DUBAI: Six powerful films representing the best of contemporary and classic German filmmaking will make up the “In Focus: Germany” segment of the eighth Dubai International Film Festival to be held from Dec.7 to 14.

The “In Focus” segment this year will open with the red carpet gala screening of director Christian Zubert’s     Three Quarter Moon (Dreiviertelmond), and also includes Verena S. Freytag’s Burnout (Abgebrannt), David Wnendt’s Combat Girl (Kriegerin), Robert Thalheim’s Westwind and Georg Wilhelm Pabst’s 1929 classic Pandora’s Box (Die Büchse der Pandora), its print restored painstakingly over 12 years, and Ulrike Ottinger’s Under Snow.

“In Focus Germany” is organised in cooperation with German Films and Goethe-Institut Gulf-Region.

Making its international premiere at DIFF 2011, Zubert’s comedy-drama Three Quarter Moon is a human story of a grumpy, xenophobic taxi driver who finds himself stuck with an energetic, six-year-old Turkish girl who speaks only Turkish. The film is the red carpet gala of the Festival’s “In Focus: Germany” showcase.

Ulrike Ottinger’s Under Snow, also making its international premiere at DIFF, leads audiences into the reality of beauty and austere living conditions of the Japanese region of Echigo, where the local population experiences heavy snowfall for six months in the year.

The “In Focus: Germany” segment also includes one of the classics of world cinema: Georg Wilhelm Pabst’s Pandora’s Box. The 1929 silent melodrama is based on Wedekind’s play Lulu and stars Louise Brooks as a thoughtless young woman who brings ruin to herself and those who love her. Brooks’ intense and timeless performance as Lulu made her one of the icons of cinema. The print has been restored by Martin Koerber of the Deutsche Kinemathek - a project of over 12 years.

In cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Gulf Region, the film will be screened for free at The Walk at JBR, the Festival’s outdoor venue, and will be accompanied by the UAE Philharmonic Orchestra (UAEPO) conducted by Philipp Maier.