Julietta – a film starring unknown actors, doomed without clean-cut but fresh faces. The plot: Julietta, in Berlin to join the annual Love Parade, falls unconscious in a public fountain after the big party. Max comes to rescue her. And takes his chances. Weeks later, Julietta learns, she’s pregnant. She believes that her boy-friend Jiri is the father. And accidentally, she runs into Max a second time.

Quite an unconventional plot, especially since the director concentrates less on the rape. Instead, he uses the crime only as the story’s engine and unfolds a love triangle between the main characters and transfers the current atmosphere of Berlin onto the screen – without making it look like a dumb travel agency’s commercial promoting the city.

Problem is: Not many people outside Germany will see this feature, because it is a German production. Also quite possible: Only a minority of Germans will run into the theatres.

I guess the difficulties to successfully release German films (or non-American films in general) on the world market is an accumulation of facts:

• German features generally seem to have a hard time at the international market
• The German film market is rather used as a play-station for US. productions
• Ignorance on both sides of the ocean
• The US. system is rather star driven, giving not much room for new, unused talents behind and in front of the camera

German films are generally considered too artsy. Less entertaining. Hard to digest. Indeed, throughout the 1970s and 80s, major productions were made by Herzog, Schlöndorff, Kluge, von Trotta or Fassbinder. Serving rather an artistic purpose. – Though, Fassbinder’s works are cold and ironical, dissecting society, they are fun to watch. Trust me.

But now, decades later, times have changed. The new generation of aspiring filmmakers, tired of ploughing through Germany’s history on celluloid, is ready to step on new territory. After all, they’ve been exposed enough to important "classic German art" in film schools and universities – and, they’ve been exposed to US. features in movie theatres.

Still, it seems, German film productions are brand-marked. Only if they tell a story taking place in Nazi-Germany, like Aimee & Jaguar, they can be costly. Only if loaded with a message, like Oi! Warning they have a right to exist. German filmmakers aren’t much accepted in other genres. We aren’t British – hence, we can’t come up with a decent comedy. We aren’t Americans – hence, we don’t know how to make a decent action movie. That seems the general tone.

One major problem young filmmakers face around here is to convince the film funding boards and the likes to finance and distribute ambitious projects which can indeed compete internationally. While the US. industry solely aims for entertainment, meaning money, the German industry is obligated to serve a certain cultural purpose: German films must fulfil an educational, informative and artistic purpose. Some filmmakers have accomplished the big 3 well, like Caroline Link in Jenseits der Stille (Beyond Silence).

However, Link was sitting on her script for several years, until she found someone who recognised this jewel. Certainly, known directors like Schlöndorff manage to push their films like Die Stille nach dem Schuß (The silence after the shoot) into the theatres. And fail. Why did his film get funded, financed and released? Schlöndorff is a big name in this country. The funding committee knows what to expect. It knows what it gets. A boring, wordy film – no-one really wanted to see.

Die Stille nach dem Schuß deals with terrorism in Germany. Two other directors didn’t get a chance to produce their films for theatre, though their stories deal with the same topic: Das Phantom (The Phantom) by Denis Gansel. An intelligent thriller about the 3^rd generation of the RAF (Red Army Fraction). Fast-paced from the 1^st minute to the last, cleverly twisted, well performed and nicely photographed. Another one is Todesspiel (Death-game) by Heinrich Breloer, that reconstructed the events during the so-called "Hot Autumn" in 1977 within fiction scenes, mixed with documentary (interviews, stills). Both, Das Phantom and Todesspiel could only be made with the aid of TV-channels and were developed for TV only. This further diminished their chance to get sold to other countries – which is a shame. Films like these are a burning issues again.

Plenty of decent film productions, however, share this fate of being developed for TV, backed with TV- money. It’s kind of you rather deal with the lesser evil and receive little exposure on the small screen than none at all. One of the post-dilemma is: Once backed with TV-money, script and film are sold to the station. Writer and director lose all the rights to the material. If worse come worse, the station’s script editor keeping track of the production requests minor and major changes in the plot. In the end, writer/director might produce a completely different film they had in mind.

The backing through TV-channels like Pro 7 seemed to be a way to strengthen the German film industry though.

