Films by Jörg Höhne

Germany 2022, 93 min
by Marc Wiese

THIS STOLEN COUNTRY OF MINE takes us to Latin America, to a country with immense natural resources, pristine nature and a corrupt leadership: Ecuador.The film follows Paul Jarrin, leader of the indigenous resistance against their homeland's exploitation. Meanwhile, China uses the Ecuadorian government to turn the country into one of its new colonies. When journalist Fernando Villavicencio exposes these plots and gets access to the contracts between China and Ecuador, the government wants him silenced too. Both men are fighting for freedom in this battle against a superpower."...Alva Noto's music subtly lends intense power to the struggle of a mountain village, delicately and precisely accentuating the film's disturbing subject matter – and often bringing us closer than we'd like." [Jury German Documentary Film Music Award]

Germany 2022, 108 min
by Torsten Striegnitz, Simone Dobmeier  

The Joy Of Singing is a music documentary about the beauty of singing together and the longing for community. It follows three choir leaders – star conductor Simon Halsey, vocal coach Judith Kamphues and upcoming Korean conductor Hyunju Kwon – during a time when the need for singing and community becomes their greatest challenge: In their personal lives, in their careers, but also in their tense relationship with the singers. The three take us on an entertaining and encouraging journey between art and social adventure...

2021, 98 min
by Valentin Thurn

To realize your dream sometimes you have to make a cut and leave your hamsterwheel. Van Bo builds 'Tiny Houses' to create cheap housing. Carl-Heinrich invented a zeppelin transporting heavy payloads float through the air and got bankrupt – but still continued. Line does not want her children to go to school. Joy builds floating islands out of trash. And Günther dreams to be one of the first persons to colonize Mars. Director Valentin Thurn accompanies five people searching for alternatives. What makes them able to take their dreams seriously and keep faith?

Germany 2014, 42 min
by Sarah Sandring

In a 1948 clandestine operation, 100 Mushuau Innu - an indigenous hunting people of Northern Labrador, Canada - were ordered into the cargo hold of a ship and transported far beyond their lands. To this day, the events remain shrouded in mystery. - A ship, piercing winds, the death of a young man and insurmountable mountains. - All are recurring fragments, parts of a jigsaw puzzle with many missing pieces. Though only a short two-year period, the move to Nutak was an omen for what was to follow. It marked the first attempt of the Canadian government to settle the nomadic Mushuau Innu. After decades of settlement and silence, Innu elders wanted to revisit Nutak and tell their memories. This film follows their call.

2013, 26 min
by Bernd Sahling

Emma and her friends Ronje and Benjamin live in Gjesvær, a small village on the arctic island Magerøya. Their parents work as fishermen in family businesses. Winters are long in Gjesvær, in May there can still occur heavy snow storms. There are no cinemas or clubs in the remote village next to the North Cape. What is life like in such a place, when you are 14?

Germany 2011
by Tamara Wyss

In the spring of 1914 a French archaeological expedition, led by the French poet and medical doctor Victor Segalen, entered the Province of Sichuan in order to do research on burial mounds of the Han era (206 BCE-220 CE) and early Chinese Buddhist iconography and epigraphy. Research in this realm still continues in Sichuan today, but the means and techniques of the archaeologists and art historians are more complex and advanced compared to those of a century ago. Segalen, who lived in China from 1909 until 1914, was fluent in the Chinese language and was able to read ancient Chinese writings. He was a great admirer of Chinese culture and history.

Germany, Switzerland 2010, 52 min
by Marc Burth, Marc Burth

After becoming a father, Marc Burth has a problem: Two children and no fitting religion for them. His father is Protestant, his mother is Jewish, and his sister a shaman. His wife's dad is a Moslem; her mother, Catholic. Making the right choice for his children in this intersection of religions is a diffi- cult job for the confused filmmaker! Searching for answers, Marc Burth meets people that have a relationship with God and some that consciously don’t. He talks to atheists, shamans, Jesuits, Jews, Moslems, heathens and many more. He wants to know if God exists and why religion should be important to his children. The film is a playful, crazy, slightly neurotic approach to the question many people find a hard nut to crack and humanity will always search answers for: Does God exist? And if yes, how many gods are there?

Germany 2010, 208 min
by André Rehse

Humanity is facing huge challenges today: Climate change, ocean pollution and non-renewable energy sources are all pressing environmental problems. But nature provides some sustainable answers. The four-part series ‘Inspired by Nature’ deals with the selected biomimicry topics locomotion, construc- tion, apperception and processing. It shows how scientists analyse complex biological processes, how these results are applied to solutions of technical problems and finally evolve to everyday objects for the consumer. Our host – Janine Benyus, the so-called ‘mother of biomimicry’ – guides us through the series and explains e.g. how the railway system of the UK can be inspired by a slime mould or how lobsters could help finding leaks in underwater pipelines.