GFQGerman Films Quarterly - tHe DOCumentary issue DIRECTORS thomas Heise & Cordula Kablitz-Post PRODUCER Gunnar Dedio of lOOKsfilm ACTOR & ...
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
GFQ
G e r m a n F i l m s Q u a r t e rly
i ss u e 4 -2 019
tHe DOCumentary issue
DIRECTORS thomas Heise & Cordula Kablitz-Post
PRODUCER Gunnar Dedio of lOOKsfilm
ACTOR & FILMMAKER Hannes Jaenicke
SPECIAL PORTRAIT rainer rother of the Deutsche Kinemathek
CONTENTS GFQ 4-2019 19 20 21 23 24 25 25 26 26 28 28 30 2
GFQ 4-2019 CONTENTS
in tHis issue
P O r tr ai ts neW sHO rts
IMAGES WAITING FOR HISTORY BLACK SUN
A portrait of director Thomas Heise ............................................... 4 Arda Çiltepe .................................................................................... 28
ON THE EDGE CARGO
A portrait of director Cordula Kablitz-Post ...................................... 6 Christina Tournatzés ........................................................................ 28
DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES FÜR ‘NE HANDVOLL E
A portrait of production company LOOKSfilm ................................. 8 FOR A FISTFUL OF E Dennis Demirbas ......................................... 29
MATTERS THAT COUNT LAB/P – POETRY IN MOTION 3: IDENTITY
A portrait of actor & filmmaker Hannes Jaenicke .......................... 10 various directors ............................................................................. 29
PRESERVING & PROMOTING FILM HERITAGE THE RAFT
An interview Rainer Rother ............................................................ 12 Sylvain Cruiziat ................................................................................ 30
NEWS & NOTES ................................................................................ 14
uPCO min G Fil m s
n eW Fe atu r e s ALLE REDEN ÜBERS WETTER
Annika Pinske ................................................................................... 31
ADAMSTOWN
Patrick Merz & Henning Wötzel-Herber .......................................... 18 BAD BANKS – SEASON 2
Christian Zübert ............................................................................... 31
BAUMBACHER SYNDROME
Gregory Kirchhoff .......................................................................... 19 BLUTSAUGER
Julian Radlmaier ........................................................................... 31
LATTE IGEL UND DER MAGISCHE WASSTERSTEIN
LATTE AND THE MAGIC WATERSTONE DEUTSCHLAND89
Regina Welker & Nina Wels ............................................................ 20 Randa Chahoud & Soleen Yusef ..................................................... 32
SUNBURNED ENFANT TERRIBLE
Carolina Hellsgård ........................................................................... 21 Oskar Roehler ................................................................................. 32
TKKG HILFE, ICH HABE MEINE FREUNDE GESCHRUMPFT
TKKG-DETECTIVE AGENCY Robert Thalheim ................................ 22 Granz Henman ................................................................................. 32
VIER ZAUBERHAFTE SCHWESTERN HOME
FOUR ENCHANTED SISTERS Sven Unterwaldt ............................ 23 Franka Potente ................................................................................. 33
DIE WOLF-GÄNG KISS ME BEFORE IT BLOWS UP
THE MAGIC KIDS – THREE UNLIKELY HEROES Shirel Peleg .................................................................................... 33
Tim Trageser .................................................................................. 24
NIGHTLIFE
Simon Verhoeven .............................................................................. 33
n eW DO C u men ta ri es DIE SCHULE DER MAGISCHEN TIERE
Gregor Schnitzler ............................................................................. 34
AUTOBAHN
Daniel Abma ..................................................................................... 25 TRIBES OF EUROPA
Philip Koch & Florian Baxmeyer .................................................... 34
BEKAR EVİ – DAS JUNGGESELLENHAUS
BEKAR EVİ – THE BACHELOR HOUSE
Dirk Schäfer ................................................................................... 25
BUTENLAND Shareholders & Supporters ............................................................ 37
Marc Pierschel ............................................................................... 26
Film Exporters ................................................................................. 38
IM STILLEN LAUT
A QUIET RESISTANCE Therese Koppe ............................................ 26 Imprint .............................................................................................. 39
3
DireCtOr’s POrtrait GFQ 4-2019
Thomas Heise (© Inge Zimmermann)
imaGes WaitinG
FOr HistOry
A PORTRAIT OF DIRECTOR THOMAS HEISE
4
GFQ 4-2019 DireCtOr’s POrtrait
homas Heise is travelling a lot at the throughout – for minutes, the camera goes brother, mother are all dead), MATERIAL is
T moment. His new documentary
HEIMAT IS A SPACE IN TIME is tour-
ing festivals all over the world, and
he has just returned from Toronto. The ear-
nestness with which his more than three-
down an alphabetical list of the deported
Viennese Jews. And when it reaches the
names of Heise’s relatives, we hear no more
of the private mail. The soundtrack falls
silent.
the film making the end of the GDR com-
prehensible through a series of fragments
from the years 1987 to 1993. More com-
prehensible than movie kitsch featuring nasty
Stasi henchmen could ever make it.
and-a-half hour long film was watched there
pleased him. “Anyone coming out, it was only This skillful interplay of cinematic means can And that is precisely because the film op-
the passing audiences. People who find film be found in many films by Heise. In IMBISS erates at the edge, like the filmmaker himself,
generally interesting and hadn’t seen how SPEZIAL, shot in October 1989 as a requiem who was forced to leave the film academy in
long it was, and then expected action.” for the declining GDR, we see the work and the GDR. MATERIAL avoids the jubilant
images of the fall of the Berlin
Action is the wrong word for the Wall and instead shows how,
formally simple but captivating the day before, all the self-
arrangement of the film. Docu- critical, hopeful SED members
ments are read out by Heise expected a change from their
himself – letters, diary entries, wavering leadership, a depar-
notes, essays. The text occurs ture for which it could no longer
behind images that function as- summon the strength. Or how
sociatively. “We filmed a lot of prisoners discuss with their
forest,” Heise comments with guards what the turning point in
wry amusement in regard to the the country means to them in
genesis of HEIMAT IS A SPACE December 1989.
