Films by Janine Dauterich

2023, 86 min
by Britt Beyer

Coal mining has shaped Lusatia for generations. In the GDR it was still an important industrial location but, after the fall of communism, companies shut down and livelihoods were destroyed. With the planned phase out of coal, the region is facing another upheaval. Britt Beyer takes a sensitive look at the people who must deal once again with the collapse of existing structures and points of reference. [38 DOK.fest München, Ina Borrmann]

2023, 70 min
by Stephan Aubé

The German cellist Tanja Tetzlaff performs J.S. Bach’s Cello Suites Nos. 4 and 5 amid natural surroundings devastated by climate change. Beauty confronts its own destruction. Do we really want to watch without lifting a finger?Melting glaciers, desertified landscapes, flooded communities: climate change is having an alarming impact even in Europe. What are we humans doing to this wonderful planet? Aghast at the depredation and destruction of our unique ecosystems, the renowned German cellist Tanja Tetzlaff wants to ask Nature for forgiveness. She travels with her instrument to places in Europe where climate change has already become reality and visibly dealt severe wounds. Surrounded by sometimes bizarre scenery, she performs Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cello Suites Nos. 4 and 5, contrasting them with works specially composed for her by Thorsten Encke. She levels accusations, stokes resistance, and touches us with her virtuoso playing. The beauty of the music stands in sharp contrast to the often-dramatic images of damaged Nature, combatting the finality of destruction. A moving musical and visual plea for greater care and humility toward the beauty of our planet – at once ravishing and disturbing.Recorded at Aletsch Glacier (Switzerland), Cernon Forest (France), Harz Forest (Germany), Lac de Brenets (France/Switzerland), Theatre La Scene (Strasbourg/France), Rhone Glacier (Switzerland), Soulac-sur-Mer (France)

Germany 2022, 90 min
by Christian Berger

Anita Lasker-Wallfisch survives as a cellist in Auschwitz, while the famous conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler tries in vain to preserve his integrity and finally surrenders in a pact with the devil. With digitally restored and carefully colorized footage we tell the story of classical music in the Third Reich for the first time from an universal perspective.

Germany 2019, 81 min
by Robert Dobe, Omar Shalash

When Tamer Alawam was killed by a grenade in 2012, he left over 300 hours of film footage of the Syrian Revolution – images, which were meant to show Syria from inside. Overwhelmed by the flood of these images and driven by feelings of grief, responsibility and powerlessness, two young filmmakers and friends of Tamer in far away Germany start their own search for answers. While one of them meets with Tamer's companions to find out more about the motivations of his friend, the other begins collecting reactions in German society towards the war in Syria. A documentary about humanity, responsibility and the difficulties of finding the right way of action.