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Peter Przygodda, the renowned editor who worked with Wim Wenders, Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, Volker Schlöndorff, Hans W Geissendörfer, Reinhard Hauff, Klaus Lemke, Peter Handke and Romuald Karmakar, has died at the age of 70. He was, as Ekkehard Knörer writes in die taz, the most important editor — a term he preferred over another commonly used in Germany, "Cutter" — of the New German Cinema of the 70s and early 80s.

Though he'd originally intended to become an architect, Przygodda founded a small theater with Rolf Zacher and shot his first short film in 1969, Der Besuch auf dem Lande (The Visit to the Country), with Zacher taking on the lead role. Later that same year, he began working with Wenders on Summer in the City, striking up a friendship and professional partnership that would see them all the way through Palermo Shooting in 2008. Przygodda won the German Film Prize (Gold) for his work on...

U.S. Dramatic Competition

This year's 16 films were selected from 1,026 submissions. Each film is a world premiere.

Adam (Director-screenwriter: Max Mayer)

A strange and lyrical love story between a somewhat socially dysfunctional young man and the woman of his dreams. Cast: Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving, Frankie Faison.

Amreeka (Director-screenwriter: Cherien Dabis)

When a divorced Palestinian woman and her teenage son move to rural Illinois at the outset of the Iraq war, they find their new lives replete with challenges. Cast: Nisreen Faour, Melkar Muallem, Hiam Abbass, Yussuf Abu-Warda, Alia Shawkat.

Big Fan (Director-screenwriter: Robert Siegel)

The world of a parking garage attendant who happens to be the New York Giants' biggest fan is turned upside down after an altercation with his favorite player. Cast: Patton Oswalt, Michael Rapaport, Kevin Corrigan, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Matt Servitto.

Brief Interviews With Hideous Men (Director-screenwriter: John Krasinski)

When her boyfriend leaves with little explanation,...

MONTREAL -- One of two German films in the official competition, with an awards-worthy lead male performance, "I'm the Father" (Vater) is an intimate drama from X Filme Creative Pool about a family's seemingly unstoppable breakup, with the title showing where the emphasis is placed.

While it frequently, distractingly bathes the screen in yellow light, Dani Levy's direction (with a decent digital video-to-widescreen transfer) is just savvy enough to make shopworn material less about final outcomes and more about creating endearing characters. Thankfully not too intense when these characters lose control, with the crucial participant of an adaptable small boy caught between two parents, "Father" starts with what should be a moment of triumph.

An architect who doesn't follow suggestions and by his brashness helps his firm win a major project, Marco Krieger (Sebastian Blomberg) wants to share the good news with his wife, Melanie (Maria Schrader), but she's not a happy camper. A drama teacher who is seeing her ambitions thwarted by responsibilities like picking up their son Benny (Ezra Valentin Lenz) from school, Melanie sends out such negative vibes that Marco knows to try to stop the relationship's downward spiral.

Unfortunately, one missed afternoon pickup of Benny and a testy exchange at a party, and Melanie lowers the boom. A little smashed, Marco lashes out at her, and she prudently leaves, then returns with two cops to collect Benny. From there, it's downhill for Marco as his shock and anger derail early peace offerings, while even his sympathetic father (Rolf Zacher) can't unwind him.

Drinking heavily, smoking, letting his house turn into a pit, Marco tries to understand what has happened and how to fix it, but Melanie decides that it's over and wants a divorce. She also wants to limit his time with Benny. It is this condition that Marco can't compute, but his increasingly desperate attempts to have contact with his son only exacerbate the situation.

There's still a glimmer of hope Mom and Dad will get back together. But in one of the film's best scenes -- which has Marco perhaps starting something serious with a co-worker (Christiane Paul) who is thoroughly enamored of him, just as Melanie comes by on a peacekeeping mission -- it becomes clear that this marriage is kaput. Starting to live up to his reputation as a drunk and danger to his family, Marco snaps when he learns that Melanie is trying to deny him any contact with Benny.

With his career triumph also teetering on ruin, Marco snatches Benny and they drive out of town. With no plan but for an open-ended spree that includes a call or two to let Melanie know they are OK, the kidnapping ends messily with Marco hitting rock bottom. A basically decent guy who does stupid things, Marco has made an impression on Benny, paving the way for the far from hopeless conclusion.

With Schrader's character doing very little explaining of her actions and coming off as less dimensional than the father and son, the film encourages us to get under the skin of Blomberg's character, and the actor is onscreen nearly the entire movie. "Father" is also helped considerably by one's being able to laugh and cringe at the reactions of Benny, thanks to Lenz's excellent performance.

I'M THE FATHER

X Filme Creative Pool

Credits:

Director: Dani Levy

Screenwriters: Rona Munro, Dani Levy

Based on an idea by: Matthias Matussek, Gunter Rohrbach

Producer: Manuela Stehr

Director of photography: Carsten Thiele

Production designer: Christian Eiselle

Editor: Elena Bromund

Costume designer: Ingrida Bendzuk

Music: Niki Reiser

Cast:

Marco Krieger: Sebastian Blomberg

Melanie Krieger: Maria Schrader

Benny: Ezra Valentin Lenz

Ilona: Christiane Paul

Nico: Ulrich Noethen

Peter Krieger: Rolf Zacher

Christa: Marion Kracht

Running time -- 102 minutes

No MPAA rating...