Carolin Genreith
German documentary films fiesta will open at the Goethe-Institut in Accra on Wednesday, May 22 with ‘Fritz Bauer – Tod Auf Raten’, which was directed by IIona Ziok.
It is a meticulous documentation of an era in the Federal Republic of Germany when the phrase ‘coming to terms with the past’ was just beginning to find its way into everyday language. It reports on a former Attorney General Fritz Bauer, who shaped Germany’s legal transformation after the end of the World War II.
Indeed, his name is linked to the transfer of holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann to Israel. Thursday, May 23 will be the turn of ‘Staatsdiener’, which was directed by Marie Wilke in 2015.
It tells the story of Saxony-Anhalt Police Academy, where the pressure recruits are exposed to range from misery, conflicts with hooligans/right wing radicals and domestic violence. Undeniably, Wilke’s ‘Staatsdiener’ is the first German documentary to examine police training in Germany without any restrictions or influence.
Screening will end on Friday, May 24 with ‘Happy’, a film directed by Carolin Genreith. It dwells on Dieter Genreith, who after separating from his wife, escaped his loneliness once a year by travelling from Eifel to Thailand.
There, he got to know Tukta, who is about the same age as his own daughter, Carolin – they fall in love and marry despite initial opposition from his daughter. In Thailand, Carolin ends up as her father’s maid of honour. Indeed, whether the marriage can survive all the existing differences and preconditions remains to be seen. The film fiesta is being sponsored by the Goethe-Institut.