16th HoF International Film Festival 1982: Jim Jarmusch and Wim Wenders at the Central Kino
In 1982, Jim Jarmusch, a young filmmaker from New York, was invited to the 16th International Hof Film Festival with his 30-minute short film STRANGER THAN PARADISE, about two hipsters who receive a visit from one of them's Hungarian cousin. This invitation marked a decisive turning point in his career. Not only did Wim Wenders, who was also in Hof, give him his Kodak residual footage, but he also found a German producer in Otto Grokenberger, who gave him the money to turn the short film into a long feature. Pandora Filmverleih, founded by Karl Baumgartner and Reinhard Brundig in Hof the year before, guaranteed the film's distribution.
STRANGER THAN PARADISE, the feature film, premiered two years later in Hof, was shown in cinemas and became a cult film. With steady regularity, all further films were also shown at the Hof International Film Festival: DOWN BY LAW (1986), MYSTERY TRAIN (1989), NIGHT ON EARTH (1991), DEAD MAN (1995) and YEAR OF THE HORSE (1997).
All the best, dear friend!
