FINIMONDO
It’s Sunday afternoon in a dreary pub somewhere in a miserable suburb of east Berlin. Italian building workers Gino and Cosimo are hanging about, bored to tears. Gino would give anything to be chatting up blondes on the Ku’damm, whereas Cosimo is pining for a fat German sausage. First, they set about fulfilling this particular wish …
Festivals: et al:
Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin 2000: Panorama New York Academy Award ■ 16. Shortfilm Festival Berlin 2000: Local Hero Award ■ Exground Filmfest Wiesbaden 2000: Publikumspreis ■ Regensburger Kurzfilmwoche 2000: Publikumspreis ■ Otto Ludwig-Piffl-Preis Berlin 2000: Publikumspreis ■ MedFilm Festival - Rom 2000 ■ Internationales Hamburger Kurzfilmfestival 2000 ■ Internationales Filmfest Emden 2000 ■ Rüsselsheimer Filmtag 2000 ■ Filmfest Weiterstadt 2000 ■ Festival du Court-Metrage 2002 Clermont-Ferrand
DAS GESCHENK (THE GIFT)
A family life is coming to an end. Edie has packed her bags and is going to leave her husband Emilio and seven-year-old son Levin this very day. Emilio, who can hardly suppress his anger and despair, spends the afternoon with his son, with whom neither he nor the boy's mother has ever been able to establish a relationship. Emilio gives Levin a long- hoped-for gift but receives no thanks or recognition for it and so takes the gift away from him again. The day comes to an end, the father has fallen asleep, the mother leaves without saying goodbye. The boy manages to retreive his gift after all, which brings him back into his own happy world.
Festivals:
International Sonar Film Festival (Italien) ■ 5th International Panorama of Indipendent Filmmakers, Thessaloniki ■ Festival internazionale Cortometraggio “Fotogramma d’Oro”, Triest.
ARIE (AIR)
Vittorio, a modern dancer, falls in love with Marco, the choreographer he is in the midst of rehearsing a dance piece with, and leaves his girlfriend. In the end, the choreographer opts to be with another man. Vittorio is alone but has found his path and is now able to confidently accept his homosexuality.
Festivals et al:
AFI FEST Los Angeles International Film Festival 2005 ■ Filmfestspiele Cannes 2005 (Filmmarket) ■ Rehobot Indipendent Film Festival USA 2006 ■ Uppsala International Short Film Festival 2006 ■ Short Cuts International Kurzfilmfestival Köln 2006. University of Syracuse International Film Festival 2006 ■ Turin International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival 2006 ■ Miami International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival 2006 ■ Toronto Lesbian and Gay Film Festival 2006 ■ Outfest the 24th Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival 2006 ■ Austin International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival 2006 ■ 2006 College of Humanities International Film Festival, Northridge (USA) ■ Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2006 ■ Bamberger Kurzfilmtage 2007 ■ Bilbao Gay & Lesbian Film Festival 2007 ■ Boston Gay & Lesbian Film Festival 2007, Museum of Fine Arts ■ Réel Identities New Orleans 2007 ■ Reelout 2008 Filmfestival, Kingston, Kanada ■ Indipendent Days Filmfestival 2009, Karlsruhe, Deutschland
COMPANY DOWN
Two thieves are in for a nasty surprise.
Festivals:
Britspotting Filmfestival Berlin 2004: 2. Jury Preis ■ Raindance Filmfestival London 2004 ■ Filmfestspiele Cannes 2004 (Screening bei UK Film Commission)
CARA GIOVANNA (DEAR GIOVANNA)
Sometimes a big personality hides unspoken truths.
Festivals:
Valsusa Film Festival 2007 – Italien ■ Sardinia Film Festival 2007 – Italien.
DER ITALIENER (THE ITALIAN)
Challenging times for the Italians and their reputation in the world! Only their good old movies can save them and keep this last great myth alive. Jealous pensioner Mr Pohanke knows this all too well! When each week, on the same day at the same time, an elegant Italian goes up the stairs, smooths down his slick dark hair and moustache and knocks at the door of his female neighbour, the game is already lost for Mr Pohanke. His cinematic nightmares begin to overwhelm him, drawing him back into a long-forgotten past when people could still claim: Italians do it better!
Festivals:
Young Collection Film Festival Bremen 2012: 1. Jury Preis ■ Rüsselsheimer Filmtage 2013
REMEMBER A DAY – ECHOES OF LIFE
Four snapshots from everyday life lead us through the seasons of life: two small children walk hand in hand to the end of their days and we experience the great emotions that accompany us through life: friendship, hate, love, loneliness. A timeless circle that turns slowly and incessantly. People appear here only as marginal figures, lost in a soulless world. But their minimalist actions have the power to cast a spell over us. Our memories awaken and images and sounds turn into premonitions, like echoes of a past or future life.
Festivals:
International Video Festival Kansk 2015 ■ International Pori Film Festival 2015 ■ Short waves Festival - Urban View Poznan 2016.
BALKAN DREAMS - EIN LEBEN IM 9/16 TAKT (BALKAN DREAMS - LIFE IN THE RHYTHM OF 9/16)
Passions can determine a life. They can usher in joy, tension and strength. They can become our life goal or at least provide comfort in difficult times. Music and acting are the passions that unite this film's protagonists in their quest for happiness. "Balkan Dreams: ein Leben im 9/16 Takt" is a feature-film documentary that casts a light on the remarkable faces of otherwise anonymous Berlin figures. We accompany our protagonists over five years as they go about their unsettled lives. To the strains of Balkan music, sometimes melodic and melancholy, sometimes beguilingly off the leash, we stay with them as they live out the adventures that develop out of their dreams and traditions, from war and love. And thanks to them we are afforded a deep insight into Germany's "Yugo Society", twenty years after the end of the last Balkan war.
Festivals:
16. achtung berlin - new berlin award 2016 ■ Visions du Réel 2017 -Nyon CH ■ San Giò Video Festival Verona 2017