IN TIME. This quantity of forest
may come as a surprise, as the These are “images waiting for
new film is about his own family. history”, as playwright Heiner
Usually, such films would con- Müller – who was Heise’s men-
sist of photos, film material, in- tor and fatherly friend – once put
formation from contemporary it. So that this story can be un-
witnesses, site visits. In Heise’s derstood, so that something can
case, apart from a few private be preserved which provides
photos, there are landscape explanations, but only at a
shots and shunting trains. And distance. In these days of
forest, of course. Trump’s lies, people crave
reality, Heise says regarding the
For Heise, such photographs interest in films like his in
also help the director to become America, where HEIMAT IS A
a stranger to himself, to main- SPACE IN TIME was shown at
tain distance from the private. the New York Film Festival in the
“You have to separate yourself,” Lincoln Center. In MATERIAL,
Heise says at a snack bar not far someone says, “You can think of
from his home in Berlin-Prenz- history as long and drawn out,
lauer Berg. He regards “family but in fact it’s just a heap.”
films” with horror, which is why
he demands that his students at And nobody arranges this heap
the Academy of Fine Arts in as cleverly and precisely as Tho-
Vienna approach a person they mas Heise, probably the most
do not know in documentary important German documentary
form during their initial exer- filmmaker today.
cises. One who doesn’t come from their own customers of a snack bar in Berlin’s Lichten-
milieu. berg station. And we hear the employees’ Matthias Dell
stories, their dreams, plans and disappoint-
That’s also why he made this film about his ments – and radio news that Heise had re-
family so late. And he made it so that it is far corded when lying in the hospital for three
more than navel-gazing over his own sociali- weeks in the summer of 1989. Seemingly in-
zation. HEIMAT IS A SPACE IN TIME tells significant and ordinary aspects, which – in
20th century German history using the single tense juxtaposition with images from shortly
example of the filmmaker’s family, one might before the historical moment, the fall of the
say. Berlin Wall, the disappearance of the GDR –
tell us much more than official speeches ex-
The most breathtaking scene is the one about plaining that time.
the Holocaust. There is the way that cor-
respondence from the Jewish part of the Thomas Heise collects such recordings. The
family in Vienna is read out off stage, other major film from his extensive oeuvre is
gradually drying up: it deals with increasing MATERIAL, made ten years before HEIMAT IS
impositions by the Nazis but expresses, A SPACE IN TIME, and also almost three
nevertheless and right up to the end, the hope hours long. If HEIMAT IS A SPACE IN TIME is
that things cannot become worse. But the the film that brings order to the family’s
unimaginable is present in the image history after it has disappeared (father,
5
DireCtOr’s POrtrait GFQ 4-2019
Cordula Kablitz-Post (© Ute Ville)
On tHe eDGe
A PORTRAIT OF DIRECTOR CORDULA KABLITZ-POST
6
GFQ 4-2019 DireCtOr’s POrtrait
was rejected by the Oberhausen International
Short Film Festival – too entertaining in a very
political era. But three years later it earned
her a first license contract at Premiere TV.
At the same time, she worked for public
broadcaster ZDF as a script and continuity
writer, for Thomas Brasch as an assistant
director, and established contacts with pro-
ducers, actors and directors such as
Christoph Schlingensief, thus building up
a network. In the golden age of television,
a bread and butter job at Rias TV offered an
opportunity for multiple formats, a creative
biotope.
In order to influence the creative process
more, and to assemble her teams according
to artistic criteria, Cordula Kablitz-Post
founded her first company Medusa Film in
1994, producing mainly music videos. In 1995
she founded her next company, avanti media,
with a fellow student, Edda Baumann. They
developed and produced the renowned docu-
feature film debut as an older mentary series DURCH DIE NACHT MIT ... all odds.” Like many of her projects, Cordula
A adult? A young talent award in
the middle of life? In Cordula
Kablitz-Post’s case, from early
teenage everything progressed from one
thing to another towards the huge success
(“Through the Night with ...”) for ZDF/ARTE,
many episodes of which she directed herself.
The format was awarded four Grimme Prizes
in 2006. To concentrate more on feature films,
Kablitz-Post founded avanti media fiction in
Kablitz-Post also had to fight for this film,
against all the resistance of editors and
broadcasters for whom Lou Andreas-Salomé
was not famous enough: “Why don’t you do
something about Nietzsche or Rilke?”.
of her biographical feature film IN LOVE 2002: “From the very beginning, I wanted to Cordula Kablitz-Post persevered and took the
WITH LOU – A PHILOSOPHER’S LIFE. It be cinematic and fictional, and after the many full risk, even without broadcaster partici-
started with the short films she made to- documentaries, I decided to return to that.” pation: “I invested a great deal that I’ll
gether with school friends using her father’s The first project by the newly founded probably never earn back. But I just had to
Super 8 camera. Her father was a key inspi- company was the award-winning feature film make this movie, and in the end it has been
ration in the adventure of filmmaking: “He is SOPHIIIIE! by Michael Hofmann, starring my calling card for other projects.” With a
still a passionate photographer today. Even Katharina Schüttler in her first leading role budget of just under 2.4 million euros for an
as a five-year-old, I was excited to see how as an unintentionally pregnant 20-year-old historical film, she had to be inventive and
images are created in the developer baths, experiencing a rough trip through night-time created an original special effect that gave
and how they can be influenced by framing Hamburg. The company’s next international the film a special flair: instead of constructing
and light.” success was the Student Short Film Oscar® entire city scenes, she worked to establish
in Silver for HIGH MAINTENANCE by Philipp panoramic historical scenarios using ani-
Cordula Kablitz-Post studied German Van. mated postcard backdrops and green
language and literature and theater studies screens.
in Munich and Berlin, aiming to become a Parallel to this, Cordula Kablitz-Post directed
theater dramaturge, and soon she had episodes on musicians Campino, Nina Hagen The international festival success of IN LOVE
completed first internships and assistant and painter Markus Lüpertz for the ARD WITH LOU – A PHILOSOPHER’S LIFE, a
directorships in the theater. At the same time, series DEUTSCHLAND, DEINE KÜNSTLER. project so close to her heart, enabled her to
she became more and more interested in The biographical aspect runs through all her finance the documentary film DIE TOTEN
film; instead of film school, however, she took projects: “I have produced many portraits for HOSEN – YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE in just six
a practical approach from the very beginning. various television stations. I always picked out weeks. Seen by audiences of around 115,000,
exciting artists – charismatic personalities the film has been the most successful
Searching for an interesting director from with rough edges –, and I wanted to explore German documentary this year. The next
whom she could learn, Uwe Schrader attract- the psychology behind them. The focus of my project will be a documentary about H.P.
