Films by Holger Buff

Germany 2022, 107 min
by Daniel Hofmann

The film highlights the development of the scene genre 'Thrash Metal' especially in Germany and makes jumps between bands, organizers and fans. It gives outsiders an exclusive insight into a special and extraordinary fan culture that originated in the Ruhr area and still connects people from all over the country and on an international level.With: Jürgen “Ventor” Reil (Kreator), Thomas “Onkel Tom” Such (Sodom), Andreas “Gerre” Geremia (Tankard), Schmier (Destruction), uvm. Pelle Below & Thomas Ex (Metalclub Velbert) Andreas “Stoney” Stein (Manager), uvm.

2020, 79 min
by Greta-Marie Becker

The marimba is the bridge between Africa and Latin America. The sound of the wooden xylophone connects the present-day life on the Ecuadorian Pacific coast with its African roots. Hundreds of years ago, the marimba music came to Ecuador across the sea. Stormy drum rhythms and the gentle, undulating melodies remind us of the violence experienced during slave trade and colonial rule and also tell the story of the centuries-old musical resistance of the Afro-Ecuadorian community. ""The Whisper of the Marimba"" portrays three generations of musicians who lay bare their worries and dreams as well as their unshakable trust in the power of art and music to nurture their identity and community. TRAILERhttps://vimeo.com/466664933

Switzerland, Germany 2020, 104 min
by Luzia Schmid

Prosperity on the one side, misery on the other: just how directly the two can be connected comes to light in Luzia Schmid’s film about the meteoric rise of her hometown of Zug upon becoming a tax haven.Swiss filmmaker Luzia Schmid traces the rise of her hometown of Zug and its townspeople, who have succeeded in becoming very rich by converting their town into one of the world’s leading tax havens. Even her immediate family is implicated in Zug’s politics and economy. And yet a tax haven is also part of the wider economy and thus we also learn about international rivalries in the tax game: the invention of the first shell company, the carefully guarded banking secrecy and the development of offshore tax shelters. “Race to the bottom” is a phrase often used to describe this destructive momentum, which, with tax scandals involving companies like Apple, Amazon and Starbucks, reached its low point in the financial crisis of 2008. In Zug, success came with its fair share of problems, too: shady commercial lawyers and commodities dealers settled down here, plundering Third World countries from their safe base in Switzerland. The town came to symbolise the injustices of this world. Luzia Schmid seeks out answers about morals and motivation and charts the town’s position in the international tax game. A business film with a personal take on the rise of a Swiss tax haven evolves into a radical and subtle reflection on double standards and collective repression.

Germany 2019, 93 min
by Luisa Bäde

A studio room. Puppets. Frank Karbstein.Reminiscent, reflective, playful, narrating. The 1980s of the GDR - the group around the puppeteer Frank is arrested for distributing pacifistic leaflets. After being sentenced to imprisonment, the defendants are offered the opportunity to go to the West through a secret buy out of political prisoners. Frank stays. But the question remains: Who betrayed them?Different truths and memories stand side by side. In the centre of this is a person who never tries to act from the mindset of a victim and who shows his very own personal way of dealing with the GDR dictatorship. The 1980s of the GDR – Frank’s puppeteer group is arrested for distributing pacifist leaflets. After being sentenced to imprisonment, the defendants are offered the opportunity to go to the West through a secret buy-out of political prisoners. Frank remains. The same goes for the question of who betrayed them? Different truths and memories stand side by side. The focus is on a person who never tries to act from an attitude of victimization and who depicts his very personal way of dealing with the GDR dictatorship. (53 IFF Hof)

Germany 2017, 87 min
by Veronika Glasunowa, Lukasz Lakomy

LONG ECHO – does it refer to the explosion not far from the town? Or to the time when people searched for a new idea for their country? Or is it rather the long echo of Soviet mentality that led to this bloody conflict?The film portrays the town Dobropolye, in Eastern Ukraine – 70 km from the border with the breakaway republics – and some of its people against the backdrop of the war. The characters are inventive and gripping despite their many hardships: they set up a singles club, build a zoo with chameleons, play in a heavy metal band and drive a taxi.The film shows a region that was on our minds for many months, not only in Europe. It shows people on the periphery of the war, how it changed their daily lives and how people react to both their new and old needs. Their struggle for survival is sometimes marked by quirky moments that give the film an unexpected lightness.The two directors Veronika Glasunowa and Lukasz Lakomy started with the preparations for the movie long before the war. This enabled them to build a relationship of trust which endured in wartime, and it helped them obtain extraordinary insights.Director´s statementIs it possible to survive in an atmosphere of total powerlessness? What opportunities offers a life in which you are completely disenfranchised? How important then become imagination and faith?