The Hof International Film Festival will celebrate its 50th anniversary from 25 October 2016 without its festival director Heinz Badewitz, who passed away unexpectedly this year in March. Fifty years of the Hof International Film Festival, that’s not only 50 years of film history, but also 50 years of the love of film, commitment, a close bond with the industry, vitality in the search for new talent, support and care for up-and-coming German filmmakers. And Hof has always remained a reliable film home for many, one in which friendship counts. Fifty years of the Hof International Film Festival is, above all, the lifetime achievement of Heinz Badewitz. Alfred Holighaus, Linda Söffker and Thorsten Schaumann as program curators of the 2016 Hof International Film Festival:
“We are celebrating 50 years of Hof for Heinz Badewitz and his numerous companions. Heinz never wanted to make a ‘cult’ out of Hof. For him, it was all about communication. It was important for him to bring together the old and the young, established filmmakers and the next generation, who will shape the future of film. Watching films together, exchanging experiences, and celebrating together. That is what we want to do, and will do, this year.”
Retrospectively and on the occasion of the anniversary, the Hof International Film Festival will present a selection of five programs, which represent the five decades of the festival, beginning with short films from the first decade: AUTORENNEN by Vlado Kristl, which was screened at the first edition of the festival in 1967, LETZTE WORTE by Werner Herzog from 1968, SAME PLAYER SHOOTS AGAIN by Wim Wenders from 1968, and FRANKENSTEIN AM RHEIN by Hans Noever from 1970. Other films will include: MESSER IM KOPF (KNIFE IN THE HEAD) by Reinhard Hauff from 1978, MÄNNER (MEN) by Doris Dörrie from 1985, DIE TÖDLICHE MARIA (DEADLY MARIA), Tom Tykwer’s first feature from 1993, and Maren Ade’s first feature DER WALD VOR LAUTER BÄUMEN (THE FOREST FOR THE TREES), which premiered in Hof in 2003.
Numerous guests are expected for the retrospective: founding member Uwe Brandner, Doris Dörrie, Reinhard Hauff, Werner Herzog, Eva Löbau, Hans Noever and Wim Wenders.
