Highlights from the 37th Munich Film Festival

What makes a real man? This is the question "The Art of Self-Defense" ironically asks at the beginning of the Munich Film Festival. Hollywood star Jesse Eisenberg (right) is trying to increase his testosterone level at a karate club. But will it work? Director Riley Stearns provides some surprising answers. The festival opens its program this year with a generous dose of black humor.

With the cinema landscape facing hurdles such as US blockbusters, Netflix and the death of cinemas and theaters, film festivals present the treasures of cinema, somewhat like an exhibition at a museum. A film like "Bacurau," which was awarded the Jury Prize in Cannes, celebrates its German premiere in Munich. Whether the film will then make the leap into movie theaters is uncertain.

A good festival always provides viewers with a glimpse into new developments. As a consequence of globalization, more and more co-productions are clearly emerging worldwide — so the Munich Festival added a new category in 2019: "CineCoPro." Shown this year is the documentary "Gaza," a German-Irish-Canadian-British production.

In the "CineVision" category, organizers look at new talents from all over. What questions are asked by the next generation of directors? Often the questions focus on the role of family, tradition and loss of control. One example is "Angelo" by Austrian film maker Markus Schleinzer, who uses an authentic story to help trace the fate of a young slave in Europe at the beginning of the 18th century.

Second only to the Berlinale, the Munich Film Festival is an important showcase of German film. In the "New German Cinema" section this year, "Golden Twenties" with German actress Henriette Confurius will face the competition. Director and script writer Sophie Kluge created a sensitive film about a young woman searching for her place in life.

In recent years, the sharp boundaries between cinema, television and the offerings of streaming providers have blurred. The Munich Film Festival has long been presenting quality television and situating it in the "Netflix" age. The category "Neues Deutsches Fernsehen" (New German Television) presents the film "Play:" director Philip Koch shows a young woman retreating into the virtual world.

Festivals nowadays have special sections devoted to series. Marking this year's Bauhaus anniversary, the festival presents the premiere of the six-part series "'A New Era." Set in 1963, the episodes revolve around the 80-year-old Walter Gropius, who faces accusations by a young journalist of having oppressed women. The film stars Anna Maria Mühe (shown here), August Diehl and Trine Dyrholm.

Every festival likes to present celebrities and will often have honorary awards for the respective star's life's work. In 2019, the Munich Film Festival will be handing out two "CineMerit" awards. One goes to Spanish actor Antonio Banderas. The festival will be showing his new film, Pedro Almodovar's "Pain and Glory" as well as an old Banderas classic, "The Mask of Zorro."

The second honorary award goes to British actor Ralph Fiennes. In this case, it is not all about his merits as an actor, but also about the premiere of the third film directed by Fiennes, "Nurejev - The White Crow." It focuses on an episode from the life of Soviet ballet star Rudolf Nurejev (portrayed in the film by Oleg Ivenko) during the Cold War.

The festival's 2019 retrospective is dedicated to South Korean director Bong Joon Ho. South Korean cinema is currently on an upswing, and several directors have gained international fame. In May, Bong Joon Ho won the "Palme D'Or" in Cannes for his new film "Parasite."