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Opening Night of the 29th FILMKUNSTFEST MV

What an exciting opening of the 29th FILMKUNSTFEST MV (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Festival of Cinematic Arts) in the city of Schwerin screening for the very first time in Germany Neil Jordan's psychological thriller film GRETA starring Isabelle Huppert and Chloë Grace Moretz.

On Tuesday night, the 29th FILMKUNSTFEST MV was solemnly opened by Minister President of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Manuela Schwesig, the Republic of Ireland's Ambassador to Germany HE Michael Collins, the Lord Mayor of Schwerin Dr Rico Badenschier, the General Manager of the Capitol Kino Schwerin GmbH Michael Pawlowski and the festival's Artistic Director Volker Kufahl at the recently refurbished cinema 1 of the Filmpalast Capitol multiplex festival theatre. 

Among the guests of the opening night were countless representatives of the political, commercial and cultural life in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and its state capital as well as film and TV celebrities, including members of the four juries. In the days to come, they and the youth jury are going to decide who will receive one of the eleven festival awards with a prize money totalling 47,000 Euros.

The suspenseful psychological thriller film GRETA and at the same time the 2019 opening film of the festival is the first accent this years's country in focus set on the green island in Western Europe. In Schwerin, the General Manager of Capelight Pictures Steffen Gerlach introduced the opening-night audience in person to this star-studded thriller film featuring Isabelle Huppert, Chloë Grace Moretz and Stephen Rea. The film is slated to be released in Germany on May 16th.

The Focus Ireland section of the festival programme showcases a total of 24 feature and short films, a Cork Film Festival short-film programme, a reading by the German-Irish author and columnist Ralf Sotscheck, a photo exhibition by the renowned Irish photo journalist Derek Speirs titled CHILDREN as well as a music-video-art event curated by music journalist Ulli Grunert presenting music videos of bands from both Ireland and northern Germany. Band members like John R. Carlson and Volker Michalowski were on site at the Filmpalast Capitol for a Q&A on the morning of May 1st.

The Republic of Ireland's Ambassador to Germany HE Michael Collins raised a resounding cheer when he emphasised the increasing significance of motion pictures as an art form for the cultural life in Ireland (11 Academy Award nominations for Irish filmmakers in 2019 alone) and underlined that both the Irish government and the Irish people are strongly supporting the European Union. "Ireland is a proud member of the EU and the support for the EU in Ireland has never been stronger than it is today. We believe in Europe, its peoples, its prosperity, its creativity, its culture and its future", he said.

Ireland's ambassador in Germany, Michael Collins with MV-Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig and festival director Volker Kufahl © Jacob Waak, FILMLAND MV
Ireland's ambassador in Germany, Michael Collins with MV-Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig and festival director Volker Kufahl© Jacob Waak, FILMLAND MV
Opening live act © Jacob Waak, FILMLAND MV
Opening live act © Jacob Waak, FILMLAND MV
Film industry conference © Edgar Hartung
Film industry conference © Edgar Hartung
Screening of Chaplin's THE GOLD RUSH in the National Theatre © Jakob Waak/FILMLAND MV
Screening of Chaplin's THE GOLD RUSH in the National Theatre © Jakob Waak/FILMLAND MV
Location Tour © Jakob Waak/FILMLAND MV
Location Tour © Jakob Waak/FILMLAND MV
Filmmaker's Brunch © Jakob Waak/FILMLAND MV
Filmmaker's Brunch © Jakob Waak/FILMLAND MV
Festival director Volker Kufahl with Guest of Honor, actor Katharina Thalbach © Edgar Hartung
Festival director Volker Kufahl with Guest of Honor, actor Katharina Thalbach © Edgar Hartung
Ireland's ambassador in Germany, Michael Collins with MV-Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig and festival director Volker Kufahl © Jacob Waak, FILMLAND MV
Opening live act © Jacob Waak, FILMLAND MV
Film industry conference © Edgar Hartung
Screening of Chaplin's THE GOLD RUSH in the National Theatre © Jakob Waak/FILMLAND MV
Location Tour © Jakob Waak/FILMLAND MV
Filmmaker's Brunch © Jakob Waak/FILMLAND MV
Festival director Volker Kufahl with Guest of Honor, actor Katharina Thalbach © Edgar Hartung