Films by Jürgen Funk

Germany 2011, 84 min
by Lucian Busse (Lucian Busse Alien TV)

The documentary BERLINIZED describes this very Berlin-specific attitude in a reflection on and a journey to mid-1990s’ Berlin. Filmmaker Lucian Busse, an active protagonist of the period, documents the transformation of Berlin after the Wall. But Berlinized represents more than just the 1990s – it is a metaphor for this virally catching creative feeling, the slightly rough directness, spiced up with a big dash of typical Berlin humor. Berlinized lets the former protagonists reflect how that temporary feeling of freedom shaped their individual lives, and to what degree that freedom can still be found among the neat order of today’s Berlin. These reflections are as diverse as the interviewees and as multifaceted as the changes in those times.

Germany 2010, 52 min
by Torsten Striegnitz, Simone Dobmeier, Hedwig Schmutte

The death at Wannsee Lake – a spectacular case that has, to date, continued to disturb and fascinate the ensuing ages. The German poet Kleist was found shot – what is that supposed to mean? What exactly happened at Wannsee Lake that afternoon on November 21st, 1811? Who shot Kleist? What is known about the woman that died with him? Could it be that the bullets were meant for her? Or that he shot her? Or she, him? If yes, why? And why were the couple so cheerful and playful mere moments before their death? Kleist’s work is well known, but less well known and even far less understood are the exact circumstances of his death. But perhaps it is exactly there that a new key to understanding his work lies. Why did Kleist have to die?