Films by Bernd Meiners

Germany 2021, 58 min
by Anja Krug-Metzinger

What do animal emotions tell us about ourselves? Where did the human begin and the animal end? This science documentary takes you on a moving journey through the history of feelings and the intellect - with Jane Goodall, Frans de Waal and Volker Sommer.Chimpanzees wage war, behavioural experiments demonstrate that they also show compassion, cooperation, fairness and reciprocity. They reconcile after fights and comfort each other. Chimpanzee societies have customs and traditions that vary from place to place. Is the emergence of morality and culture not a purely human achievement after all?

2019, 52 min
by Markus Augé

He was a patron of science and a reformer on the one hand, a brutal power-seeker on the other. Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, king and Holy Roman Emperor from 1212 to 1250, was a man full of contradictions.He was a patron of science, a reformer, and might even be called the first modern ruler. Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1212 to 1250, was an exceptional figure on the Roman-German imperial throne. Born and raised in the multi- ethnic state of Sicily, his reign was influenced by Byzantine and Norman traditions that allowed Jews and Muslims a large degree of freedom. All the royal houses in Europe are said to have looked up to him in awe. He saw himself as successor to the Roman emperors and ruler by the grace of God – a notion that was bound to collide with the Pope’s claim to universal power. Frederick waged a bitter battle to maintain his power with five different popes. The Church excommunicated him several times and branded him a heretic and anti-Christ. Frederick responded with the sword, for the power- hungry emperor was prepared to resort to brutal violence to defend his supremacy. He even arrested his own son and left him to rot in the dungeon. A ruler rife with contradictions and a man who, 800 years after his death, has lost nothing of his fascination.

Germany 2019, 128 min
by Anne Andersen

An essayistic approach to the rural beekeepers‘ fight for survival and the endurance of a lively culture that has largely disappeared from view. The filmmaker, who has kept bees herself since childhood, follows the daily working life of beekeepers in the countryside of West Mecklenburg.What is often overlooked, ignored, forgotten, comes into play in Heiner Müller‘s comedy ‘The Resettled Woman’, rehearsed by stage director Armin Petras with actors, farmers, beekeepers in Ludwigslust. The play, which was initially banned in East Germany due to its criticism of agricultural reforms, shows parallels with the problems of today. The film is a polyphonic essay on the creativity of the area‘s remaining inhabitants, and the rural living experiences.Armin Petras‘ staging of Heiner Müller‘s “The Resettled Woman” among others with Ute Kämpfer, Anja Schneider, Amos Detscher, Marlene Eiberger, Mervan Ürkmez, Christoph Goetz

Germany 2017, 88 min
by Ulrike Pfeiffer

January 2017 saw the death of Werner Nekes, one of Germany's most significant experimental film-makers. He made more than 100 films, often closely linked to his gigantic collection of 40,000 cinematic artefacts. From 1967 to 1978, Nekes lived in Hamburg, at the time the centre of the innovative German film scene. In his capacity as professor at the University of the Visual Arts, he introduced his students to the ideas of radical cinema. Film excerpts tell of Nekes' "life among the pictures", along with conversations with contemporaries like Bernd Upnmoor, Alexander Kluge, Klaus Wyborny and Helge Schneider. An impressive portrait of a man who lived for film. The commentary is spoken by Hannelore Hoger. (Filmfest Hamburg)

2016, 60 min
by Beatrix Schwehm

Once again, Beatrix Schwehm follows a German-Algerian family – this time as they make a fresh start in Algeria. An illuminating look at a different world. Louise is the only daughter of an artistic, liberal German family. She marries Mohamed, a Muslim from Algeria. Louise converts to Islam and lives a life of serious commitment to the faith.She misbehaves and scandalises people. The two have now been married for 15 years and live with their three children in Germany. Their older daughter Sainab is eleven, their son is seven and the younger daughter is nine months old. In complete opposition to the current trend, in which millions of people are escaping the African continent, the family makes an unusual decision. They emigrate from Germany to Algeria.The film follows them for two years as they bravely try to live between two fundamentally different cultures. The second part of along-term documentary trilogy, whose first section LUISE – EINE DEUTSCHE MUSLIMA won 2007 an Adolf Grimme Prize.

Germany 2013, 90 min
by Eva Gerberding

A concierge is a man for every occasion and question. No part of human nature is alien to him. He fulfils all wishes and is always of the utmost discretion. However, we are granted the privilege to have a look behind the scenes. The film CONCIERGES introduces three concierges at grand hotels to the viewer, and takes a closer look at their daily life. Berlin, Moscow, Paris - these cities have always formed a thrilling triangle and the guests of the grand hotels are a representation of this. We ask three concierges for their advice, their assessment and their experiences.

