German Films Quarterly 4 2008 - AT ROME Cinema 2008 Competition LONG SHADOWS by Connie Walther Anteprima-Premiere THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX by ...
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German Films
Quarterly 4 · 2008
AT ROME
Cinema 2008 Competition
LONG SHADOWS by Connie Walther
Anteprima-Premiere
THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX by Uli Edel
PORTRAITS
Directors Hannes Stoehr
& Neele Leana Vollmar,
Rat Pack Filmproduktion,
Actor David Kross
German Films Quarterly 4 · 2008
directors’ portraits
4 GLOBAL STORYTELLER
A portrait of Hannes Stoehr
6 A SENSE OF FAMILY
A portrait of Neele Leana Vollmar
producers’ portrait
8 PACKING A PUNCH
A portrait of Rat Pack Filmproduktion
actor’s portrait
10 NORTHERN LIGHT IN THE MOVIE SKY
A portrait of David Kross
12 news
in production
18 24 STUNDEN SCHLESISCHES TOR
Eva Lia Reinegger, Anna de Paoli
18 BERLIN
Michael Ballhaus, Ciro Cappellari
19 DIE FREMDE
Feo Aladag
20 DER GROSSE KATER
Wolfgang Panzer
21 HAUS UND KIND
Andreas Kleinert
22 HILDE
Kai Wessel
23 HITLER VOR GERICHT
Bernd Fischerauer
24 KINDERSUCHE
Miguel Alexandre
25 MAENNERSACHE
Gernot Roll, Mario Barth
26 ROMY
Torsten C. Fischer
26 ROSAMUNDE PILCHER: VIER JAHRESZEITEN
Giles Foster
27 SCHWERKRAFT
Maximilian Erlenwein
28 THIS IS LOVE
Matthias Glasner
29 TRANSFER
Damir Lukacevic
30 UNTER BAUERN
Ludi Boeken
new german films
32 9TO5 – DAYS IN PORN
Jens Hoffmann
33 88 – PILGERN AUF JAPANISCH 88 – PILGRIMAGE IN JAPANESE
Gerald Koll
34 ADEMS SOHN ADEM’S SON
Hakan Savas Mican
35 ANONYMA — EINE FRAU IN BERLIN A WOMAN IN BERLIN
Max Faerberboeck
36 DER BAADER MEINHOF KOMPLEX THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX
Uli Edel
37 DIE BIENEN – TOEDLICHE BEDROHUNG KILLERBEES
Michael Karen
38 BUDDENBROOKS BUDDENBROOKS – THE DECLINE OF A FAMILY
Heinrich Breloer
39 DEM KUEHLEN MORGEN ENTGEGEN INTO THE COLD DAWN
Oliver Becker, Katharina Bruner
40 FINNISCHER TANGO FINNISH TANGO
Buket Alakus
41 FRECHE MAEDCHEN CHEEKY GIRLS
Ute Wieland
42 GELIEBTE CLARA CLARA
Helma Sanders-Brahms
43 HINTER KAIFECK KAIFECK MURDER
Esther Gronenborn
44 HOTEL SAHARA
Bettina Haasen
45 IN JEDER SEKUNDE AT ANY SECOND
Jan Fehse
46 JERICHOW
Christian Petzold
47 KRABAT
Marco Kreuzpaintner
48 MA’RIB
Rainer Komers
49 MIKE FIGGIS – THE SEDUCTION OF THE EYE
Ina Borrmann
50 DAS MORPHUS-GEHEIMNIS MYSTERY OF MORPHUS
Karola Hattop
51 NARRENSPIEL FOOL’S GAME
Markus F. Adrian
52 NEBEN DER SPUR TOUR EXCESS
Detlef Bothe
53 NOBODY’S PERFECT
Niko von Glasow
54 DER PFAD DES KRIEGERS THE WAY OF A WARRIOR
Andreas Pichler
55 SCHATTENWELT LONG SHADOWS
Connie Walther
56 SHORT CUT TO HOLLYWOOD
Marcus Mittermeier, Jan Henrik Stahlberg
57 STANDESGEMAESS NOBLE COMMITMENTS
Julia von Heinz
58 U-900
Sven Unterwaldt
59 WARTEN AUF ANGELINA WAITING FOR ANGELINA
Hans-Christoph Blumenberg
60 WELTSTADT CITY OF THE WORLD
Christian Klandt
61 ZWEIER OHNE COXLESS PAIR
Jobst Christian Oetzmann
65 film exporters
67 foreign representatives · imprint
D I R E C TO R ’ S P O RT R A I T
Hannes Stoehr was born in Stuttgart in 1970 and studied
European Law at the University of Passau after completing his civilian
service and a nine-month trip through South America. He then studi-
ed Scriptwriting and Directing at the German Film & Television
Academy Berlin (dffb) from 1995 to 1999. After a number of shorts
and medium-length documentaries, he made his feature directorial
debut with Berlin is in Germany in 2001, based on a 15-minute
short with the same name from 1999. The film was shown at over 30
festivals worldwide and released theatrically in Germany, France,
Spain and Turkey, winning prizes at festivals in Poitiers, Valencia and
Annonay. In Germany, the film received, among others, the Panorama
Audience Award at the 2001 Berlinale, the German Film Critics’
Award for actor Joerg Schuettauf, 1st Prize in Studio Hamburg’s Next
Generation Competition, the New Faces Award for Best Young
Director 2002, and the Association of German Film Critics’ Award
for Best Film 2002. In 2003, he wrote and directed the Tatort TV
movie Odins Rache which was nominated for the German and
European CIVIS Television Award 2004 and received the German
Television Award 2004 in the category of Best Supporting Role for
actress Sandra Borgmann. His second feature film, One Day in
Europe, was invited to the Official Competition of the 2005
Berlinale, screened at over 30 other festivals around the world and
was released abroad in cinemas in Japan, Spain, Turkey, the UK,
Poland, and Russia. In 2006, he obtained a writing fellowship for the
Villa Aurora in Los Angeles to work on the project Forty Eighters
and directed his third feature Berlin Calling in the summer 2007.
Starring the electronic composer Paul Kalkbrenner, who also wrote
the film’s score, Berlin Calling had its world premiere on the
Piazza Grande in Locarno this August. Hannes Stoehr works as a
scriptwriter and director in Berlin and is a lecturer at the dffb and the
Baden-Wuerttemberg Film Academy. His other films include: Biete
Hannes Stoehr (photo © Filmfestival Locarno)
Argentinien, Suche Europa (short, 1995), Lieber Cuba
Libre (documentary, 1997), Prawda (short, 1998), and Gosh –
Live in Paris (documentary, 1998).
