Kick Film GmbH

2022, 90 min
by Matthias Heeder

Inflation is hitting with full force: Even in rich industrialized countries, many people suddenly don’t even have enough money to feed themselves properly or pay their bills. "Inflation is a kind of power struggle," says economic historian Adam Tooze. "Who's going to be able to pay the rising prices, and who's going to be the loser?" Why is inflation now suddenly an issue again in Europe or the United States? What are central banks doing about it? Our film shows which mechanisms have contributed to the return of inflation and how people from different social milieus react to it - in Germany, France, Turkey and the US.

Germany 2022, 52 min
by Mahyar Goudarzi

A look behind the scenes of one of the biggest revolutions in Pop Culture in the last 20 years.Korean Pop music, or K-Pop for short, is captivating an entire generation worldwide. At the latest after BTS became the first group since The Beatles to get 3 number one hits in the US within one year, K-Culture is known everywhere also in the USA and Europe. We explore this phenomenon and take a look behind the scenes of a perfectly orchestrated machinery. In the process, young talents let us share their dreams and fears, their successes and failures - without knowing where this journey will lead.

Germany 2021, 98 min
by Axel Brüggemann

Richard Wagner is more than just music, he is a social phenomenon, a question of belief, and the Bayreuth Festival is the world's most important mecca for the cult of Wagner. GLOBAL WAGNER is a cheeky trip around the world of Wagnerians, from Venice to Latvia, Israel, Abu Dhabi and the US all the way to Japan – in between passion and music, politics, culture, glamour, rehearsals and bratwurst. How, to until this day, did such massive hype and such a cult following develop all over the world around this highly controversial artist for whom there only seems to be either lovers or haters?  With: Katharina Wagner, Christian Thielemann, Valery Gergiev, Plácido Domingo, Alex Ross, Piotr Beczala, Anja Harteros, Barrie Kosky, Catherine Foster, Kevin Maynor, Sheik Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh, Ronald Perlwitz, Jonathan Livny, Georg Rauch, Ulrike Rauch

2019, 90 min
by Matthias Heeder, Monika Hielscher

Around the globe, rights of use of marine and coastal zones are being reallocated – an investigation into the consequences of ocean grabbing.Around the globe, the rights of use and ownership of marine and coastal zones are being reallocated. In line with global market rules and largely kept hidden from the public, changing national and international legislation is leading to a development that is overruling the traditional rights of use of local commmunities. Fishermen and coastal inhabitants are being deprived of their livelihoods. The beneficiaries of this gradual process of privatisation and commercialisation are international corporations, organisations and states. Known as „ocean grabbing“, the consequences of this development are in evidence on all kinds of levels: from international trade with fishing licences, the privatisation of entire coastal regions for industrial and tourism projects, to the environment protection measures of the United Nations‘ Blue Carbon Initiative. Western democracies, the EU, US and international organisations such as the World Trade Organisation and World Bank are the key promoters and beneficiaries of this reallocation. This investigative documentary examines the consequences of these new global structures based on four examples in India, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica and Kenya.

Germany 2018, 90 min
by Luigi Falorni, Roland Wagner

When author Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa died in 1957 he was penniless. But one year later his only novel, 'Il Gattopardo', was published and went on to become a global success with more than 13 million copies sold to this day. In 1963, Luchino Visconti's film adaptation, starring Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon, received a Palme d'Or in Cannes. However, hidden behind the genesis of 'Il Gattopardo' there is a true love story – which almost outshines the novel: that of the author and his German-Baltic wife, the psychoanalyst Alexandra Wolff-Stomersee.

Germany 2018, 90 min
by Gints Grube, Jaak Kilmi

As a young Soviet student in 1978, Ieva could not have predicted that a holiday visit to her father, Imants Lešinskis, then working in the Soviet mission at the UN in New York, would irreversibly split her life in two. Entangled in a dark spy game, she is forced to leave her former life behind, never to see her mother or her homeland of Latvia again. Pulling back the curtain on the shady behind-the-scenes world of the Cold War, this film tells a daughter’s dramatic story of her double-agent father, exploring their relationship against the backdrop of events which have their roots over four decades ago.In order to find herself and understand the game she was part of, Ieva sets out on a journey to the past, confronting family secrets, lies and betrayal.

