Archives: Films

Ladies of For­tune

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, life in Russia has become a struggle for survival. The looming state bankruptcy, the increase in crime and the lack of education and career opportunities have pushed many mothers to send their daughters to the Golden West hoping they can build a better life there. The director, Katja Fedulova, came to Germany herself in 1993 and started her studies in Kiel where she became friends with five fellow Russians sharing a similar fate: Ilona, Olga, Alesja, Tatiana and Zhenja. They get by working illegal jobs, they are party-crazy and they enjoy hunting for eligible bachelors, while dreaming of true love. 13 years later, the friends reunite in Kiel; an opportunity for Katja Fedulova to address and portray her friends', as well as her own, history and experiences cinematically. What has become of their dreams? Their destinies reflect the struggles of an immigrant's life, the shattered hopes and pragmatic compromises, the uprooting and - in each individual story - the struggle for selfdetermination. However, the complicated relationship between mother and daughter stands at the center of the film. Nowhere is the political change more glaringly obvious than in the break between the generations, nowhere are the remains of the totalitarian system more blatant: the authoritarian education measures, the competitive achievement-oriented way of thinking, the misunderstandings and simply the absence of care and empathy when it is needed the most - but at the same time the admitting of mistakes and the attempts to make it better.

Credits

Script:

Ulrike Zinke

Camera:

Michael Kotschi

Jenny-Lou Ziegel

Editing:

Sylke Rohrlach

Producer:

Max Milhahn

Sound:

Daniel Schulte

Film info

Direction:

Katja Fedulova

Genre:

documentary

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Production:

2011

Shooting format:

HD

Screening format:

1:1,85

Frame rate:

25 fps

Aspect ratio:

1:1,85

Sound format:

Dolby Stereo

Language:

Russian, German, Italian with german and english subtitles

Version:

OV

Runtime:

80

Yes­ter­day my friend bought a bike

A young woman is walking through the city. She meets a friend at a coffeeshop. This friend tells her every detail about how she bought a bike the day before. The young woman listens.

Credits

Cast:

Nell Pietrzyk

Nadine Pasta

Script:

Ramon Zürcher

Camera:

Alexander Haßkerl

Editing:

Ramon Zürcher

Sound:

Oliver Hemm

Christian Schossig

Film info

Direction:

Ramon Zürcher

Genre:

Kurzfilm

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Production:

2010

Shooting format:

4k Red One

Screening format:

1:2,35

Frame rate:

25 fps

Aspect ratio:

1:2.35

Sound format:

Dolby SR

Language:

German

Version:

OV

Runtime:

9

Odessa

An arty opening. A filmmaker. A little boy who wants to go to Odessa. Tons of baklava. A Colourful world of illusions: The filmmaker only films local advertising. The boy searches for a family. And two depressed burglars dream of their big coup. Everyone here is stumbling on their way to happiness.

Credits

Cast:

Folker Albrecht

Marlon van den Boogaard

Barbara Kowa

Gerdy Zint

Kristian Wanzl

Michèle Stieber

Tycho Pfäfflin

Script:

Youdid Kahveci

Camera:

Emma Rosa Simon

Editing:

Youdid Kahveci

Producer:

Youdid Kahveci

Stephan Kuche

Music:

Moe Jaksch

Film info

Direction:

Youdid Kahveci

Genre:

Kurzfilm

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Production:

2011

Shooting format:

S16mm, DV

Screening format:

16:9

Frame rate:

25 fps

Aspect ratio:

16:9

Sound format:

LT RT Kinomix

Language:

German

Version:

OV

Runtime:

19

Bal­let Sto­ry

Another day at the ballet school. Classes routine goes as usual, when Sophie notices a boy outdoors, on the street. He was here yesterday already. She finds him mysterious, may be she likes him, but doesn’t dare to do anything with it. Surrounded by her frivolously chattering classmates, she realizes that another girl is faster making decisions, and Sophie finds herself caught in a vortex of grief and aggression.

Credits

Cast:

Luise Engel – Sophie

Elena Lekovic – Katya

Leon Louis – Junge

Drehbuch (Credit):

Daria Belova

Script:

Pascal Yorcks

Camera:

Max Preiss

Editing:

Wolfgang Niederhoffer

Daria Belova

Producer:

Kirill Krasovskiy

Philipp Reuter

Film info

Direction:

Daria Belova

Genre:

Kurzfilm

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

ARTE

Production:

2011

Shooting format:

Red One 35mm digital

Screening format:

1:1,778

Frame rate:

25 fps

Aspect ratio:

1:1,78

Sound format:

Dolby Stereo

Language:

German

Version:

OV

Runtime:

9

Méx­i­co

Dina is getting on with her daily life. One night, as she visits the sun-studio, a switch in her head is thrown. We follow her through the night of confusion and paranoia, that lead to a drastic decision.

