Films by Dirk Manthey

Finland, Germany 2022, 95 min
by Tania Anderson

Every year, over 60,000 missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (most commonly referred to as Mormons) are sent across the world to preach their gospel. The Mission follows four American LDS teenagers who receive a mission from God that takes them from their families and the safety of their remote, religion-filled bubbles to the frozen, forested lands of Finland, home of Europe’s most non-religious, private and skeptical people. The journey they embark on will prove to be the most emotionally and psychologically challenging period of their young lives. As these wide-eyed, impassioned teens struggle with missing their families, language hurdles, aching feet, and daily rejection, they are pushed beyond their limits, falling deeper into their faith.

Germany 2014, 87 min
by Irene Bude, Olaf Sobczak

„What’s gone is gone! And will never come back!“, Andreas says vigorously. He has been living in the post-war modernist „Esso-Houses“ since 1988. With the „Esso-Häuser Action Group“ he is fighting against the demolotion of his home, planned by one of the biggest players on Germany’s real estate market. For two years the film team has accompanied him and many of his neighbours and fellow campaigners: in the houses, in the flats, at demonstrations and brushmobs, at meetings with archititects in Paris, at press conferences and political discussions.The „Esso-Houses“ are gaining fame far beyond Hamburg – they have become a symbol for gentrification and the resistance against it. After all, in 2014 the houses are gone. Knocked down. Also gone are the name-giving petrol station, the music clubs, the motel and the tenants – in short: many places and people that shaped the face of St. Pauli. But the achievement of the action group remains, the tenants now know how to exercise their rights. So this is not the end of the story: The people of St. Pauli insist to have a say in the development of the site.