Fourth Festival of German Cinema (FGC) brings a snapshot of Germany to China

　　At a time when the world is focusing on the refugee crisis in Europe, Germany is reflecting it through film.

　　"I think the more important question is that why these people are leaving. And I think we can't talk about these refugees without talking about why they are leaving," German director Daniel Carsenty told the Global Times on Friday at the ongoing Fourth Festival of German Cinema (FGC) in Beijing.

　　Root of the problem 

　　Carsenty has brought his film After Spring Comes Fall. A film he both wrote and directed, it focuses on the current refugee crisis that has caused so much tension between Europe and the Middle East. In the film, a Kurdish woman is tracked down by the Syrian security bureau after she flees to Berlin and is forced to carry out intelligence tasks on the bureau's behalf.

　　The story is based on research carried out by Carsenty and his years of experience working as a TV reporter. His time traveling to conflict zones such as Syria, Pakistan and Israel gave him the opportunity to witness and understand the conflicts in these countries. At the time he was in Syria, the country was full of Iraqi refugees who fled there due to the war in Iraq.

　　"Basically it's the same story repeating itself again," Carsenty said.

　　Carsenty said that he believes refugees are just the unfortunate byproduct of war. When the war ends, some refuges may decide to stay in Germany, some may go back to their hometowns or head to a different country.

　　"That's why I refuse to even think about the refugee crisis, because the refugee problem is the smallest problem of a much bigger one. It's like talking about the wheel when the car is damaged," Carsenty said, adding that focusing on the reasons behind the war in Syria and urging governments to find political solutions are far more important.

　　French director Aline Fischer has also brought a film focusing on refugee issues in Germany. Her film Meteor Street focuses on young Pakistan immigrants who live on Meteor Street, a dilapidated road near the Tegel Airport in Berlin, and how they have integrated with society.

　　"We wanted to make a movie about the 'silent war from a long time ago,' since the former generation of migrants arrived 10 or 20 years ago," Fischer told the Global Times at the festival.

　　Many young refugees are still excluded in the society, even the children of these refugees who were born and raised in Germany still have difficulties getting an education and integrating into society.

　　Carsenty explained that one of the reason's behind these difficulties is that many refugees came from small villages. When millions of these refugees suddenly flood into big cities, problems are bound to occur due to the differences in lifestyles.

　　An old issue 

　　According to Fischer, even though the war in Syria has ignited a new refugee crisis, it's actually a problem that has existed in Germany for decades.

　　Growing up in the French city of Alsace, a city on the border between France and Germany that has a turbulent history when it comes to war, and later moving to Germany to study film, Fischer has mixed feelings about Germany. She explained that her grandfather had to change his nationality back and forth several times as control of the city switched between the two countries.

　　Making Meteor Street was no easy task for Fischer. Right from the start she had trouble finding financing since the German investors she approached told her that they didn't feel any connection to the film's characters, nor did they think that audience would be interested in such a topic.

　　Soon after, the refugee crisis began and the world started paying more attention the issue of refugees. This lead to her investors finally agreeing to finance the film.

　　"I was suffering in Germany as a stranger, because I'm not German… I suffered from the gap in German society. I also wanted to make this film to build a bridge, to make my own platform to the people," Fischer said.

　　General picture 

　　Twelve German films have been selected for the fourth FGC, which will tour Beijing (November 11-19), Chengdu in Southwest China's Sichuan Province (November 15-22) and Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province (November 17-24). These 12 films cover topics including refuges, female empowerment and gender equality.

　　Director Florian Gallenberger, the honorary chairman of the festival, told the Global Times that Chinese audiences will be able to get a general snapshot of what's going on in Germany right now through these films.

　　In 2009, Gallenberger directed John Rabe, which takes as its setting the Nanjing Massacre, an event in 1937 in which Japanese troops killed more than 300,000 Chinese citizens in the city of Nanjing in East China's Jiangsu Province.

　　The film tells the real-life story of a German businessman who worked to establish a safe zone that saved 250,000 Chinese.

　　For the festival this year, Gallenberger has brought his film Colonia, a historical thriller starring Emma Watson.

　　Having spent quite a long time in China while working on John Rabe, Gallenberger said he feels he understands the differences between China and Germany better now. He said Germans are quite straight forward whereas Chinese are very indirect, which led to him having trouble figuring out what his Chinese partners really wanted.

　　Gallenberger said this difference is reflected in Chinese movies, as many tend to have a deeper meaning below the surface.

　　"This is also a very high level of filmmaking. You are not showing it, but still showing it. That's a very elegant way of filmmaking," he said.