KARACHI, May 7: Windows on Europe, a 10-day film festival being held to mark the 50th anniversary of the European Union, was launched on Monday at Karachi’s Goethe-Institut. German film Herr Lehmann, directed by Leander Haußmann, kicked off the proceedings.

In his remarks preceding the film, German Consul-General Hans-Joachim Kiderlen said that the purpose of the festival was to show films that displayed the culture and inner being of the countries represented, instead of the consumerist fare that is usually seen.

The award-winning Herr Lehmann, adapted for the screen from a book by Sven Regener, was released in 2003 and takes place in the still divided city of Berlin in 1989. The title character, played by former MTV video jockey Christian Ulmen, is a bartender in allied West Berlin’s Kreuzberg district, who leads a rather quirky life and is surrounded by equally eccentric characters.

Shot in dour, bleak colours, the film employs trademark German humour to unravel the story-line. The political aspect of the Berlin Wall is hardly played up, and doesn’t feature prominently until near the end of the 105-minute film.

Films will be screened daily at the Goethe-Institut until May 16 starting at 6pm, and will feature titles from 10 EU member states.