Hotel of the Dictators

In the midst of the war-ravaged Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic, the visitor finds a place: The people call it 'The Hotel with 500 rooms'. Kaiser Bokasse started the construction of the hotel to accommodate his friends and family. But he died before it was finished. His follower Patassé became victim of a military putsch before he could finish the hotel. Its last owner was Gadaffi. After a long period of reconstruction, he wanted to open the gates himself. But he was taken by surprise by the “Arab spring” just one week before the celebratory date. Over night the hotel lost its patron. But the traces of the different regimes remain – symbolized by the concrete structures of the hotel. So today the Hotel stands abandoned behind its high walls. We walk through the deserted rooms and the hallway – everything is ready for the arrival of noble guests. It seems... I accompany the gardener who waters the forecourt for the absent guests. The security guard who leaves his uniform in the wardrobe for now. And I meet the Tunisian manager of the hotel, Sliman, who does not get to take part in the events in his home country, because he has to take care of his ghost hotel. Together we wait for a message from the new owners in the home country. What will be their decision about the destiny of this palace and its employees? And what do you do with a five-star hotel in a country without any tourists? Or maybe more importantly: When will the situation after the “Arab Spring” be clear enough for the hotel to come to life? Until then this absurd picture remains: Frozen luxury in the midst of absolute poverty.

Credits

Camera:

Florian Hoffmann

Sound:

Florian Hoffmann

Editing:

Florian Hoffmann

Tonmischung:

Johannes Hofmann

Film info

Direction:

Florian Hoffmann

Genre:

documentary

Country of production:

Central African Republic, Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Production:

2015

Shooting format:

16mm

Screening format:

4:3

Frame rate:

25 fps

Aspect ratio:

16:9

Sound format:

Dolby 5.1.

Language:

French and Sangho

Version:

OV

Runtime:

16

Occasional Monuments

Jelena and her mother Vera left Russia 20 years ago to come to Germany. Since this time, they’ve been living together in a tiny two bedroom appartment. Vera is almost 70 now and unable to accept reality in Germany. In her mind, she still lives in Russia, where she was a famous dancer. She gave up everything to allow her daughter to make her career in the west. But Jelena only managed to get a job as a dance teacher for chubby little girls... Every single moment, Vera makes her daughter feel that she is not good enough. And Jelena takes revenge by all means available to her. A film about a power struggle between a mother and her daughter.

Credits

Camera:

Theo Solnik

Editing:

Theo Solnik

Tonmischung:

Silvio Naumann

Film info

Direction:

Theo Solnik

Genre:

documentary

Country of production:

Deutschland, Brasilien

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Production:

2013

Shooting format:

16mm

Screening format:

1:2,35

Frame rate:

24 fps

Aspect ratio:

1:2,35

Sound format:

Dolby Digital

Language:

Englisch

Version:

OV

Runtime:

63

Children of the Bundestag

A love drama on the film set. First it was too early and then it was too late.

Credits

Cast:

Katja Weilandt

Marina Weiß

Lüdwig Blochberger

Melina Johannsen

Dmitry Plotnikow

Script:

Anton Gonopolski

Camera:

Marvin Kipke

Editing:

Michal Ostatkiewicz

Producer:

Sound:

Daniel Engel

Alexandre Leser

Music:

Anton Gonopolski

Zaure Zhubanova

Film info

Direction:

Anton Gonopolski

Genre:

Kurzfilm

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Production:

2014

Shooting format:

1:1,85

Screening format:

1:1,85

Frame rate:

24 fps

Aspect ratio:

1:1,85

Sound format:

Dolby 5.1

Language:

German

Version:

OV

Festivals:

Achtung Berlin (15.-22.04.2015)

3. Lange Nacht des Filmfestivals (Festiwelt e. V.) (29.08.2015)

Berlin Art Film Festival (10.-13.12.2015)

Runtime:

8

My Angel

elena and her mother Vera left Russia 20 years ago to come to Germany. Since this time, they’ve been living together in a tiny two bedroom appartment. Vera is almost 70 now and unable to accept reality in Germany. In her mind, she still lives in Russia, where she was a famous dancer. She gave up everything to allow her daughter to make her career in the west. But Jelena only managed to get a job as a dance teacher for chubby little girls... Every single moment, Vera makes her daughter feel that she is not good enough. And Jelena takes revenge by all means available to her. A film about a power struggle between a mother and her daughter.

