Films by Birgit Schulz

2024, 104 min
by Doris Metz

Petra Kelly was one of the most influential political personalities of the 20th century, a figurehead of the peace movement and co-founder of the first green party to find success. Her life was one of achievements, its end a tragedy.Petra Kelly was one of the most influential political figures of the 20th century. In 1980, she co-founded the German Green Party, the world’s first green party to rise to prominence. She fought relentlessly for radical social change, disarmament and a society at one with nature. For Kelly, environment, peace and human rights issues were one. At the age of 44, she was murdered by her long-time friend and political companion. Raised by her mother and grandmother, she grew up in 1960s America and campaigned for Robert Kennedy’s election in the months before his assassination. Petra Kelly was convinced that a single person could change the world. Influenced by the American civil rights movement and Martin Luther King’s concept of “civil disobedience”, she campaigned to protect the environment and ban uranium mining, demonstrating solidarity with the peace movements in both the East and West. Today, her spiritual legacy is continued by many young climate activists. The issues that concerned her are more topical today than ever before. Close friends and companions talk about Kelly’s personal and political life for the first time. With previously unseen international film footage, the film paints a picture of a sensitive, unwavering woman who let no one -stand in her way. [NEW DOCS catalogue]

Germany 2023, 90 min
by Julia Charakter

Korntal – a little town in the south of Germany, is the scene of the greatest abuse scandal ever to rock the Protestant Church. An estimated 150 former children from homes run by the Pietist Brotherhood have broken their silence: They are revealing the physical and mental horrors to which they were exposed. Many of them were victims of sexualized violence at an early age. The 9,000-person town have responded to the accusations with disbelief and denial. They cannot imagine that this could have happened in their God-fearing town. The film is sensitive portrait of 6 protagonists, who are telling their stories.

Germany 2022, 94 min
by Birgit Schulz

A smart and unsparing documentary portrait of art adviser Helge Achenbach. It starts with him being sentenced to jail for defrauding his clients for tens of millions. The emerging character is fascinatingly complex and controversial, brokering extremely expensive and giant artworks first to banks and corporations, then to celebrity billionaires. It's no wonder his life's story is closely related to the absurd developments of prices for modern art over the last forty years. [FFCGN 2022]

Switzerland, Germany 2020, 104 min
by Luzia Schmid

Prosperity on the one side, misery on the other: just how directly the two can be connected comes to light in Luzia Schmid’s film about the meteoric rise of her hometown of Zug upon becoming a tax haven.Swiss filmmaker Luzia Schmid traces the rise of her hometown of Zug and its townspeople, who have succeeded in becoming very rich by converting their town into one of the world’s leading tax havens. Even her immediate family is implicated in Zug’s politics and economy. And yet a tax haven is also part of the wider economy and thus we also learn about international rivalries in the tax game: the invention of the first shell company, the carefully guarded banking secrecy and the development of offshore tax shelters. “Race to the bottom” is a phrase often used to describe this destructive momentum, which, with tax scandals involving companies like Apple, Amazon and Starbucks, reached its low point in the financial crisis of 2008. In Zug, success came with its fair share of problems, too: shady commercial lawyers and commodities dealers settled down here, plundering Third World countries from their safe base in Switzerland. The town came to symbolise the injustices of this world. Luzia Schmid seeks out answers about morals and motivation and charts the town’s position in the international tax game. A business film with a personal take on the rise of a Swiss tax haven evolves into a radical and subtle reflection on double standards and collective repression.

Netherlands, Germany 2020, 103 min
by Pieter-Rim de Kroon

Silence of the Tides is a cinematic tribute to the Wadden Sea,the world’s largest, and most varied, uninterrupted intertidal area, extending along the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark.The film plays witness to the rough, yet fragile relationship between man and nature as it pulsates with the inhaling and exhaling of the tides. It’s a hypnotizing large screen look into the cycles and contrasts of the seasons: life and death, storm and silence, the masses and the individual. All set against a larger than life backdrop of sky, water, wind, mist and constantly changing light.With his observational style and cinematic eye for detail, director Pieter-Rim de Kroon presents the Wadden region as one massive, living breathing organism, where all the elements interlock, influenced by the position of the Moon and Sun, and the magical energy from the Cosmos. (Windmill Film)

Germany 2017, 90 min
by Claudia Schmid

In Bangladesh, in Benin, in the DR Congo, yet also in Germany: violence against women is ever present.The film delves into the lives of women who have been subjected to horrific violence, yet managed to fight their way free. They talk about the violence that has been inflicted upon them, their struggle for survival, their hopes and their current attempts to build a new life. And the men? Many of them describe violence against women as a normal part of their everyday lives. If a woman has been hit, she deserved it. If she defends herself, he threatens to take away her children.Claudia Schmid spent intense moments with the protagonists. She captured images of their painfulmemories and dreams. It is only the strength of these women that allows them to break out of a multi-generational cycle of violence.90mins, 52mins or 45mins, Bengali/Fon/Mashi/English/French version with English or German subtitles available

