It’s festival time! German artists at this year’s festivals in Edinburgh
The festival season has started and visitors can expect another year of a great range of artists and performances in the Scottish capital this summer. Among those, several German artists will also head to Edinburgh and showcase their talent and work — whether you are interested in music, dance, film or art, there is something for everyone. Take a look at the line-up of German performers at this year’s festivals.
Edinburgh International Film Festival:
The Edinburgh International Film Festival has started in 1947 and is the world’s longest continually running film festival. Hundreds of filmmakers from around the world, including Germany, will head to the festival which runs from 19–30 June.
The Edinburgh International Film Festival is supported by the German Consulate General Edinburgh.
These are this year’s German productions:
- Das melancholische Mädchen (Aren’t You Happy?) by Susanne Heinrich (24 & 26 June)
Watch this ironic and playful film which is about a melancholic young woman who dwells on postmodern life and love — from searching for the meaning of life to meeting various men. - Endzeit (Ever After) by Carolina Hellsgård (28 & 29 June)
This is an eco-orientated zombie-apocalypse road movie in which Eva and Vivi embark on a dangerous trip across Germany where zombies have ravaged the landscape.
- Werk ohne Autor (Never Look Away) by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (23 & 24 June)
Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Oscars, this epic film, which takes place over three decades (from the 1930s to the 1960s) in Germany, is about art and love. - Dreissig (Thirty) by Simona Kostova (25 & 27 June)
This film, set in the hip Berlin neighbourhood of Neukölln, is about five friends in their late twenties who face a quarter-life crisis.
Furthermore, the Edinburgh International Film Festival will also show the following German co-productions:
- Underdown by Sarah Kaskas (27 & 28 June)
- Volcano by Roman Bondarchuk (29 & 30 June)
- The Red Phallus by Tashi Gyeltshen (21 & 23 June)
- Synonyms by Nadav Lapid (27 & 29 June)
- The Hidden City by Victor Moreno (28 & 29 June)
- Hamada by Eloy Domínguez Serén (29 & 30 June)
- The Olive Tree by Icíar Bollaín (29 June)
Edinburgh International Festival:
Visit the Edinburgh International Festival, which runs from 2–26 August, for the following German performances:
- The Komische Oper Berlin will stage Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin from 15–17 August at the Festival Theatre
- The Deutsche Oper Berlin will play Manon Lescaut by Puccini on 22 August at the Usher Hall
- Michael Volle, the German baritone, will be joined by pianist Helmut Deutsch to perform Schubert, Mahler and Strauss on 8 August at The Queen’s Hall
- German soprano Christiane Karg and pianist Gerold Huber will perform an all-Schubert programme on 21 August at The Queen’s Hall
- Christine Schornsheim, German harpsichordists and Andreas Staier will play a selection of Bach’s Keyboard Concertos alongside musicians from the Dunedin Consort on 19 August at St Cecilia’s Hall
Edinburgh International Book Festival:
From 10–26 August the Edinburgh International Book Festival will take place at Charlotte Square Gardens. Here are the German authors attending:
- Award-winning journalist Tobias Buck, who has spent years in Spain, gives a rich and vivid portrait of the country in his book After The Fall. Hear his findings on 11 August at the Garden Theatre.
- Olga Grjasnowa who moved to Germany 23 years ago as a refugee offers in her novel City of Jasmine an intimate picture of war as three Damascenes flee. (22 August at the Writers’ Retreat)
- Author Pierre Jarawan tells in The Storyteller about Samir who gives up the relative comfort of his adopted German home to track down his father in Beirut. (24 August at the Writers’ Retreat)
- Jan-Philipp Sendker’s gripping thriller The Far Side of the Night takes you deep into the soul of modern China where a couple is in need of help and unable to trust strangers. (26 August at the Writer’s Retreat)
- Meike Ziervogel provides in Flotsam a study of life by Germany’s North Sea coast. What emerges from a sea roiled by the Second World War changes everything. (21 August at the Writers’ Retreat)
- Goethe expert Jan Wagner will join Haus Publishing’s Barbara Schwepcke and others to discuss Goethe’s classic West-Eastern Divan as well as a specially commissioned series of new poems, translations and essays. (14 August at the Garden Theatre)
- Kai Strittmatter explores with others China’s role in the world which is challenging the democratic order. (24 August at the Spark Theatre in George Street)
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Head to the streets of Edinburgh where you will find a variety of performances, including from German artists.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe runs from 2–26 August.
Other festivals this summer include the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival (12–21 July), Edinburgh Art Festival (25 July — 25 August) and The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (2–24 August). To find out more about the festivals, visit www.edinburghfestivalcity.com
