Berlin and Beyond Film Festival

The Encore Day of the 16th Berlin & Beyond Film Festival, a collection of modern German-language films, is being held in San Jose. The following is a schedule and description of the films playing.

The Sandman (Der Sandmann): 1 p.m.

One morning, Benno finds sand in his bed. While he tries to ignore this, he soon realizes that he himself is the source of the sand. Day after day the sand increases, and time is running short. Finally, left with no choice, he asks Sandra — the neighbor who runs a coffee shop under his apartment — for help. Although Benno hates her with a passion, he starts having dreams of her each night. What could Sandra and the dreams have to do with the sand?

The Poll Diaries (Poll): 3 p.m.

On the eve of World War I, 14-year-old Oda von Siering returns to Poll, her family home on the Baltic coast, a region uneasily shared by Germans, Russians and Estonians. With her are the mortal remains of her mother, who passed away in Berlin. Awaiting the bright and inquisitive girl are her father Ebbo, an eccentric scientist with a dubious interest in racial breeding; her aunt Milla, who flees reality through music and affairs; and other members of her aristocratic German family, who are clinging to their privileges in a world on the brink of disaster. Upon finding a wounded Estonian anarchist on the estate, the passionate, impulsive Oda fearlessly hides him and secretly nurses him back to health, aware that her deed could trigger a chain reaction of uncontrollable violence. She falls in love with the young man, a writer who stimulates her craving for romance and adventure. He, however, plans to leave Poll as soon as possible. But he underestimates the power of her feelings toward him and of her alienation from a world she has little in common with."The Poll Diaries" hauntingly evokes the end-of-days atmosphere of a doomed society at the crossroads of the German and Russian Empires in the early years of the 20th century. Following his award-winning "Four Minutes" (Audience Awards at the Hamptons and San Francisco, German Film Awards and Best Film Award in Shanghai and Sofia), director Chris Kraus now presents the masterly portrait of a segment of civilization and humanity sliding into chaos and anarchy. Shot on the Baltic coast in and around a spectacularly precarious mansion, "The Poll Diaries" features a gallery of superb actors, led by the radiant young breakout star Paula Beer. –Bavarian Film International

Young Goerte in Love (Goerte!): 6 p.m.

In 1772, under the strict direction of his father, Johann Goethe (Alexander Fehling, Germany’s Shooting Star 2011) abandons his “scribblings” as a creative writer to become a lawyer. But his romantic spirit cannot be so easily snuffed out. It’s rekindled anew when he falls for the beautiful and outgoing Lotte Buff (Miriam Stein). After a sweet interlude of passion, joy, and not just a little poetry, their celebration of love is suddenly assailed by a truly sobering reality. She’s betrothed to another: Goethe’s own overseer at the Court, Albert Kestner (Moritz Bleibtreu). The gun is now loaded and for series of tragic events which tear the two apart. Pistol duals, “magic” pills, puppet theaters, and maypoles all add to the ambiance of this drama set in preindustrialized Germany. Young Goethe’s tale, which would later become the basis of what has been called “the first modern novel,” speaks to all eras as it shows us a picture of a love that exists, “not in truth but in poetry… --Rickey Lee Bauman for Berlin & Beyond Film Festival

3 (Drei): 8:30 p.m.

From the director of Run, Lola, Run and The International comes a sexy romantic drama with a nod to classic Hollywood's screwball comedies. Hanna and Simon, a couple in their early forties, live together in Berlin. With their 20th anniversary looming, they both become restless despite being truly and deeply in love. Unbeknownst to one another, they become acquainted with Adam, a younger man, and fall in love with him. Clearly not your typical 1930’s romp, this reinvention of those classic films with Tykwer’s sleek direction is a playful update: an intellectual study of a modern couple looking for redefinition in a world of absolutes. —Strand Releasing