Film screening
Above Us Only Sky by Jan Schomburg
GOETHE FILMS: Lose My Self – A Portrait of Sandra Hüller
Presented by the Goethe-Institut
with Rendezvous with Madness Festival
Whether in the Cannes hit comedy "Toni Erdmann" or the exorcism drama "Requiem", the prolific Sandra Hüller (who was just named German "Actress of the Year") commands the screen, winning 3x best actress at the Berlinale, a European Film Award & the Toronto Film Critics Association Award. At TIFF19 she shone in the French productions "Proxima" & "Sibyl". GOETHE FILMS honors the versatile artist with a mid-career retrospective of many of her best features & shorts, some known, some discoveries.
Theatre Actress of the Year 2020
German Cross of Merit 2020
"Above Us Only Sky" (Germany 2011, 88 min.), directed by Jan Schomburg, starring Sandra Hüller ("Toni Erdmann"), Georg Friedrich ("Bright Nights"; "The Piano Teacher"), Felix Knopp ("In My Room"), Kathrin Wehlisch ("Phoenix"), Aljoscha Stadelmann ("Clouds of Sils Maria"), Stephan Grossmann ("Exile"; "Amour Fou") and others
Who was the man Martha (Hüller) loved and lived with for years? And can he simply be replaced by another? After her husband Paul disappears, Martha begins to realize how little she knew him, and how his life with her was a charade. But instead of coming to terms with her loss, she meets Alexander who unwittingly keeps her bound to the past.
“An exciting, moving film, both mysterious and open, with strange and rare warmth. A small miracle. ” – Spiegel
“An identity crisis carried by Hüller’s outstanding performance. Hüller’s handling of her character’s challenging emotional journey is never less than subtle, confident, absolutely authentic and unpredictable.” - SBS
Awards:
Grimme Award 2013: Best director/writer, Best Actress
German Film Awards 2012: Best Actress Sandra Hüller
German Film Critics Awards 2012: Best Actress Sandra Hüller, Best Feature Film Debut
Sandra Hüller (born in 1978) discovered her passion for acting as a child. On stage, she often plays strong women, such as the widow of Nirvana’s front singer Kurt Cobain in Tom Schneider's play “For Love” (2009), Queen Elizabeth I in “Virgin Queen” (2009) at Volksbühne Berlin, or her most celebrated and current role as "Hamlet" at Schauspielhaus Bochum. She gained international recognition in the lead role in Maren Ade’s tragicomedy “Toni Erdmann” (2016), which premiered at Cannes and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards. At Berlinale 2020 she starred in psychological drama "Sleep" as well as Sundance competition title "Exile". Next, Hüller will star in the comedy "The Black Square" by Peter Meister. She was recently named German "Actress of the Year".
The title of our GOETHE FILMS Sandra Hüller retrospective is taken from her film ”Lose My Self,” her second collaboration with director Jan Schomburg, whose drama “Above Us Only Sky” we are showing in this series. The feature series will be accompanied by Hüller shorts & experiments on our film blog.
Jan Schomburg (born in 1976) studied visual communication at the Art Academy Kassel as well as film and television directing at the Media Art Academy in Cologne. In 2008, he won a fellowship to the Andrzej Wajda Film School in Warsaw. His debut feature "Above Us Only Sky" was selected for the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival.
Related Events:
REQUIEM by Hans-Christian Schmid
AMOUR FOU by Jessica Hausner
FINSTERWORLD by Frauke Finsterwalder
EXILE by Visar Morina
IN THE AISLES by Thomas Stuber
Part of the Goethe-Institut's focus on German film
Details
TIFF Bell Lightbox Toronto
350 King St. W.
Toronto
Language: with English subtitles
Price: Tickets $10 at TIFF Bell Lightbox online (tba) or day-of at TIFF Bell Lightbox box office in person or by phone 1-888-258-8433.
Program Curator
jutta.brendemuehl@goethe.de
Part of series Cancelled- GOETHE FILMS: Lose My Self – A Portrait of Sandra Hüller