Attention movie buffs: For the 9th time, the Goethe-Institut NZ presents the German Film Festival. Admission is free and the festival includes the best new film releases from Austria, Switzerland and Germany.

There's everything on the menu from documentaries, drama, comedy, road movies and family films. There are ten movies screening and we've picked four below that most grabbed our attention:

GOODBYE BERLIN

Fatih Akin’s film Goodbye Berlin is the headliner film presented at this year’s festival. A charming ‘coming of age’ comedy, it follows the journey of adolescent misfits as they journey through provincial Germany in a stolen car.

 

PAULA

Christian Schowochow’s biopic follows the exciting and dramatic life and career of artist Paula Modersohn-Becker. Paula has become recognised as one of her generation's most important painters, often credited as being the first female painter to paint female nudes.

A HEAVY HEART

A Heavy Heart is a sombre but moving film about washed-up East German boxing champion, Herbert Stamm. Reduced to working as a bouncer and debt collector, Herbet is forced to reflect on his life when he is diagnosed with a fatal disease.

STEFAN ZWEIG: FAREWELL TO EUROPE

Another highlight, the film “Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe”. Director Maria Schrader stages an impressive drama about the Austrian author Stefan Zweig, who was a cosmopolitan, a pacifist and a bonafide literary star.

 

The festival will start in Auckland (5-10 Sept), will then move to Wellington (13-16 Sept), followed by Christchurch (23 & 24 Sept), Dunedin (30 Sept & 1 Oct) and finally New Plymouth (3-8 Oct).

See their website for the full line-up. All films will screen in their original language with English subtitles.