britspotting contributes to British-German cultural exchange

First cooperation between britspotting and the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy

Berlin. On 26th August 2009 britspotting, the team behind the British-Irish film festival (13. -15. November 2009) presents a special contribution to cultural exchange between Great Britain and Germany, in collaboration with the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD) at the Amerika-Haus, with the motto “Long Live the Screen!”. In line with the ICD programme, ‘UK Meets Germany: A Forum for Young Leaders’ (UKMG), britspotting hosts a seminar for participants with questions about film festival organization and programming. Following this, there will be a public film evening showcasing selected British short films. The evening will be concluded with a relaxed get-together between participants, guests and hosts, along with complimentary drinks.

Beatrice Behn (Deputy Festival Director) and Dagny Kleber (Festival Assistant) will host the seminar. Apart from general questions about film festival preparation, the focus rests mainly on the educational work of britspotting. For the SCHOOL OF LIFE programme, the festival established a collection of films especially for children and teenagers, which not only enriches the language skills of pupils with subsequent workshops, but also teaches film analysis techniques and gives an insight into British (film-) culture. Along with the seminar, an additional discussion panel with members of britspotting, the ICD and the participants of UKMG will provide the opportunity to learn more about the challenges of culture-related work and depictions of British culture through the medium of film.

A short film evening with britspotting

Starting at 8 pm, britspotting presents a film evening “Long Live the Screen!” open to any interested parties, with 10 British short films from different genres that reflect the variety of British film culture. The films were chosen from the britspotting short film programme of 2008. Newly compiled, this set of films will lead the audience through the ups and downs of a spectrum of emotions. The variety ranges from happy and joyful to sad and shocking. All films, with a total length of 80 minutes, will be shown as English original versions without subtitles.

Amongst others, the award winning drama ELA (directed by Silvana Aguirre Zegara) will be screened, in which an 8-year-old girl tries to handle a great loss, and the funny animated film LOVE TRIANGLE (directed by Yasmeen Ismail), which tells of an unusual relationship between a young man and his girlfriend, who was transformed into an Indian pastry. The complete list of films can be found in the attached document.

Date: 26. August, 20 Uhr

Place: Amerika Haus, Hardenbergstr. 22-24,10623, Berlin (U+S Bahnhof Zoo)

Entry: 4 Euro/ 3 Euro concessions (including a free drink)

With the programme “UK Meets Germany: A Forum for Young Leaders” (UKMG) the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD) aims to support and enhance the network between young ambitious leaders from both countries. The 10-year-long expertise of britspotting in terms of intercultural exchange between Great Britain (and Ireland) and Germany brings a valuable addition to the goals of the ICD. For more information about the ICD, visit their website.

For further information or questions, please refer to Ms. Beatrice Behn.