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Hof Film Days Fetes Bob Rafelson
By Dorothea Holloway | November 4, 2010
Bob Rafelson with Francine Brücher (left) and Ursula Wulfekamp (right), courtesy Hof Film Days
The German film community’s annual family gathering in the Franconian town of Hof kicked off this year with Florian Cossen’s feature debut Das Lied in mir (The Day I Was Not Born). The film had already won prizes at festivals in Montreal and Zurich and left Hof with this year’s Eastman Promotion Award for up-and-coming filmmakers.
Meanwhile, the Town of Hof Film Prize – awarded to a person having a special connection with the Film Days – went to the Oscar-winning filmmaker Caroline Link who had worked as a volunteer in Hof some 20 years ago. International filmmakers joining the next generation of German directors in Hof this year included Mike Leigh (Another Year), Olivier Assayas (Carlos), and Srdjan Koljevic (The Woman With A Broken Nose).
The 44th International Hof Film Days dedicated its retrospective to Bob Rafelson with ten films that the master had personally selected. The New Hollywood veteran and wife Gabrielle made the long journey to the festival which Ron Holloway had once called ‘the German Telluride’.
Wet and Porn.com – two featurettes directed by Rafelson for Regina Ziegler’s successful series Erotic Tales in co-production with WDR – were shown on the Friday evening (Oct 29). The cinema was full, and the audience was taken with the films and had a ball.
And now, the real surprise for me: the two films were shown again a day later on the Saturday morning to a really enthusiastic audience who were in a wonderful mood. Every nuance was understood! That was quite remarkable when one remembers that both films are in English and without any subtitles. There was a great atmosphere with these 30-minute Erotic Tales – a marvelous success. If only Ron could have been there to see it! It would also have been a perfect Saturday morning for Regina Ziegler and production manager Tanja Meding, since the films were then followed by Bob Rafelson in conversation with Robert Fischer – wonderful! Master filmmaker Rafelson in great fettle and clearly interested in speaking about his work, while Fischer had done his homework and was well prepared. I mean it as sincere praise when I say that the two reminded me of the German TV football pundits Delling and Netzer – or of Goethe’s Faust and Famulus Wagner!
(Click for German version)
Im Rahmen der 44. Internationalen Hofer Filmtage 2010 liefen zehn Filme von Bob Rafelson, die vom Meister selbst ausgewählt worden waren. Rafelson und seine Frau Gabrielle sind nach Hof gekommen, das Ron Holloway einst als das “German Telluride” bezeichnet hatte.
Wet und Porn.Com – zwei Beiträge von Bob Rafelson aus der erfolgreichen Regina-Ziegler-FilmproduktionErotic Tales (Co-Produktion WDR) wurden am Freitag, den 29. Oktober um 21:30 gezeigt. Der Saal war voll. Das Publikum war angetan und amüsierte sich.
Und jetzt die Überraschung: Einen Tag später am Sonnabendvormittag um 11 Uhr fanden Wet und Porn.Com ein geradezu begeistertes, fabelhaft aufgelegtes Publikum. Jede Nuance wurde verstanden. Erstaunlich, denn die Filme sind in Englisch und ohne Untertitel. Eine tolle Stimmung bei den 30-minütigen Erotic Tales — ein prächtiger Erfolg! Hätte Ron das noch erleben dürfen.
Und schade, dass Regina Ziegler und Tanja Meding an diesem Vormittag nicht dabei sein konnten! Zumal anschließend um 12 Uhr mittags ein Clubgespräch zwischen Bob Rafelson und Publizist und Filmemacher Robert Fischer auf dem Programm stand. Gut gelaunt und sichtlich am Gespräch interessiert: Bob Rafelson; gut vorbereitet: Robert Fischer.
Es war ein Genuss diesen beiden zuzuhören. Nicht ohne Humor – der Jüngere fragt den Älteren! Ich musste an die legendären ARD-Fußballexperten Netzer und Delling denken — aber auch an Goethes Faust im Gespräch mit Famulus Wagner.
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