ed her attention with his WHITE TRASH. She work is on biography.” Baxxter and his band Scooter. Although she
appreciated his outstanding authenticity, the has portrayed many famous men over the
documentary touch, and this is still evident in This is also true of her feature debut IN LOVE years, Cordula Kablitz-Post is generally more
her work today. She applied and spent a year WITH LOU – A PHILOSOPHER’S LIFE. Cordula interested in women’s stories: “I can identify
working on Schrader’s next feature film pro- Kablitz-Post had discovered the writer and better with them. There is far more talk about
ject, SIERRA LEONE: “I learned everything psychoanalyst – and friend of Rilke, Nietzsche men than about women, even now.” Her next
from scratch. It was my film school. I took and Freud – at the early age of 17, when she feature film will be about the most contro-
part in all the planning and execution, from was browsing the library in her home town versial of all German female artists: Leni
location searches to casting extras and Liederbach im Taunus in search of female Riefenstahl. “The author Susanne Hertel and
direction.” As a student, she found out that identification figures: “As a teenager, it was I have been working on the script for three
the Faculty of Journalism at the FU Berlin difficult to find women I could identify with. years now. It traces the life and work of a
hired out equipment and material for film The free-spirited life of Lou Andreas-Salomé woman who throws her morals overboard for
projects, and she started to shoot her first impressed me. I didn’t know that women in the sake of self-realization. A case study in
short 16mm films. To her disappointment, the 19th century could live such self-deter- the truest sense of the word.”
DIE FALLE, a short comedy about snoring, mined lives, even if they had to fight against Anke Sterneborg
7
PrODuCer’s POrtrait GFQ 4-2019
Gunnar Dedio (© Ania Szczepanska)
DiFFerent
PersPeCtiVes
A PORTRAIT OF THE PRODUCTION COMPANY LOOKS FILM
have always been interested in his- The Rostocker had initially been inspired to Berlin office focuses on the company’s
“
I torical subjects and tackling them
from more than one perspective,“
says producer Gunnar Dedio who
established the production company LOOKS-
film in his home town of Rostock in 1995.
consider pursuing a career in the film indus-
try after seeing Carlos Saura’s dance film
CARMEN at the town’s Theater des Friedens
cinema. However, he subsequently followed
the line of “learning by doing“ to acquire his
fiction projects and the Halle operation con-
centrates on the management of archives
and archive footage.
“At any one time, there are 20 projects at
skills as a producer and filmmaker rather various stages of production in the company,
In almost 25 years of producing films for than applying to attend film school for a ranging from development through to re-
television and the cinema, Dedio has held more formal education. lease,“ Dedio notes. “It was important for me
true to his approach of addressing topics to create a home where the people working
from different angles and seeking to experi- After originally establishing LOOKSfilm in for LOOKSfilm can pursue projects on a con-
ment and break down barriers whenever it Rostock, Dedio later decided to move the tinuous basis and within a structure where
seemed appropriate for a particular subject. company’s main operations to Leipzig and they can work independently, make their own
has since opened branches in Berlin, decisions on a project’s progress and build
“Perhaps it has something to do with my Hanover and Halle. “We are quite a large up their own network of contacts.“
background of growing up in the former East operation compared to other production
Germany,“ he explains. “I was 19 when the companies working in the documentary field The “film family“ within the company is com-
Berlin Wall fell and came from a system and have 35 permanent staff at the four plemented by another series of long-stand-
where only one perspective was allowed. locations,“ he explains. The office in Hanover ing relationships with certain filmmakers or
Then, from one day to the next, we were con- is managed by Bettina Offermann, who had production companies over the years. For
fronted with a new system that said that its previously worked for German United Distri- instance, writer-director Jan Peter first
perspective was the only valid one. This ex- butors and has been handling the company’s worked with LOOKSfilm on the six-part
perience had a lasting effect on me.“ world sales activities through the subsidiary documentary series LIFE AFTER THE WALL
LOOKS International since 2011, while the in 2010 and then followed this in 2014 with
8
GFQ 4-2019 PrODuCer’s POrtrait
ing point and that often comes when you are
working with archives. You find some real
gems in an archive and know straightaway
that this is something that should be told
and the appropriate narrative form then
comes along later.“
Indeed, archives have played – and continue
to play – an important role in the work of
LOOKSfilm. “We decided to establish our
own archive department quite early on in the
company’s development because I wanted to
have this knowledge and expertise available
in-house for our own projects using archival
footage,“ Dedio recalls. Meanwhile, the
archive arm received a substantial boost
this year when LOOKSfilm announced that
it had taken over the archive distribution
PROGRESS Film’s catalogue of some 17,000
titles.
“The DEFA-Foundation entrusted us with the
digitization and monetization of what is one
of the largest film collections in Europe,“
the eight-part series 14 – DIARIES OF THE Spain and Italy but there have also been Dedio explains. “In addition, it is the only
GREAT WAR telling the story of the greatest partners from other countries like Russia, collection worldwide where the film heritage
war mankind had ever seen through the eyes Qatar or the African continent where the for a whole nation [East Germany] is collec-
of those who lived through it. perspective adopted is completely different ted in one place.“ A state-of-the-art online
from ours in certain key points. That’s ex- platform – www.progress.film – has been
This was followed last year by yet another actly what I find so appealing and this then created to provide access to this treasure
collaboration with Peter on a highly am- makes the project all the more interesting.“ trove which includes films from DER
bitious project, the documentary drama AUGENZEUGE newsreels as well as classics
series, CLASH OF FUTURES, which was a One of LOOKSfilm’s most recent projects, from DEFA’s animation studios.