Agent:
Above the Line GmbH · Uschi Keil
Wielandstrasse 5 · 10625 Berlin/Germany
phone +49-30-2 88 77 30 · fax +49-30-28 87 73 10
email: buero-berlin@abovetheline.de
www.abovetheline.de · www.stoehrfilm.eu
GLOBAL
STORYTELLER
A portrait of Hannes Stoehr
Thoughtfully entertaining rather than sermonizing – that’s the goal of “I see myself as more of a clown than a priest,” says Hannes. “I love
director Hannes Stoehr whose latest feature Berlin Calling solid storytelling which is based on research. Reality is complex, the
had its world premiere on the Piazza Grande at the Locarno main thing is to find the right angle for your story. And the right tone:
International Film Festival in August 2008. I prefer tragicomedies.”
german films quarterly director’s portrait
4 · 2008 4
Hannes was born in Stuttgart and grew up in Hechingen in Baden- in a universal way. So, it is important to know the cinema styles of
Wuerttemberg. Before and after civil service, he did extended back- other countries.”
packing tours through Central and South America. He then studied
Law, but his involvement in various art projects making films made His feature One Day in Europe – which had its premiere in the
him decide to “turn my hobby into a profession.” In 1994, he moved Official Competition of the Berlinale in 2005 – he describes as his res-
to Berlin. ponse to “a historical European moment coming from this chance of
the fall of the Wall” with interwoven stories set in Berlin, Moscow,
Hannes became part of an underground-style filmmaking movement Istanbul and Santiago de Compostela. The overall theme of the film
in the reunified capital, “which was really anarchic, low budget and of was languages in Europe.
course without any shooting permits. Everything was possible then
because there was such a great energy in the air.” And looking back now, Hannes says that he can see his three feature
films as forming a trilogy: “Berlin is in Germany shows Berlin
These Super 8 films were then shown at basement bars and can now viewed from the alien perspective, One Day in Europe shows
also be viewed on Hannes’ own YouTube channel. Berlin in the European context, and Berlin Calling is now the view
from within.”
“In fact, looking back, I think that this atmosphere at the beginning of
the 90s in Berlin was very important to me,” he suggests. “It wasn’t As Hannes points out, it is not by coincidence that his three features
just Germans, because you seemed to have the whole world coming to date all have English titles: “The titles may be English but the films
here to find answers. That energy is something you find in my films.” have a very German content or at least a German point of view. The
films are very local, but at the same time very universal. It worked
His application to Berlin’s German Film & Television Academy (dffb) out: Berlin is in Germany and One Day in Europe were
was accepted in 1995 where he studied until 1999, making such films released in the cinemas in France, Spain, Turkey, Poland, Russia, the
as the documentaries, Lieber Cuba Libre, Gosh – Live in UK and Japan, and elsewhere. “Also, English titles are an advantage in
Paris, and a 15-minute short version of his 2001 feature debut a Google world,” Hannes quips.
Berlin is in Germany.
At the moment, he is promoting the release of Berlin Calling in
Hannes admits that there may at times have been an ideological clash Germany and is invited to several international festivals. Berlin
between him and dffb director Reinhard Hauff over his work, but he Calling portrays the world of an electronic music composer, a tra-
has nothing but respect for the veteran filmmaker’s humanism. “I gicomedy in the Berlin of today, starring Paul Kalkbrenner, Rita
learned a lot from Reinhard Hauff, although or maybe because he Lengyel, Corinna Harfouch and Araba Walton. “Our main role and
comes from a different generation.” Moreover, several of his fellow musician, Paul Kalkbrenner, is an internationally known electronic
students from film school days have worked with him on subsequent music artist, so we have a worldwide audience on all continents
projects such as DoPs Andreas Doub and Florian Hoffmeister, editor around the globe. We are trying to also reach our global community
Anne Fabini and producer Karsten Aurich. by net guerilla activities through My Space, Facebook and YouTube.
The Internet gives you a great opportunity to promote your film with-
Berlin is in Germany stirred things up winning the Panorama out having so much money,” Hannes adds. “We live in a time where
Audience Award at the 2001 Berlinale, the German Film Critics Prize global storytelling is possible. This is a great opportunity.”
for Best Film 2002 and many others, including four international first
film awards. Hannes Stoehr spoke with Martin Blaney
This feature debut played in the here and now of 2001 Berlin whereas
subsequent films about the recent German past, such as Wolfgang
Becker’s Good Bye, Lenin! or Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s The
Lives of Others, were set during the GDR or in the autumn of ’89.
“I saw myself more in the present,” Hannes explains. “The important
thing for me here was that a wall comes down and, from one day to
the next, a human experiment begins which had never taken place
before. A country is divided and is then brought back together.”
“With my first film I fortunately had the chance to travel around the
world and see what is important for a German film,” Hannes con-
tinues. “My generation of filmmakers is quite privileged because after
the Second World War people had had enough of the Germans,
something which I can understand fully. But after the fall of the Berlin
Wall, the interest in German culture has come back strongly. People
see that something is happening and the clichéd images of the Second
World War are being changed. One can see more nuances there
now.”
Hannes loves traveling and speaks English, Spanish, French and
Portuguese. “I enjoy attending film festivals and being present for the
releases of my films in other countries. I always try to tell my stories
german films quarterly director’s portrait
4 · 2008 5
D I R E C TO R ’ S P O RT R A I T
Neele Leana Vollmar was born in Bremen in 1978. After her
schooling, she was a director’s assistant for various film productions,
followed by studies in Directing at the Baden-Wuerttemberg Film
Academy in Ludwigsburg from 2000 to 2005. She already demon-
strated an interest in interpersonal relationships in her first short films
like Sans une Parole (2001). Her enduring theme of the family
first attracted attention in My Parents (Meine Eltern, 2003),
which received several awards world-wide. She has developed more
and more facets of cinematic relatives in the full-length features
Vacation from Life (Urlaub vom Leben, 2004), Peaceful
Times (Friedliche Zeiten, 2008), and Maria, ihm
schmeckt’s nicht (2008/2009, currently in production). During
her studies, she received the Caligari Fellowship (2002), and parti-
cipated in the Berlinale Talent Campus and the Hollywood
Masterclass (2003). Together with Caroline Daube she established
her own production company, Royal Pony Film, with a VGF grant. In
future, Royal Pony Film hopes to realize projects by other directors as
well, but first the aim is to make more films by Vollmar, written once
again by the well-known scriptwriter Ruth Toma. Vollmar often falls
back on a familiar team for her productions: in front of the camera,
she employs regular actors like Gustav Peter Woehler or Anna
Boetcher, and the cameraman is very often Pascal Schmitt. So she has
even internalized her theme on set: “There, I am simply a family kind
Neele Leana Vollmar (photo © Rick Ostermann)
of person.”
Contact:
Royal Pony Film GmbH & Co. KG
Bayerisches Filmzentrum
Bavariafilmplatz 7 · 82031 Geiselgasteig/Germany
phone +49-89-64 98 11 20 · fax +49-89-64 98 13 20
email: info@royalponyfilm.com · www.royalponyfilm.com
A SENSE OF FAMILY
A portrait of Neele Leana Vollmar
Although she is the “family filmmaker” among young German direc- favorite theme. After all, she showed her daughter Ingmar Bergman
tors, there is no sign of the quiet life in Neele Leana Vollmar’s films at an early age: an object lesson in complicated souls and the
work. In her film families, either the children or the parents are prone inspiration for film material that Vollmar has already made into her
to depression, as a rule the family members are ashamed of each specialty – from the hysterical short film My Parents to her tragi-
other, and talking to one another is the exception. Why does she like comic feature Peaceful Times. This film version of the novel was
to plumb the depths of family life so much, driving her dysfunctional launched in German cinemas in September and the international pre-
family members to the fringe of madness? miere took place at the 32nd World Film Festival in Montreal shortly
before that.
