For three decades, the Oldenburg Film Festival has been devoted to celebrating independent cinema outside the mainstream of both Hollywood and the international art-house market.
For its 30th edition, which runs through Sunday, festival founder and artistic director Torsten Neumann continues to highlight weird, extreme and cutting-edge indie movies from around the world.
Here are five can’t-miss movies from the 2023 crop.
The Wait The Wait
After the success of his debut film Before the Fall (2008), Spanish director Javier Gutiérrez followed Hollywood’s call and directed Rings (2017), the third entry in The Ring horror franchise. Despite grossing $83 million at the box office, the film was considered a flop, and Gutiérrez returned to Spain, spending six years developing his third feature, which will have its world premiere in Oldenburg. The raw drama, about a hardscrabble family whose life slowly descends into a nightmare, looks like a return to form for one...
For its 30th edition, which runs through Sunday, festival founder and artistic director Torsten Neumann continues to highlight weird, extreme and cutting-edge indie movies from around the world.
Here are five can’t-miss movies from the 2023 crop.
The Wait The Wait
After the success of his debut film Before the Fall (2008), Spanish director Javier Gutiérrez followed Hollywood’s call and directed Rings (2017), the third entry in The Ring horror franchise. Despite grossing $83 million at the box office, the film was considered a flop, and Gutiérrez returned to Spain, spending six years developing his third feature, which will have its world premiere in Oldenburg. The raw drama, about a hardscrabble family whose life slowly descends into a nightmare, looks like a return to form for one...
- 9/13/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Oldenburg Film Festival, Germany’s leading all-indie fest, unveiled highlights for its 30th-anniversary edition, including several world premieres featuring Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard and Mission : Impossible star Ving Rhames.
Uppercut, a boxing film featuring Mission: Impossible star Ving Rhames, will close the festival on September 17. Director Torsten Ruether remade his own, German-language, debut Leberhaken, which premiered in Oldenburg in 2021. The Million Dollar Baby-style story sees Rhames as a disillusioned former boxer who gets a shot at redemption when a young woman shows up at his gym, begging him to train her.
Spanish genre director F. Javier Gutierrez will bring his latest horror tale, The Wait, to Oldenburg this year. Gutiérrez’s 2008 debut Before the Fall, an end-of-the-world sci-fi thriller, was a cross-over hit, and his follow-up was the big-budget Rings (2017) for Paramount, the third entry in the Japanese-inspired horror saga. But the film, despite grossing $83 million worldwide, was...
Uppercut, a boxing film featuring Mission: Impossible star Ving Rhames, will close the festival on September 17. Director Torsten Ruether remade his own, German-language, debut Leberhaken, which premiered in Oldenburg in 2021. The Million Dollar Baby-style story sees Rhames as a disillusioned former boxer who gets a shot at redemption when a young woman shows up at his gym, begging him to train her.
Spanish genre director F. Javier Gutierrez will bring his latest horror tale, The Wait, to Oldenburg this year. Gutiérrez’s 2008 debut Before the Fall, an end-of-the-world sci-fi thriller, was a cross-over hit, and his follow-up was the big-budget Rings (2017) for Paramount, the third entry in the Japanese-inspired horror saga. But the film, despite grossing $83 million worldwide, was...
- 8/16/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Oldenburg International Film Festival is entering the metaverse. The indie film fest, known as “Germany’s Sundance,” is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year with a new cooperation that will allow fans to enter a virtual reality version of the event.
The collaboration between Oldenburg, German metaverse platform Milc and film critics’ site The Film Verdict, announced Thursday, is being billed as a way to bring “the magic of Oldenburg” and the international festival scene into the virtual world.
Oldenburg founder and festival director Torsten Neumann also noted that doing “metaverse screenings” — showing festival films for a global audience in the virtual reality space of the Milc platform — may be the way for international festivals to give fans worldwide access to their premieres and exclusive events.
Currently, regulations imposed by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (Fiapf), require international festivals like Oldenburg to restrict access to their world...
The collaboration between Oldenburg, German metaverse platform Milc and film critics’ site The Film Verdict, announced Thursday, is being billed as a way to bring “the magic of Oldenburg” and the international festival scene into the virtual world.
Oldenburg founder and festival director Torsten Neumann also noted that doing “metaverse screenings” — showing festival films for a global audience in the virtual reality space of the Milc platform — may be the way for international festivals to give fans worldwide access to their premieres and exclusive events.
Currently, regulations imposed by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (Fiapf), require international festivals like Oldenburg to restrict access to their world...