Credits

Cast:

Irina Vinogradova

Katerina Medvedeva

Script:

Miriam Bliese

Camera:

Julian Landweer

Editing:

Vessela Martschewski

Producer:

Clemens Köstlin

Sound:

Rainer Viltz

Music:

Valse a - g

Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Film info

Direction:

Miriam Bliese

Genre:

Kurzfilm

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

ARTE

Production:

2013

Shooting format:

HD (Alexa)

Screening format:

1:2,35

Frame rate:

24 fps

Aspect ratio:

1:2,35 (Scope)

Language:

Russia, Germany

Version:

OV

Runtime:

10

Burned Land

After the vanishing of an old peasant, two people whose lives are linked with the absentee in different ways come to know each other on his abandoned farm. Over one day and one night, his young granddaughter Saskia and his seasonal worker Momo, two figures at a turning point, come to converge across the void and leave together.

Credits

Cast:

Mohammed Moktari

Babette Semmer

Script:

Charlie Petersmann

Martin Neef

Valerie Bäuerlein

Camera:

Gaetan Varone

Editing:

Charlie Petersmann

Producer:

Jonas Weydemann

Film info

Direction:

Charlie Petersmann

Genre:

fictional

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Production:

2010

Shooting format:

Super 16mm

Screening format:

1:1,85

Frame rate:

25 fps

Aspect ratio:

1:1,85

Sound format:

Stereo

Language:

German

Version:

OV

Runtime:

16

Nocturne

Nocturne accompanies a piece of music, Night-turn for strings, from its birth in the composer’s head, via the arrangement of the interpretations and through rehearsals to its premiere, in this case the first reading of the notes by the musicians of the renowned Kairos Quartet. Featuring also the intellectual, sensory and emotional factors involved, this is a portrait of Dmitri Kourliandski’s inventive compositional methods as well as the working dynamics of a contemporary quartet.

Credits

Cast:

Kairos Quartett

Dmitri Kourliandski

Script:

IJ. Biermann

Camera:

Kai Miedendorp

Editing:

Ben Laser

Ingo J. Biermann

Producer:

Andreas Louis

Sound:

Wolfgang Kick

Silvio Naumann

Music:

Dmitri Kourliandski

Kairos Quartett

Film info

Direction:

IJ. Biermann

Genre:

documentary

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Production:

2012

Shooting format:

HD

Screening format:

1:2,35

Frame rate:

25 fps

Aspect ratio:

1:2,35

Sound format:

Dolby 5.1

Language:

German, English

Version:

OV

Runtime:

90

Portrait of a Lone Farmer

This is a reflective and personal narrative. A compilation of impressions from the land of my father and his father. A small village surrounded by huge mountainlike rocks. As looking ahead seems impossible, I look backwards, and see that some things don’t change. At least, there is something that is constant and in its own way, reliable. Relief. In this film, I simply spend some time with my father, let him do his work as a poultryfarmer, while I do my work as a cameraperson. Occasionally, we talk. We start mirroring each other. He sees his father in me, and I see myself in him. Maybe, watching this film, my "brothers from other mothers" will feel familiar with this peculiar sense of belonging to a place where you are practically a stranger.