When she is asked the reason for this, the lanky director from Bremen
only laughs and shakes her head. “No, no, no. My own family is a She even succeeds in recounting people’s fears and tragic events in a
dream family,” she assures us. They have a close relationship; her light, laconic tone: Vollmar’s films are suited to an age in which life’s
parents know almost everything about her. “It is precisely because plans are becoming more and more complicated and the contra-
things have always been so great for me that I look for the skeletons dictions in almost every biography are evident. Her characters seem
in the closet.” However, her mother is a little to blame for Vollmar’s to say – so why don’t you tell me, what exactly is normal?
german films quarterly director’s portrait
4 · 2008 6
These films appear to tread lightly, but they are also profound. And Indeed, melancholy dominated in Vacation from Life: a bank
they touch people outside Germany: My Parents won three prizes employee recognizes that his existence is no more than routine. And
in Clermont-Ferrand in 2004. It is not surprising: when petit-bour- because Vollmar likes to get her own way, she made her student grad-
geois parents recreate the illusion of a once happy marriage and uation project into a full-length film despite the opposition.
actually find themselves and each other in the process, the idea has
considerable potential for identification in any country. “They are Later, she founded her own production company, Royal Pony Film,
situations that everyone has experienced at some time,” Vollmar says together with Caroline Daube and made Peaceful Times. She
of her films. She loves the situation comedy that develops in relation- refuses to be categorized, constantly seeking new facets of her film
ships, but: “The story is always the most important thing, the laugh- theme.
ter comes second.” Vollmar searches for poetry in everyday life: “I
want my viewers to immerse themselves in the film for one or two The next one on the list is a witty, perceptive comedy; the film ver-
hours, and for each person to leave the cinema with his own story sion of a book that has been very successful in Germany – Maria, ihm
afterwards.” schmeckt’s nicht by Jan Weiler. This Claussen+Woebke+Putz pro-
duction centers on a German-Italian relationship and the resultant
Her most lavish project to date, Peaceful Times is set in the misunderstandings: again and again, Vollmar focuses on the minor cul-
Germany of the 1960s: the Striesow family have escaped from the tural clashes – between East and West, between bourgeois and drop-
GDR. Irene is still haunted by her memories of the East and her hus- out, between German and Italian mentality. “I love the cliché,” she
band Dieter is a big dreamer, longing for America – the two could says, and adds that she loves to play with it. And often it conceals
scarcely be less alike. The minor and major crises in life – as often in something that is simply true. But the sense of homelessness in a dif-
Vollmar’s films – are set off by ironic off-screen commentary. Here, it ferent culture felt by the main character is important to Vollmar as
is the naive voice of one of the couple’s children that recounts the well. That is what gives the comedy its depth.
family drama. The mother constantly has fantasies of suicide in the
film, certainly, but the viewer cannot hate her for it: an achievement Even though her parents sometimes find it annoying to be asked con-
of actress Katharina Schubert, as well as the direction. stantly what went wrong when they were bringing up their daughter:
Vollmar is not working off any kind of trauma. She has merely found
Film neuroses, the decor of the times, or shooting with children: a lively source of inspiration.
Vollmar never balks at such challenges. She also refused to accept the
pressure to make another scurrilous comedy after My Parents. Christoph Groener spoke with Neele Leana Vollmar
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Anita Schneider, Christian Becker (photo courtesy of Rat Pack Filmproduktion)
P R O D U C E R S ’ P O RT R A I T
Rat Pack Filmproduktion was founded in 2001 by Christian Schlossgespenst, dir: Sebastian Niemann, 2006), The Vexxer
Becker and Anita Schneider as a production house for feature (Neues vom Wixxer, dirs: Cyril Boss and Philipp Stennert, 2007),
films, TV movies, and international event productions with Constantin The Wave (Die Welle, dir: Dennis Gansel, 2008), ProSieben
Film as a shareholder. A graduate of Munich’s University of Television Funny Movies (various directors, 2008, TV), Killing is My
& Film (HFF), Becker had produced such films as Bang Boom Bang, Business, Honey (Mord ist mein Geschaeft, Liebling, dir:
Kanak Attack, Was nicht passt …, 7 Days To Live and Das Phantom Sebastian Niemann, 2008/2009, post-prod), Vorstadtkrokodile
whilst serving as shareholder and managing director of Indigo (dir: Christian Ditter, 2009, post-prod), Vickie the Viking
Filmproduktion and Becker & Haeberle Filmproduktion before joining (Wickie und die starken Maenner, dir: Michael “Bully”
forces with Curt Cress and Michael Bischoff to launch F.A.M.E. Film & Herbig, 2009, in production), Jerry Cotton (dirs: Cyril Boss and
Music Entertainment on the Frankfurt stock exchange in 2000. Philipp Stennert, in preparation), The Dawn (dir: Dennis Gansel, in
Meanwhile, Schneider, who oversees business affairs at Rat Pack, has preparation) and Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver
several years of experience working for such companies as Bavaria (Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivfuehrer, dir:
Film, ProSiebenSat.1 and Indigo Film/F.A.M.E. Rat Pack’s productions Sebastian Niemann, in preparation).
include: Hunt for the Hidden Relic (Das Jesus Video, dir:
Sebastian Niemann, 2002, TV), Blood of the Templars (Das Contact:
Blut der Templer, dir: Florian Baxmeyer, 2005, TV), ProSieben Rat Pack Filmproduktion GmbH
Fairy Tales (Die ProSieben Maerchenstunde, various Beethovenplatz 2 · 80336 Munich/Germany
directors, 2005-2007, TV), Goldene Zeiten (dir: Peter Thorwarth, phone +49-89-1 21 14 87 12 · fax +49-89-1 21 14 87 77
2005), Hui Buh – The Goofy Ghost (Hui Buh – Das email: office@ratpack-film.de · www.ratpack-film.de
PACKING A PUNCH
A portrait of Rat Pack Filmproduktion
“Big entertainment – that’s our goal and what we like to see our- As Becker and Schneider explain, their company’s name refers to the
selves,” says producer Christian Becker about the strategy of the legendary Rat Pack of entertainers led by Frank Sinatra and Dean
Munich-based production house Rat Pack Filmproduktion he Martin with Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop, who
founded with Constantin Film AG, Anita Schneider and a group were friends and worked and partied together in the 1950s.
of screenwriters and directors in 2001.
german films quarterly producers’ portrait
4 · 2008 8
“Drawing on the original Rat Pack idea, the company aimed to bring steps after film school,” Becker says. “At Indigo we had developed TV
people together who fitted well together, got on with one another movies with them and they wrote a lot for the Was nicht passt … TV
and wanted to make films together,” Becker recalls. series at Westside [the NRW-based sister company of Rat Pack].