continuation of 14 – DIARIES OF THE GREAT KIDS OF COURAGE, is a case in point, illus-
WAR, boasting a 10 million euro budget and trating how the series’ makers look at a sub- At the same time, LOOKSfilm is keeping a
no less than 53 partners onboard. ject from multiple perspectives. “The Second close eye on the changes to the media land-
World War is seen from the perspective of scape in Germany and at an international
Peter joined forces with the French writer- children based on entries in their diaries,“ level. “It’s been an exciting time ever since
director Frédéric Goupil (THE RETURNED) to Dedio explains. “But we don’t just restrict the advent of the streaming platforms and
develop and write the scripts as well as ourselves only to German children; there are we’re proud that we have a chance to work
co-direct the eight episodes chronicling the also children from France, Scotland, Russia, on productions for Netflix,“ says Dedio, con-
fates of extraordinary men, women and Poland, and Czechoslovakia who observe the cluding that “this new competition could
children from France, Germany, Italy, Great very same conflict but from different vantage provide that necessary stimulus for the pub-
Britain, Austria, Sweden, Poland and the points.“ lic-service broadcasters to change and
Soviet Union using their own diary entries, adapt to the new order since they are the
letters and memoirs to relive the dramatic Although LOOKSfilm is mainly known both conditio sine qua non for a healthy media
years of the 1920s and 1930s. at home in Germany and abroad for its environment.“
documentary output, the company’s founder
Meanwhile, Dedio has cultivated a particu- doesn’t want to restrict himself to specific Martin Blaney
larly fruitful relationship with the French genres or formats: “We work with platforms
production house Les Films d'Ici to co-pro- like Netflix and co-produce with the public-
duce such documentaries as Dominic service and private broadcasters and are
Garing’s THE WILD FARM (2010) and Michael open to projects from both documentary or
Radford’s MICHEL PETRUCCIANI (2011) as fiction. There isn’t any hierarchy for me be-
well as the first foray into fiction feature film tween the formats or distribution channels.
production on Arnaud des Pallières’ Heinrich The important thing for me is that a story is
von Kleist adaptation MICHAEL KOHLHAAS able to reach an audience,“ he argues. “I am
(2013), starring Mads Mikkelsen, David Kross always wanting to see if people are inter-
and the late Bruno Ganz, and they are plan- ested in what I have produced. That’s my
ning to work together on a future film project declared goal, but I am also open for experi-
by Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa whose ments if they can break down barriers or
A GENTLE CREATURE was co-produced by existing formats.“
Dedio in 2016.
When it comes to the kind of topics that ap-
As Dedio points out, that, by their nature, the peal to him, Dedio says that “sometimes it’s
kind of projects LOOKSfilm has taken on over a person rather than the subject because
the years have been ideal candidates for in- that person is able to tell an interesting story
ternational co-production: “We have worked and the subject then follows on from this.
with ‘usual’ countries like France, the UK, Other times, the subject matter is the start-
9
aCtOr & FilmmaKer POrtrait GFQ 4-2019
Hannes Jaenicke (© Jürgen Bauer)
matters
tHat COunt
A PORTRAIT OF THE ACTOR & FILMMAKER HANNES JAENICKE
10GFQ 4-2019 aCtOr & FilmmaKer POrtrait
annes Jaenicke is known to “It’s an amazingly simple way to illustrate The series has also attracted its fair share of
H cinema-goers and TV audiences
for his appearances as an actor
in productions as diverse as
KNOCKIN’ ON HEAVEN’S DOOR, the TV event
series HINDENBURG, and the new AMSTER-
what human beings are doing to the envi-
ronment,” says Jaenicke who has been a
member of Greenpeace from the age of 16.
“At the time, there was the campaign against
whaling and that motivated me to join.
nominations and awards over the years: the
orangutan episode, for example, was named
Best Documentary at the Agrofilm Inter-
national Film Festival in Nitra and Best Film
at the Los Angeles Reel Film Festival, it won
DAM-KRIMI thriller series as well as such What’s more, I am a great fan of Douglas the Diva’s (German Entertainment Award)
international productions as WORLD WITH- Adams and his book Last Chance To See Earth Award, while the film highlighting the
OUT END, DUE SOUTH, and CODE NAME which gave us the inspiration for the IM fate of sharks earned Jaenicke the title of
ETERNITY. EINSATZ FÜR... series. That book by the late Shark Guardian of the Year 2010 from the
best-selling UK author Adams and the jour- NGO Shark Project. The films on rhinos and
However, Jaenicke has had another string to nalist Mark Carwardine had accompanied a cheetahs both won prizes at the documen-
his bow over the past 15 years by producing 1989 BBC radio documentary series which tary festival in Deauville/France.
and fronting TV documentaries. It all began saw the two travelling to various locations
with the VOxTOURS travel show for the com- around the globe in the hope of encountering In addition, Jaenicke has been personally re-
mercial channel VOx with Jaenicke as a species on the brink of extinction. While cognized for his commitment to environ-
presenter for episodes which took him Jaenicke isn’t under any illusions that there mental issues with such distinctions as the
around the globe to places as far flung as the is still a lot to be done to safeguard our Deutsche Nachhaltigkeitspreis, the GREEN
Yukon, Alaska and Madagascar. And it also environment for future generations, “it’s BRANDS award, the Courage Preis and the
marked the beginning of a long-standing encouraging that little German TV documen- UmweltMedienpreis. And this year has also
collaboration between Jaenicke and former taries can actually change minds and laws.” seen Jaenicke embark on a new creative col-
VOxTOURS presenter Judith Adlhoch and laboration with Markus Strobel where they
her partner, the DoP Markus Strobel, whose In the episode on sharks – which was shot a short clip entitled WHAT THE FROG?
production outfit Tango Film had been pro- screened at the Berlinale in 2010 as part of for a digital campaign about plastic recycling
ducing the series out of Munich. the Culinary Cinema sidebar –, Jaenicke dis- for the cleaning products company Frosch.
guised himself as a restaurant owner and
“There came a point when some of our ideas used a hidden camera to film the illegal “I wrote the script myself and tried to do
became too political for VOx because they dealing with shark fins that are a great something from a humorous angle which is
didn’t fit into their concept of a travel show,” delicacy in China as shark fin soup. “The not how the Germans would normally do
Jaenicke recalls. “So, I teamed up with footage was used by US NGOs and led to things,” he explains. “We decided to go
Markus and we decided to produce the kind stricter anti-finning laws in the Pacific re- strictly viral with the clip (https://www.what-
of documentaries we wanted to make our- gion. And when the Berlin department store the-frog.com) and we’ve already had over
selves, with our respective production com- KaDeWe heard about the toxicity of shark five million clicks so far. It’s really great fun
panies Tango Film in Munich and Pelorus meat, the management decided to withdraw because we were given so much freedom
Jack Filmprods. Inc. in L.A.” all of its shark products with immediate that I am already writing the script for a new
effect,” Jaenicke recalls. clip!,” Jaenicke adds.