- 5/11/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Writer/director/producer/editor Ed Wood‘s 1957 film Plan 9 from Outer Space has long been considered to be one of the worst movies ever made, if not the worst of the worst… although most genre fans have seen a lot worse than that one. Composer and B-movie fanatic Somtow Sucharitkul is clearly a fan of the film, as The Hollywood Reporter has broken the news that he is giving Plan 9 from Outer Space an opera adaptation!
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Plan 9 from Outer Space: A Really Grand Opera by Somtow Sucharitkul is “currently in the libretto stage. Rehearsals will begin in earnest next year. Sucharitkul plans to release a teaser suite from the opera next fall and to premiere the full opera in 2024. Torsten Neumann, director of the Oldenburg Film Festival, Germany’s leading indie film fest, is producing.”
Sucharitkul had this to say about his opera plans: “Plan 9 is,...
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Plan 9 from Outer Space: A Really Grand Opera by Somtow Sucharitkul is “currently in the libretto stage. Rehearsals will begin in earnest next year. Sucharitkul plans to release a teaser suite from the opera next fall and to premiere the full opera in 2024. Torsten Neumann, director of the Oldenburg Film Festival, Germany’s leading indie film fest, is producing.”
Sucharitkul had this to say about his opera plans: “Plan 9 is,...
- 12/19/2022
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Click here to read the full article.
Flying saucers over Bayreuth! Unspeakable horrors descend on the Philharmonic! Ten words I never thought I’d write. But Plan 9 From Outer Space is being turned into an opera.
The legendary, and legendarily bad, cult film from 1957 — which Tim Burton paid tribute to in his Oscar-winning 1994 feature Ed Wood starring Johnny Depp as the Plan 9 director — will get the classical music treatment courtesy of Thai composer, and B-movie fanatic, Somtow Sucharitkul.
Plan 9 From Outer Space: A Really Grand Opera by Somtow Sucharitkul is currently in the libretto stage. Rehearsals will begin in earnest next year. Sucharitkul plans to release a teaser “suite from the opera” next fall and to premiere the full opera in 2024. Torsten Neumann, director of the Oldenburg Film Festival, Germany’s leading indie film fest, is producing.
“Plan 9 is, of course, celebrated as the worst picture ever made and a cultural icon,...
Flying saucers over Bayreuth! Unspeakable horrors descend on the Philharmonic! Ten words I never thought I’d write. But Plan 9 From Outer Space is being turned into an opera.
The legendary, and legendarily bad, cult film from 1957 — which Tim Burton paid tribute to in his Oscar-winning 1994 feature Ed Wood starring Johnny Depp as the Plan 9 director — will get the classical music treatment courtesy of Thai composer, and B-movie fanatic, Somtow Sucharitkul.
Plan 9 From Outer Space: A Really Grand Opera by Somtow Sucharitkul is currently in the libretto stage. Rehearsals will begin in earnest next year. Sucharitkul plans to release a teaser “suite from the opera” next fall and to premiere the full opera in 2024. Torsten Neumann, director of the Oldenburg Film Festival, Germany’s leading indie film fest, is producing.
“Plan 9 is, of course, celebrated as the worst picture ever made and a cultural icon,...
- 12/19/2022
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Click here to read the full article.
Last year, it was just a lark.
For its 2021 event, Oldenburg Film Festival invited Somtow Sucharitkul, one of Thailand’s most acclaimed classical composers and conductors, to the world premiere of The Maestro, a Thai horror film starring Somtow as a murderous conductor. “Some would call it typecasting,” jokes Somtow, who also wrote the film’s script.
But instead of just coming for the red carpet, Somtow invited members of his youth orchestra, the Siam Sinfonietta — which performs in The Maestro — to join him. Together they wowed the crowds at the festival’s opening and closing ceremonies, performing music from the film, as well as a tribute to Oldenburg’s 2021 guest of honor, Italian genre master Ovidio Assonitis (Tentacles, Beyond the Door).
“The kids had never seen anything like it, coming to Oldenburg just opened the door to a whole other universe for them,...
Last year, it was just a lark.
For its 2021 event, Oldenburg Film Festival invited Somtow Sucharitkul, one of Thailand’s most acclaimed classical composers and conductors, to the world premiere of The Maestro, a Thai horror film starring Somtow as a murderous conductor. “Some would call it typecasting,” jokes Somtow, who also wrote the film’s script.
But instead of just coming for the red carpet, Somtow invited members of his youth orchestra, the Siam Sinfonietta — which performs in The Maestro — to join him. Together they wowed the crowds at the festival’s opening and closing ceremonies, performing music from the film, as well as a tribute to Oldenburg’s 2021 guest of honor, Italian genre master Ovidio Assonitis (Tentacles, Beyond the Door).
