California Lutheran University will screen the 2001 German film “Advertising Rules!” on Thursday, March 16, as part of its International Film Festival.

The comedy-romance movie will be shown in German with English subtitles at 8 p.m. in Richter Hall on the university’s Thousand Oaks campus.

“Advertising Rules!” is about trying to hold on to integrity while navigating the cutthroat, high-stakes world of advertising.

Hoping to land a job at Brainstorm, a large Frankfurt advertising agency, Viktor Vogel (Alexander Scheer) makes an impression on the firm’s marketing director, Johanna von Schulenberg (Maria Schrader). Hired to work on their new Opel campaign, Vogel is teamed with Eddie Kaminsky (Götz George), an aging creative director who takes a dim view of his new partner. That changes when Vogel comes up with a brilliant idea that Opel just loves. The problem is he stole the idea from Rosa Braun (Chulpan Khamatova), his video artist girlfriend. And now Vogel must choose between his career and Braun, as he’s sure she’ll dump him as soon as she finds out.

George, who was one of Germany’s best known and most beloved actors, died in 2016 at 77. The star of the Oscar-nominated comedy “Schtonk!” was best known for his role as Inspector Horst Schimanski on the hit TV crime show “Tatort.” He was nominated seven times for the German Film Awards, Germany’s equivalent of the Oscars, and won four times. In 1995, he won the Volpi Cup for best actor at the Venice Film Festival for “The Deathmaker.”

“Advertising Rules!” is directed by Lars Kraume and co-written by Kraume and Thomas Schlesinger. Other films by Kraume include “Days to Come,” an apocalyptic vision of the future; “My Sisters,” a cheerful drama about death; and “The People vs. Fritz Bauer,” an atmospherically haunting political thriller.

This film is rated R due to language.

Cal Lutheran’s Department of Languages and Cultures and history professor David Nelson are sponsoring the free event. The 2016-2017 festival will conclude with a screening of “Amelie” at 7 p.m. April 26 at Muvico Thousand Oaks 14.

Richter Hall is located in Ahmanson Science Center south of Memorial Parkway and east of Pioneer Avenue. Limited street parking is available after 7 p.m. Parking lots are located at the corner of Olsen Road and Mountclef Boulevard.

For more information, contact German professor Walter Stewart at [email protected].

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