“We threw in some money together and
made an 18-minute pilot film about en- ”Our film on songbirds has also had an im- Martin Blaney
dangered orangutans,” he continues. This pact: people contacted us afterwards to say
attracted the interest of the German national that they didn’t realize you need to feed the
public broadcaster ZDF who then greenlit a birds all year round and not just in winter. As
50-minute film about the shocking trade a result, I know of shops that sold out of bird
with orangutans and rainforest destruction seed after the film was shown. It’s the little
on the Indonesian island of Borneo. The film things that can matter, and the images in the
had sensational ratings on its airing in the films can have a powerful effect.”
late evening schedule in 2008 and this
was then the birth of the series IM EINSATZ Jaenicke admits that it can be quite a chal-
FÜR... – known internationally as HANNES lenge to coordinate the filming of the IM
JAENICKE’S WILDLIFE UNDERGROUND. EINSATZ FÜR… episodes with his acting
commitments because he is constantly on
This first film spotlighting the fate of the the road – Morocco today, Amsterdam to-
orangutans being sold in markets as kick- morrow – although visiting different coun-
boxers, go-go girls and sex slaves has since tries and learning about their particular
been followed by episodes dedicated to environmental issues has often given him in-
polar bears (2009), sharks (2009), mountain spiration for subject matter for future epi-
gorillas (2010), elephants (2014), lions sodes.
(2015), orcas and dolphins (2016), rhinos
(2017), cheetahs (2018), with the latest film “The budget we have to work with is, of
on the loss of songbirds being aired in course, a challenge,” he observes. “Everyone
August of this year. watches the BBC nature documentaries like
BLUE PLANET and marvels at the amazing
“I work very closely with Markus and his wife footage. But you have to know that they have
Judith as well as the writer/director Eva- a budget of 30 million, 23 crews and were
Maria Gfirtner on choosing the subject for three years in the making whereas our films
each episode and handling its production,” are made for anything between 200,000 and
Jaenicke explains. 280,000 euros. I am not complaining because
I am really grateful for the support from ZDF
Why pick endangered species for the focus who also distribute the series internationally
of each documentary, one might ask. through ZDF Enterprises.”
11sPeCial POrtrait GFQ 4-2019
Rainer Rother (© Marian Stefanowski)
PreserVinG &
PrOmOtinG
Film HeritaGe
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE DEUTSCHE KINEMATHEK’S RAINER ROTHER
ollecting, preserving, developing, In addition to artifacts from film and tele- Moreover, the institution’s holdings include
C presenting and mediating Ger-
many’s audiovisual heritage have
been the main tasks of the
Deutsche Kinemathek ever since its found-
ing by filmmaker Gerhard Lamprecht in
vision history such as Marlene Dietrich’s
make-up case or costumes from Wolfgang
Petersen’s THE BOAT, the Kinemathek has a
film archive with copies of more than 26,500
films as well as a viewable inventory of over
around one million photographs, 25,000
posters and around 20,000 costumes and
architectural sketches.
In 1977, the Kinemathek became a member
1963. 25,000 films on video. of the Association of Film Archives (Deut-
scher Kinematheksverbund) along with the
“The basis for the Kinemathek’s collection The emphasis of the film archive at the German Film Institute – DFF/Film Museum
came from the films, documents and equip- Deutsche Kinemathek is not only placed on (Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum)
ment that Lamprecht had himself collected the early days of film, but also on films from in Frankfurt and the Federal Archive/
over the years,” recalls Dr. Rainer Rother, Berlin production companies, artistic docu- Film Archive (Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv) in
artistic director of the Deutsche Kinemathek mentary films, films from students at the Coblenz and Berlin.
since 2006 after having previously curated German Film and Television Academy
film programs and exhibitions for the Zeug- (DFFB), films from the halcyon days of the “There have been agreements reached be-
haus Kino of the German Historical Museum New German Cinema, and the ‘Berliner tween the archives on each one’s respective
from 1991. Schule’ of the 1990s. area of focus,” Rother explains. “The Federal
12GFQ 4-2019 sPeCial POrtrait
Archive is primarily concerned with the presentation at festivals and cinematheques the permanent exhibition on film and tele-
preservation of the films, while the Film around the globe. This year, for example, vision history: there have been exhibitions
Museum in Frankfurt and the Kinemathek in saw BFI Southbank in London hosting a dedicated to such actresses as Marlene
Berlin focus on the presentation.” two-month season in May and June looking Dietrich, Romy Schneider, and Hildegard
at Weimar cinema from 1919 to 1933, in- Knef as well as to directors such as F.W.
“Traditionally, we have been the one who has cluding such films as THE CABINET OF DR. Murnau, Ingmar Bergman, Helmut Dietl and
taken particular care of independent film- CALIGARI, EMIL AND THE DETECTIVES, and Werner Herzog, and the production designer
makers, whether they be from the Weimar PEOPLE ON SUNDAY, while the Korean Film Ken Adam as well as thematic ones devoted
Republic or from the Federal Republic,” he Archive teamed up with the local Goethe- to the genre of science fiction cinema, the
continues. Institut in August to present 12 films in a history of the UFA as a brand, and the fall of
season entitled “The Personal is Political: the Berlin Wall through moving images,
“We have focused our efforts on digitizing German Female Filmmakers” featuring among others. Many of these exhibitions
and restoring as many of their films as eleven titles that had been shown as part of have then travelled abroad to be presented
possible because the goal is to make them the “Self Determined – Perspectives of at such institutions as the Cinémathèque
available for other institutions as well as Women Filmmakers” retrospective at the française in Paris, the Museum of the Moving
for the general public. Cooperation with 2019 Berlinale. And artistic director Rother Image in New York, the EYE Film Museum
the broadcasters ZDF or ARTE has meant personally travelled to Seoul along with film- in Amsterdam or the Academy of Motion
that many of the restored films could be maker Sibylle Schoenemann (LOCKED UP Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles.
shown on television before then appearing on TIME) to introduce the selected films to the
DVD.” Korean cineastes. Meanwhile, the Kinemathek is acutely aware
of the current changes to the media land-
For example, Lamprecht’s Zille films – DIE “The fact that the Deutsche Kinemathek is scape and the challenges they pose. “We are
VERRUFENEN, UNTER DER LATERNE, DIE one of the shareholders of German Films has currently living in a period of upheaval: this
UNEHELICHEN and MENSCHEN UNTER- been very important for the international isn’t only about the digitization of cinemas
EINANDER – were shown on television, at presentation of our films,” Rother explains. and production methods, but affects audio-
leading silent film festivals and then released “It has meant, on the one hand, that the visual media as a whole,” Rother observes.
