Films by Harald Schmuck

Germany 2020, 88 min
by Andrzej Klamt, Manhal Arroub

The war in Syria seems as impenetrable as a black box - the conflict began almost ten years ago and even today many people in the Western world have the feeling that they don't even understand who is actually fighting against whom. What began with demonstrations for political reforms and became a revolution of the "Arab Spring" has long since become a conflict dominated by foreign powers: Iran and Russia on the side of the Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad, but also Turkey, the USA, the Gulf States and Israel are pursuing their goals in Syria. The war has brought immeasurable suffering, especially to the civilian population. Over 12 million people have become refugees, hundreds of thousands have lost their lives. The film analyses the causes of the war: they lie within Syria in the "Assad system", which in its struggle for survival has turned the country into a battlefield on which regional and international conflicts are fought. By using chemical weapons against the rebelling Syrians, the Assad regime has crossed all red lines and triggered a spiral of unlimited violence. Renowned international experts and actors such as the former US ambassador to Damascus, Robert Ford, the Turkish government advisor İbrahim Kalın, the commander of the armed Syrian opposition Salim Idris or Sam Dagher, author of the highly acclaimed “Assad or we burn the country”, vividly describe the stages of the conflict and make the motives behind this war clear. The Syrian core problem also becomes clear: the totalitarian dictatorship of a family clan. However the conflict in Syria develops, the West will be affected.

Germany 2019, 105 min
by Marcus Richardt, Lillian Rosa

“The House of Good Spirits” takes a look at the ethos of the Stuttgart State Opera, which has lead the house to achieve exceptional international acclaim. This success is made all the more surprising by the fact that the charismatic directorial team Jossi Wieler, Sergio Morabito, Anna Viebrock and Sylvain Cambreling has a unique approach to work and leadership: Classical music theatre as an integrative shared work, which is created transparently, though an open, democratic dialogue involving theatremakers, various departments within the house and the public. The film accompanies the creation of Tchaikovsky’s opera “The Queen of Spades”. During the rehearsals, global politics descend upon Stuttgart. Acclaimed Russian film and theatre director Kirill Serebrennikov is arrested on political grounds by the Russian authorities shortly before his work on a new production in Stuttgart is due to begin. Stuttgart State Opera now has to decide how they will handle this incident.With: Jossi Wieler, Sergio Morabito, Anna Viebrock, Sylvain Cambreling, Helene Schneiderman, Albrecht Thiemann, Stine Fischer, Torsten Köpf

Germany 2018, 52 min
by Niko Apel

Muslims don't do anything against the progressing radicalisation oftheir faith brothers? - They do.Ron W. from Berlin and Mustapha L. from Frankfurt/Main have taken up thefight for so long: Day for day they face the radicalisation process inschools and mosques.(Internationale Hofer Filmtage)