The monthly series of special screenings of prize-winning motion pictures by Film Festival Flix will continue on Wednesday, December 5 in Pasadena at Laemmle’s Playhouse 7 and on Thursday, December 6 in North Hollywood at Laemmle’s NoHo 7. The December film of the month will be “The Holy Land of Tyrol.”
The film focuses on the life of a fictional family played out against true historical events. Katharina (Inga Birkenfeld) is a Bavarian woman with a Tyrolean husband, furniture maker Franz (Wolfgang Menardi). Bavaria is occupied by the French. After Franz accidentally kills a French soldier in the Augsburg marketplace, he and Katharina flee to his family’s farm in Tyrol, a county with strong ties to Austria but variously occupied by Bavaria or France following Austria’s defeat by Napoleon. Katharina finds herself despised by members of Franz’s Catholic family because of her Bavarian ethnicity, but eventually earns their respect after she applies herself to chores on the farm. The Tyroleans are a proud people chafing under French occupation. They temporarily achieve independence after a revolt led by innkeeper Andreas Hofer. But Katharina knows that their victory is only temporary, and that the French will return to crush them. Additionally, the French have continued to seek Franz, whom they have deemed a murderer. Katharina concocts a drastic plan to keep her husband from returning to war and facing certain death. But it may have serious consequences for her.
Can the love of Katharina and Franz possibly survive the gulfs of cultural and religious differences and the horrors of war? “The Holy Land of Tyrol” is a remarkable love story, played out across the epic sweep of historical events in a period of momentous change and conflict. Director Philipp J. Pamer made his feature film directorial debut at age 25 with this film, prior to which he had directed several shorts. Pamer, himself a descendant of Tyrolean revolutionary Andreas Hofer, filmed the feature in 35mm mainly in the South Tyrol where historical events occurred, in order to capture the grandeur and beauty of the Tyrolean landscape. Only the aerial shots were created digitally. Some scenes were shot in Augsburg and Munich.
Ms. Birkenfeld may be known to American audiences from her appearance in the Oscar-winning film “The Lives of Others.” Anton Algrang, who plays her older brother-in-law Hermann, was in the film “Valkyrie.” The rest of the cast, mostly German and Tyrrolean, is well-known to European audiences, although “The Holy Land of Tyrol” may be their introduction to American audiences. The film won Audience Awards for Best Film at the Munich Film Festival and at the Lessinia (Italy) Film Festival . It was also a film festival selection in other cities in Italy, Germany, China, France, Brazil and the U.S. (San Francisco and Cleveland). “The Holy Land of Tyrol” is in German, Tyrolean and French with English subtitles. It is 2 hours 2 minutes in length. Although it has been designated for all audiences, the picture contains moments of violence and adult themes, and might be inappropriate for small children.
Film Festival Flix presents a selected feature from the finest in international cinema each month with the intent of giving the average filmgoer an experience as close as possible to that of a V.I.P. attending an international film festival in a foreign capital. At each of the two local screenings, there will be a Red Carpet beginning approximately one half-hour before the 7:00 p.m. screening, followed by a live Q&A with Benjamin Oberman, CEO of MouseTrap Films and a video interview with director Phillip J. Pamer. The Pasadena screening will be preceded by a Holiday reception at nearby Monopole Wine Bar, with appetizers available. There will be a post-screening Holiday reception in North Hollywood at the nearby Big Wangs Restaurant.
At each venue, a $14.00 ticket affords entrée to the entire evening’s Festival experience. “The Holy Land of Tyrol.” A film by Phillip J. Pamer. A production of FR ENTERTAINMENT GmbH. Distributed by MouseTrap Films LLC.
Screening at Laemmle’s Playhouse 7, 673 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101. On Wednesday, December 5, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. Screening is followed by Q & A with MouseTrap Films CEO Benjamin Oberman and video interview with director Phillip J. Pamer. Pre-showing Holiday reception begins at 6:00 p.m. at Monopole Wine Bar (21 S. El Molino Ave, about one block from the theatre). Red Carpet at 6:30 p.m. Tickets $14.00. Available at the Laemmle Playhouse 7 box office (626-844-6500) or online at www.filmfestivalflix.com
Screening at Laemmle’s NoHo 7, 5240 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601. On Thursday, December 6, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. Screening is followed by Q&A with MouseTrap Films CEO Benjamin Oberman and video interview with director Phillip J. Pamer. Post-show Holiday reception at Big Wangs Restaurant (5300 Lankershim Blvd., just down the street). Red Carpet at 6:30 p.m. Tickets: $14.00. Available at the Laemmle NoHo 7 box office (310- 478-3836) or at www.filmfestivalflix.com