Credits

Cast:

Irina Potapenko

Manuel de la Peza

Script:

Lukas Feigelfeld

Camera:

Mariel Baqueiro

Editing:

Lukas Feigelfeld

Producer:

Luis Singer

Sound:

Gunther Lebbe

Johannes Kaschek

Film info

Direction:

Lukas Feigelfeld

Genre:

fictional

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

ARTE

Production:

2010

Shooting format:

HD

Screening format:

16:9

Frame rate:

25 fps

Aspect ratio:

16:9

Sound format:

Dolby SR

Language:

German

Version:

OV

Runtime:

7

Anna Pavlo­va lives in Berlin

Anna Pavlova, Russian party queen, embodies the brutal happiness and tragedy of the Berlin party generation of our times. Lost in the edge between insanity and seldom poetical lucidity, wandering alone through the streets of Berlin, she shows us the side of the party world that we rarely see. Anti-hero of civilized society, her existence is a desperate attempt to live in a never-ending happiness, in order not to see the world that begins when the party music ends.

Credits

Camera:

Theo Solnik

Script:

Theo Solnik

Tonmischung:

Felix Fröhlich

Film info

Direction:

Theo Solnik

Genre:

documentary

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Production:

2011

Shooting format:

HDCam

Screening format:

16:9

Frame rate:

29 fps

Aspect ratio:

16:9

Sound format:

Stereo

Language:

German, Russian, English

Version:

OV

Runtime:

79

Dark Blue

Nora and Matthias are a young couple and are going to move in together. Nora has chosen various blues for the living room wall. Matthias has other ideas. Tender feelings and violations encounter each other.

Credits

Cast:

Lucy Wirth

Robert Höller

Script:

Samuel Perriard

Camera:

Jenny-Lou Ziegel

Editing:

Samuel Perriard

Producer:

Markus Kaatsch

Sound:

Robert Damrau

Stephan Blosche

Film info

Direction:

Samuel Perriard

Genre:

Kurzfilm

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Production:

2009

Shooting format:

HD

Screening format:

1:1,85

Frame rate:

25 fps

Aspect ratio:

1:1,85

Sound format:

Stereo

Language:

German

Version:

OV

Runtime:

5

Do You See Me?

Tiffany is in her early twenties, a cosmetics saleswoman, and somewhat corpulent. She blames her body, which doesn't conform to the current ideal of thinness, for the lack of success she has experienced up to now. She is torn between what her world suggests, namely that she isn't thin enough, and her natural, healthy self-esteem, which knows no boundaries. She knows what she's capable of and often dresses herself to be noticed, and sexy, even if others find this inappropriate or strange. Her mother is a frightening example for her: fat and unmarried, her life consists "only" of her daughter and her telephone work, which she does at home. "Ulla's Advice for Happiness", her business, is a service where she reads Tarot cards over the phone. Tiffany wants to do things differently, but she often doesn't know how. Tiffany and her mother abandon themselves to the pleasures of eating whenever things aren't working out. Tiffany ends up in Falk's bar while going out in the city. He is curious about her after she refuses to be thrown out into the cold. Falk, himself perfectly beautiful, likes people with their own style. She spends the night with him. This night is something new for Tiffany: they become intimate without touching each other. Tiffany falls in love. Afterwards, Falk behaves ambiguously. He responds to her advances but balks whenever it gets too physically intimate. Tiffany, undaunted, keeps on trying. Yet the notion that she is simply too fat to be attractive grows and grows. Finally her fears are realised when her boss fires her, despite her successful sales record, in order to hire a thinner girl in her place. Thrown completely off balance, Tiffany decides to have her belly removed with the scalpel; this most despised belly! Getting in the way of her whole life! Yet operations are expensive and the now jobless Tiffany cannot afford it. Eventually she steals from her own mother in order to put herself under the knife. The operation is serious and it takes a while for her to get back on her feet. Afterwards she finds herself getting a different treatment from her world, but it is one that she did not expect... One question fires up Tiffany's imagination: what would happen if she were standing in front of Falk with her new body? Would she finally win him over? She anticipates this moment with great excitement...

Credits

Cast:

Victoria Gabrysch

Sebastian Ströbel

Sabine Orléans

Sybille Schedwill

Natascha Romano

Script:

Gwendolyn Bellmann

Katinka Feistl

Camera:

Sophie Maintigneux

Editing:

Karin Nowarra

Producer:

Meike Kordes

Alexandra Kordes

Leonie von Watzdorf

Sound:

Jörg Kidrowski

Music:

Eike Hosenfels

Moritz Denis

Film info

Direction:

Katinka Feistl

Genre:

fictional

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Kordes & Kordes Film GmbH

ZDF - Das kleine Fernsehspiel

ARTE

Production:

2005

Shooting format:

16mm

Screening format:

4:3

Frame rate:

24 fps

Aspect ratio:

4:3

Language:

German

Version:

OV

Runtime:

92

Half Hours

Melanie Straub lives aimlessly into the day, or more accurately: into a Friday. She's alone at home, without a mission and surrounded by the emptiness of her new life.

Credits

Cast:

Christin König

Script:

Nicolas Wackerbarth

Camera:

Reinhold Vorschneider

Editing:

Janina Herhoffer

Sound:

Andreas Mücke

Film info

Direction:

Nicolas Wackerbarth

Genre:

Kurzfilm

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Jost Hering Filmproduktion

Production:

2007

Shooting format:

16mm

Screening format:

1:1,85

Frame rate:

24 fps

Aspect ratio:

1:1,85

Sound format:

Dolby SR

Language:

German

Version:

OV

Runtime:

20