German filmmaker Mascha Schilinski wins Jury Prize at Cannes – DW – 05/26/2025
"I was afraid I'd misheard," said the 41-year-old director and screenwriter Mascha Schilinski when her film was named Jury Prize winner at the Cannes International Film Festival. "It was kind of a surreal moment — simply wonderful."
Ahead of the festival, the filmmaker said that she was "insanely happy" to have her film "Sound of Falling" selected in the main competition lineup at the Cannes Film Festival. " It's a filmmaker's dream!"
German directors at Cannes have been, as the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung noted sardonically, "at times harder to find than a decent lunch for less than €20."
This year, the country was also represented by Fatih Akin, whose historical film "Amrum" screened out of competition, and Christian Petzold, whose feature "Mirrors No. 3" was selected for the Directors' Fortnight, an independent sidebar at the Cannes festival.
But Schilinski was the only German director with a film in the main competition, the first since Maren Ade caused a stir at the 2016 festival with "Toni Erdmann."
Portrait of four generations
"Sound of Falling" is set on a farm in a small village in northeastern Germany. It follows the lives of four generations of women living on the farm, interweaving their stories by jumping back and forth among the different timelines until the lines between them blur. What starts as a portrait of four generations becomes a sweeping depiction of a century.
"As we went through the rooms of the farmhouse, we could sense the centuries," said Schilinski. "It brought up a question I've had since childhood." She explained that as a little girl growing up in a prewar apartment building in Berlin, she often wondered, "What happened between these walls in the past? Who has sat right in the spot where I'm now sitting? What fates played out here? What did the people who lived here experience and feel?"
Her film is an attempt to imagine answers to those questions.
'Sound of Falling' focuses on four generations of women to depict a century of history Image: Neue Visionen Filmverleih
'Sound of Falling' focuses on female gaze
As with Schilinski's 2017 debut film, "Dark Blue Girl," a psychodrama about a complicated family dynamic, this latest work focuses on a female perspective, relating events from the points of view of women. Schilinski said the female gaze was very important to her and co-writer Louise Peter because it's so rare in films.
"The film is very much about gazes, the gazes that women have been exposed to over the course of a century, how it feels today and also how it's carried on and burned into the body," the director explained.
The female gaze in 'Sound of Falling' Image: Neue Visionen Filmverleih
Schilinski's career path seems to have almost been predestined: Her mother is a filmmaker who took her along on film shoots, and she started acting for film and television while still at school. Then she did film business internships, worked as a casting agent, traveled through Europe and worked as a magician and fire dancer for a small traveling circus. After studying screenwriting at the Hamburg Film School, she settled in Berlin and began working as a freelance screenwriter for film and television.
Schilinski attracted some attention when "Dark Blue Girl" was screened at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival, and her career is likely to get a further boost with the Jury Prize for her latest film in Cannes.
"Sound of Falling" is due for release in German cinemas on September 11.