Germany 2017, 90 min
by Christian Weisenborn

In LILI MARLEEN, Rainer Werner Fassbinder plays a resistance fighter battling against the Hitler regime. His name: Günther Weisenborn. Christian Weisenborn tells the dramatic life story of his father: As one of few members in his group the 'Red Orchestra' he barely escaped execution, but his life-long efforts to reinvigorate his friends sentenced to death by Hitler’s judges, had failed. For the entire Cold War and up until 2009, the group was treated as KGB agents and traitors to the country while former Nazis started working for the US intelligence. An intimate and unfettered quest by a son to understand the identity of his father; a look back at the Berlin of the 1930s and a special group of friends who loved life and, in the darkest hours of German history, ultimately chose good over evil.90 or 52mins, German or English version available.

Germany 2017, 90 min
by Toni Schmid

Best Opera House, Best Orchestra, Best Conductor, Best Opera Production, Best Young Singer… for decades the Bavarian State Opera has been showered in international awards. OPERA is the first film about this unique establishment, a declaration of love for an art form that is so often unjustly characterized as elitist and for the people who so passionately practice that art.The audience witnesses how three opera productions come to life: Richard Wagner’s DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG, Jean-Philippe Rameau’s LES INDES GALANTES and Giuseppe Verdi’s BALLO IN MASCHERA and is introduced to the Bavarian State Ballet during their work for Ludwig Minkus’ LA BAYADÈRE.With: Jonas Kaufmann, Anja Harteros, Kirill Petrenko, Zubin Mehta, Ivor Bolton, Igor Zelensky, Nikolaus Bachler, Sir Peter Jonas…

2016, 52 min
by Karl Teuschl

Every winter, ice roads are built across hundreds of miles in Canada’s far north, connecting frozen rivers and lakes, and stretching up to the very northern tip of the country by the Arctic Ocean. For the people living in the remote villages of this region these ’ice highways‘ are of vital importance. Until April, trucks are coming up here all the way from down south, bringing supply goods for the whole year to these locals, and life changes until the ice roads are melting again and disappear into the ocean.

2012, 104 min
by Jörg Bundschuh, Matthias Heeder, Nigel McCarthy

From Bazar to Wall Street:After the financial crisis and the events of the Arab Spring the Western world has been exposed to an alternative, religion-influenced system of economics called Islamic Finance. Indeed, in the shadows of our conventional financial system, Islamic states have developed another option that appears to have been less affected by the crises of recent years. But what is really behind this concept, how did it emerge, and what makes it different from the standard system? From the corporate law firms of London, Europe's centers of Islamic Finance, to the experts and key figures in Turkey, Bahrain, Qatar, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, we find out more about the differences, similarities, and problems within a system that Western economists believe will have a decisive influence on the 21st century.The Price of Paradise:The world’s highest concentration of Muslims is in Southeast Asia, Indonesia alone has about 200 million believers. In Malaysia, Indonesia but also in Singapore Islam is far more liberal than its counterpart in the Arab states, and as such it seems to play a smaller role in daily life, but it is here that a religion-based Islamic Banking concept is showing its most robust growth – figures that Western banks could only dream of. The basics of the system forbid interest charges, and proscribe dealings in industries related to pork products, weapons, gambling or pornography. With its promise of backing all banking transactions with real values, can Islamic Finance and Banking provide the security that Western banks and their increasingly speculative methods no longer guarantee?