They then wrote scripts for the fairy tales series and directed some
In fact, the core team of collaborators at Rat Pack had been working episodes. The next step was for them to take on directing the feature
together since their film school days in the mid-1990s at Munich’s film The Vexxer.”
University of Television & Film (HFF): “I have always worked with
Peter Thorwarth, starting with his short films Mafia Pizza Razzia and The next project Rat Pack is planning with the duo is a feature film
Was nicht passt, wird passend gemacht and then going on to his feature around the 1960s cult detective Jerry Cotton, which will be the com-
film Bang Boom Bang, the feature-length version of Was nicht passt … pany’s first flagship project for 2009. Becker promises “a fantastic
and Goldene Zeiten. The same is with Dennis Gansel with Wrong Trip new interpretation which will be like the way people approached
and Living Dead leading to his first feature-length project Das Phantom Starsky & Hutch. It won’t be a parody because we take the character
and now The Wave.” of Jerry Cotton very seriously but we see him a bit like Inspector
Drebin in The Naked Gun. The film industry as well as the fans and
“Sebastian Niemann was someone to emulate because he was two readers are already all very enthusiastic.”
years above me at film school and had already worked with Rainer
Matsutani on Over My Dead Body (Nur ueber meine Leiche),” says While the “bread and butter” TV projects keep Rat Pack quite busy,
Becker. Their first collaboration was the TV movie Biikenbrennen – it is not idle on the feature film front either.
made for Indigo Filmproduktion and Becker&Haeberle Film-
produktion, the production companies Becker set up with former Last winter saw Sebastian Niemann working on the comedy Killing
Kinowelt founder Thomas Haeberle after his graduation from the is My Business, Honey in and around Berlin with a cast including
HFF. Rick Kavanian, Nora Tschirner, Christan Tramitz, Gunther Kaufmann
and movie icons Franco Nero and Bud Spencer. Warner Bros. will
“It was such a sensational feature debut that we said we would do all release the film next spring.
of our projects together from now on,” Becker recalls. They followed
the TV movie with an English-language feature film 7 Days To Live “We had a great experience shooting in Berlin and Brandenburg on
aimed at the international market, produced by Indigo Film- Dennis Gansel’s The Wave,” Becker recalls, adding that the re-
produktion. action to this school drama, which has been seen by over 2.5 million
cinemagoers in Germany, “was the first time that one of our produc-
Niemann and Becker came together for Rat Pack’s first big pro- tions had such international recognition. We have received invitations
duction Hunt for the Hidden Relic which was shot on location to many festivals, won audience awards and have prints of the film
in Morocco doubling up for Israel. “This production scored the best traveling around all the time.”
ever ratings for a German TV mini-series on ProSieben and the
record still stands,” notes Anita Schneider who is “responsible for the Meanwhile, this summer saw the company handling the production of
business and financial side of the company’s operation and keeps an two feature film projects at the same time: Christian Ditter’s adap-
eye on the budgets, while Christian is the one coming up with the tation of Max von der Gruen’s 1977 novel Vorstadtkrokodile,
ideas for our projects.” produced with Rat Pack’s Krefeld-based sister company Westside
Filmproduktion and Constantin Film, and Michael “Bully” Herbig’s
Rat Pack began with a focus on working for German television – rang- Vickie the Viking which is billed as the most expensive German
ing from such TV movies as Hunt for the Hidden Relic or family entertainment film to be produced this year.
Blood of the Templars as well as the comedy series the
ProSieben Fairy Tales and the ProSieben Funny Movies And Becker and Schneider, together with their in-house creative pro-
– but Becker and Schneider are aiming “to get to a situation where we ducers Lena Olbrich, Nina Maag, Mathias Loesel and Simon Happ,
can make something in English every two years, although German TV have plenty in store for the future to keep German and international
programs and feature films will continue to be our area of emphasis.” audiences on tenterhooks. Projects in development range from the
vampire love story The Dawn and a war drama based on Gert
Thus, next year will see the company embarking on an English-lan- Ledig’s novel Vergeltung – both to be directed by Dennis Gansel – to
guage remake of Hunt for the Hidden Relic, to be shot again a plane catastrophe film and a western set during the Second World
by Sebastian Niemann with the same team and an international cast. War by Peter Thorwarth.
“The story will be more compressed, nearer to the novel, more
action-laden, everything bigger and louder!,” Becker explains. Three feature films are also in the works with Sebastian Niemann: the
aforementioned English remake of Hunt for the Hidden Relic,
The fairy tales series has worked its way through the Brothers Grimm a big screen version of the children’s classic Jim Button and
and will now turn its attention to the Arabian Tales – with a change of Luke the Engine Driver, and a sequel to his 2006 film Hui Buh
production location from studio sets built in warehouses outside – The Goofy Ghost.
Prague to the Antalya Studios in Turkey. “However, we will continue
to use the Czech craftsmen because they are really world class. You “This time, it will be ’Hui Buh meets The Mummy’,” Becker explains.
don’t see anything like this elsewhere in Europe.” “After the first part was in dark woods and dungeons, the adventure’s
journey will now be going to Egypt!”
The work for television also enables Rat Pack to try out young writ-
ers and directors who can then progress to feature projects. A case Christian Becker and Anita Schneider spoke with Martin Blaney
in point is the directorial duo Cyril Boss and Philipp Stennert. “We are
really proud that we have accompanied their careers from the first
german films quarterly producers’ portrait
4 · 2008 9
A C TO R ’ S P O RT R A I T
David Kross was born in the small northern German town of
Bargteheide in July 1990. After his first efforts at acting in a children’s
theater group, news of his unusual talent – although he was only fif-
teen at the time – spread so fast that German director Detlev Buck
invited him to a casting in Berlin. There, he successfully competed
against 500 fellow applicants and landed his first leading role in
Tough Enough (Knallhart). The role of Michael Polischka, who
must come to terms with the hard life at a school in Berlin’s problem
district Neukoelln, catapulted him into the film world’s field of vision
overnight. His authentic performance met with great acclaim at the
world premiere during the Berlinale in 2006, and in the following
weeks the film drew 143,000 admissions to German cinemas and
triggered a socio-political debate in the German government about
conditions at socially disadvantaged schools. Kross, who seemed
astonishingly unaffected by all the fuss, subsequently secured the title
role in the lavish filming of bestseller Krabat (2008) by director
Marco Kreuzpaintner. The film, which screened in Toronto, was al-
ready much-discussed worldwide during shooting because of its opu-
lent realization. The 18-year-old actor then drew the attention of
Hollywood director Stephen Daldry, who casted Kross alongside
Kate Winslet in his third key role in The Reader (2008), which
looks set to further his faultless reputation.
