2020 “A glance to eternity? Death & beyond/ tv - documentary / 45 min. / Germany / ZDF
We’re all going to die. But what happens when we die? This is a question we humans have always wondered about. Where will we go? Is there a soul independent of the physical body? And is it perhaps reborn? What does heaven look like in which the Christians believe? And will there be the last judgment in the end? There is uncertainty about what awaits us after death. Eric Wrede (39) is an undertaker in Berlin and is on a personal quest for answers, looking in many different directions. Existential, scientific, spiritual and theological approaches lead to different, sometimes contradictory findings.
2019 “The Way of St. James" / tv - documentary - series / 5 x 26 min. / Germany /
ARTE
The French Way of St. James – the Camino Francés, is one of the most popular and historically significant pilgrimage routes in the world. Three women, two men and a dog meet in the French Basque Country to walk together the more than 800km to Santiago de Compostela and on to Finisterre. Through a variety of vegetation and breathtaking landscapes, they walk from the Pyrenees through picturesque villages, enchanted forests and endless expanses to the coast of Galicia. Along the way, the culinary and cultural offerings of the individual Spanish regions are not neglected. In the period of six weeks they reach their physical as well as mental limits. Past quaint chapels, historic churches and exciting life stories along the way, the group defies ups and downs, wind and weather. In the end it is clear – the Camino gives you what you need, not what you are looking for.
2019 “My hardest journey”/ tv - documentary / 45 min. / Germany /
ZDF
The Way of St. James – A journey to oneself. In six weeks, five men and women, who have never met before, pilgrimage together over 800 kilometres to the “end of the world”. Anikó, Carsten, Michael, Brigitte and Monika come from the most different life situations and they have their own reasons to make the journey. All of them in the same outdoor clothes, without make-up and with all their belongings on their backs, there is no status anymore – no comfort zone. Not everyone makes it to the end. Again and again the group is tested for cohesion. Conflicts are inevitable. Everyone has a different pace.Due to the physical and mental strains, all masks quickly fall. The facades can no longer be maintained. The pilgrims talk about fear, love and death. They walk, eat and sleep together – every day. They share joy and sorrow and the struggle with their own bodies.
2018 “The World at Arm´s Length”/ documentary / 97 min. / Germany / In Co-Prod.
3Sat/ZDF
Sven is nearly 50 but he has long dreamed of walking the Camino de Santiago. Sven was born deaf and became completely blind 10 years ago. Despite this and his reliance upon his assistants, Almuth and Sabine, he is driven by his need for independence. From his small, 3rd floor apartment, near the German Black Forrest, he sculpts wooden animals from his memory. He programmes his own website and treks through the nearby mountain wilderness. His hands and feet are now his first line of contact; they experience the textures and map the ground which his assistants carefully describe.
2018 “Pink Elephants”/ Cinema documentary / 92 min. / GER,USA,GB,FR / W-Film
Distribution
What's the price of happiness? In the masterclass of the Pink Elephants we get some answers. The leader, Bernard Hiller takes the willing on a high intensity shortcut through life. Hollywood acting- & life-coach takes them to their physical and emotional limits. The aspiring actors dance, crawl, cry, grovel and grow. For many a euphoric cleansing but for some it’s cynical shock therapy. Following a handful of hopefuls, we document their highs and lows and question Hiller´s extreme methods, somewhat reminiscent of a sect... This journey passes through conflicting truths and perceptions of happiness, manipulation and success.
In Prod. “Anna - in puplic space”/ documentary / 90 min. / Germany
Anna Baranowski works on omnipresent, existential questions of the human being in highly diminished and accented way. The techniques vary between video installation, photography, sculpture and interventions in the media public space. An always returning subject of her works is the struggle between power and faint in nowadays society. But Anna Baranowski does not omit herself. Started with the reflexion of her own person and her role as an artist, she reflects collective phenomena of human behaviour. Observations of humans in the mass-media discourse serve as the resource for her social studies. Besides, contemporary mass media open to her doors to worlds that once have been closed.
2016 “To.Pas - A Ship in the Garden”/ documentary / 72 min. / Germany
60's Generation ‒ Michael, a mechanical wizard and Sabine, his very supportive wife ‒ want to build a boat to travel around the world. 20 years later, the kids have left home and they are past their vital prime. Somehow they kept the drive to complete the boat, through moments of doubt and crises of faith. Michael has finally built the whole boat from scratch. It's ready to leave its home in the back yard, behind the pine trees. The boat may be ready but are Michael and Sabine?