“The kids had never seen anything like it, coming to Oldenburg just opened the door to a whole other universe for them,...
- 9/15/2022
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Oldenburg Film Festival is legendary for its secret parties, out-there events, and odd celebrity-civilian encounters. For the festival’s 28th anniversary, Oldenburg Film Festival co-founder and director Torsten Neumann picked five moments that sum up the event’s unique spirit.
When Nic Cage Met The Bowling Club
Nicolas Cage at the 2016 Oldenburg Film Festival. Tim Bruening
Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage is probably the biggest star to walk Oldenburg’s cobbled streets, but the 2016 lifetime achievement honoree quickly made himself at home.
“I got a call from an Oldenburg dive bar: Nic had hit it off with a local bowling club and was ...
When Nic Cage Met The Bowling Club
Nicolas Cage at the 2016 Oldenburg Film Festival. Tim Bruening
Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage is probably the biggest star to walk Oldenburg’s cobbled streets, but the 2016 lifetime achievement honoree quickly made himself at home.
“I got a call from an Oldenburg dive bar: Nic had hit it off with a local bowling club and was ...
- 9/15/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
The Oldenburg Film Festival is legendary for its secret parties, out-there events, and odd celebrity-civilian encounters. For the festival’s 28th anniversary, Oldenburg Film Festival co-founder and director Torsten Neumann picked five moments that sum up the event’s unique spirit.
When Nic Cage Met The Bowling Club
Nicolas Cage at the 2016 Oldenburg Film Festival. Tim Bruening
Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage is probably the biggest star to walk Oldenburg’s cobbled streets, but the 2016 lifetime achievement honoree quickly made himself at home.
“I got a call from an Oldenburg dive bar: Nic had hit it off with a local bowling club and was ...
When Nic Cage Met The Bowling Club
Nicolas Cage at the 2016 Oldenburg Film Festival. Tim Bruening
Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage is probably the biggest star to walk Oldenburg’s cobbled streets, but the 2016 lifetime achievement honoree quickly made himself at home.
“I got a call from an Oldenburg dive bar: Nic had hit it off with a local bowling club and was ...
- 9/15/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Going into the 2021 Oldenburg Film Festival, festival director Torsten Neumann said there was “no Plan B,” meaning Oldenburg was determined, despite concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, to host an in-person festival.
That determination will be put to the test when the 28th Oldenburg International Film Festival kicks off Wednesday night. Neumann and his team applied for, and have received, special allowance from German authorities to host a full-capacity theater for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2021 festival. The galas will take place in the Oldenburg State Theater, a 19th-century baroque building whose main stage can accommodate ...
That determination will be put to the test when the 28th Oldenburg International Film Festival kicks off Wednesday night. Neumann and his team applied for, and have received, special allowance from German authorities to host a full-capacity theater for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2021 festival. The galas will take place in the Oldenburg State Theater, a 19th-century baroque building whose main stage can accommodate ...
- 9/15/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Going into the 2021 Oldenburg Film Festival, festival director Torsten Neumann said there was “no Plan B,” meaning Oldenburg was determined, despite concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, to host an in-person festival.
That determination will be put to the test when the 28th Oldenburg International Film Festival kicks off Wednesday night. Neumann and his team applied for, and have received, special allowance from German authorities to host a full-capacity theater for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2021 festival. The galas will take place in the Oldenburg State Theater, a 19th-century baroque building whose main stage can accommodate ...
That determination will be put to the test when the 28th Oldenburg International Film Festival kicks off Wednesday night. Neumann and his team applied for, and have received, special allowance from German authorities to host a full-capacity theater for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2021 festival. The galas will take place in the Oldenburg State Theater, a 19th-century baroque building whose main stage can accommodate ...
- 9/15/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The 27th Oldenburg International Film Festival almost became the world’s first art house cinema event “brought to you by Pornhub.”
The quirky German fest, known for its eclectic programming, and the internet’s largest adult entertainment site were extremely close to becoming partners. In May, with the world in coronavirus lockdown and film festivals across the globe either canceled or in flux, Oldenburg festival director Torsten Neumann announced that even if Cannes, Tribeca, Venice or Toronto decided to cancel because of Covid-19, Germany’s leading indie fest was going to happen, both in person in local cinemas and online.
Impressed ...