Agent:
Schulze & Heyn FILM PR · Peter Schulze
Rosa-Luxemburg-Strasse 17 · 10178 Berlin/Germany
phone +49-30-88 68 20 35 · fax +49-30-88 68 28 10
David Kross (photo © Andreas Muehe)
email: schulze@film-pr.de · www.film-pr.de
NORTHERN LIGHT
IN THE MOVIE SKY
A portrait of David Kross
After this three-year, vertical take-off as Germany’s leading young vous if I had known about the risks beforehand.” David Kross gazes
generation actor, David Kross took a short time off this August thoughtfully at the ground. Now, after three main roles, the 18-year-
before the world premiere of Krabat, considering the future and old talent naturally has a better understanding of the business, but in
recuperating his energies. In a peaceful moment, we spoke to the purely optical terms, he has lost nothing of his youthful integrity. His
young talent about a future that certainly seems to hold every oppor- facial features may have become more striking, but the sparkle in his
tunity. eyes still reflects the mixture of profundity and post-pubertal vehe-
mence that directors regard as the secret of his natural style of acting.
“When I made Tough Enough, I had no idea what furore the film
would bring in its wake. I would probably have been much more ner- “He acts as if he has been doing nothing else all his life,” director
german films quarterly actor’s portrait
4 · 2008 10Marco Kreuzpaintner enthuses. And he should know – for several “It is important that I remain true to myself,” Kross says. We have
weeks, he filmed Krabat together with Kross in deepest Romania – heard this statement from many an up-and-coming star before him,
and he expresses only what almost everyone on the set thought of but very few sound as honest as this young actor, who looks forward
the young talent. Kross’ down-to-earth personality and profession- with anticipation but without exaggerated expectations to what lies
alism were even obvious after shooting was over for the day: while his ahead. “I don’t know what sort of reactions I will have to face after
fellow actors spent the evenings in provincial bars, Kross stayed in his the premieres of Krabat and The Reader. But actually, I don’t
hotel room, learned his texts, and studied on the Internet for his really want to know. It is all the same to me where I end up working.
secondary school graduation exams. “Actually, I was quite frightened The main thing is that I am involved in filming stories with material that
of the part, because in this film a lot depended on my performance," works well.”
Kross sums up in retrospect. "And by contrast to Tough Enough,
in the case of Krabat I knew just what I was up against.” In the meantime, David Kross has completed the first part of his own
very personal story – and it has been a great success.
The genre film produced by Claussen+Woebke+Putz is 120 minutes
long, and Kross features in almost every scene. The tremendous past Johannes Bonke spoke with David Kross
success of Otfried Preussler's original book made the role into quite
a burden from the start. Krabat was sold more than 1.8 million
times in Germany, translated into 31 languages, and showered with
prizes. Young as he was, Kross knew that if he failed with this film, his
early laurels would be forgotten as rapidly as he had earned them.
But that was highly unlikely, as must have been clear to any observant
visitor to the set when they saw his level of concentration. While a
hectic, up to 230-man team worked around him in the icy cold of the
Carpathian Mountains, Kross listened patiently to Marco Kreuz-
paintner’s explanations. As soon as the word 'action' had been spo-
ken, his body pose, facial expression and breathing altered – and with
astonishing speed and attention to detail, Kross – the lad from nor-
thern Germany – turned into Krabat, a beggar boy from the 17th cen-
tury. “Krabat is a small young man who has a hard time mentally and
financially after the death of his mother. He reacts in a rather passive
way to the things that happen to him. But then he falls in love, grows
up, begins to question things, and finally manages to act instead of just
reacting.”
This development into a thinking, acting individual is noticeable in
Kross himself as well. When he saw the film for the first time at a spe-
cial screening in Berlin, he analyzed his performance most per-
ceptively. Afterwards, there was no word of self-praise, but a critical
assessment of what he might have done better. “I cannot explain what
exactly happens to me when I have to act in front of a camera. But I
know that I need to experience a lot more in my life. Only experience
of my own will help me to go on playing my parts well.”
Nevertheless, according to eye-witnesses, he also gave an utterly
competent performance in his shared love scenes with Kate Winslet
in The Reader, brilliantly embodying the boy from a rich family
who falls for the conductress on a train journey. But the 18-year-old
actor still lacks assurance in personal conversations – he has a sym-
pathetic, rather awkward manner. The media interest in his person
apparently knows no end since Tough Enough, and several jour-
nalists crowding around a table pepper him with questions at inter-
views, but he is obviously not the sort of person who likes to hear
himself speak or pat himself on the shoulder. “I have to confess that
sometimes I am still rather uncertain,” Kross admits and then con-
tinues, “but perhaps that is quite a good thing for my roles. If I felt self-
confident, I would probably come onto the set without preparing so
well.”
From the human perspective, at least, David Kross has kept the rural
mentality of a lad from the North: modest, reserved and with an eye
for the truly important. Professionally, he comes across as someone
who is already experienced and privately, he is in the process of find-
ing his own way.
german films quarterly actor’s portrait
4 · 2008 11NEWS 4/2008
“The Baader Meinhof Complex” producer Bernd Eichinger, director Uli Edel (photo © 2008 Constantin Film Verleih GmbH)
“THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX” TO REPRESENT GERMANY
IN THE RACE FOR THE ACADEMY AWARD®
The independent expert jury, appointed by German Films to select the sold in the most important international territories.
German entry to compete for the Academy Award® for the Best
Foreign Language Film, has – under the chairmanship of Alfred Bernd Eichinger on the jury’s decision: “Uli Edel and I are extremely
Huermer – chosen The Baader Meinhof Complex by Uli Edel. pleased. We invested a lot of energy into this film and are proud to
represent German cinema in the race for the Academy Award®.”
The jury on its decision: “The brilliant performance by the entire cast
and the extraordinary adaptation of the story allows a view of the The Baader Meinhof Complex was supported by FilmFern-
early 70s in the Federal Republic of Germany, without glorifying the sehFonds Bayern, Bayerischen Bankenfonds, the German Federal Film
perpetrators.” Board (FFA), the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF) and Medienboard
Berlin-Brandenburg. The broadcasters NDR, BR, WDR and Degeto
Produced by Constantin Film Produktion/Munich (producer: Bernd were also involved in the project.
Eichinger), Nouvelles Editions de Films/Paris, and G.T. Film Pro-
duction/Prague, the film, based on the book by Stefan Aust, was On 22 January 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
released in German cinemas on 25 September 2008 (distributor: Sciences will nominate five films from the international entries to par-
Constantin Film Verleih/Munich). ticipate in the final selection to compete for the Academy Award® for
Best Foreign Language Film. Films from some 100 countries are being
International sales are being handled by Summit Entertainment/Los submitted for this year’s coveted trophy. The official awards cere-
Angeles – The Baader Meinhof Complex has already been mony will be held in Los Angeles on 22 February 2009.
german films quarterly news
4 · 2008 12From the exhibit “Movies on the Mind. Psychology and Film”
(photo © Deutsche Kinemathek/Marian Stefanowsky)
HANDS ON HD IN HANOVER
With some 400 participants from the fields of film and television, over
40 German and European experts and exclusive technical equipment,
this year’s Hands on HD, organized by nordmedia and Band Pro
Munich, was once again a unique industry event. For seven days, prac-
tical exercises and lectures on cinematography and post-production
were on the program for workshop participants.
