Films by Ben Becker

Germany 2021, 94 min
by Oliver Hirschbiegel

THE PAINTER follows the artist/actor as he is struggling and suffering along this process with us watching in joyful despair and what might happen next until the white canvas has turned into a finished painting. The outcome is a one-man rollercoaster that appears to be a documentary but in fact is a staged and guided improvisation with the ‘real’ process happening behind the camera. THE PAINTER is a constant flow of the artist’s journey with elements of farce and comedy topped with emotional moments of truth… in front of and behind the camera and leaving it up to us to decide what is real and/or authentic.Being one of the most significant, contemporary painters, Albert Oehlen’s approach is complete refusal of the common art circus. In its own way the Film reflects this very stance. Likewise, it questions the purpose of obsolete thinking patterns created by white straight male artists of a certain age that have dominated the art world for centuries.

Germany 2021, 72 min
by Oliver Schwehm

Helmut Schreiber alias Kalanag is one of the most controversial entertainers. As the "court magician of the Nazis", he enchanted parties for Goebbels and entertained the masses at NSDAP events. At the same time, he was responsible for propaganda films. After the war, he turned his hobby into a profession and started an international career as the world's greatest post-war magician neglecting his past . Helmut Schreiber's unbelievable career is a perfect example of unlimited merciless complicity and the suppression of the Nazi past after 1945.