Germany, Netherlands 2017, 90 min
by Karin Jurschick

Shortly after 9/11, the US Congress passed a law to protect US airlines from decades of civil law suits and created a fund for compensating victims of disasters who agreed not to sue. Lawyer and mediator Ken Feinberg had to decide how much money was to be received as compensation. He met family members personally doing thousands of interviews. He thought that the value of a life was an easy calculation: how high is the economic loss? How old was the person, but Feinberg discovered that facing those left behind was far less easy. This is Feinberg’s story of highly emotional dilemmas as told by himself, as he took the role of ‘Playing God.’ MORE ON FILMA film about a charismatic lawyer acting as an interface between capital and justice, about US politics and about people who have suddenly lost their loved ones, their health or their livelihood.Why is the life of a fire-fighter who died a hero in the Twin Towers on September 11 worth on average a million euros less than that of a stockbroker who lost his life in the same disaster? How much money should oil giant BP pay the countless fishermen on the Gulf of Mexico who are fighting for their livelihoods in the wake of the largest oil spill in history? How can hundreds of ailing Vietnam vets be compensated for their suffering, which stems from exposure to Agent Orange? These are questions that almost appear cynical, but not for America’s most famous compensation specialist: Ken Feinberg.After the attacks on 11 September 2001, the US Congress decided to pay compensation to all victims or their families who agreed not to go to court. ONE man was appointed to have sole responsibility for that money: lawyer and mediator Ken Feinberg.In 1984 the Agent Orange case made Feinberg a household name overnight: In the US 250,000 Vietnam veterans sued a number of chemical companies and demanded compensation for death, injury and disease. Feinberg successfully served as special master in the litigation.Hardly a national tragedy has befallen the USA without Feinberg being called upon to play his part. The film takes a close look at Ken Feinberg. Who is this man who is applauded as a modern-day King Solomon and criticised as a heartless Pay Czar? We accompany him on his current high-profile cases. We recall his most challenging cases. We speak with politicians who call in Feinberg when a new disaster strikes, and we interview friends and enemies. We also pay a visit to the victims’ families. Do they feel that they have been fairly treated by America’s “special master”?PLAYING GOD reveals what happens within our Western system of values when economic interests and people’s lives become intertwined by tragedy.

2016, 90 min
by Claudia Schmid

A film about the unimaginable violence against women in the DR Congo and about the political and social system that casts a blind eye on these atrocities. Women are systematically exposed to the brutal practice of rape as a weapon of war. Claudia Schmid gives unknown women a voice and reveals the structures of violence in all their facets. She spent several months travelling through the DR Congo, meeting women in the most remote villages of the rebel territories and winning their trust. In the course of intense talks, the women disclose their traumatic experiences for the first time. In order to illustrate the very complexity of the structure underlying the violence, Claudia Schmid also asks family members about their perspectives and talks to them about their shame and the discrimination. Since sexual violence is a taboo topic, families hardly ever talk about their traumatic experiences. Claudia Schmid deeply immerses herself into the destructive forces by also asking Congolese men about their notion of rights and obligations of both sexes. The film condenses the stories of violence to a polyphonic fugue of different voices thereby determining the dramatic structure of the film.

Germany 2012, 52 min
by Karin Jurschick

They are charming, they lie without scruples and are capable of manipulating their environment. Psychopaths murder and rape without remorse and can still come across as disarmingly pleasant. What’s going on in their minds? As can be seen in films, art and literature, evil - seemingly devoid of morals and law - exerts a fascination over us. Centuries ago, anatomists tried to open human skulls and penetrate the brain. Today, state-of-the-art appliances enable us to scan brains to make inner processes visible. In this documentary, experts present their theories, experiments and results: how can decent people become ruthless murderers?

Germany 2012, 90 min
by Birgit Schulz, Gerhard Schick

A Turkish association in Cologne has commissioned the construction of the largest mosque in Europe - by an architect normally famous for Christian churches. The construction is dividing Cologne residents into vehement opponents and advocates and is also attracting attention nationally. A highly emotional dispute is developing about the integration of Muslims, a dispute which could take place anywhere in Europe. And which is suddenly bringing nationalistic viewpoints to the surface…

Germany 2011, 52 min
by Gerhard Schick

The Marathon des Sables is the world's most difficult extreme footrace: 250km through the Sahara at temperatures of up to 50˚ in the shade. Why do runners put themselves through such torture? Claudia Odekerken has been preparing for the race for a long time. We accompany her during her training and travel with her to the desert. The mixture of fear and euphoria makes this an intensely up close and personal film. During the race it departs from reality and journeys into the runners' inner worlds. In the desert they can leave everything behind, and things emerge which are often suppressed in daily life. The film tells of their pain, their wins and losses, and above all of their battles with themselves. The one who makes it to the finish line is at that moment the happiest person on Earth.

Germany 2011, 45 min
by Peter Scharf, Katja Duregger

A dead soldier's blood-soaked t-shirt; a nun kissing a priest; a gaunt young man with AIDS; all were images used by the fashion label Benetton to advertise its clothing in the 90s. The provocative campaign was the work of Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani, a man who brought topics such as war, racism, the death penalty, and the misery of refugees into the business of advertising. His posters set off a storm of indignation throughout the world; in many places they were banned. Toscani's “Reverse Psychology Marketing” challenges the intelligence and the consciousness of its audience; rather than praising products and tempting people to buy, it seeks to enlighten. The Rage of Images examines the now 68-year-old artist and pioneer of anti-advertising whose career began with fashion shoots for labels such as Fiorucci, Armani and Esprit. It also looks at the private man who broke with Benetton in 2001 and now works independently, designing ad campaigns that go far beyond the mainstream.

Germany 2009
by Birgit Schulz

In the early 1970s, three left-wing lawyers fought against what they saw as the restrictive state apparatus of the Federal Republic of Germany. They defended individuals before the law who had been labeled enemies of the state. Today, one is Germany's former Minister of the Interior, another represents the leftist conscience of the Green Party, and the third is a right-wing extremist in jail for denying the Holocaust. The three lawyers are Otto Schily, Hans-Christian Ströbele und Horst Mahler. They speak with director Birgit Schulz about their experiences defending accused members of the Red Army Faction in the German courts, about their ideals, and about the aspirations for the future which they shared at that time ­ and also about what became of them in the end. Each of the three believes that he has remained true to his convictions.