Hands on HD in Hanover (photo courtesy of nordmedia)
MUSEUM FOR FILM AND TELEVISION
“ON TOUR”
Numerous exhibitions conceived by the Berlin Museum for
Film and Television are on tour this year. In December alone,
three exhibitions will be taken over by international museums.
“Moving Spaces. Production Design + Film” will be shown at the
Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne starting 4 Directors and producers were offered extensive insight on High
December 2008. The project is dedicated to the work of production Definition during a two-day seminar. Through the support of around
designers, set designers and film architects through the use of film 50 sponsors and cooperation partners, more than 50 HD cameras
examples, designs and models. From 11 December 2008, the Centre and 25 high-tech editing boards were made available, giving the partic-
for Contemporary Art in Warsaw will show “film.kunst: Ulrike ipants a rare opportunity to get to know almost all camera systems
Ottinger.” This extensive show presents the large-scale photographs, currently on the market. The goal of the event is to provide intensive
costumes and workbooks of the self-willed filmmaker. “Movies on the technical and workflow training and to keep the entire film and tele-
Mind. Psychology and Film” will open at the Hong Kong Film Archive vision production industry up-to-date on changing transformation
in mid-December 2008. In multimedia experience spaces, visitors can processes.
place themselves “on the couch” and explore their emotions in a “cry-
ing room.”
BONJOUR PARIS
From the exhibit “Movies on the Mind. Psychology and Film”
(photo © Deutsche Kinemathek/Marian Stefanowsky)
During her tours in the 19th century, Clara Schumann also traveled to
Paris. Now she is returning to the French capital as the leading role in
Helma Sanders-Brahms’ new film Clara. The German-French co-pro-
duction, with Martina Gedeck in the leading role, opens the film pro-
gram of Saison France-North Rhine-Westphalia 2008/2009 on
October 5th in the Parisian Cinema Arlequin. For an entire year, the
German State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) will present itself
also from its cultural “best side” in France.
The selection of films, which shows the diversity of the productions
from NRW, was made by the Filmstiftung NRW, Goethe-Institut
Paris, German Films and the Duisburger Filmwoche. Other highlights
will include the NRW-supported films being shown at the 13th
Festival of German Films in Paris (15 - 21 October), a short film pro-
gram at the Goethe-Institut Paris, a screening of the globalization-
documentary Losers and Winners, and the European premiere of
Oskar Roehler’s latest film Lulu & Jimi, which was shot in 2007 in
NRW. Further information on the cultural and arts program Saison
France-North Rhine-Westphalia 2008/2009 can be found at
www.artention.info.
german films quarterly news
4 · 2008 13The Bavarian delegation in Montreal (photo courtesy of FFF Bayern)
SUPPORT FOR THE GERMAN FILM GERMAN SHORTS SUCCESSFUL
COLLECTION AT HARVARD AT SUMMER FESTIVALS
In 1999, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern established a center for German shorts celebrated one success after another during the sum-
German film at Harvard University – the German Film Collection. In mer months. And the USA proved to be particularly interested in
the meantime, over two hundred 35 mm prints of German films are German short films. Tomer Eshed’s Our Wonderful Nature won the
archived at the university in Cambridge, MA, where symposia and Best Well Told Fable Prize at the SIGGRAPH Festival in Los Angeles,
workshops are also offered. Now FFF Bayern, with the support of one of the most internationally renowned competitions in the area of
numerous producers, is currently adding new German films to the computer animation. At the end of August at the LA Shorts Festival –
stock. “There is no other place in North America that is better equip- with over 600 films, one of the largest worldwide – Peter Ladkani’s
ped than Harvard University for the research and viewing of German film Guenstige Prognose won the award for Best Foreign Language Film
films,” says Prof. Eric Rentschler. His colleague, Haden Guest, director and thereby qualifies for submission for the Short Film Oscar®. In July,
of the Film Archive adds: “Thanks to the mediation from FFF Bayern, Gil Alkabetz won the Best Short for Children award at Animamundi in
we have also received English-subtitled prints from American distribu- Brasil for his film Ein sonniger Tag.
tors including, for example, the Oscar®-winning The Lives of Others.
Scene from “Weiss” (photo © Florian Grolig)
Some of the latest additions to the film library include: Grenzverkehr by
Stefan Betz, Die Scheinheiligen by Thomas Kronthaler, Oktoberfest by
Johannes Brunner, Winterreise and Hierankl by Hans Steinbichler, the
literary adaptation Durch diese Nacht sehe ich keinen einzigen Stern by
Dagmar Knoepfel, and the political drama Schlaefer by Benjamin
Heisenberg.
To secure future events in the coming year, further prints, press mate-
rials and film literature will be sent at the end of 2008. Other produ-
cers have confirmed their films. “We will continue our support for the
German Film Collection in Harvard, for there is no better place out-
side of Germany to get to know and study German films than at
Harvard,” says FFF Bayern’s CEO Dr. Klaus Schaefer.
In addition to Harvard, the FFF Bayern was also active at two other At the Monterrey International Film Festival in Mexico, Florian Grolig’s
North American “locations”: the German Currents in Los Angeles film Weiss took home the Best Animated Short Film prize. And Reto
and the presentation of 10 Bavarian productions recently at the Caffi’s highly-acclaimed short Auf der Strecke continued its winning
World Film Festival in Montreal were great successes. streak after the Student-Oscar®: at the International Tabor Short film
Festival in Croatia, the moving drama was distinguished as Best Short
german films quarterly news
4 · 2008 14Feature. The film also received the Patrick Peyton Excellence in group of women who start a sex-strike in their village when their men
Filmmaking Award at the Angelus Student Festival in Hollywood. refuse to repair the local water supply. Runaway Horse, with Ulrich
Noethen, Katja Riemann and Ulrich Tukur in the leading roles,
recounts the coincidental meeting of two old school friends; a meet-
MFG BADEN-WUERTTEMBERG IN ing which turns into a competition on life’s philosophies and women’s
ROME & PRAGUE fancies. And Sonbol portrays the strong woman of the title name: a
self-employed dentist who lives in the Islamic Republic of Iran – and
The MFG-supported film Long Shadows by Connie Walther is being drives in sports rallies!
screened in the Official Selection (Cinema 2008 competition) of this
year’s Rome film festival. The Next Film and Gambit Film production
tells the story of Widmer, a former member of the Red Army Faction RECORD ATTENDANCE AT 8TH FESTIVAL
who sat in prison for some 20 years. A key witness confirmed his OF GERMAN FILMS IN BUENOS AIRES
involvement in the murder of a bank president and bank employee.
But the doubts concerning his involvement remain. Until he meets Some 5,500 cinemagoers packed the Village Recoleta cinemas in
Valerie. Then he has to pay… Buenos Aires to see German films. For the third year in a row, atten-
dance figures climbed and the festival has become a welcomed cul-
Scene from “Long Shadows” (photo © Olaf Aue)
tural event for local audiences, press and distributors in the Argentine
capital.
