CineFest 2006

Ship Ahoy!
Maritime Cinema in Germany and Europe
from 1912 - 1957

Melodie der Welt (1929, Walther Ruttmann)
Source: Filmmuseum Berlin - Deutsche Kinemathek

Films from more than half a century dealing with ships and the navy explore nautical locales.
Early documentaries present the sea as the focal area for the European naval forces before and during World War I.
Later it is glorified in feature films as the scene of vice, luxury, and amusement.

The restored version of "Mare Nostrum" will be screened : a lavish Mediterranean panorama and submarine drama by the Irish director Rex Ingram, which was banned in Germany in 1926.
The cinematic inheritance of the cruise ship photographer Richard Fleischhut also awaits its discovery.
The disaster of the "Titanic", presented throughout all media and nations for decades, is naturally a topic of the retrospective and conference, along with the "Pamir", the last German freight clipper, whose sinking in 1957 marked the end of an era.
Further scheduled topics include Anglo-German documentaries about the British and German Navies and the short, tragic history of the Imperial Austrian-Hungarian navy.

Dates:
Hamburg: 18 - 26 November 2006

to the archive