The quirky German fest, known for its eclectic programming, and the internet’s largest adult entertainment site were extremely close to becoming partners. In May, with the world in coronavirus lockdown and film festivals across the globe either canceled or in flux, Oldenburg festival director Torsten Neumann announced that even if Cannes, Tribeca, Venice or Toronto decided to cancel because of Covid-19, Germany’s leading indie fest was going to happen, both in person in local cinemas and online.
Impressed ...
- 9/15/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The 27th Oldenburg International Film Festival almost became the world’s first art house cinema event “brought to you by Pornhub.”
The quirky German fest, known for its eclectic programming, and the internet’s largest adult entertainment site were extremely close to becoming partners. In May, with the world in coronavirus lockdown and film festivals across the globe either canceled or in flux, Oldenburg festival director Torsten Neumann announced that even if Cannes, Tribeca, Venice or Toronto decided to cancel because of Covid-19, Germany’s leading indie fest was going to happen, both in person in local cinemas and online.
Impressed ...
The quirky German fest, known for its eclectic programming, and the internet’s largest adult entertainment site were extremely close to becoming partners. In May, with the world in coronavirus lockdown and film festivals across the globe either canceled or in flux, Oldenburg festival director Torsten Neumann announced that even if Cannes, Tribeca, Venice or Toronto decided to cancel because of Covid-19, Germany’s leading indie fest was going to happen, both in person in local cinemas and online.
Impressed ...
- 9/15/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
"The Marvel bubble has to pop eventually, doesn't it?" jokes Torsten Neumann, director of the Oldenburg Film Festival. "People have to eventually get tired of seeing the same films over and over. Don't they?"
Neumann, truth be told, is not so sure. For the past quarter century, the bald, bespectacled cinema obsessive has been bringing the world's oddest, most provocative and blatantly bizarre movies to a small city in the middle of nowheresville in northern Germany.
But as Neumann puts the final touches on the 26th edition of the fest, which runs Sept. 11 to ...
Neumann, truth be told, is not so sure. For the past quarter century, the bald, bespectacled cinema obsessive has been bringing the world's oddest, most provocative and blatantly bizarre movies to a small city in the middle of nowheresville in northern Germany.
But as Neumann puts the final touches on the 26th edition of the fest, which runs Sept. 11 to ...
- 9/10/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"The Marvel bubble has to pop eventually, doesn't it?" jokes Torsten Neumann, director of the Oldenburg Film Festival. "People have to eventually get tired of seeing the same films over and over. Don't they?"
Neumann, truth be told, is not so sure. For the past quarter century, the bald, bespectacled cinema obsessive has been bringing the world's oddest, most provocative and blatantly bizarre movies to a small city in the middle of nowheresville in northern Germany.
But as Neumann puts the final touches on the 26th edition of the fest, which runs Sept. 11 to ...
Neumann, truth be told, is not so sure. For the past quarter century, the bald, bespectacled cinema obsessive has been bringing the world's oddest, most provocative and blatantly bizarre movies to a small city in the middle of nowheresville in northern Germany.
But as Neumann puts the final touches on the 26th edition of the fest, which runs Sept. 11 to ...
- 9/10/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
The Oldenburg Film Festival — Germany's leading indie festival, dubbed "Germany's Sundance" — turns 25 this year.
In honor of a quarter century of bringing the weird, wonderful and cutting edge in modern cinema to a tiny town in Northern Germany, The Hollywood Reporter asked festival co-founder and director Torsten Neumann to pick his favorite films, moments and parties from two and a half decades in Oldenburg.
Neumann'S Top 5 Films
A Coffee in Berlin (2012, Winner, Audience Award, German Independence Award, Best Actor Award)
Clearly the biggest success to come out of Oldenburg. After choosing it as ...
In honor of a quarter century of bringing the weird, wonderful and cutting edge in modern cinema to a tiny town in Northern Germany, The Hollywood Reporter asked festival co-founder and director Torsten Neumann to pick his favorite films, moments and parties from two and a half decades in Oldenburg.
Neumann'S Top 5 Films
A Coffee in Berlin (2012, Winner, Audience Award, German Independence Award, Best Actor Award)
Clearly the biggest success to come out of Oldenburg. After choosing it as ...
- 9/12/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Oldenburg Film Festival — Germany's leading indie festival, dubbed "Germany's Sundance" — turns 25 this year.
In honor of a quarter century of bringing the weird, wonderful and cutting edge in modern cinema to a tiny town in Northern Germany, The Hollywood Reporter asked festival co-founder and director Torsten Neumann to pick his favorite films, moments and parties from two and a half decades in Oldenburg.
Neumann'S Top 5 Films
A Coffee in Berlin (2012, Winner, Audience Award, German Independence Award, Best Actor Award)
Clearly the biggest success to come out of Oldenburg. After choosing it as ...
