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American Women's Club of Hamburg
Hamburg: A City with Film History
Hamburg has always been a city that embraces the progress of the future because it relates to the strengths of its past. The film industry is no exception and continues to be an attractive profession. Over the years, the University of Hamburg has been instrumental in activating a German film archive. The hope is to preserve its own history of filmmaking and to make way for future generations to expand their horizons within the industry: to continue the history. Both in Europe and internationally, Hamburg is “on the map” in the film industry because it’s one of Germany’s media capitals. Let’s face it, there is a lot of money to be made in this field because visual communication is definitely a path to the future. For over twenty years, Hamburg has been known as a prominent host city for at least seven major film festivals that take place each year. As you look at the list below, take note of the 2005 festival dates: The newest film festival to Hamburg is known as the Bitfilm Festival, which concentrates on anything digitally produced. There is no entrance fee, but there are six monetary prizes to win (EUR 1500 each award) in six different categories, for example: FX Mix: this category welcomes all kinds of digital film hybrids – any combination of live action footage, digital effects, 2D and 3D animation; and Machinima: films which were "shot" in real time in virtual 3D environments. Well, it is all Greek to me, but this is most likely the wave of the future. Check it out at www.bitfilm-festival.org.
The Goethe Institute notes Germany’s information on the development of its own film history is still a bit sketchy. To date, there is no one book that has an exact timeline fully mapped, as of yet. However, we do know that Hamburg is among the few German cities that became known for its expertise in film during the silent film era. Here is one account: Have you ever heard of Joe May? Well, he was a wealthy Austrian, born under the name of Julius Otto Mandl in 1880. In 1902, he married an opera singer, Maria Pfleger. A few years after their marriage, they lost almost all of their family fortune due to unsuccessful speculating. Fortunately, an engagement in Hamburg invited Maria to take to the stage in the operetta Clo, Clo, which she accepted and, thus, changed her stage name to Mai May. Due to the long breaks in the reconstruction of the acts, the audience was unsure if the play was finished or had a continuation. Out of irritation, the audience would leave the theater too early. In order to hold the people in the theater, Julius had the idea to entertain them during the waiting periods with a movie starring the actors of the play. Julius had never done this before, but his idea was implemented with great success. At this time, Julius took on the name of his wife since she was the more successful of the two and, thus, the name Joe May was born. This project paved the way for him to become one of the most successful German filmmakers of all time. Joe, Mai and daughter Eva emigrated to Hollywood, CA in 1934 and together made films well through the 1940s, with the last film Joe directed being Johnny Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1944). Hamburg has a film heritage to be emulated. Hamburg is not only “on the map” for what it has produced in the film industry, but it is also known for the people who have made the industry what it is today. If you are interested in learning more about Hamburg and its film history, I encourage you to take part in the Cinefest: International Festival of German Film Heritage, which is running November 12-20, 2005 and will take place at the Metropolis Kino Hamburg.
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by Karen P
So, are you curious about who attends these festivals? Or, why they are so important in Hamburg? Looking at the film festival list above, there is a large diversity of films, and each venue attracts a certain kind of person and lifestyle. For example: the most recent film festival, the Short Film Festival, counted nearly 14,000 viewers who took part in the festival program from festival staff to film directors to press to sponsors to the general public. We can observe by this calculation alone that the general public is a large target group with a wide variety of people who are drawn to the style of the short film medium. The organizers of the festival are very clear to make mention that the short film does not try to take the place of the feature film, but that short films are a venue all their own and should be acknowledged as a different art form. The short film festival has just celebrated its 21st birthday, and with its growing international acclaim, this will continue to keep Hamburg “on the map” within the industry of film for many years to come.