on DVD, while the digitally restored version institutions involved in the export of German “We need to consider how we will deal as the
of Ewald André Dupont’s 1923 film THE films are consequently made aware of the Kinemathek with the major platforms like
ANCIENT LAW had its premiere in the issues surrounding film heritage. But the Netflix and Amazon since they are now in-
Berlinale Classics sidebar in 2018 before collaboration with German Films has been a creasingly involved in German productions
airing on ARTE and then touring festivals very productive one because they have regu- and we will have to pay more attention in
such as San Francisco, Pordenone, Vilnius, larly supported us by financing the subtitling future to the series formats – something
Budapest and Vienna as well as having a DVD for films for such seasons as the ones at the which we have already done by including
release. BFI and in Korea this year.” BABYLON BERLIN in our new exhibition
on the Weimar Republic called ‘Kino der
Video on demand is now another way of mak- And in October, the Kinemathek and German Moderne’.”
ing film heritage visible, according to Rother. Films teamed up for the special spotlight on
“We have started a cooperation with the Alles Germany at the seventh edition of the Inter- According to Rother, the shift from analogue
Kino platform to show, among others, the national Classic Film Market (MIFC) during to digital also poses a major challenge for
documentary films by the Wendländische the Lumiere Festival in Lyon, the birthplace the preservation of our audiovisual heritage
Filmkooperative about the movement pro- of cinema. and the commitment by national and regional
testing against the nuclear waste disposal funding bodies to provide sufficient support
site in Gorleben.” In addition, the Kinemathek Rother was lined up as one of the panelists for the digitization programs.
has become a partner of the French initiative for a roundtable about the opportunities and
LaCinetek which has invited 62 inter- challenges for the accessibility of film heri- “In addition, there is a need to reflect on the
national filmmakers to date – including tage in the digital age, and the Kinemathek changes to the aesthetics of the productions
Germany’s Maren Ade, Christian Petzold and planned to screen two of its recent restora- being made because we are not just dealing
Wim Wenders – to select 1,500 titles for tions: Dupont’s THE ANCIENT LAW and Ula now with cinema and television as another
presentation on the platform. “Some of our Stöckl’s THE CAT HAS NINE LIVES which is new and significant market has appeared
films are in the LaCinetek catalogue and we regarded as West Germany’s first feminist with the streaming platforms.”
have made suggestions of filmmakers such film.
as Jutta Brückner to join the list of curators,” Rainer Rother spoke with Martin Blaney
Rother says. However, the range of the Deutsche Kine-
mathek’s activities doesn’t stop there: for
But the Deutsche Kinemathek also holds example, it has been responsible since 1977
true to the traditional, classical presentation for organizing the Retrospective and Homage
on the big screen in the cinema. ”We are the for the Berlinale each February and has
biggest film distributor in Germany with a initiated numerous publications on both the
catalogue of 17,000 titles,” Rother notes. history and present state of the film and tele-
“We have the complete DEFA library – some vision industries as well as organizing major
12,000 in total – plus another 5,000 film international symposia and other events.
classics. What we don’t have, though, is our
own cinema, but we collaborate with various Moreover, a new chapter in the Kinemathek’s
cinemas in Berlin such as the Arsenal, history began with the relocation to the pre-
Zeughaus Kino, the Yorck Kinos and the sent site in the Filmhaus at Potsdamer Platz
Bundesplatz Kino.” in 2000 and the opening of the Museum für
Film und Fernsehen in autumn 2001. Since
Rother and his team also curate film pro- then, more than sixty special exhibitions have
grams from the Kinemathek’s catalogue for been staged by the Museum to complement
13neWs & nOtes GFQ 4-2019
neWs1
& nOtes
1
1
Jonas Nay & Anna Smith (© Andreas Grieger)
2nD FaCe tO FaCe German Film WeeKenD in lOnDOn
German Films and Regent Street Cinema Maria Dragus) and HAPPINESS SUCKS (with event, titled TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN,
presented FACE TO FACE WITH GERMAN Christian Friedel) as well as the first two was moderated by Danny Leigh of The
TALENT: THE GERMAN FILM WEEKEND to episodes of the mini-series THE MASTER Guardian/BFI. The well-attended event
the public in London for the second time BUTCHER (with Jonas Nay). Anca Miruna focused on the filmmakers’ creative ap-
from 20-22 September 2019. The film pro- Lazarescu (from the 2018 FACE TO FACE proach to their film and series projects,
gram was curated by film critic Anna Smith, WITH GERMAN FILMS campaign) was the language barriers and, of course, the in-
who is also known for her popular podcast fourth talent in the group. As the director of fluence of technical developments on story-
GIRLS ON FILM. HAPPINESS SUCKS, she enthusiastically telling. Maria Dragus, Christian Friedel
answered questions from the audience along and Anca Miruna Lazarescu had a lively ex-
There were screenings of six German films, with Christian Friedel during the Q&A change with Nathaniel Martello-White
while the talents Maria Dragus, Christian session after the film. (COLLATERAL) and Percelle Ascott (THE
Friedel and Jonas Nay from the current FACE INNOCENTS).
TO FACE WITH GERMAN FILMS campaign A panel discussion between the German
were in London to present their films and talents and two British colleagues followed
serial formats to the audience. And there the GERMAN FILM WEEKEND on Monday,
were animated discussions during the Q&As 23 September as an event co-hosted with
after the screenings of LOST ONES (with the Raindance Film Festival. The industry
14GFQ 4-2019 neWs & nOtes
2 3 4
BIOTOP (© HFF München) FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT (© Studio Fischer & el Sani) Johanna Buse, Marcus H. Rosenmüller, Gustav Wilhelmi,
Simone Baumann (© Fabian Malavolta)
2 5
10tH anniVersary OF FeinKOŠt and OSLO by Shady Srourvon (IL/DE) found eurOPean WOrK in PrOGress
its way onto the list of candidates by winning COlOGne (eWiP)
Every autumn, AG Kurzfilm and the Czech at the Odense International Film Festival.
Film Center invite Czech and German film- More projects, more participants and a top-
makers to present their works in a joint short class jury. Following its successful premiere
film program. This cooperation will celebrate last year, European Work in Progress Co-
its 10th anniversary in 2019. More than 70
German and Czech short films have been
4 logne 2019 will enter its second round from
14 – 16 October. With 150 submissions from
screened in the last 10 years. There will also 19tH FestiVal OF German Films 59 countries, the number of projects has in-
be a joint program in 2019 – the premiere will in BuenOs aires creased as has the number of participants
take place on 28 October at the Programm- from world sales agents, distributors and
kino Ost in Dresden, after which the parti- The 19th edition of the Festival de Cine festival representatives. The aim is provide
cipating filmmakers will travel together to Alemán Buenos Aires (12-18 September networking opportunities at an early stage
the DOK Leipzig Festival and join the industry 2019) began on 11 September with a morning for film producers with international distri-
program there. This year’s FEINKOŠT edition press screening followed by a press confe- butors, financing and distribution partners
will be shown in more than 10 locations in rence at which 60 enthusiastic journalists and festival programmers.
