Record revenues, crises — where is German cinema headed? A look back at the topics that dominated film in 2018, and what lies ahead. Are streaming services a threat — and what about climate change?
Image: picture-alliance/Keystone/J. Zick
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A review of the 2018 film year
The top award-winning films, the most successful ones and a look back at the topics that dominated film in the past 12 months in cinema.
Image: picture-alliance/Keystone/J. Zick
A strong start for German cinema
In January 2018, Fatih Akin won the Golden Globe for the best foreign language film with "In the Fade." He is shown here picking up the award with his leading actress, Diane Kruger. The German director's latest production, "The Golden Glove," will be competing at the Berlinale in February 2019.
Image: Reuters/NBC/P. Drinkwater
The Golden Bear 2018 goes to Romania
It was a surprise win for Romanian director Adina Pintilie. The 2018 Berlin film festival's jury, led by German filmmaker Tom Tykwer, selected her work "Touch Me Not" for the top award, the Golden Bear. A controversial decision, as her experimental film combines not only documentary and fiction, but also explicit sex scenes with people with disabilities.
Image: Getty Images/T. Niedermueller
A Mexican triumph
Not as controversial was the decision to pick Guillermo del Toro's "The Shape of Water" for the best director award at the Golden Globes and the best film at the Oscars. The Mexican director's nostalgia-driven fantasy had previously won the 2017 Golden Lion in Venice as well.
Image: Reuters/L. Nicholson
Marie Bäumer 'is' Romy Schneider
In the spring, it was German actress Marie Bäumer's turn to celebrate. Thanks to her haunting depiction of cinema legend Romy Schneider in "3 Days in Quiberon," the film was the top winner at the German Film Awards, picking up seven nods, including best film and best leading actress.
Image: Rohfilm Factory/Prokino/Peter Hartwig
Highest recognition for Japan
The Palme d'Or awarded in Cannes every year in May is seen as the world's top accolade for cinematic works. In 2018, it went to Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda for his film "Shoplifters," a minutely directed family drama exploring the social margins of modern Japanese society.
And finally, after the Bears and the Palmes, the film "Roma" earned the year's third major film award this year. The Golden Lion went to Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron for his black-and-white drama about the difficult life of a nanny in Mexico in the 1970s. The fact that the work was produced by streaming giant Netflix and that its theatrical distribution was rather limited fueled debate.
Image: Netflix
Russian film travels while director is detained
Directors in many countries cannot work freely. The drama directed by Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov, who has been under house arrest since August 2017, served as an important reminder of this fact. While the film was selected to compete at the Cannes film festival, the director was not allowed to accompany it. Beyond politics, "Leto" is one of the major works of the year.
Top worldwide box office: 'Avengers: Infinity War'
The most successful film at the worldwide box office was once again a product of the Marvel Universe. The superhero blockbuster "Avengers: Infinity War" grossed more than $2 billion worldwide, while "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom," the fifth installment in the dinosaur adventure series, came in second. In the US, however, another Marvel movie was even more successful: "Black Panther."
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Marvel Studios
A children's movie among the top 10
In Germany, children's movies adapted from literary classics remain extremely popular, a trend observed over the past few years. Among them, "Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver," directed by Dennis Gansel, was the only domestic production to make it into Germany's top 10 commercially most successful films in 2018, with 1.8 million tickets sold at the box office.
Image: Warner Bros., Ilze Kitshoff
European Film Awards for 'Cold War'
While the Academy Awards are celebrated at the beginning of each year, the European version of the Oscars comes in December. The top winner at the European Film Awards was "Cold War," a love story between a singer and a pianist. The Polish work won in the categories best film, best screenplay, best editing, best direction for Pawel Pawlikowski and best leading actress for Joanna Kulig (photo).
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Women behind the camera
Gender equality and sexual harassment remained major topics in the film industry over the past 12 months, as the debate surrounding #MeToo continues. Many women demand equal opportunities when it comes to film funding. A reputed female German director is Caroline Link ("Nowhere in Africa"), whose new film, "Der Junge muss an die frische Luft" (The Boy Needs Fresh Air), hits cinemas this Christmas.
Image: Warner Bros.