This year’s festival opened with Dennis Gansel’s The Wave, with the
director and his leading actress Jennifer Ulrich in attendance. The film
was shown in three sold-out screenings. Director Martin Gypkens was
also on hand to present his film Nothing But Ghosts. Other films in the
festival program included: Cherry Blossoms – Hanami by Doris Doerrie,
The Edge of Heaven by Fatih Akin, Trade by Marco Kreuzpaintner,
Special Escort by Maggie Peren, Chiko by Oezguer Yildirim, Beautiful
Bitch by Martin Theo Krieger, And Along Come Tourists by Robert
Thalheim, the documentary To the Limit by Pepe Danquart, the child-
ren’s film Red Zora by Peter Kahane and the TV movie Rose by Alain
Gsponer.
Lothar Herzog was also in Buenos Aires to represent German Films’
NEXT GENERATION 2008 program and presented his film Yuppy
Cars to an enthusiastic audience. The silent movie Hamlet by Sven
Three other MFG-supported films were screened at the third DER Gade and Heinz Schall closed up the event with live musical
FILM festival in Prague, which was organized by the local Goethe- accompaniment by the Seronoser Quartett.
Institute: Absurdistan by Veit Helmer, Runaway Horse by Rainer
Kaufmann, and Sonbol by Niko Apel. Absurdistan tells the story of a
Lothar Herzog, Dennis Gansel, Jennifer Ulrich, Martin Gypkens in Buenos Aires
german films quarterly news
4 · 2008 15CINE-REGIO IN LEIPZIG ing in cooperation with Unifrance and German Films, the Centre
National Cinématographie (CNC), the German Federal Film Board
The Mitteldeutsche Medienfoerderung (MDM) will host this (FFA), other regional film funding institutions, the Chamber of
year’s Cine-Regio Annual Meeting, which takes place during the 51st Commerce Hamburg and the Free & Hanseatic City of Hamburg.
International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film (27
October – 2 November). Cine-Regio is a network of regional film
funds in Europe and was established in 2005 as an independent non- PREMIERES IN TORONTO
profit association. The network today represents 33 funds from 15
countries. Cine-Regio’s main objectives are to exchange information With a total of 36 productions in the festival's various sections, the
for the benefit of the European film industry, to promote regional German film industry had a very high profile at the 33rd Toronto
audiovisual interests towards European institutions and to strengthen International Film Festival (4-13 September 2008).
co-production activities, including creative exchange and know-how
throughout Europe. The Annual Meeting’s agenda, amongst others, Four films celebrated their eagerly awaited world premieres at the
features discussions on members’ activities in the field of children’s festival and were received very favorably by audiences and critics
and documentary film, and speakers from the European Commission alike: A Year Ago In Winter by Caroline Link as a Gala Presentation, A
and European Audiovisual Observatory. Woman in Berlin by Max Faerberboeck as a Special Presentation, as
well as Krabat by Marco Kreuzpaintner and Sunshine Barry and the
Disco Worms by Thomas Borch Nielsen (DK/DE) in the Sprockets
RENDEZ-VOUS IN HAMBURG Family Zone section. Other films presented at Toronto included
Tonight by Werner Schroeter (FR/DE/PT) in Masters, Jerichow by
The Hanseatic City of Hamburg will be hosting the sixth Rendez-Vous Christian Petzold, Cloud 9 by Andreas Dresen, My Mother, My Bride,
Franco-Allemand du Cinéma. Some 400 representatives from France and I by Hans Steinbichler in Contemporary World Cinema, and the
and Germany will meet from 20 – 22 November to discuss current documentaries The Heart of Jenin by Leon Geller and Marcus Vetter,
film industry issues on various panels. Topics include co-productions, Peace Mission by Dorothee Wenner and Upstream Battle by Ben
means of funding, and digital cinema projection. The Senate of Ham- Kempas in Real to Reel. Most of the directors attended the festival to
burg is holding a reception and dinner in the Town Hall, after which personally introduce their films to enthusiastic audiences.
alumni of the German-French Masterclass of the Ludwigsburg Film
Academy will throw a party for all the Rendez-Vous guests. “The German Films provided information about the German film industry
three-day event will deepen the contacts established between our at a stand at the Sales & Industry area in the Sutton Place Hotel.
two countries throughout the past years. As hosts, we will do our best Together with the Goethe-Institut and the German Consulate
to enthuse our French guests and the entire German film industry for Toronto, German Films hosted a reception where the German and
Hamburg as an ambitious, cosmopolitan film city,” says Eva Hubert, international festival guests could exchange ideas for new upcoming
who, as executive director of Filmfoerderung Hamburg projects and potential co-productions.
Schleswig-Holstein, is helping to finance and organize the meet-
Dancing with “Sunshine Barry and the Disco Worms” in Toronto
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4 · 2008 168+5+105&74d'.
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(GUVKXCN 1EVQDGTCPF,CPWCT[IN PRODUCTION
Scene from “24 Stunden Schlesisches Tor”
(photo © dffb)
personalities. These interviews became the film’s backbone. We are
trying, in this way, to create a document of time that explains some-
thing about life in the year 2007.”
To turn the location itself, Schlesisches Tor, and the people into the
main protagonists, Reinegger and de Paoli used Mini DV video, the for-
mat’s flexibility and the small size of the camera allowing them to react
spontaneously, interviewing passers-by as they go.
24 Stunden Schlesisches Tor is a slice of Berlin life, a snapshot
of the many people who make this city the exciting and dynamic
metropolis it is.