2016 “A day in their shoes”/ documentary / 78 min. / G, RSA, BRA, AUS, THA,
USA
I walk by almost every day; ignore and pretend they're not there. Wrestling with charity, guilt, embarrassment and anger. The needy, lazy, drug-addled, filthy and insane demand my hard earned attention. I turn them off and satisfy a blinkered stare. Rude to look, more silly to invite. And these people often live their whole private lives in public view, no door to close no curtain to draw. But do homeless people have similar experiences and interactions no matter where they are? Does the daily existence on Oxford Street, begging for a living from blinkered commuters and international shoppers, match that of Patpong Road Bangkok, it's goodtime tourists and hustling locals? From 5 minutes past midnight to 5 minutes past midnight the next day. Following each person, all on the same single 24-hour period, we parallel the techniques for survival and their routines. We juxtapose the everyday routine necessary for survival on a UK street against those of other world metropolises. All on the day everyone else in the world swaps routine for celebration. It's New Years Eve.
2016 // "Isch heisst” // fiction short movie // 15 min. // G // BR
The movie is about Marta, a young German - Pole. When translating at the police station, she meets Mieczysław, a Polish homeless. At home she can´t stop thinking about him and starts looking for him and for her own identity...
The film ist produced in Cooperation with the Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR Germany)
2013 “Paris - I hate to love you”/ Comedy series / FR
Paris, dream or nightmare? Jane is an out-of-sorts English girl who dreams of becoming a real Parisian. When she finds herself like a fish out of water in the city of romance, she consults Victoire de St Germain, a rather unusual coach. Victoire is also an expat, but who has become more Parisian than the Parisians. She will reveal to Jane the secrets of a true Parisian lifestyle. French frogs, treacherous Albion, our friends the Gauls, taking French leave... from Waterloo to the entente cordiale, cross-Channel relations for centuries have been something of a ‘love-to-hate’ affair. This comedy mini-series will explain why: an English girl in Paris consults a coach to learn how to become ‘French’, and British humour takes on the French character. The aim: give the French a taste of English irony so that they can take themselves less seriously.
2011 “Punch-Line” // Comedy // 15 Min. // Germany
Hassan and Chaddy are best friends. Two German Turks between the cultures . Hassan has a great idea to get rich: He wants to publish the first Turkish Christmas CD. Unfortunately, Angelo , a shady Mafiosi comes between the plan. Hassan and his friends have to fight back...
2011 “Oben” // music clip // Parka // Germany
2010 “Alone with you” // Drama // 15 min. // Germany
The film is about unrequited love. The exception that two people actually find each other only proves the rule. Everyone thinks of someone who, in turn, is thinking about someone else. They talk past each other, looking in the wrong direction; all are alone together...
2010 “Rainer Rost” // Comedy // 99 Sec // Fire Films Award // Germany
2009 “Waiting Rooms” // Drama // 28 min. // Germany
Three people waiting ‒ for a message to make the pain stop, for a new life, for better times. They find themselves in a bizarre waiting room without any information and with no end in sight. They are alone, with their fears and hope ‒ they are alone amongst strangers in a world that reflects their inner self...
Festivals
Shorts at moonlight / Bad Soden
Schnit // Cologne
2008 “Dinklage - A cityportrait” // documentary // 45 min. / Germany
This is a place with a historical past, a special location, nestled in the beautiful Oldenburger Münsterland in northern Germany. The traditions, customs and forms of fun have been shaped by a breed of determined, hardworking and fearless people.
2007 “Objective Romance” // Poetry Adaption // 15 min. / Germany
Eight years they'd known each other well
(And one can say quite well at that),
When suddenly their love's light fell
Like others lose a cane or hat.
And sadness rose, then merry lies,
And kisses flew to cloud their fate.
Without a plan they wed their eyes;
At last she wept, beside her mate.
The ships were close enough to wave,
When he declared it four-fifteen.
A coffee might this day still save,
Next door a piano's scales were lean.
A small café, the smallest lair
They chose and stirred each with one hand.
When evening came, they sat still there;
They sat alone, no words to share,
And simply couldn't understand.
2004 “Butterflies” // Drama // 26 min. / Germany
Pia is happy in a relationship with Martin. But one day she notices an upcoming date. She promised her first love a reunion after 15 years on the beach in the Netherlands . The beautiful memories are coming back and question her life. Pia has to decide ...