German filmmaker Maren Ade’s (Everyone Else) astonishing Toni Erdmann was hailed as one of the standout films of Cannes 2016, where it premiered in Competition (the first German film to debut there in 10 years) and won the FIPRESCI Best Film award.
It’s a broad, outrageously funny comedy about the relationship between a father and daughter. Peter Simonischek is Winifried, a divorced teacher with a baffling penchant for wacky humour; frequently donning comedy wigs and false teeth. His daughter Ines (Sandra Hüller) – a sleek oil company advisor – is less amused by such jokes; but Winifried suspects she is unhappy and so kindly decides to show up at her offices in a new guise: that of ‘Toni Erdmann’.
A highly original, utterly hilarious arthouse comedy, it’s been selected as Germany’s 2017 Oscar entry and is sure to continue to generate brilliant press on its February release next year.
