Films by Constantin Hatz

2023, 90 min
by Constantin Hatz

A person took his own life. The suicide note comprised 67 letters which, in their given order, resulted in 13 words. 'Suicide. No autopsy needed. Hand over notes about my existence to Constantin Hatz.'In 2015, the director’s best friend took his own life. This person, who never found a new home after fleeing the Yugoslavian war as a child, wrote notes for years, contemplating his existence. They contain a self-reflection on his life, which was shaped by war and escape. After his death, a text was created from the extensive writings he left behind, which sets the documentary foundation of the film. Constantin Hatz uses an ensemble of six non-actors and actors in five episodes, to bring his best friend's thoughts into a cinematic plot. The choice of characters and locations has no direct connection with the author of the notes himself – but is based on five essential stages of his life. A truck driver, two guests in a workers' housing, a lumberjack, a nurse, and a theater actress reproduce this monologue in first person. These characters tell a life story that isn’t their own but has been lived by someone else, bringing the director's lost friend back into existence.

Germany 2018, 95 min
by Constantin Hatz

The regulars’ table is a place for passions, desires, fears and political discourse. A place where you can spend your free time and a place that offers people space for the imagination of their own happiness. The film focuses on people who meet up on a regular basis and for whom these regular get-togethers have a special meaning. What connects these people is not only their desire for a cold beer or a conversation, but rather a fervent passion they share with one another. Whether in a clubhouse, a hunting lodge or a living room – deep passions dwell at these meeting places and intense connections develop between the people who come together there.The film portrays stories about animals, physicality, the lust for suffering, guns, politics, traditions and all kinds of spooky things. Like a mosaic’s tesserae, the regular meeting places are all different. But not until one observes the finished mosaic image one recognizes the self-contained world within.(FF Hof)