Indeed, one can observe a phenomenon that our industry has concentrated on its own productions via television: It’s more inexpensive to broadcast own productions dealing with national issues, people can identify with, instead of airing US. productions. - In order to air any US. production on German television, the rights have to be bought, plus, they must be synchronised - On the one hand, it’s a good idea: If the TV-film receives good ratings, it’s easier for the filmmakers to get money for the next project. Also, native actors have a chance to work. On the other hand, also the German industry grows to be more star driven. Only a handful of German actors regularly stands in front the camera doing films. The majority does commercials, wastes their talent in soaps or does small-time acting on stage.

Nowadays, the prime time between 8:15 p.m. and 10:15/10:30 p.m. is basically blocked with German productions. The private channels run TV-movies, costing +/- 2 million Marks. The public ones run cop series like Tatort, the former DDR-equivalent Polizeiruf 110, documentaries, political platforms/ discussions. Wolfgang Petersen started his career directing "Tatorte" – the most famous one, Reifezeugnis stars young Nastasia Kinski.

After 10:30 p.m., the television landscape is basically in US. hands. A play-station for US. series, soaps and movies. The exception are two public channels – ARTE and 3SAT. Both run specific themes every night, wrapped in a feature, followed by a documentary. Often, they broadcast subtitled films. These are the places to catch films made in Spain, Brazil, former Yugoslavia, Australia, India etc. Countries that aren’t well exposed.

I suppose the Canadian population is exposed to the US. culture, and hence, films, as much as Germans are. Besides muffins, malls and music, there is an overkill of US. movies in the theatres as well. At the moment, the biggest house Cinemaxx here in Berlin screens 11 US. films, but only 5 German productions: Der Schuh des Manitu (The Shoe of Manitu, a satire about the old Winnetou-films with Pierre Brice and Lex Barker), Lammbock (a comedy about 2 guys who run a pizza place as a cover-up to sell pot) Der kleine Eisbär (The little ice-bear, animation) Saas (Sass, a gangster epic about two brother in Germany in the 1920s) and Kommando Störtebecker (Commando Störtebecker, animation). Julietta is screened in another theatre. The cause is the trade agreement between Germany and the US – we have to release about 80% of their productions, leaving not much room for our own movies. Besides, two US. movies play on two screens in one house. One movie, American Pie II on three. In one house. At the same time.

I wouldn’t mind their 80%. But, there isn’t much trade between both countries. A lot of German money streams into American films. American movies are shot in Germany.

Yet, American audiences are regretfully a little too ignorant towards non-American films. Americans seem to hesitate to watch subtitled movies. And, they aren’t perceptive towards non-American actors, stars. They want to identify with the faces they know.

And Germans, facing an overload of American productions, appear to doubt that German filmmakers can pull off decent entertaining movies. Why choose a home-made production like "Lammbock", if you can watch "Bridget Jones"? The later, starring popular actors, is a safe ticket. A German comedy? Can be a dead loss. Why watch "Das Experiment" (The Experiment), if "The Matrix" plays next door?

As a young filmmaker, you face one major problem, among other big ones: Do you decide to cast actors that are known, resulting in an explosive budget? Or do you cast unknown talents, possibly Europeans only?

If you decide for the new faces – you may run against closed doors, because the funding boards often doubt your film will then drag the audience into the theatres. Only familiar faces will be paid the attention to, so that the film breaks even, at least. If you decide for the familiar faces, you face the dilemma that people aren’t willing to pay 15 Marks to see exactly the same faces that come into their own living rooms day by day. Sometimes, the mix works: Bing Bang Boom, a comedy playing in Duisburg, an industrial town in North-Rhine Westphalia, engaged known actors, most from TV. But they all looked completely different that no-one identified their TV-roles with their film characters.

Still, casting known actors is no guarantee to be welcomed at the fnding committees. The makers of Der Schuh were rejected from at least one major funding board. The project apparently wasn’t regarded as instructive enough. They then reasoned, no-one would be interested in or understand the jokes. Funny thing is, that about 4 million Germans rushed to the theatres to enjoy this light-hearted comedy.

Well, the world has changed. The political landscape has changed, causing now changes in the economical scenery – which certainly will effect upon the film business. Maybe, if Americans learn to accept the support and help from all other countries, they open up to non-American films as well, some time in the future, when the healing begins.

And now, I have a load of German pancakes and watch the race in Indianapolis. Et peut-etre, Jacques Villeneuve puts his foot on the gas pedal.