Souls of Zen will have it’s German language version premiere on January 23rd at the Max Ophüls Film Festival in Saarbrücken, Germany. The movie will be screened at the cinema Cinestar at 7pm, and will be shown once more on January 25th at 2.30pm.
About the Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis
The Saarbruecken Film Festival “Max Ophuels Preis” is dedicated to the young German speaking film since its establishment. It sees itself as the most important forum for promoting new talents from Germany, Austria and Switzerland and can claim to be the only explicit New Talent Festival in German speaking territories.
In 1980 Albrecht Stuby established the Filmfestival “Max Ophuels Preis”. At that time the Festival started with 700 visitors. As of to date the audience and the number of films submitted have continuously grown and in 2012 the Festival counted more than 42,000 visitors.
The Festival is named after Max Ophuels (05/06/1902 – 03/26/1957), one of the biggest European Film Directors of the 20th century. He was born in Saarbruecken, but left his birthplace as a young man to work at various Theaters in Germany. Some of his first movies were celebrated in the metropolitan City of Berlin. In 1933 this director, who was a member of a Jewish family, immigrated to France and later to the United States of America. In the 1950’s Max Ophuels returned to Europe to realize Film and Theater projects in France and Germany.
Film as an art form stands in the forefront of the Festival and through the name of Max Ophuels also the contention with a long tradition of German film history.
For young filmmakers the participation of the “Max Ophuels Preis” is one of the most important steps in their professional future. Many of the filmmakers that write movie history today stood the first time in Saarbruecken in the spotlight, i.e., Christian Petzold, Andreas Dresen, Dani Levy or the actors Til Schweiger, Christiane Paul and Maria Schrader. Awards in the categories full length film, short film or medium length film support the profile of the Festival, which helps new young talent find to make connections by purposeful networking with lenders, producers, to embody agencies and editorships firmly in the industry.
The Festival offers the audience, as well as the professional film visitors, a versatile and at the same time a focused glimpse of the film works of German speaking newcomers. Active talent search is a natural element for broad and deep spectrum, either by independent filmmakers, free groups, Film schools or public television.
Thanks to the fact that the festival is located directly on the French border, it traditionally cultivates the relationship with its French neighbours. Besides a focus on French, Belgian and Luxembourgian films and “short films of the German- French Master class” there is also a German-French Student Jury that demonstrates what cultural exchange means. In order to serve and satisfy the need and expectation of this region the ¿lm festival “Max Ophuels Prize” works closely and in cooperation with the “Saarlaendisches Filmbuero” , the Festivals Kino im Fluss/ Cinefleuve, which evolved from the Festival SaarLorLux and is being presented in partnership of festivals of the Big region.
The film Festival “Max Ophuels Preis” does not see itself as an exhibition, but as a place of lively movie culture. A movie only lives when one debates, discusses or even argues about a film.
Source: Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis
