Titel.KINO 1/04.RV - german films

with a sociological background. Our film is a psychological and
social study of a character. Americans stress the genre,
Europeans the sensitive treatment of the characters. Besides,
we have a different ending!"
Willenbrock also continues the successful collaboration between
Sauer, director Andreas Dresen and writer Laila
Stieler. ”Even while making The Policewoman (Die Polizistin),“
says Sauer, who cites English films such as The Full Monty and
Brassed Off as his mentors, ”we were discussing what to do
next. I think he’s [Dresen] the best contemporary German
director. Usually, social subjects are too depressing or comedies
have no link to reality. Only Andreas can combine humor and
social reality.“
As well as re-signing Laila Stieler to adapt Christoph
Hein’s novel of the same title, Sauer also recruited The
Policewoman’s cameraman, Michael Hammon.
Proof it’s a winning team? The Policewoman (2001) picked up,
among others, the Adolf Grimme Award in Gold, the German
Television Award and the German Camera Award.
For the cast, Dresen chose Axel Prahl for the role of
Willenbrock. His credits are almost a role call of contemporary
German cinema: Liberated Zone (Befreite Zone), Dog Heads
(Hundskoepfe), Dresen’s Grill Point (Halbe Treppe), The Pianist,
Zoom, alaska.de, as well as Dresen’s Night Shapes
(Nachtgestalten) and The Policewoman.
For the female roles, Willenbrock’s wife and girlfriend, Dresen
chose Inka Friedrich and Anne Ratte-Polle for their big
screen debut. ”Two new faces,“ says Sauer. ”Both come from
the theater and I’m convinced he has discovered two great new
actresses for the cinema. I think they’ll go very far.“
SK
Zeit nach der Trauer
Type of Project Feature Film Cinema Genre Drama
Production Company TATFILM/Leipzig, in co-production
with MDR/Leipzig With backing from Mitteldeutsche
Medienfoerderung Producer Christine Ruppert Director
Beate F. Neumann Screenplay Thomas Schwank Directors
of Photography Juergen Heimlich, Rali Raltschev Editor
Yvonne Loquens Commissioning Editor Wolfgang Voigt
(MDR) Music by Wolfgang Salomon Production Design
Angelica Boehm Principal Cast Claudia Geisler, Daniel
Claudia Geisler (photo © Steffen Junghans/TATFILM 2003)
Morgenroth, Max Hopp, Jutta Wachowiak, Barbara Morawiecz,
Inge Blau Format DigiBeta, color, Dolby Digital Shooting
Language German Shooting in and around
Wahrenberg/Saxony-Anhalt, November - December 2003
German Distributor Zephir Filmverleih GmbH/Cologne
Contact:
TATFILM GmbH · Christine Ruppert
Rosentalgasse 13 · 04105 Leipzig/Germany
phone +49-3 41-23 479012 · fax +49-3 41-23 479015
email: info@tatfilm
Originally, Saxonia Media had been developing this film which
marks the first in the Debut Film series launched by regional
public fund Mitteldeutsche Medienfoerderung (MDM) and
broadcaster MDR in autumn 2002, but TATFILM was then
approached to take over the handling of the production of
Beate F. Neumann’s first feature since the Bavaria Film subsidiary
is not allowed to co-produce feature film projects.
As part of the Debut Film initiative, MDM and MDR agree to
jointly finance the production of low-budget debut films which
are clearly located in the region and where the total production
costs do not exceed €750,000.
The story written by Thomas Schwank focuses on a
woman (played by Claudia Geisler) who lost her daughter in
an accident and has to overcome the pain, grief and feelings of
guilt about wanting to resume her own life. The film opens on
what would have been the little girl’s fifth birthday. Imke is in
danger of being destroyed by the death of her child. Her husband
Volker understands her pain, but wishes that normality
would gradually return to their lives. He loves her, but doesn’t
know how they can find their way back to an everyday routine
together. Of all people, it is the village’s outsider Waller who is
able to help her come to terms with her suffering by bringing a
dark story from the past to the surface again.
”The location in Wahrenberg was perfect for the film,“ says producer
Christine Ruppert, ”because the story has to do with
the former inner German border and the past. Some 80% of the
locations were in the village and it was very pleasant shooting
there. It was particularly good for a debut that we could be
mainly in one location and didn’t have the upheaval of moving
from one place to another.“
Ruppert recalls that the production suffered a blow when DoP
Juergen Heimlich had to bow out due to injury in the middle
of production, but she was luckily able to bring Rali
Raltschev, the DoP on Samsara and Portrait of a Married
Couple (Erste Ehe), onboard. ”He was fantastic because he was
able to align himself to Juergen’s style of camerawork so that
everything will be uniform.“
The psychological drama will be completed by the spring, just in
time for the summer festival circuit.
kino 1 in production
2004 31
MB