Germany 2010, 90 min
by Dagmar Brendecke

Cato Bontjes van Beek's childhood was paradise. She, her sister Mietje and their brother Tim were very close In the 1930s Cato moves to Berlin. Here she learns the truth about the war and the cruelties in the occupied countries. She is stunned and gets involved in the "Rote Kapelle", a resistance organisation. Together with her sister Mietje, she organizes help for prisoners of war. With her friend Heinz Strelow she types leaflets against the war. Cato did what she could. Highly risky perhaps however, in every respect courageous and resolute. She is imprisoned and sentenced to death. In 1943, at the age of 22 Cato is guillotined in Berlin-Ploetzensee, together with 15 other woman and men. This film discovers the short and yet very full life of a an extraordinary woman.

Germany 2009
by Maria Blumencron

This is the story of a mountain pass at nearly 6,000 meters on the border between Tibet and Nepal. For thousands of Tibetan refugees it has been the gateway to freedom – for many others it has been a fatal gauntlet. It is the life story of Kelsang Jigme, a legend among the refugee guides. It is the story of 6 children sent by their parents into exile and of their parents who had to stay back in Tibet. It is a story of imprisonment and torture- and the allegory of a love that knows no borders.Finally, it is the story of a family of kindred spirits formed over the years by all of the protagonists: the children, their mothers, the guides and the filmmaker herself. Ten years of destiny reflect the dreams, strength and hope of a people that has never before been so threatened by its own demise.

Germany 2006, 92 min
by Christa Graf

In Uganda, AIDS-infected mothers have begun writing what they call Memory Books for their children. In front of the small brick house Dennis and Chrissi brush their teeth every evening in the dim glow of the oil lamp. The 10-year-old watches his little sister conscientiously as they get ready for bed. Since their mother died of AIDS two years ago they are both orphans, two of more than two million of their kind in Uganda. There are few countries in Africa that have more households run by orphaned children and, despite extensive efforts by the government to raise awareness, experts on the subject predict that nearly 35% of Uganda's population is infected with HIV. When the parents die, the children are forced to look after themselves. A very special project has emerged in Uganda as a result: Memory Books, written by infected parents, mostly mothers, and their children. Aware of the illness, it is a way for the family to come to terms with the inevitable death that it faces. Openly, honestly and compassionately, the books give the children a chance to prepare themselves for life on their own. Values and traditions are passed on in the form of stories, fairytales and songs and the family's history is recorded with the children\'s favorite memories or their parent\'s wishes for the future. The books not only capture immeasurably valuable memories, but also allow members of the family to process some gruesome realities and prepare for the future. Hopelessness and desperation are confronted through the collaborative effort of remembering and recording, a process that inspires unexpected strength and even solace in the face of death. These books will likely be the most important guidelines that these orphans have to lead them through life. German, English, French (dubbed versions), Spanish, Italian (original version with subtitles)

Germany 2017, 89 min
by Diego Pascal Panarello

After years drifting, Diego returns to Sicily. His dream of becoming a musician has not worked out. He has no job and no plans for the future but the sound of an ancient musical instrument, the mouth harp, points the way. From the torrid coasts of Sicily, Diego journeys to the frozen flatlands of Yakutia in Siberia where he becomes part of a prophecy from a century ago. The ‘sound of happiness’ is at last there.––––––––––––––––––––––––––After twenty years, the failed musician Diego returns to his Sicilian hometown of Augusta with no money, job or perspectives. In a dream he has a vision of a Jew’s harp, called Marranzano in Italian. The half vibrant, half buzzing sound of this small musical instrument echoes in the chant of the omnipresent cicadas – and in the sound of an electric shaver. After some initial research at the local souvenir shop, Diego soon finds himself in freezing Yakutia, where the Jew’s harp is called Khomus and considered a lucky charm. In Siberia Diego also meets the most famous Khomus player in the world, a generally respected blacksmith with a striking resemblance to the master from “The Karate Kid”, and learns about the rich mythology of the instrument. People say, for example, that one of the best Marranzani flew into space one night to be played by a Russian cosmonaut. Diego’s research on the universal history of the Jew’s harp merges with the story of his personal pursuit of happiness, while his journey is driven in equal measure by self-questioning, ethnographical interest and associative enthusiasm. (DOK Leipzig, Esther Buss)