This article was originally written in German. It was updated on May 26 to reflect Mascha Schilinski's win of the Jury Prize.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Local Germany
3 days ago
- Local Germany
German word of the day: Überflieger
Oscar Wilde once wrote: 'We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.' An Überflieger would argue there's a third category of people who actually reach for them. What does it mean? Made from the German words for 'over' and 'flyer', Überflieger , pronounced like this , literally and figuratively means 'highflyer'. An Überflieger describes someone who is exceptionally talented, successful, or outstanding in their field – someone who "soars above the rest". Fun fact: A female Überflieger can be called either the standard Überflieger or an Überfliegerin , reflecting the contemporary approach to gendered nouns in German, where the masculine form is widely (and occasionally controversially) used regardless of the actual gender of the person being described. Why do I need to know Überflieger ? Germany loves highflyers. In addition to Überflieger , the language boasts numerous similar terms such as Wunderkind (child prodigy), Ausnahmetalent (outstanding talent), and Hochkaräter (top performer). One of the nice things about Überflieger, though, is that it doesn't carry any negative connotations but instead seems to celebrate the realisation of talent in a largely uncomplicated way. READ ALSO: How to pick the right German language school for you As an aside, it's worth noting that German doesn't really have any phrases synonymous with 'tall poppy syndrome' or 'the nail that sticks out gets hammered down'. The closest is probably Neidkultur ('culture of envy') which seems much less interested in asking whether the tall poppy or the nail-sticking-out also play a role in the fact they get cut down or hammered. Advertisement That doesn't mean high achievers have it all their own way in the German language, of course – no one wants to be described as a Streber , after all (someone who tries too hard) – but they still do an awful lot better than people who are judged to have underachieved in some way. If people decide you haven't lived up to your potential in Germany, you might find yourself dismissed as a Versager (failure), Durchschnittstyp (average guy), or Nichtsnutz (good-for-nothing) Use it like this: Nicht jeder muss ein Überflieger sein, um im Team Erfolg zu haben. Not everyone has to be an overachiever to succeed in a team. Der neue Mitarbeiter gilt als Überflieger in der Branche. The new employee is considered an ace in the industry. READ ALSO: 'I was terrified she'd stop talking' - How to make your German child bilingual Als Kind war er schon immer ein Überflieger. He was always a whiz kid as a child.
DW
5 days ago
- DW
Why Hitler was a fan of Wagner's 'Meistersinger' opera – DW – 07/21/2025
It is considered the "most German" of Richard Wagner's operas. Adolf Hitler used the work for his propaganda purposes. Productions of Wagner's opera "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" divide audiences. Should emphasis be placed on the opera's comical elements, or is it to be seen as more of a serious play about German virtues with antisemitic undertones? In this year's new production at the Bayreuth Festival, director Matthias Davids aims to highlight the opera's comical side. Nevertheless, the fact that the Nazis included the piece in their Reich Party Congresses continues to cast a shadow over the production. Richard Wagner was Adolf Hitler's favorite composer, long before coming to power in 1933. The dictator saw Wagner as a kindred spirit who had inspired the masses in the 19th century with the powerful sounds of his operas. Adolf Hitler later exploited this for his propaganda. Hitler, who wanted to study art, placed as much importance on large-scale musical productions as he did on state-sponsored architectural projects. "Hitler did indeed attach great importance to art," says art historian Wolfgang Brauneis, who has studied artists of the Nazi era. "You can see this even well into the ravages of war, when he was still personally selecting the color of mosaic tiles for large construction sites." It was no different in Nuremberg, where Hitler's National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) held its party rallies. He personally selected the singers and conductors for the production of Richard Wagner's opera "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg," which was performed on the eve of the Reich Party Rallies. When Hitler came to power in 1933, Richard Wagner had already been dead for 50 years. With his concept of a Gesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art, the composer had revolutionized the world of opera. He envisioned a symbiosis of text, music, directing, stage design and architecture, all according to the vision of a single person. Richard Wagner designed an opera house on the green hill in Bayreuth specifically for his operas. He was the first to have the orchestra play from a pit in front of the stage while the audience sat in complete darkness, with only the stage illuminated. This inspired Hitler. From 1935 onwards, the dictator staged his Nuremberg rallies like a big stage spectacle with a special lighting design and huge mass gatherings. The entire city became a backdrop, with flags raised along the streets for the Nazis to march along. In the final scene of "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg," which