In honor of a quarter century of bringing the weird, wonderful and cutting edge in modern cinema to a tiny town in Northern Germany, The Hollywood Reporter asked festival co-founder and director Torsten Neumann to pick his favorite films, moments and parties from two and a half decades in Oldenburg.
Neumann'S Top 5 Films
A Coffee in Berlin (2012, Winner, Audience Award, German Independence Award, Best Actor Award)
Clearly the biggest success to come out of Oldenburg. After choosing it as ...
- 9/12/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Current Berlin director Dieter Kosslick will step down next year.
Torsten Neumann, co-founder and director of the Oldenburg International Film Festival since 1994, has become the latest name to be connected with the ongoing quest for a successor to Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick from May 2019.
Neumann, who is currently planning the 25th anniversary edition of his festival for this September, has hosted such international guests as Nicolas Cage, Mira Sorvino, Jim McBride, Matthew Modine, Alexandre Rockwell and Lou Diamond Phillips as well as leading lights from the local German industry – from Nicolette Krebitz through Jürgen Vogel and Oskar Roehler to Corinna Harfouch...
Torsten Neumann, co-founder and director of the Oldenburg International Film Festival since 1994, has become the latest name to be connected with the ongoing quest for a successor to Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick from May 2019.
Neumann, who is currently planning the 25th anniversary edition of his festival for this September, has hosted such international guests as Nicolas Cage, Mira Sorvino, Jim McBride, Matthew Modine, Alexandre Rockwell and Lou Diamond Phillips as well as leading lights from the local German industry – from Nicolette Krebitz through Jürgen Vogel and Oskar Roehler to Corinna Harfouch...
- 5/2/2018
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
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Torsten Neumann has a thing for the underdog. When he co-founded the Oldenburg Film Festival 24 years ago, Neumann wanted to create a showcase, and an industry platform, for the kind of movie that gets made against the odds.
"The film that takes risks, that's driven by passion, not by the market," he says.
While most second-tier festivals content themselves with a selection of the year's greatest hits from Cannes, Venice and Toronto, Oldenburg, free from the pressure of studio politics, has put the focus on discovery. It's a lineup that is carefully curated, not market-tested.
"It's become extremely...
Torsten Neumann has a thing for the underdog. When he co-founded the Oldenburg Film Festival 24 years ago, Neumann wanted to create a showcase, and an industry platform, for the kind of movie that gets made against the odds.
"The film that takes risks, that's driven by passion, not by the market," he says.
While most second-tier festivals content themselves with a selection of the year's greatest hits from Cannes, Venice and Toronto, Oldenburg, free from the pressure of studio politics, has put the focus on discovery. It's a lineup that is carefully curated, not market-tested.
"It's become extremely...
- 9/12/2017
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“Linking the North” is the industry event of the Oldenburg International Film Festival. Its coproduction market between Norway and Northern Germany enjoyed a very successful first edition at last year’s festival. Sydneysbuzz has had the opportunity to sit down with Torsten Neumann, the director of the Oldenburg International Film Festival, and talk about this new industry initiative within the international film festival circuit.
How and why have you come to create “Linking the North”?
Torsten Neumann: The story is actually quite nice because for us as a festival it's always good to find certain things for more industry attention. We work for films and we try to help films that need industry attention. The fact is that Jonathan Learn who lives in Norway came to visit the festival on another occasion along with the head of the Norwegian Film Fund [Film3]. They were impressed and liked the festival so much and thought of creating a coproduction market with Germany. Their first idea was to contact me and say "Can we do it in Oldenburg and can we get some attention there?" And then, I got in touch with Nordmedia that found it interesting and wanted to talk further about it. Later on, I met with the heads of the two fundings – the head of the funding of Film3 and Jochen Coldewey, the head of funding of Nordmedia – in Cannes and discussed the idea and we decided we could actually do it. We, therefore, set it up for the first time and it turned out to be a success.
This is the 2nd edition of “Linking the North”. Can you comment on its evolution, give your impressions and tell us whether it has fulfilled your expectations so far?
T.N.: Yes! The reason why we are doing it the second time is clearly because the participants were quite happy with the results: they had good meetings and were connected with interesting people here. And then, obviously, this feedback also went to the funding. They actually approached us saying we should consider going on with it. It is clearly wonderful if we establish something that turns out to be successful. And, the evolution is also that we, of course, hope to make it a little bigger, step by step, and get more interesting people together – producers, filmmakers, projects – involved.
