Director: Thomas Vinterberg | Denmark, Sweden 1998 | 105 min | 35mm | original version with German subtitles | with Ulrich Thomsen, Henning Moritzen, Thomas Bo Larsen
The patriarchal splendor of a 60th birthday turns into a psychological battleground: in Thomas Vinterberg's Festen, the first Dogma 95 film, the celebration becomes the acid test of a family whose facade crumbles under the pressure of repressed truths. In an idyllic Danish country house, the bourgeoisie gathers for a celebration - but when son Christian makes a shocking speech, the courtly harmony tips over into the abysmal. Shot with a hand-held camera, natural light and no soundtrack, Festen has a raw, intimate, almost documentary feel. The renunciation of stylistic means becomes an aesthetic force: Authenticity as a moral attack. Vinterberg's work was awarded the Special Jury Prize in Cannes in 1998 and is considered a milestone in European cinema - a film that transforms the stage of the family celebration into a courtroom of memory. A toast to the truth - bitter, necessary, liberating.
Loan of the film print with the kind support of the HfG Karlsruhe.
Supporting film: Oh Tannenbaum
Director: HfG Karlsruhe | Germany 2008 | 6 min | SD Video | Without dialog
Christmas 2008 years: At the cult exhibition "Oh Tannenbaum" there were Christmas trees without end, but no curatorship: whatever was delivered was exhibited, the main thing was a Christmas tree. Oh du Fröhliche. The iconic Christmas exhibition has been around since 2004. Originally started as an internal gag, the student project developed into a national art hit over the years. For one week (the week before Christmas), anyone and everyone was allowed to exhibit, regardless of whether they were a professor, student or member of staff. In 2013, the Christmas tree was over. We think it's quite a nice thing, we could think about it again.
Loan of the film copy with the kind support of the HfG Karlsruhe.
Free admission | donation requested
Click here for the screening:
https://kinoimblauensalon.de/de/events/festen-2025-12-19
Price information:
Free admission | Donation requested