Series remain in trend
TV series remain a strong competitor to cinema. International entertainment providers, such as Netflix, Amazon or Sky, as well as public broadcasters, are increasingly producing ambitious series. Public-private co-productions can also be successful, such as the German series "Babylon Berlin," which first aired on Sky and then moved on to public TV channel ARD.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F.Batier
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Believe it or not, even German cinema feels threatened by climate change.
The industry needs to give some serious thought to its reaction to increasingly hot summers, said Johannes Klingsporn, managing director of the Association of German Movie Theaters. His warning coincided with a year that hasn't been the best for German cinemas.
Unlike moviegoers in the US — where air conditioners provide relief on sweltering summer days — people in Germany don't go to the movies as much when it is hot and sunny.
In the land of air conditioners, many summer weekends in the US count as the year's most profitable times and by mid-November, the country's cinemas were reporting record revenues of $10 billion (€8.8 billion). That sum has never before been raked in after exactly 11 months and 11 days — early in the year. With Christmas still around the corner, 2018 just might top the 2016 US domestic box office revenue record of $11.4 billion.
Movie theater industry outlook
Those figures are coming in at a time when doomsayers have predicted the end of the movie theater is nigh. Young people, they argue, prefer to stare at their mobile phones, play video games and stream series. While that may be true — media consumption is changing rapidly and series are booming worldwide — statistics say it isn't an argument against cinema.
The end of silent films, the advent of television, the digital era — it's not the first time cinema has been declared dead. Yet Hollywood blockbuster movies still make a lot of money. Art house film, too, presents itself well and alive at numerous festivals and in small movie theaters specialized in challenging cinematic fare.
There is no need for concern if you look at the successful movies presented this year at the festivals in Berlin, Cannes and Venice.
No reason to worry
The many smaller festivals that target up-and-coming filmmakers, including events in Saarbrücken, Munich and Hof, are thriving. Going to the movies is being marketed as an event in itself and film festivals are increasingly popular.
Of course, more often than not, beyond the major commercial Hollywood productions, films depend on subsidies and state funding, as do theaters and the opera, in Europe in particular. There is no doubt about it, culture is costly and consumer demand is changing.
Cinema to goImage: picture alliance/dpa/J. Kalaene
And of course, series do serve as competitors to their "big brother," the movie theater. In 2017, combined worldwide revenues from movie theaters and home entertainment amounted to $88 billion, with $41 billion stemming from moviegoers. Both sectors have been thriving, but the home entertainment growth rate has been larger.
The drama film Roma by Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron pinpointed the changing situation of film in 2018 like no other movie. The story of a nanny and how she sees her life in the Mexican capital in the early 1970s premiered in Venice, won the Golden Lion and was celebrated by the international press as a masterpiece.
It wasn't a forgone conclusion that the black-and-white Mexican-US co-production would be presented at the world's oldest film festival as the movie was co-financed by US streaming giant Netflix. The Cannes Film Festival had decided not to show Netflix productions, arguing the films would never make it to the movie theaters.
Roma is in fact available on Netflix, but it was also shown on the big screen in many countries, at least for a limited time — also because the film was in the running at the Academy Awards where only films that have played in North American cinemas can be entered. In Germany, for instance, Roma appeared in theaters but there were only 40 copies made available in select cities. China, however, showed Cuaron's film on over 2,000 screens nationwide, due in part to differences in the legal system.
Classic evaluation model for films beginning to falter
The situation has grown confusing, varying from country to country. It's impossible to make an easy prediction as to how films produced by streaming providers like Netflix will be show in cinemas in future. One thing is certain, however: The classic evaluation chain — cinema to television to DVD to online — appears to be passe.
Moreover, Roma is real cinematic fare, screaming to be shown on the silver screen. "Of course, I would prefer to present Roma to the audience interested in the film under the best conditions," said director Alfonso Cuaron. "And of course, that would be a cinema with a big screen and a sound system that can reproduce under atmospheric sound design."
Roma is a masterpiece, one of the most impressive films in recent years — whoever has the chance to see Cuaron's work on big screen should use it. In doing so, you will see that the "seventh art" won't die out so quickly — despite the smartphone and the summer heat.