Germany and the Czech Republic, including and a chirpy Marcus H. Rosenmüller discus-
Chemnitz, Leipzig, Berlin and Prague. FEIN- sed his film THE KEEPER. Rosenmüller, who A top-class jury comprised of Lili Hinstin
KOŠT will once again focus on the networking was in Buenos Aires from 10-15 September, (Locarno Film Festival), Margrit Stärk (ZDF
of German and Czech filmmakers in the received many enquiries from the national Enterprises), Sabina Kodra (ERALFILM), and
anniversary year and present the current press and had a busy schedule during the Yohann Comte (Charades) will decide on this
productions to the audiences of both festival. The festival then officially opened on year’s winners. Films with at least one
countries. 12 September in the presence of the German European co-producer with high attractive-
Ambassador Christian Jürgen Mertens. Over ness and international market potential are
six days, 15 German feature and documen- being sought. EWIP is organized and sup-
tary films presented the entire spectrum ported by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW
3 of German filmmaking to Argentinean audi-
ences. One would think that this was worth
as part of the Cologne Film Festival with
the support AG Verleih, the association of
tHree German sHOrts at tHe being awarded a prize! And what do you independent German film distributors. More
eurOPean sHOrt Film aWarD know? The festival was awarded the City of information is available at www.european-
Buenos Aires’ Declaración de interés cultural work-in-progress.eu.
The European Film Awards are traditionally in 2019.
held in December and the European Short
Film 2019 will also be awarded. Films qualify In addition to sold-out performances for THE
for a nomination by winning an award at one KEEPER, NEVER LOOK AWAY was another
of 20 European film festivals. At the end of film that was also a hit with the local audi-
September, the nominations were made for ence – and ranked second in terms of audi-
five films, from which the more than 3500 ence numbers. Pupils from various
members of the European Film Academy will German schools enjoyed the school screen-
select the award winner. And three German ings and asked inquisitive and candid ques-
short films and co-productions are on the tions. And there was a full cinema at the
candidate list this year: FREEDOM OF MOVE- screening of a classic from the silent movie
MENT by Nina Fischer & Maroan el Sani era when the festival came to a close. THE
(DE/IT) was nominated at the Rotterdam DOLL by Ernst Lubitsch from 1919 was
International Film Festival 2019, BLACK SUN shown with musical accompaniment by
by Arda Çiltepe (TR/DE) is the Short Film Marcelo Katz who performed a composition
Nominee of the Locarno Film Festival 2019, of his own.
15neWs & nOtes GFQ 4-2019
6 7
Alliance for Development pitching (© Locarno Film Festival)
6 7 8
FFa OnCe aGain Partners Film:restOreD_04. German Films aBrOaD in tHe
allianCe FOr DeVelOPment First tHree Quarters OF 2019
initiatiVe in lOCarnO On 24 October, Paul Czinner’s romantic
chamber play ARIANE (1931) opens the The first three quarters of 2019 saw 355
This year again, for the fifth time, the German fourth edition of the film heritage festival German films and German-international co-
Federal Film Board (FFA) supported the Film:ReStored. This year’s film program, lec- productions rack up close to 63 million euros
Alliance for Development, an initiative of tures and workshop reports will be devoted at the international box office outside of
Locarno Pro, which took place from 9 - 11 to film sound. Examples from film history Germany with more than 11 million ad-
August during the Locarno Film Festival. with tones ranging from shellac records to missions in 62 countries.
Alliance for Development promotes the four-channel magnetic tones will be pre-
cross-border co-development of film pro- sented, as well as digital techniques that aim Among the top ten films were eight majority
jects between Germany, Italy, France and to come as close as possible to the original German productions with 26.5 million euros
Switzerland. Seven projects from the existing sound. From early talkies such as Max Obal’s box office and 4.9 million admissions, making
bilateral development funds between Ger- DIE JAGD NACH DER MILLION (1931) to up nearly half of the box office totals for all
many (FFA), Italy (MiBAC) and France (CNC) opulent sound and visual experiences such German and international co-productions
were invited. However, there were also pro- as DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER by Joachim together.
jects from Switzerland, where there is no Herz (1964) to the scoring of experimental
co-development fund, through which the films, this year’s edition offers interesting The most internationally successful majority-
creators could exchange ideas with produ- rediscoveries, not only for the eyes but also produced German films from January to
cers and sponsors from the three most im- for the ears. September 2019 were:
portant co-production partner countries. In
addition to one-on-one meetings with poten- Examples of audio descriptions for the visu- THE AFTERMATH (rank 1):
tial partners, the program also offered indi- ally impaired will be presented and quality 8.4 million euros in 29 countries
vidual consultancy appointments, roundtable criteria discussed. The audience is invited to
discussions and a wide range of networking experience for themselves the descriptions NEVER LOOK AWAY (rank 3):
activities with world sales agents, financiers, for Werner Herzog’s JEDER FÜR SICH UND 4.7 million euros in 19 countries
casting agencies and location scouts. GOTT GEGEN ALLE (1974) and Heiner
Carow’s DIE REISE NACH SUNDEVIT (1966). HEIDI (rank 4): 2.8 million euros in China
6
Projects with German participation this year
were the German-Italian productions MAOZ
The Cinema Prize of the Cinematheque Net-
work will be awarded during the festival on MANOU – THE SWIFT (rank 5):
(German co-producer: Tama Filmproduktion) 25 October. The event is supported by the 2.6 million euros in 29 countries
and MIT GEIST UND FEUER (German co-pro- Federal Government Commissioner for
ducer: Moon Jar Film) – both of which were Culture & the Media, in cooperation with the HEILSTÄTTEN (rank 6):
supported by MiBAC/FFA. In addition, the Cinematheque Network. 2.3 million euros in 16 territories
FFA/CNC-funded project MUSIC (German
co-producer: Faktura Film) – the latest pro- LEBERKÄSJUNKIE (rank 7):
ject by director and screenwriter Angela 2 million euros in Austria
Schanelec – was pitched. The aim of Alliance
for Development is to launch co-productions HIGH LIFE (rank 8):
not only bilaterally but also increasingly 1.9 million euros in 22 countries
multilaterally in order to open up markets in
third countries. BALLON (rank 9):
1.8 million euros in 9 territories
(Source: comScore.com, 2 October 2019)
16GFQ 4-2019
IM STILLEN LAUT (© Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF) neW Films
NEW
7 Features
4 DOCumentaries
5 sHOrt Films
11 uPCOminG Films
27 new German productions are presented
on the following 17 pages. Please visit
our website www.german-films.de
for more information on German features,
documentaries and shorts.