SK
24 Stunden
Ciro Cappellari, Michael Ballhaus
(photo courtesy of Just Publicity)
Schlesisches Tor
Type of Project Documentary Cinema Genre Society, Culture
Production Company Deutsche Film- & Fernsehakademie Berlin
(dffb) Producer Hartmut Bitomsky Directors Eva Lia Reinegger,
Anna de Paoli Screenplay Eva Lia Reinegger Directors of
Photography Luciano Cervio, Jenny Lou Ziegel Editor Karin
Nowarra Format Digi Beta/Mini-DV, color, 1:1.78, Dolby SR
Shooting Languages German, English Shooting in Berlin, July
2007 German Distributor Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie
Berlin (dffb)
World Sales (please contact)
Deutsche Film- & Fernsehakademie Berlin (dffb)
Maximilian Muellner
Potsdamer Strasse 2 · 10785 Berlin/Germany
Berlin
phone +49-30-25 75 91 15 · fax +49-30-25 75 91 63 Type of Project Documentary Cinema Genre Art, Biopic,
email: muellner@dffb.de · www.dffb.de Theater, Music, City Portrait Production Company cine
plus/Berlin, in co-production with RBB/Postdam-Babelsberg, ARTE/
Schlesisches Tor in the Berlin district of Kreuzberg is one of the most Strasbourg With backing from Medienboard Berlin-Branden-
lively places in the city. The area is full of shops, snack bars, restau- burg, German Federal Film Fund (DFFF) Producers Joerg Schulze,
rants and clubs. It is also home to the above-ground subway station of Arndt Potdevin Directors Michael Ballhaus, Ciro Cappellari
the same name, which is the last stop line U1 makes in Kreuzberg Screenplay Michael Ballhaus, Ciro Cappellari Directors of
before it crosses the Oberbaumbruecke into the eastern part of the Photography Michael Ballhaus, Ciro Cappellari Editor Karl Riedl
city. Just behind the bridge used to be the Wall. Music by Fetisch With Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Maybrit Illner,
Alexander Hacke, Danielle de Picciotto, Dieter Kosslick, Angela
Directors Eva Lia Reinegger and Anna de Paoli, both students Winkler, Nele Winkler, Dimitri Hegemann, Christoph Schlingensief,
at the dffb, acknowledge Louis Malle’s 1972 Place de la République as Jeff Mills and others Format HD (HDCAM, HDCAM-SR, XDCAM
their template, but instead of ten days talking to and observing the EX), blow-up to 35 mm, color, 1:1.66, Dolby Digital Shooting
people of Paris, they’re doing 24 hours Schlesisches Tor! Language German Shooting in Berlin, June – July 2008
German Distributor Farbfilm Verleih/Berlin
“We’re taking the rhythm of the place,” Reinegger explains, “Its
breath, the subway, the cars, pedestrians. We’re participating in its World Sales
daily routine, acknowledging its atmosphere, how its tempo changes Bavaria Film International
from morning hectic to afternoon sleepiness. Then comes the evening Dept. of Bavaria Media GmbH · Thorsten Ritter
rush hour and then the night, which belongs to partygoers, clubbers Bavariafilmplatz 7 · 82031 Geiselgasteig/Germany
and, finally, people making their way home.” phone +49-89-64 99 26 86 · fax +49-89-64 99 37 20
email: international@bavaria-film.de
“We spoke to passers-by, and asked them about themselves,” de Paoli www.bavaria-film-international.com
explains. “They paused for thought for a moment, and then told us
about their lives, their work, their children, the people and things they Fate evidently wanted Michael Ballhaus and Ciro Cappellari
love. It was astonishing and touching to experience such a variety of to work on a film together.
german films quarterly in production
4 · 2008 18Three years ago, Joerg Schulze and Arndt Potdevin of the As the two producers explain, the digital workflow – combining the
production department of Berlin’s cine plus had approached the XDCAM-EX format footage with the F23’s HDCAM-SR material – is
internationally celebrated cinematographer, who was working on being handled completely at cine plus’ post-production facilities in
Martin Scorsese’s The Departed at the time, to make a portrait on the Berlin for theatrical release in Germany by Farbfilm Verleih in 2009.
occasion of his 70th birthday. They had suggested that fellow
cinematographer and director Ciro Cappellari, with whom cine plus MB
has made several documentaries, including his Adolf Grimme Award-
winning A Struggle for Love on the musician Abdullah Ibrahim, could be
Scene from “Die Fremde” (photo courtesy of
Independent Artists Filmproduktion)
the director.
Although this project was not realized, Ballhaus proposed Cappellari
as a co-director when broadcaster RBB came to him last year with the
idea of a film about Berlin, tracing the changes and dynamism of the
German capital 20 years after the fall of the Wall as it finds its way to
a new normality.
The new Berlin is shown through the portraits of some 20 people
through their projects and activities, ranging from the city’s mayor
Klaus Wowereit and Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier to Nele Winkler, the handicapped daughter of
actress Angela Winkler, to Clara Leskovar and Doreen
Schulz of the young fashion label C.Neeon and the Turkish kiosk
owner Ercan Ergin.
Producer Joerg Schulze explains that directing a documentary was
“a totally new experience for Michael, involving a lot of preliminary
Die Fremde
research. But he had a lot of fun coming back to his native city and Type of Project Feature Film Cinema Genre Drama Pro-
broadening his view of Berlin.” duction Company Independent Artists Filmproduktion/Berlin, in
co-production with WDR/Mainz, ARTE/Strasbourg, RBB/Potsdam-
“It wasn’t just a case of Michael doing the directing and Ciro being the Babelsberg With backing from Filmfoerderungsanstalt (FFA),
operator behind the camera,” he continues. “They both wanted the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, BKM, Filmstiftung NRW,
film to be a joint effort and since Ciro has been living in Berlin for Kuratorium junger deutscher Film, German Federal Film Board
more than 20 years, he could introduce Michael to people he might (DFFF) Producers Feo Aladag, Zueli Aladag Director Feo Aladag
otherwise not have known. There was an open discourse between Screenplay Feo Aladag Director of Photography Judith
the two about whom to interview.” Kaufmann Editor Andrea Mertens Music by Max Richter Pro-
duction Design Silke Buhr Principal Cast Sibel Kekilli, Nizam
“Some of the portraits would deserve a whole film in themselves,” Schiller, Settar Tanrioegen, Derya Alabora, Tamer Yigit, Florian Lukas,
adds producer colleague Arndt Potdevin. “Whether it is celebrities Serhad Can, Almila Bagriacik, Nursel Koese, Alwara Hoefels, Ufuk
like Christoph Schlingensief, the musician Alexander Bayraktar, Orhan Guener Casting Ulrike Mueller, Harika Uygur, Luci
Hacke and the Foreign Minister Steinmeier or less well-known Lenox Format 35 mm, color, cs, Dolby SR Shooting
people such as Nele Winkler.” Languages German, Turkish Shooting in Berlin, Istanbul, July-
September 2008 German Distributor Delphi Filmverleih/Berlin
“For both of them, an important criterion was that they didn’t just
gather official statements from their interviewees,” Potdevin says. World Sales
“Each person had to have a project affecting the city where we could TELEPOOL GmbH · Anja Uecker
observe what they are doing and to see some progress in the project Sonnenstrasse 21 · 80331 Munich/Germany
during the film. It was also important that they could develop an in- phone +49-89-55 87 60 · fax +49-89-55 87 62 29
timate relationship with each person, and not have just talking heads, email: cinepool@telepool.de · www.telepool.de
because it is much more interesting to know what goes on ’behind the
scenes’ and see how these people really operate.” Twenty-five year old Umay flees with her young son, Cem (5), from
her husband in Istanbul back to her home city of Berlin. She wants
The two were able to get up close and personal with their inter- Cem to grow up in a loving environment and hopes for her family’s
viewees thanks to their decision to use the small Sony PMW/EX1, support. But trapped in convention and convinced that Umay is
while the Sony CineAlta F23 camera was deployed for the premium bringing shame upon them, her parents and brothers withhold their
shots. support. Torn between their affection for their own daughter and
sister and a system of archaic rules, they struggle with a seemingly
“We wanted consciously to avoid those camera movements for unresolvable situation until Umay leaves her family. With hope in her
which Michael is so well-known such as crane shots and lots of heart and a good deal of strength and endurance, Umay builds a new
dollies,” Potdevin notes. “There is more of a split between a lot of life for Cem and herself. Unable to cut those strongest of bonds,
hand-held and off the shoulder camerawork to always be close to the family ties, she makes repeated attempts to reconcile. But Umay’s
people being interviewed and then the wide angle shots with the heli- struggle for self-determination unleashes a deadly chain of events.
copter or from the top of buildings around Berlin.”
german films quarterly in production
4 · 2008 19You can also read
