Films by Anja Theismann

Germany 2014, 180 min
by Sebastian Lemke, Jonas Niewianda, André Schäfer, Viktor Stauder

This series accompanies the geographer, photographer and explorer Michael Martin on five of his unique desert expeditions. Michael Martin's goal is to compare the world’s most spectacular hot and indeed cold deserts. Over the course of three years he has undertaken 40 expeditions to 24 locations and circled the globe four times. He not only documents the fantastic landscapes in his photographs but also the people who live under these most extreme circumstances. Of these 24 locations, we have chosen five destinations to be featured in the first season of MICHAEL MARTIN – A DESERT ADVENTURE. We accompany him on dog sleds, helicopters, ships and planes and – whenever possible – on his motorbike.

Germany 2009, 58 min
by Werner Koehne, André Schäfer

No other person has had quite as much influence on modernity as John Calvin, one of Europe's greatest reformers of the 16th century. 500 years span between his lifetime and ours. Today he has been seemingly forgotten by many, while most of those who do remember him regard him as a character shrouded by clichés. One paints him as a homourless spoil sport, while another one sets him up to be the inventor of sadomasochistic Christianity. Beyond his ever-changing image in history one thing remains: this industrious ascetic has not only presented us with a fundamental component for the reformation, but also greatly influenced our modernway of life, as well as our perception of work ethics and individuality. Who was this John Calvin? And what drove him to develop the doctrine, that would later be called Calvinism and appeal to masses all over the world, even today?