17NEW Features GFQ 4-2019
© ABC Bildungs- und Tagungszentrum
aDamstOWn
damstown is doomed. Cursed by PATRICK MERZ and HENNING WÖTZEL- GENRE Fantasy, Western, Musical YEAR OF
A an old native spell, only animals
are able to build and renovate in
this place “out in the West”.
Animals had been expelled long ago, but with
unknown intentions they seem to be pre-
HERBER are active the field of media pe-
dagogy for civic educational training insti-
tutions. While Merz has been making films for
more than 20 years, ADAMSTOWN marks
Wötzel-Herber’s directorial debut.
PRODUCTION 2019 DIRECTORS Patrick
Merz, Henning Wötzel-Herber SCREENPLAY
Henning Wötzel-Herber, Patrick Merz, Verena
Braun CINEMATOGRAPHY Jeremy Boschung
CAST Fawad Falzi, Fares Wadi, Marie-Elena
paring their comeback. And now humans and Zibell, Rayan Farousi, Mariola Kuriata,
animals are struggling and fighting over Honorine Uwayo, Hamidullah Habibi, Johanna
power and influence. A bank must be built, Sarah Schmidt, Frenze Huth, Benita Weber,
bullets must be shot and a curse has to be Yasen Elenov PRODUCERS Andrea Keller,
broken. Henning Wötzel-Herber CO-PRODUCERS
Patrick Merz, Eric Kabera, Cesar Magloire
Behind the scenes on the other hand, people Muzingu PRODUCTION COMPANIES ABC
of different cultural and religious back- Bildungs- und Tagungszentrum, Hüller
grounds, refugees, people with and without Medienwerkstatt, DirectorsCut, in co-pro-
disabilities, old and young are working to- duction with Kwetu Film Institute RUNTIME
gether to crush borders and show respect. 88 min LANGUAGE German, English, Dari
Embedded in a fantastic story, a diverse and
fantastic cast brings the graphic novel by SALES
Verena Braun to life in the flatlands of Nor- ABC Bildungs- und Tagungszentrum
thern Germany. abc@abc-huell.de
www.abc-huell.de
18GFQ 4-2019 NEW Features
© Kimotion Pictures
BaumBaCHer
synDrOme
he German late night show host GREGORY KIRCHHOF was born in 1992 in GENRE Drama YEAR OF PRODUCTION 2019
T Max Baumbacher becomes world
famous overnight after waking up
with an unusually deep, almost
magical voice. In an attempt to escape the
global spotlight, Max hides out in his agent’s
Hamburg. He studied in England and Spain
and returned to Germany where he wrote and
directed his debut feature DUSKY PARADISE
(2016) which was nominated for numerous
international awards including the Discovery
DIRECTOR Gregory Kirchhoff SCREENPLAY
Gregory Kirchhoff CINEMATOGRAPHY Dino
von Wintersdorff CAST Tobias Moretti, Elit
Iscan, Lenz Moretti, Ingvild Deila, Richard
Sammel, Karoline Schuch PRODUCERS
house in Spain. This bizarre situation turns Award at the Raindance Film Festival. His Sophie Florentine Schüttfort, Matthias
into a journey of self-discovery as Max’s past second feature, the German tragicomedy Greving, Gregory Kirchhoff PRODUCTION
begins to catch up with him. OSTFRIESISCH FÜR ANFÄNGER (2016), was COMPANIES Kimotion Pictures, Kinescope
released in Germany by Universum Film. His Film RUNTIME 86 min LANGUAGE German
third film, BAUMBACHER SYNDROME (2019), FESTIVALS Hof 2019 (Opening Film)
is the opening film of the 53rd Hof Inter-
national Film Festival. SALES
Kimotion Pictures
info@kimotionpictures.com
www.kimotionpictures.com
19NEW Features GFQ 4-2019
© Dreamin’ Dolphin/Eagle Eye Filmproduktion
latte iGel unD Der
maGisCHe Wasserstein
latte anD tHe maGiC WaterstOne
wo rivals set out on a daring adven- REGINA WELKER studied Animation at the GENRE Animation, Adventure, Children &
T ture – and two friends come back
with their mission accomplished.
In the forest where hedgehog girl Latte lives,
the last lake has dried out and plants and
Film Academy Baden-Württemberg where
she also worked as a visiting lecturer after
graduation. She is a founding member of
Woodblock, which is a network of 30 visual
artists around the globe. After working on
Youth, Family Entertainment YEAR OF PRO-
DUCTION 2019 DIRECTORS Regina Welker,
Nina Wels SCREENPLAY Andrea Deppert,
Martin Behnke PRODUCERS Lilian Klages,
Mark Mertens, Thomas G. Müller PRODUC-
animals are suffering from a terrible drought. numerous Playmobil shorts in the last years, TION COMPANIES Dreamin‘ Dolphin, Eagle
The last hope is the magic waterstone – but LATTE AND THE MAGIC WATERSTONE is her Eye Filmproduktion, Grid Animation RUN-
it was stolen years ago by the terrifying bear feature film debut. TIME 81 min LANGUAGE English
king! Only Latte has the courage to venture
out to the bear kingdom – or so she thinks. NINA WELS studied Animation at the Film SALES
But when she realizes that Tjum, the shy University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF. Also Sola Media
squirrel boy, has set out on the same mission, active as an animator for numerous feature post@sola-media.com
she is determined to prove he doesn’t stand films and series, her films as a director in- www.sola-media.com
a chance. But the two young heroes can only clude: JONALU (series, co-director, 2010),
save the forest if they stick together... KNIGHT RUSTY (animation direction, 2013),
COCONUT THE LITTLE DRAGON (2014),
KNIGHT RUSTY 2 (2016), MIA AND ME (series,
2016), and LATTE AND THE MAGIC WATER-
STONE (2019).
20You can also read
