Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — The German Consulate General hosted the opening night of the 13th European Film Festival with a German movie “Young Goethe in Love” at the residence of Consul General Holger Ziegeler here on Saturday.

Ziegeler welcomed the guests and emphasized the cultural importance of the 13th European Film Festival, which displays a variety of European cultures through the eyes of cinematographers.

“Young Goethe in Love” is a 2010 German historical drama directed by Philipp Stölzl and starring Alexander Fehling, Miriam Stein and Moritz Bleibtreu. It is a fictionalized version of the early years of the prominent German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and the events forming the basis of his novel The Sorrows of Young Werther.

Goethe is a poet, novelist, playwright, natural philosopher, diplomat and a civil servant. He wrote many famous novels and numerous literary and scientific fragments, more than 10,000 letters.

There are nearly 3,000 drawings by him. His contributions in the field of literature, poem and philosophy are globally recognized until today.

The 13th European Film Festival is an annual event conducted by European diplomatic missions in the Kingdom. All the films are screened in their original languages with English subtitles, showcasing the beauty of the diversified European cultures and languages.

This year, the festival will screen several movies from Germany, Italy, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom.