen come to be? Moderator Ulrike Frick (Filmfest München) explored this question in a conversation with (from left to right): Matthias Hartmann (idea), Birgit Minichmayr (actress), Barbara Süßmann (producer), Bernd Lange (screenwriter), Max von der Groeben (actor), Rick Ostermann (director) und Jochen Laube (producer).
"Emanzipierte Eigensinnigkeit" ("Emancipated Obstinance"): Director and screenwriter Doris Dörrie in workshop-conversation with Christoph Gröner (Filmfest München).
Cinema expert Urs Spörri (right) spoke with director Sandra Prechtel (Liebe Angst, left) und director Pola Beck (Der Russe Ist Einer, Der Birken Liebt, middle) about "generational gaps" in German cinematography.
Julia Weigl (Filmfest München, right) and Gerhard Maier (Seriencamp, right) moderated a "Filmmakers Live!" talk with directors Patrick Vollrath (2nd from left), Hüseyin Tabak (3rd from links), Mia Spengler (middle), Oliver Hirschbiegel (2nd from right) und David Wnendt (right). Each of these established directors staged a short story from bestseller Strafe by Ferdinand von Schirach according to their own artistic visions. In this way, an anthology series with highly differentiated films was created.
Talk on "Tradition, Religion and Social Change in Latin American Film" with Alejandro Loayza Grisi (Utama Director, left), Anita Rocha da Silveira (Medusa Director, 2nd from left), Joaquín del Paso (El Hoyo En La Cerca Director, middle), Florian Borchmeyer (Filmfest München, 2nd from right) and Ariel Escalante Meza (Domingo Y La Niebla Director, right).
Conversation about cowboys, animation and effect vs. affect with the film team from Quantum Cowboys: Geoff Marslett (director, left), Lily Gladstone (actress, 2nd from left), Michael Coldewey (VFX Professor at the HFF München, middle), Howe Gelb (composer, 2nd from right) and John Way (actor, right).
In the "Filmmakers Live!" Talk "Hybrid Perfection", actress Anke Engelke spoke with Christoph Gröner (Filmfest München) about her film Mutter.
Katharina Woll (Alle Wollen Geliebt Werden, left), Christopher Roth (Servus Papa, See You In Hell, 2nd from left), Hanna Doose (Wann Kommst Du Meine Wunden Küssen, middle) and cinema expert Urs Spörri (right) spoke about dreams and trauma in their films.
Director Saeed Roustaee (Leila's Brothers, middle) and Bernhard Karl (Filmfest München, left) discussed "New Revolutionary Cinema from Iran."
Timo Müller (left) and Claudia Müller (middle), directors of Elfriede Jelinek - Die Sprache von der Leine Lassen and Der Rote Berg, spoke with cinema expert Urs Spörri (right) about their work.
Alex Bakker (right), curator of our exhibition "TransTrans: Transatlantic Transgender Histories", moderated the "Filmmakers Live!" talk "Trans(Visionen) in Cinema" with Brazilian actress Kika Sena (Paloma, 2nd from left), Brazilian director Marcelo Gomes (Paloma, 3rd from left) and Italian director Daniele Coluccini (Ein Hauch Leben, middle) and Matteo Botrugno (Ein Hauch Leben, 2nd from right).
There was a discussion on the variety found in contemporary Italian film with Italians Matteo Botrugno (Ein Hauch Leben, left), Daniele Coluccini (Ein Hauch Leben, 2nd from left), Rosa Palasciano (Acht Berge, middle) and Ciro de Caro (Giulia, 3rd from right) with Christoph Gröner (Filmfest München, right).
You can watch the Filmmakers Live! talks again on the Munich Film Festival's Youtube channel.
Photo above: Amerikahaus with Filmfest Banners © Filmfest München, Ronny Heine