Hausner, Wallraff and Iannucci to Göteborg

At the festival office in Göteborg we work 24/7 at the moment. But before we take at least a few days of Christmas holidays we want to take the opportunity to present three of the high profile guests attending the 33rd Göteborg International Film Festival.

Three christmas presents:

Christmas present no 1: Jessica Hausner, Austria, and her new film Lourdes
Christine has been confined to a wheelchair for most of her life. In
order to escape her isolation, she makes a journey to Lourdes, the
iconic site of pilgrimage in the Pyrenees mountains. She wakes
up one morning seemingly cured by a miracle. The leader of the
pilgrimage group, a handsome 40-year-old volunteer from the
Order of Malta, begins to take an interest in her. She tries to hold
on to this newfound chance for happiness, while her cure provokes
envy and admiration.

Jessica Hausner was born in 1972 in Vienna, Austria. In 2001,
Lovely Rita, her first feature film, was presented in Un Certain Regard as well as her second feature Hotel. Lourdes is her third film.
Jessica Hausner will be present in Göteborg January 29-31.
Lourdes is distributed by Folkets Bio.

Christmas present no 2: Günter Wallraff, Germany, and his film Günter Wallraff: Black On White
Black on White features Günter Wallraff as he traveled undercover across Germany as a Somali, wearing a dark-haired curly wig and with his white skin painted black. He spent most of his time in mostly white areas of Germany, speaking with an accent.

Günter Wallraff is an author and undercover journalist, best known for his books "Der Aufmacher" (Lead Story, 1977) and "Ganz unten" (Lowest of the Low, 1985). The word "wallraffa" became a Swedish expression for describing his type of investigating journalism.
Günter Wallraff will be in Göteborg February 1-3. On the 2nd he will give a Masterclass.

Christmas present no 3: Armando Iannucci, Great Britain
Armando Iannucci is a comedian, writer, producer, tv host and director.
He has written and produced numerous critically acclaimed television and radio comedy shows, notably The Mary Whitehouse Experience and On The Hour. Iannucci has also fronted his own satirical programmes. The Thick Of It, which won Best New TV Comedy at the 2005 British Comedy Awards, and the spoof clip show Time Trumpet, were both written/directed and co-produced by Armando Iannucci. His recently released feature film In The Loop is a comedy set in the world of Whitehall and Washington, Armando is a regular columnist for The Observer.
Armando Iannucci will be present in Göteborg February 2-5. He will be the keynote speaker on February 4, at Meeting Point Television during The Nordic Film Market.

Read more about the programme and guests at Meeting Point Television here...