It is clear that these things have to grow. We still have to see how the second edition will go. But, so far, we have very good feedback from producers who are actually coming to this event without a project which is clearly one goal that we have achieve as a festival as well – bring more of these producers.
How has the festival existed so long without an industry event? How do you think it benefits (or will benefit) the Oldenburg International Film Festival?
T.N.: Of course, we know Oldenburg is not a city that has its own film industry. So, we've been trying this quite a bit and at some point we thought that it wouldn’t work in a place like Oldenburg. There was this filmmaker friend of mine who once said to me " I actually think the secret of the quality of the festival is the absence of industry. It's such a pure filmmakers and film lovers event and there's no competition between them. It's like meeting and exchanging. It's like industry, obviously, but in a different capacity. It's all about bringing creative people together and no competition, no fighting for money or anything, no stress but just everything for the love of art we are all sharing. ” And, there is some deep truth there because it has grown into a widely respected festival. But, that doesn't mean that there's no way to attach something like this to it. We talked after this again to see if we might bring a different note to a coproduction market. It is probably something we will do in the next few years if everything goes well. We have to think about how it remains true to our profile. But, of course, it survived without it and got a certain reputation. Actually, the festival without industry made Inge Tenvik and Jonathan Learn who visited us think " Ah! If we do something, we would like to do it there!" For some beautiful reason, they thought it's a great place for it and I am glad that it actually worked out quite well.
What can “Linking the North” offer the global film industry? How does it fit in it? How is it different from the other industry events at other film festivals?
T.N.: I imagine the global film industry like every big city or metropolis that has its collection of little villages put together. So, we have to do something even if it’s in the small range of two countries, two areas. But, it can always, it should always have a wider scope and be interesting for the global industry because there are no borders. Film overcomes borders. That's why I've always tried to encourage the fundings to spread the word and awareness way beyond this region. I've been talking to filmmakers like this Norwegian producer and I said " Even if you do a film, a small project that is a Norwegian film project, and if you find one German coproducer, there is no reason why you should not be interested in making it bigger by being noticed.” We try to put it into the media, bring producers to this coproduction market that are not only German or Norwegian.
Do you think that coproductions are the only solution to make a film today? Or the most obvious/easiest? How do you think it will evolve?
T.N.: No! I think it's still a challenge to do this but we have to encourage filmmakers to do it and to think like this. And, that is very interesting! The head of the Norwegian Film Funding is our partner here; he's a very smart and cool guy and he says that they don’t have enough money to fund big films so he's trying to teach and encourage people in his country to go somewhere else and get the money. So, it is a challenge and I am sure it will be much easier to do it in one’s small way and surrounding of partners (be it funding or coproducers). But, it is important to encourage this.
As a producer – but also as a festival director – how important and beneficial do you think they are?
T.N.: Everything that film is made of is first and foremost networking and meeting people. That is why this industry is also probably the only industry that functions by merging private life with business life so much like nothing else. If you work in the bank you go home and have other friends. But in film, there are always these events that try to connect people that want to work with each other but also somehow like each other and get along. Networking is the main thing that keeps filmmaking alive so I think these events are the most important things to do. I also think that nobody can come up and say "Hey! We have enough of these coproduction markets. That's it! We don't need more!" There can't be enough! It's the same when people say " We have enough film festivals!" There are so many films that don't have a platform... I don't believe in this. I think that variety is important and that it needs more opportunities. Otherwise the mainstream industry wins and defines what is made in the world today and we don't want that. We have to stand up against it! We have to fight!
How do you see the short and long-term future of “Linking the North”? What are your plans for it? Where do you see it going? Will it expand to other (Northern) countries?
T.N.: It is something that has to blossom by itself. I've been talking to my partners who are in this case Nordmedia, the German funding, and Film3, the Norwegian funding, and the last time we met was actually in Cannes when we set this up, and we already said then and there that there might be a good chance to widen the countries in the third edition. But, we still have to see how this second edition goes. For now, for instance, we also have a project from the UK, which is also interesting and adds another dimension to the event in the sense that it brings it closer to this expanding idea we have for its short term future.
How and why have you come to create “Linking the North”?
Torsten Neumann: The story is actually quite nice because for us as a festival it's always good to find certain things for more industry attention. We work for films and we try to help films that need industry attention. The fact is that Jonathan Learn who lives in Norway came to visit the festival on another occasion along with the head of the Norwegian Film Fund [Film3]. They were impressed and liked the festival so much and thought of creating a coproduction market with Germany. Their first idea was to contact me and say "Can we do it in Oldenburg and can we get some attention there?" And then, I got in touch with Nordmedia that found it interesting and wanted to talk further about it. Later on, I met with the heads of the two fundings – the head of the funding of Film3 and Jochen Coldewey, the head of funding of Nordmedia – in Cannes and discussed the idea and we decided we could actually do it. We, therefore, set it up for the first time and it turned out to be a success.
