Another German winner in the spotlight this week is Jan Ole Gerster’s feature directorial debut A Coffee in Berlin, which garnered six German Film Academy Awards, including Outstanding Feature Film, Best Director and Best Actor. Featured in #MiamiFF 30’s Cinema 360° presented by Viendomovies program, A Coffee in Berlin (formerly titled Oh Boy), follows a law-school dropout’s endlessly problematic mission for the titular cup, and is earning Gerster comparisons to Woody Allen and Jim Jarmusch for his film’s jazzy score and black-and-white cinematography.
In A Coffee in Berlin, Niko (Tim Schilling) lives for the moment as he wanders aimlessly through the streets of Berlin, curiously observing everyone around him and oblivious to his growing status as an outsider. Then on one fateful day, through a series of absurdly comical encounters, everything changes: his girlfriend rebuffs him, his father cuts off his allowance, and a strange psychiatrist dubiously confirms his ’emotional imbalance’. Unable to ignore the consequences of his passivity any longer, Niko finally concludes that he has to engage with life.
At MiamiFF’s 31st edition this past March, the Festival presented a powerful look at modern-day German cinema — with the support of the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany Miami and German Films — including a Close-Up on Germany program featuring: Bernard Rose’s The Devils Violinist (Der Teufelsgeiger), Bora Dagtekin’s Fack Ju Göhte/Suck Me Shakespeer (F*ck Je, Goethe), Hannes Stöhr’s Global Player (Global Player – Wo wir sind isch vorne), and David Wnendt’s Wetlands (Feuchtgebiete). Gerster’s award winning and crowd pleasing slacker debut A Coffee in Berlin opens for its Miami commercial debut on Friday, July 18th at MDC’s Tower Theater and Cosford Cinema. — Tatyana Chiocchetti