Germany 2013, 90 min
by André Schäfer, Eva Gerberding

A look at the end of the last Czar and his family at the hand of the Bolsheviks, and the 4 centuries of grand, bloody and war-torn history that proceeded it - the might of the double-eagle throne fascinates us to this day. The killing lasted 20 minutes. Czar Nikolaus II. was the first to die – shot in the heart with a pistol at close range. Then the Bolsheviks shot his wife Alexandra Fyodorovna, his daughters Olga, Tatyana, Maria, Anastasia, the heir apparent Alexei, and four employees of the royal family. The death of the Romanovs marked the end of a dynasty reaching back to the crowning of Michail Romanov in July 1613. The Czars always ruled their huge empire with an iron fist – which in the end became their undoing. 400 years of Romanov rule – 4 centuries of grandiose and fateful European and Russian history.  This doc presents never-before-seen archive footage, shot in awe-inspiring and newly-restored locations in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, told in fast-paced yet dramatic style. (Global Screen)

Germany 2012, 87 min
by Beatrix Schwehm

The Bengalese architect MOHAMMED REZWAN builds library boats that can bring books to people even during the monsoon season. The Mongolian author of children’s books, JAMBYN DASHDONDOG, packs two boxes full of books each summer to provide reading material to children in remote areas. The Kenyan librarian ABDULLAHI OSMAN leads caravans of camels loaded with boxes of books to the nomadic tribes bordering Somalia. Despite the heat, wind, rain or snow, they still manage their long journeys - by foot along the unpaved dusty trails of Kenia, by boat through waterways of Bangladesh or by jeep and yak wagons over the Mongolian Plateau. A film about the love of literature and the respect for knowledge that accepts no boundaries.

Germany, Taiwan 2012, 83 min
by Monika Treut (Hyena Films e.K.)

THE RAW AND THE COOKED is a documentary exploration of Taiwan's rich culinary traditions and their relationship to the island's unique culture. Taiwan has one of the best and most diverse cuisines in Asia, as food is the foremost passion of its 23 million inhabitants. Taiwan is also a densely populated island. Urbanisation is proceeding while agriculture is in decline. But, there is a growing movement for environmental protection. In our tour around the island’s coastal regions we seek out people who are making a difference with innovative projects to create a sustainable food system.

Germany 2012, 106 min
by Philip Scheffner

On June 29th, 1992 a farmer discovers two bodies in a corn field in the North East of Germany. Police enqiries lead to the fact that the dead men are Romanian citizens. During the attempt to cross the EU border, they have been shot by hunters. The hunters claim that they had mistaken the people for wild boar. Four years later, the trial begins. It will never be proved, which of the hunters has fired the fatal bullet. The verdict: not guilty. German Press Agency dpa reports: 'From Romania, noone has arrived for the rendition of judgement.' The police files contain the names and adress of Grigore Velcu and Eudache Calderar. However, their families never even got to know, that a trial had been held. With REVISION, a legally terminated crime case becomes the subject of a cinematic revision. Places, individuals, and memories are being connected, and form a fragile pattern from different versions and perspectives of contemporary European history.

Germany, France 2011, 97 min
by Angelina Maccarone

Breaker of taboos, icon avant-gardist – to capture the persona Rampling is a cinematic adventure that can only succeed by being as brave as she has been throughout her career. Staged in countless films and photographs as the classic 'object of desire', The Look takes on her perspective, we see the world through her eyes. Far beyond anecdotic trivia or linear biography Charlotte Rampling fearlessly fathoms the major questions of life with companions and soul mates such as Peter Lindbergh and Paul Auster. "Exposure is huge. I never thought I’d either be an actor or a model or anything like that. It wasn’t something I desired. But once you put your foot in it, and I did put my foot in it very young, and it takes off, it’s quite a beast, it’s quite devouring. Because we have to find a way that you are not invaded all the time by lenses and by people looking … and by that." World Sales: MK2 S.A | 55, rue Traversière | 75012 Paris | France | Phone: +33 1 44 67 30 00 | intlsales@mk2.com

Germany 2010, 100 min
by Philip Scheffner

DAY OF THE SPARROW is a political wildlife documentary. It tells the story of a country where theborder between war and peace is disappearing. On November 14th , 2005 a sparrow is shot dead in Leeuwarden, and in Kabul a German soldier dies. These competing headlines are the starting point for director Philip Scheffner, to trace the war using the methods of an ornithologist. On his journey through Germany, the camera circuits a reality of the war – by capturing images of apparent peace.Dialogue fragments are wafting through deserted landscapes. Birds remain in the focus, becoming our guides to hidden places where the war is produced. And then, a sudden change of perspective: An arrest takes place on a Brandenburg country lane. The birdwatchers themselves become the targets of observation.

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?