Films by Heike Kunze

Germany 2023, 24 min
by Therese Koppe

Mariella lives in Berlin with her family of seven. Her father was trained in kung fu martial arts at the Chinese Shaolin monastery. Today he runs the Berlin-Schöneberg kung fu school and prepares her and her sisters for the next tournament. This has been part of Mariella’s life for many years. But the nervousness before each competition never really gets better. [66 DOK Leipzig, Lina Dinkla]

Germany 2018, 52 min
by Marion Schmidt

The film presents the latest research into the subject of breast milk, shows what scientists are currently working on and asks which breast milk secrets will be revealed next.For some time now, there has been a real hype about breast milk. Internationally. Women have discovered their lactate can be a source of income and they offer it on the free market via the Internet. Doctors and midwives are calling for more breast milk banks. In Switzerland, the first centre for breast milk research has bee

Germany 2016, 25 min
by Andre Hörmann

13-year-old Ciera from Oklahoma lives every day for her great dream: to stand on the stage in legendary Nashville one day and wow the audience with her own songs. Her family, too, are doing everything to help. Will Ciera make it through the casting?

2016, 130 min
by Sibylle Smolka, Marion Schmidt, Gordian Arneth

Each person spends about a third of his or her life asleep. Sleeping habits, however, differ, depending on age, life situation or nationality. Together with sleep expert Dr. Michael Feld, we examine how different cultures approach sleep and sleep disorders.GERMANYGermans are famous for their discipline and efficiency. But these virtues require concessions in regard to sleep. Germans get up especially early; in fact they are the earliest risers in all of Europe. At the same time, people tend to g

Germany 2016, 25 min
by Andre Hörmann

Tsering (11) lives in the middle of the Himalayas. He loves the nature and wants to become a mountaineer. Many of the Sherpa people are moutain guides for tourists from all over the world, who want to climb Mount Everest. But the waste of the adventure-loving tourists pollute the environment. This is a real threat for the nature and in order to this a danger for the business of the natives. Tsering and his friends wants to tackle that problem, because they know, the beauty of the nature is the r

2015, 130 min
by Sibylle Smolka

Many everyday life goods get to us from all over the world. Even though they have crossed thousands of miles, their prices are shockingly low. On almost every occasion, this counts in to the disadvantage of the producers. While global players make gigantic profits, the farmers stay poor. Meanwhile, an alternative to this scenario does exist: Goods and products derived from fair trade.But can we really change things by our personal shopping tendencies only? Do we as consumers hold the power to c

2013, 15 min
by Andre Hörmann

Little Bhavini dreams her way out of a Mumbai slum into a career as a dancer. She keeps practicing the steps of traditional Indian dancing, she keeps begging her mother to allow her to take lessons with a famous teacher. But that is expensive and they are barely scraping by since father died. So Bhavini begins to work at her mother’s beauty salon. But there is another obstacle to overcome: the entrance examination…In this new instalment of his series about children in megacities, André Hörmann o

Germany 2012, 52 min
by Jana Kalms

Mentally ill at the work place – something that is not talked about, something that is still a societal taboo. Being mentally ill symbolizes weakness in our achievement-oriented society. Many employees hide their mental crises because they worry about their jobs. This trend is on the increase: More and more German employees take time off work due to mental illnesses. Jana Kalms' film explores what it means to be mentally ill at the work place. She accompanies four protagonists, who have to find

Germany 2008, 52 min
by Marion Schmidt

What dares art? This question is to be asked newly, the debate is relumed: German artist Gregor Schneider intents to show „the beauty of death“ in his upcoming work. But not in a painting, an image or in object art, but „live“. He wants to exhibit a dying man in a spezial purpose-made art-room. With this, he strikes a great taboo, because people normaly deal with death only in larger distances. The sheer announcement of this work provokes a lot of critics. But there are also many other artists a

Germany 2008
by Adama Ulrich

From the Enfant Terrible of East-German theater to the leader of the Berlin Volksbuehne: Provocation, playing with realities and chasing the boundaries of art is the focus of Frank Castorf’s work. The portrait documentary approaches to meet one of the most controversial and most successfull renewers of German theater. What is pushing him forward? What is his aim? How is he accomplishing the things he accomplishes?

Germany 2008
by Faid Jungnickel, Galina Breitkreuz

In the vast infinity of Siberia, there are regions without the possibility to buy anything. Apart from few farmers selling potatoes and cucumber, the inhabitants of the Tundra rely on Wagon Lovka: This train provides the only incessant maintenance with its shop on board, selling anything one needs: Flour and sugar, medicine and sanitary articles, beer and vodka, screws, nails and tools. On its long tour, Wagon Lovka trails across Russian steppe to the far side of Ural and beyond. The film accomp

Germany 2007
by Christiane Mannini

Only pretty rich families are able to afford professional private education for their children. Well skilled and adequate domestic service staff such as a nanny for childcare at home is rare and expensive. The elite of nannies is trained and educated at timehonoured Norland College in South England. Employment at nobility, jet-set or celebrity is assured for the alumni of Norland, but apprenticeship for the „Childcare Nurses“ at the college is challenging and tautly organized. To live a life for