Credits

Cast:

Akin Akinleminu

Jide Akinleminu

Farmteam 2010

Ile Mexico

Chief Sashere

Grete Akinleminu

Ade Ogunsakin

Chief Aroloye

Ondo State Fire Service

Oba Frederick Aroloye

Camera:

Jide Tom Akinleminu

Script:

Jide Tom Akinleminu

Editing:

Nelia Szekely

Chris Wright

Producer:

Jide Tom Akinleminu

Sound:

Ade Ogunsakin

Julian Cropp

Film info

Direction:

Tom Akinleminu

Genre:

documentary

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Làbòsinmi Films

Production:

2013

Shooting format:

HD/ DV/ 16mm/ 8mm

Screening format:

16:9

Frame rate:

25 fps

Aspect ratio:

16:9

Sound format:

Stereo

Language:

English, Yoruba, Danish

Version:

OV

Runtime:

76

Kinshasa 2.0

An Internet campaign helps in the release of a presidential candidate jailed for talking openly about the lack of democracy. Moving between a militarised Kinshasa and Second Life, (a 3D virtual chat program), the subversive power of the Internet for democracy is explored whilst painting a disquieting portrait of an African Capital. Kinshasa 2.0 tells the story of how the arrest of Marie-Thérèse Nlandu, a woman from a prominent political family in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was publicised through the Internet and resulted in filmmaker Teboho Edkins visiting Kinshasa to see how the arrest has affected the family. His film explores a tense, militarised Kinshasa, where it is extremely difficult to film, and using 2nd life – a 3D virtual chat program - he looks at his friend Carine’s attempt to keep in contact with her aunt Marie-Thérèse after she is released and goes into exile in Belgium. The film moves between the real city and the heightened world of 2nd life accompanied by a silent observer – a wooden soldier that appears on the edge of most scenes observing, waiting, watching…

Credits

Script:

Teboho Edkins

Camera:

Tom Akinleminu

Producer:

Don Edkins

Editing:

Annette Kurzbach

Sound:

Teboho Edkins

Music:

Le Grand Kallé

Film info

Direction:

Teboho Edkins

Genre:

documentary

Country of production:

Democratic Republic of Congo

Production Company:

Steps, Don Edkins and Teboho Edkins

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

ARTE

ZDF

Production:

2007/08

Shooting format:

Super 16mm

Screening format:

16:9

Frame rate:

25 fps

Aspect ratio:

16:9

Sound format:

Stereo

Language:

French, Lingala, English with English subtitles

Version:

OmU

Runtime:

11

No Deposit

Eight men, one empty bottle, no questions asked. The original concept for the film was to make a movie about a social dilemma. But I'm not a lecturer, so instead I’ve tried to make a film that is honest, intuitive and surprising. I wanted to raise questions without offering answers. So here it is - this is what I came up with. There's a refund of up to 25 cent on almost every bottle or can in Germany. Despite the apparent economic growth the deposit-refund system in Germany offers a huge financial shelter to an exceedingly growing amount of people. From just the average white-collar worker to homeless or elderly, a lot of different people collect empty bottles in the cities public spaces day by day in order to support themselves. In essence, “No Deposit” is a simple film about a man who's day job is dedicated solely on bottle refund. It's a story about his friendship, desires and opponents. It takes an no bullshit approach to the ever growing injustices and inequalities in our western well-fare societies. With a big fat twinkle in the eye.

Credits

Cast:

Tolga Degirmen – Flaschensammler 1

Niklas Kinzel – Flaschensammler 2

Alex Schmidt – Flaschensammler 3

Hannes Pastor – Müllmann 1

Eduard Anselm – Müllmann 2

Amadei Weiland – Müllmann 3

Lukas Vernaldi – Müllmann 4

Script:

Maxim Lebedev

Editing:

Nicolai Wolf

Producer:

Luis Singer

Sound:

Marko Weichler

Music:

Ruben Fischer

Luisa Martinez

Camera:

Nicolai Wolf

1. Kameraassistenz:

Film info

Direction:

Nicolai Wolf

Genre:

Kurzfilm

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Production:

2014

Shooting format:

HD

Screening format:

1:1,85

Frame rate:

25 fps

Aspect ratio:

1:1,85

Sound format:

5.1

Language:

No Dialogue

Version:

OV

Runtime:

4