The event is sponsored by NYU s Deutsches Haus and German Films. The evening will include a question-and-answer session with Toyland director Jochen Alexander Freydank. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Deutsches Haus at NYU: 212.998.8663.
MEDIA ADVISORY
The Oscar-winning Toyland and True, featuring Natalie Portman, will be among the films screened at Short, Excellent & Famous: Nine Outstanding Award-Winning German Short Films on Sunday, April 26, 5:30-8:30 p.m. at New York Universitys Cantor Film Center, 36 E. 8th St. (at University Place). The event is sponsored by NYUs Deutsches Haus and German Films. The evening will include a question-and-answer session with Toyland director Jochen Alexander Freydank.
The event is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Deutsches Haus at NYU: 212.998.8663 or nr49@nyu.edu. Subway Lines: A, C, D, E, F (West 4th Street); N, R (8th Street); 6 (Astor Place). All films, which range from six to 30 minutes, are in German with English sub-titles.
Toyland, which won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short, is set in Germany in 1942. In order to shield her son from the horrors of the Holocaust, a mother tries to make him believe that the Jewish neighbors are going on a journey to Toyland. One morning her son has disappeared-along with the Jewish neighbors. Toyland is a film about guilt, responsibility, and liesboth big and small.
Hit the Floor, by Kays Khalil, shows the development of home security in the age of Islamist terror. Using a documentary style, changes, influences, and consequences are portrayed that have resulted from events such as September 11th. The second part is a documentary recreation of a true story that resulted from these prejudices and mistrust.
True, by Tom Tykwer, is part of a compilation project entitled Paris, je taime, in which a number of internationally renowned directors each tell a story in one of Paris 20 districts.
Other films to be screened are: Cosmic Station, by Bettina Timm; On a Wednesday Night in Tokyo, by Jan Verbeek; The Runt, by Andreas Hykade; Polar, by Michael Koch; Journey to the Forest, by Jörn Staeger; and, Mr. Schwartz, Mr. Hazen & Mr. Horlocker, by Stefan Müller.