is about the preservation of German art, set designer Benno von Arent used the long rows of flags in front of the city's medieval half-timbered houses as a backdrop for the stage. The opera is about a singing contest for the love of a woman. Bakers, tailors, goldsmiths and other master craftsmen go head-to-head. The town scribe Beckmesser carefully makes sure everyone follows the rules. Master craftsman Hans Sachs, a respected singer and shoemaker, urges everyone to honor the old masters and preserve German art. This is one reason why "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" is often described as Wagner's most German opera. Jewish Australian director Barrie Kosky agrees. He feels, however, that antisemitism also plays a role. In 2017, he staged "Die Meistersinger" in Bayreuth as a "witch hunt against a Jewish singer," whom he associates with the character of Beckmesser. "I am not dealing with Jewish culture. I'm dealing with the parody of antisemitism," Kosky explains in the DW film "Why Hitler adored Wagner." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video What is important for Kosky is that Beckmesser is made into the scapegoat — into the person who must bear the responsibility. In Kosky's production, Beckmesser is made into the Jew. Whether Jewish characters are portrayed and caricatured in what way in Wagner's operas remains a matter of debate among Wagner scholars to this day. Wagner himself reportedly never commented on the issue. However, the composer was an avowed antisemite. He wrote a pamphlet entitled "Judaism in Music," in which he vilified music by Jewish composers and claimed that they were only capable of copying others. Music historian Jens Malte Fischer sees concrete antisemitic references in Wagner's "Meistersinger." In the singing competition, the town clerk Beckmesser sings especially badly, and he also steals the songs of others. "This 'wailing' is described by Wagner in 'Judaism in Music' as a hallmark of synagogue music. And he says: How can anyone sing like that? That's just awful. It seems to me that this is what Wagner is mocking here very emphatically," he says in the DW film. Intrigue, love, power, victory and heroism are ingredients that Richard Wagner repeatedly uses in his operas. The "Meistersinger" was therefore held up by the National Socialists as a quintessentially German opera with great pathos and solemnity, but there are also comedic aspects to the singing competition. This is what is central to the new production by opera and musical director Matthias Davids at this year's Bayreuth Festival. There are many comical situations and moments in the libretto of "Die Meistersinger," Davids told the press in Bayreuth. "There is verbal comedy and situational comedy," and some characters clearly fall into the category of comic roles. "I have been discovering more and more humorous elements that may come as a surprise." In the festival program, he raises the question of whether the "honor of the German master" that is extolled in the finale can really only be understood as a condemnation of everything that is not "German and genuine." "Couldn't we all become masters if we finally learned to treat ourselves and others with more love?"
DW
17-07-2025
- DW
Extreme skydiver Baumgartner dies in paragliding accident – DW – 07/17/2025
Austrian skydiver and extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner has died in a paragliding accident in Italy, according to local media. The 56-year-old shot to global fame in 2012 with his record-breaking free-fall from space. Austrian extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner, who jumped down to earth from the stratosphere in a 2012 stunt, died in a paragliding accident in the eastern Italian town of Porto Sant'Elpidio on Thursday. According to local media, the 56-year-old lost consciousness while in flight and then lost control of his paraglider, crashing into a hotel pool and lightly injuring a young female employee. Just hours before, he had posted an image in his Instagram story captioned: "Too much wind." The energy drink company Red Bull, which sponsored many of Baumgartner's exploits, confirmed his death to Austrian public broadcaster ORF, while the Austrian foreign ministry confirmed the reports to Germany's dpa news agency. Born in Salzburg, Baumgartner made headlines as a spectacular base-jumper for many years, jumping from iconic structures such as the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. Baumgartner shot to global fame in October 2012 when he jumped from a helium balloon almost 39 kilometers (24 miles) above the Earth – the highest manned balloon flight and the highest ever freefall at the time. He reached a maximum speed of 1,342.8 km/h (834 mph), breaking the sound barrier. Baumgartner, who had a tattoo on his right arm reading "born to fly," regularly posted videos of his paragliding flights on social media. He once described his passion for adventure with the words: "I belong to the air, I was born for these emotions." In recent years, he made headlines of a different sort with controversial political statements, criticizing German and Austrian migration policies and opining that a "moderate dictatorship" would be preferable to a democracy, in which "you can't move anything." In 2016, he recommended Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for the Nobel Peace Prize and endorsed a right-wing populist candidate for the Austrian presidency.
