GLOTZENOFF Leers / Ben Yakov GbR

Germany 2023, 93 min
by André Krummel, Pablo Ben Yakov

A retired gay sex worker wants to get into politics. Leading a cosmopolitan and queer life, he is not the typical 'little man', but an intellectual without a university degree and bon vivant with addiction problems. Born a German Christian, he now lives as a Jewish Israeli in Tel Aviv and Berlin, in a relationship with a young Shanghainese man whose seemingly endless wealth provides for his dissolute lifestyle. GOLDHAMMER looks behind the facade of a millennial on his way to becoming a populist and traces a turbulent biography that could hardly be any more contradictory, but for that very reason seems to suit our times perfectly.

Germany 2021, 86 min
by Erik Lemke

Despite the homeopathic doctors studying medicine, they treat their patients against the basis of scientific knowledge. Allegations of fraud surround the topic. What remains of homeopathy when it's robbed of its beautiful imagery, when suddenly the documentary focuses strictly on the language and expression of it’s protagonists? In the film, some of the worlds leading homeopaths embark on adventurous explanations of their popular belief system.

Romania, Germany, Finland 2020, 86 min
by Radu Ciorniciuc

For two decades, the Enache family—nine kids and their parents—lived in a shack in the wilderness of Bucharest Delta: an abandoned water reservoir, one of the biggest urban natural reservations in the world, with lakes and hundreds of species of animals and rare plants. When the authorities decide to claim back this rare urban ecosystem, the Enache family is evicted and told to resettle in the city—a reality they know nothing about. Kids that used to spend their days in nature have to learn about city life, go to school instead of swimming in the lake, and swap their fishing rods for mobile phones. Their identity has been questioned and transformed, along with their sense of freedom and family ties.Radu Ciorniciuc’s heartbreaking debut is a thoughtful study of gentrification, seen through the eyes of a family trying to adapt to the new life they never asked for. Is it better to go back to their “paradise lost,” with its life free yet harsh, or to become part of the society that offers comforts but comes with pressures and conflict? [Sundance]

Germany 2018, 96 min
by Pablo Ben Yakov

Max „Adlersson“ Herzberg, 20 years old, reviews all sorts of things, talks about himself, bawls in town, cracks borderline jokes and crosses every boundary he sees – Max is a YouTube creator and makes a decent living off of it. Most of Max’s friends have their own channels. They are dubious role models, but without a doubt celebrities of their generation. LORD OF THE TOYS portrays him and his gang during one summer and studies the milieu, in which their life style is thriving: the West in general and East Germany in particular.Jury Statement DOK Leipzig, Golden Dove German Competition:The prize for the best German documentary film is awarded to Lord of the Toys by director Pablo Ben Yakov and cameraman André Krummel, because it is smart, differentiating, extremely courageous and full of a painful political topicality. And it satisfies the requirement a good documentary film must have: It helps people getting to understand what’s going on elsewhere. The film shows the everyday life of a group of Dresden-based youtubers, boys, a few girls, no adults for miles around, who are straddling close to right-wing positions out of boredom and forlornness; and, in doing so, have several hundred thousand followers in the social media. They are seeking to create a world, in which they obtain reputation, although it will prevent the fulfillment of their needs at the same time. Trust and closeness. The filmmakers have taken to crossing a border; they get involved in a completely different milieu, with a different generation and accept another political stance, so as to seriously get to the bottom of things of what you read in the dailies is a danger for our democracy. They go down as deeply as possible, right down to the deepest depths. They try not to evaluate matters with biased, preconceived schemata. Nor do they anywhere lose their own stance and critical distance. They want to understand something, namely the dynamics which makes whole groups of young people slide into radicalism. The film is excellent without falling into routine or being too serene. It is an affectionate film, far beyond any empty phrases. And besides, it is deeply impressive – under both aesthetic and dramaturgical aspects. Given its format, the film makes an unprecedented contribution to understand what’s just going on in our world. Sometimes you hear remarks about films that they hurt – this one really hurts, partly physically. But for a good reason.