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Like in several other territories, commercial juggernauts will win it big in 2011. This should be the case for Germany. Til Schweiger, for example, is going to churn out family-oriented Kokowääh (no, that's not a word) and Keinohrhasen 3. As always, comedians are going to try to translate their concert hall fame into tickets, like Tom Gerhardt and Hilmi Sözer, who have teamed up for buddy-cop-com Die Superbullen, or Kurt Krömer, who's trying his luck in a movie called Eine Insel namens Udo - titles you won't have to memorize altogether, as they will hardly be exported to non-German-speaking countries. Pina, in contrast, will be: It's Wim Wenders' bow to the late Pina Bausch, a 3D dance theater experience running out of competition at coming February's Berlinale, dreaded in advance by arthouse purists. Meanwhile, these are some of the most promising German films that do show up on the horizon: #.5 Memory...

Jerichow

Directed by: Christian Petzold

Cast: Benno Fürmann, Nina Hoss, Hilmi Sözer

Running Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Rating: Unrated

Release Date: June 26, 2009

Plot: Thomas (Fürmann) returns home after his mother passes away but finds he can’t escape his creditors. Broke and unemployed, he helps Ali (Sözer) out of a jam and earns his trust. Then he sees Laura (Hoss), Ali’s wife and falls in lust with her. Though she’s attracted to Thomas, she refuses to leave her husband, creating an unstable love triangle.

Who’s It For? Viewers with patience, who enjoy slow paced foreign films.

Expectations: The film was described as a thriller so I was expecting something exciting.

Scorecard (0-10)

Actors:

Benno Fürmann as Thomas: A man of few words and fewer expressions, Thomas plays a passive role in his own life. After being dishonorably discharged from the army, he has neither money nor a job.

Christian Petzold’s subtle genre exercise Jerichow explores the ever-shifting relationship between a hunky German ex-soldier, his jealous immigrant boss, and the boss’ hot wife. Benno Fürmann plays the soldier, a stoic paragon of German manhood (with some shady dealings in his past) who helps neighbor Hilmi Sözer when the latter drunkenly drives his car into a river. Sözer, a self-made man with a soft heart and a hot head, offers Fürmann a job driving him around the countryside to restock and collect money from his chain of vendor carts. But Fürmann risks his livelihood ...

"Jerichow" is helmed and written by Christian Petzold, an multiple award-winning director. His credits include 2003's "Wolfsburg," Gespenster of 2005 and "Yella," a winner of the Fermina-Film-Prize and the Silver Berlin Bear awards at the 2007 Berlin Film Festival. "Jerichow," a nominee of the Golden Lion Award at last year's Venice Film Festival, stars Benno Fürmann, Nina Hoss, Hilmi Sözer, André M. Hennicke, Claudia Geisler, Marie Gruber and Knut Berger. The film sees release release at the Film Forum in New York City as well as the Laemble in Los Angeles on May 15th. See more images About the film: Jerichow, a small town in northeastern Germany, an impoverished region where few jobs are to be had, an area of crisscrossing highways, deep forests, and cliffs that fall sharply into the sea, is the setting for an unfolding drama of three people who find themselves at a fortuitous crossroads. Following his mother’s death,...

"Jerichow" is helmed and written by Christian Petzold, an multiple award-winning director. His credits include 2003's "Wolfsburg," Gespenster of 2005 and "Yella," a winner of the Fermina-Film-Prize and the Silver Berlin Bear awards at the 2007 Berlin Film Festival. "Jerichow," a nominee of the Golden Lion Award at last year's Venice Film Festival, stars Benno Fürmann, Nina Hoss, Hilmi Sözer, André M. Hennicke, Claudia Geisler, Marie Gruber and Knut Berger. The film sees release release at the Film Forum in New York City as well as the Laemble in Los Angeles on May 15th.

"Jerichow" is helmed and written by Christian Petzold, an multiple award-winning director. His credits include 2003's "Wolfsburg," Gespenster of 2005 and "Yella," a winner of the Fermina-Film-Prize and the Silver Berlin Bear awards at the 2007 Berlin Film Festival. "Jerichow," a nominee of the Golden Lion Award at last year's Venice Film Festival, stars Benno Fürmann, Nina Hoss, Hilmi Sözer, André M. Hennicke, Claudia Geisler, Marie Gruber and Knut Berger. The film sees release release at the Film Forum in New York City as well as the Laemble in Los Angeles on May 15th.

Chicago – The third week of the 12th Annual EU Film Festival at the Siskel Film Center is nearly upon us and we’re back to give you an idea of what to expect in the second half of arguably the best fest in the Windy City. We feature great new films from Ireland, Denmark, the United Kingdom and Belgium.

The first half of EU 2009 (which you can read about here and here) produced some excellent films including Ireland’s “Kisses,” Denmark’s “Worlds Apart,” and France’s “Shall We Kiss?” There’s nothing that we’ve seen that’s quite as notable as “Kisses” or “Worlds Apart,” the two best of the fest through week three, but there is a quartet of films well worth seeing this weekend. Get your calendar out and take notes.

You’re going to be busy on Saturday with a dark trio of quality films - Denmarks “Fear Me Not,...