Films by two up-and-coming female German directors, Vanessa Jopp and Nathalie Steinbart will open this year's Filmfest Hamburg (September 24-30).

Engel & Joe, Jopp's first feature since graduating last year from Munich's Academy for Television & Film with the award-winning Vergiss Amerika (Forget America), will open the festival at a gala screening on September 24, after having its world premiere in competition at Montreal.

Another new German talent will launch this year's 'tesafilm' Festival for newcomer filmmakers a day later, with the screening of Nathalie Steinbart's drama Endstation Tanke (The Middle Of Nowhere), her graduation film from Berlin's German Film and Television Academy.

Meanwhile, Apocalpyse Now Redux, the reworked and greatly expanded version of Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Apocalypse Now, will be presented in a German premiere for the closing night on September 30.