This is the 2nd edition of “Linking the North”. Can you comment on its evolution, give your impressions and tell us whether it has fulfilled your expectations so far?
T.N.: Yes! The reason why we are doing it the second time is clearly because the participants were quite happy with the results: they had good meetings and were connected with interesting people here. And then, obviously, this feedback also went to the funding. They actually approached us saying we should consider going on with it. It is clearly wonderful if we establish something that turns out to be successful. And, the evolution is also that we, of course, hope to make it a little bigger, step by step, and get more interesting people together – producers, filmmakers, projects – involved.
It is clear that these things have to grow. We still have to see how the second edition will go. But, so far, we have very good feedback from producers who are actually coming to this event without a project which is clearly one goal that we have achieve as a festival as well – bring more of these producers.
How has the festival existed so long without an industry event? How do you think it benefits (or will benefit) the Oldenburg International Film Festival?
T.N.: Of course, we know Oldenburg is not a city that has its own film industry. So, we've been trying this quite a bit and at some point we thought that it wouldn’t work in a place like Oldenburg. There was this filmmaker friend of mine who once said to me " I actually think the secret of the quality of the festival is the absence of industry. It's such a pure filmmakers and film lovers event and there's no competition between them. It's like meeting and exchanging. It's like industry, obviously, but in a different capacity. It's all about bringing creative people together and no competition, no fighting for money or anything, no stress but just everything for the love of art we are all sharing. ” And, there is some deep truth there because it has grown into a widely respected festival. But, that doesn't mean that there's no way to attach something like this to it. We talked after this again to see if we might bring a different note to a coproduction market. It is probably something we will do in the next few years if everything goes well. We have to think about how it remains true to our profile. But, of course, it survived without it and got a certain reputation. Actually, the festival without industry made Inge Tenvik and Jonathan Learn who visited us think " Ah! If we do something, we would like to do it there!" For some beautiful reason, they thought it's a great place for it and I am glad that it actually worked out quite well.
What can “Linking the North” offer the global film industry? How does it fit in it? How is it different from the other industry events at other film festivals?
T.N.: I imagine the global film industry like every big city or metropolis that has its collection of little villages put together. So, we have to do something even if it’s in the small range of two countries, two areas. But, it can always, it should always have a wider scope and be interesting for the global industry because there are no borders. Film overcomes borders. That's why I've always tried to encourage the fundings to spread the word and awareness way beyond this region. I've been talking to filmmakers like this Norwegian producer and I said " Even if you do a film, a small project that is a Norwegian film project, and if you find one German coproducer, there is no reason why you should not be interested in making it bigger by being noticed.” We try to put it into the media, bring producers to this coproduction market that are not only German or Norwegian.
Do you think that coproductions are the only solution to make a film today? Or the most obvious/easiest? How do you think it will evolve?
T.N.: No! I think it's still a challenge to do this but we have to encourage filmmakers to do it and to think like this. And, that is very interesting! The head of the Norwegian Film Funding is our partner here; he's a very smart and cool guy and he says that they don’t have enough money to fund big films so he's trying to teach and encourage people in his country to go somewhere else and get the money. So, it is a challenge and I am sure it will be much easier to do it in one’s small way and surrounding of partners (be it funding or coproducers). But, it is important to encourage this.
As a producer – but also as a festival director – how important and beneficial do you think they are?
T.N.: Everything that film is made of is first and foremost networking and meeting people. That is why this industry is also probably the only industry that functions by merging private life with business life so much like nothing else. If you work in the bank you go home and have other friends. But in film, there are always these events that try to connect people that want to work with each other but also somehow like each other and get along. Networking is the main thing that keeps filmmaking alive so I think these events are the most important things to do. I also think that nobody can come up and say "Hey! We have enough of these coproduction markets. That's it! We don't need more!" There can't be enough! It's the same when people say " We have enough film festivals!" There are so many films that don't have a platform... I don't believe in this. I think that variety is important and that it needs more opportunities. Otherwise the mainstream industry wins and defines what is made in the world today and we don't want that. We have to stand up against it! We have to fight!
How do you see the short and long-term future of “Linking the North”? What are your plans for it? Where do you see it going? Will it expand to other (Northern) countries?
