Followed by a zoom Q&A with director German Kral
Buenos Aires, November 2001. Argentina is embroiled in crisis, with the peso plunging deeper and deeper. Julio Färber, the charismatic bandoneon player of the “Vecinos de Pompeya,” a five-piece working-class tango band, is trying to keep his head above water, but every month he is earning less and less from their gigs as well as from the traditional shoe shop he inherited from his father. At the very moment, he takes the decision to leave his beloved Buenos Aires forever, it clearly appears that life is conspiring against him: overnight, the government freezes all bank accounts in the whole country, preventing Julio from purchasing the flight tickets and sparking violent protests throughout the town. And Mariela, a witty young woman, and feisty cab driver, bumps into his car at full speed, damaging Julio’s last possession of value before stealing his heart….A film not just about a specific historical event in Argentina but “the ache of yearning, the weight of societal failings, and the contradictory beauty that persists even amidst struggle,” says Loud and Clear Reviews.
“A fresh and hopeful perspective, in which humor frequently intrudes. “ – Los Angeles Times
Nominated for Best Film (Beijing International Film Festival) and winner of the Audience Award (Musikfilmtage Oberaudorf).
German Kral was born in Buenos Aires in 1968. In 1991, he moved to Germany to study film. He graduated from the Munich Film School and has worked as a film writer and director ever since. He has a son and divides his time between Munich and Buenos Aires.
Kral first worked with Wim Wenders between 1993 and 1996 on the film “Die Gebrüder Skladanowsky” (A Trick of the Light). His diploma film “Imágenes de la Ausencia” (Images of the Absence) was nominated for the German Grimme Prize in 2001 and awarded First Prize at the Yamagata Film Festival in Japan in 1999 and the Young Bavarian Documentary Film Award in 2000.
His film “Música Cubana” (2004), a fiction documentary feature, executive produced by Wim Wenders, had its international premiere at the 2004 Venice Film Festival, was released in cinemas in many European countries and has been sold worldwide.
Kral’s film “El Último Aplauso” (The Last Applause, 2009), which he both directed and produced was produced as a German-Argentine- Japanese coproduction. The film received the FFF Talent Award and the City of Munich’s Starter Film Prize. “El Último Aplauso” has been released in cinemas in Germany, Spain and Argentina.
Kral’s last film, “Our Last Tango” (2015), had its World Premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. It is a German-Argentine coproduction, executive produced by Wim Wenders. “Our Last Tango” won several awards, including The Bavarian Film Award for Best Photography, as well as the Audience Award at both the Washington DC Film Festival and the Bolzano Film Festival in Bozen, Italy. The film has been sold for theatrical release in over forty countries and has received excellent reviews worldwide.
Kral’s feature film screenplay “Adiós Buenos Aires” received a Special Mention at the annual Tankred Dorst Screenplay Awards in Munich and was selected for the 26th European Screenwriting Workshop, “éQuinoxe” in Cannes. It also received Development Funding from MEDIA. German Kral has been working on a new version of the script with Oscar®-nominated screenwriter Fernando Castets. The new version has received funding from BKM, FFA and FFF Bayern in Germany, from INCAA in Argentina, from MEDIA in Europe and was nominated as finalist for the IX SGAE – Julio Alejandro Screenwriting Award in Spain.
