Films by Fabian Helpenstein

Germany 2025, 79 min
by Michael Schwarz

An unconventional undertaker and his team want to change radically how death and grief are tabooed in our society. Less reticence, more honesty, more empathy. But how do professional undertakers act when they have to handle cases that affect them personally and emotionally? A subtle, a concise documentary about Eric Wrede and his team in action.DEATH IS AN ASSHOLE is an artistic documentary about the innovative undertaker Eric Wrede and his team. How does the new generation of undertakers proceed, especially those who are interested in attending the bereaved with empathy and who want to facilitate new ways of mourning? And how do these modern professional undertakers deal with cases that affect them personally and emotionally? It is not just Eric Wrede's approach which is innovative, but also the film itself: we approach the tabooed topics of death and grief without depicting prevalent stereotypical situations. We observe very attentively: the important and sensitive consultations with the bereaved, the final dressing of the deceased, internal preparations and postprocessing of the team. "If you spend a day with Eric Wrede (...), death loses some of its terror." (Süddeutsche Zeitung)With Eric Wrede, Maria Schuster, Katja Seydel, Siv-Marie Wrede, Gabi Kohn, Marco Ammer

Germany 2019, 53 min
by Albert Knechtel

When the world’s green lungs burn, international experts and politicians take notice. We investigate the unfolding ecological and humanitarian catastrophe wrought by the Amazon rainforest fires in summer 2019.The images of the burning Amazon rainforests horrified people all over the world in the summer of 2019. Suddenly the threat seemed real – the world’s lungs were burning, and politicians, journalists and everyone else agreed that something had to be done. Without the Amazon region, the entire earth is at risk. The Amazon carries more water than any other river and the surrounding area has the greatest biodiversity anywhere in the world. The region is home to many indigenous people whose habitat is now under massive threat. The film reflects on the ecological and humanitarian catastrophe unfolding there and looks for the reasons behind the disastrous handling of this unique ecosystem. We take stock of the situation on the ground, travelling across Brazil to view the crisis region and meet with experts, critics and those affected to assess the situation. We hear from Ricardo Galvão, for example, director of the National Institute for Space Research, who was dismissed by Brazilian President Bolsonaro when his institute published data showing a dramatic increase in illegal logging in 2019. The film leaves us with the impression of a region at a crossroads – a region whose future will shape that of the entire world.