T.N.: It is something that has to blossom by itself. I've been talking to my partners who are in this case Nordmedia, the German funding, and Film3, the Norwegian funding, and the last time we met was actually in Cannes when we set this up, and we already said then and there that there might be a good chance to widen the countries in the third edition. But, we still have to see how this second edition goes. For now, for instance, we also have a project from the UK, which is also interesting and adds another dimension to the event in the sense that it brings it closer to this expanding idea we have for its short term future.
- 9/16/2015
- by Tara Karajica
- Sydney's Buzz
Us actress best known for roles in Blade Runner and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
The 22nd Oldenburg International Film Festival (Sept 16-20) will this year honour actress Joanna Cassidy.
Cassidy will attend with her latest film Too Late, a neo-noir thriller from first-time director Dennis Hauck. The film will have its international premiere at the festival.
Screen SubscribersINTERVIEW: Torsten Neumann, Oldenburg festival director
There will also be screenings of Cassidy’s most famous films, Blade Runner, Under Fire and Who Framed Roger Rabbit; each film will be preceded by an introduction from the actress.
Cassidy began her career on the small screen in the 1970s with cameo roles in Mission: Impossible and Starsky & Hutch, before her breakthrough as the replicant Zhora in Ridley Scott’s classic sci-fi Blade Runner.
She went on to act on screen alongside Bob Hoskins, Gene Hackman and Nick Nolte among others.
The festival will open with a screening of Elisabeth Scharang’s Jack...
The 22nd Oldenburg International Film Festival (Sept 16-20) will this year honour actress Joanna Cassidy.
Cassidy will attend with her latest film Too Late, a neo-noir thriller from first-time director Dennis Hauck. The film will have its international premiere at the festival.
Screen SubscribersINTERVIEW: Torsten Neumann, Oldenburg festival director
There will also be screenings of Cassidy’s most famous films, Blade Runner, Under Fire and Who Framed Roger Rabbit; each film will be preceded by an introduction from the actress.
Cassidy began her career on the small screen in the 1970s with cameo roles in Mission: Impossible and Starsky & Hutch, before her breakthrough as the replicant Zhora in Ridley Scott’s classic sci-fi Blade Runner.
She went on to act on screen alongside Bob Hoskins, Gene Hackman and Nick Nolte among others.
The festival will open with a screening of Elisabeth Scharang’s Jack...
- 9/2/2015
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Germany’s Oldenburg International Film Festival is to play host to the nomination committee for the European Film Awards’ European Discovery - Prix Fipresci for the first time this year.
An international jury will convene in the North German town of Oldenburg on Sept 19 for their deliberations and announce the five nominated films for the award - dedicated to first features by European directors - at the festival’s closing ceremony on Sept 20.
The jury will comprise German producer Dagmar Jacobsen; Transilvania Iff’s artistic director Mihai Chirilov; Polish critic/actor Krzysztof Kwiatkowski; UK producer Lynda Myles; Italian journalist/festival programmer Marco Spagnoli; Rotterdam Iff programmer Gerwin Tamsma; and UK critic/festival programmer Neil Young
Festival director Torsten Neumann told ScreenDaily: “It’s a great sign of recognition for us as it shows that the Efa regards Oldenburg as the right place for its jury, with its reputation as the European festival of discoveries.”
Last year’s...
An international jury will convene in the North German town of Oldenburg on Sept 19 for their deliberations and announce the five nominated films for the award - dedicated to first features by European directors - at the festival’s closing ceremony on Sept 20.
The jury will comprise German producer Dagmar Jacobsen; Transilvania Iff’s artistic director Mihai Chirilov; Polish critic/actor Krzysztof Kwiatkowski; UK producer Lynda Myles; Italian journalist/festival programmer Marco Spagnoli; Rotterdam Iff programmer Gerwin Tamsma; and UK critic/festival programmer Neil Young
Festival director Torsten Neumann told ScreenDaily: “It’s a great sign of recognition for us as it shows that the Efa regards Oldenburg as the right place for its jury, with its reputation as the European festival of discoveries.”
Last year’s...
- 8/11/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
COLOGNE, Germany -- Birgit Grosskopf's slice-of-life drama Prinzessin (Princess) won the German Independence award at this year's Oldenburg International Film Festival. A grim look at life in an eastern German suburb, Prinzessin was Grosskopf's graduation film from Berlin film school the dffb. It is the second major award for Prinzessin. The feature also picked up the top prize at the Max Orphuels Festival in January. Oldenburg's jury president, director Jim McBride (The Big Easy) and festival director Torsten Neumann presented Grosskopf with the award Sunday night.
- 9/11/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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