Films by Marcus Winterbauer

2024, 99 min
by Enrique Sánchez Lansch

A star dancer at the Cambodian royal court lovingly raises her husband's little brother as her own son. Decades later, as a forced labourer under the Khmer Rouge, she discovers that her foster son is Pol Pot.Chea Samy was an outstanding soloist in the royal dance ensemble at the Cambodian Royal Palace in the 1930s. But she was also Pol Pot’s foster mother. After marrying Pol’s older brother, a low-level official at the royal court, she looked after the boy as if he were her own. They lost contact when he disappeared into the underground after his graduation. In 1975, like millions of other Cambodians, she was driven to the rice fields. Only after three years of forced labour did she learn that Pol Pot was the boy she had raised decades before. As one of only few dancers, she managed to survive his reign and returned to Phnom Penh as a dance teacher, thus preserving knowledge of the traditional dance. One of her first pupils was Sophiline Cheam, now a successful choreographer. Her ensemble incorporates events from Cambodia’s past in its dance routines. The starting point is a curious fact about Pol Pot’s career, which few Cambodians know about: the connection between Pol Pot and classical Cambodian dance. Artists and intellectuals, in particular, fell victim to the brutal rule of the Khmer Rouge, whose leader ironically spent a crucial part of his childhood in the royal palace and gained access to higher education thanks to this dance.

Germany 2024, 110 min
by Kathrin Jahrreiss

In her father's basement, the director finds letters and photos from her German-Jewish family history, in which three brothers are torn between the fronts of political ideologies from the Third Reich to divided Germany. DER DRITTE BRUDER is the grandfather of the filmmaker, who, in confronting her father, tries to understand where in the past the father's sense of family fell by the wayside.The cinematic journey also reveals how the third brother's decisions have shaped the family for generations and how repression and speechlessness about the Nazi era and a divided Germany have been passed on.

Germany 2023, 95 min

Since she was four years old, Sophia Flörsch has trained to fulfil her life’s dream – to be a Formula 1 racing driver. And she is good. Really good in fact. But what does that mean in an industry fixated on men, where only drivers whose families can provide them with start-up capital have a chance. But giving up is not an option for Sophia, despite all the setbacks. It means everything to her. [38 DOK.fest München, Ysabel Fantou]

2023, 90 min
by Moritz Springer

Far beyond merely offering an alternative model for agriculture, a collective of potato-growers straddles the line between an inspiring vision and sobering reality.Over a period of nine years, this documentary observes the Kartoffelkombinat, a collective of potato-growers in Munich, on its way to becoming Germany’s largest agricultural cooperative. The efforts of the organization’s two founders have been in service of a grander vision: finding an alternative to the capitalist mode of production. But the road there is rocky, and suddenly the project is on the verge of failure. [40 FFMUC]

2023, 90 min
by Nadine Neumann, Dietrich Duppel, Dana Wolfe

Examining the complexity of events in Ukraine since 2013, experts from all sides of the global political stage look at how the Maidan Square protests marked the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.EUROMAIDAN – DIARY OF A WAR FORETOLD examines the complexity of events that have unfolded in Ukraine since the Euromaidan protests in 2013/14. Ten years after the revolution that started in Kyiv, Russia invaded its neighbouring country. After years of fighting in eastern Ukraine, the entire country is now under attack. Was this development predictable? If it was – who could have stopped it? Together with Ukrainian documentary film-maker Alina Gorlova and international historians, intelligence experts and politicians, we analyse the history of the ongoing power struggle between Russia, the US and the EU for the first time, and we take a look at the direct impact this has had on Ukraine. Gorlova's outstanding film footage, some of which has never been released before, alternates between poetry and scenes of horror. It is a central element of the documentary and represents the voices of many young Ukrainians. The film decodes Ukraine's DNA, Putin's understanding of power, but also EU and US responses, by examining different perspectives, such as that of leading Eastern Europe experts, former members of the CIA and FSB, as well as contemporary witnesses who helped shape world politics and now analyse for us the complex geopolitical context. It is a story of wounded vanity, perceived isolation, but also of the civil strength of a nation that is still trying to find itself.

Germany 2023, 250 min
by Florian Opitz

The 5 part high-end documentary series CAPITAL B. WHO OWNS BERLIN? tells in an exciting and entertaining way how Berlin became what it is after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It has been a hip global metropolis for three decades, attracting artists, freedom lovers and young people from all over the world. But the way there was by no means preordained.And Capital B tells the story of how Berlin’s citizens have been fighting back ever since: against the sellout of their city, its displacement and against Berlin suffering the same fate as London, New York and Paris before it. To become a boring biotope for rich people and investors.In the 5 episodes we experience greed, corruption, the emergence of various youth and subcultures in the 90s and noughties, housing struggle, crime, and the rise and fall of greedy politicians.Capital B tells this story in a special way: multi-perspectival from the point of view of those who have shaped the city: Politicians, artists, entrepreneurs, squatters, club operators and clan members.Capital B is not the umpteenth true-crime series, but an unprecedented urban sociology in the form of an exciting, entertaining and highly topical documentary series. New in style, socio-politically relevant and excitingly told. Like Netflix, but public service. Or to put it immodestly: a mixture of House of Cards and The Wire, but for real, as a docu-series.With: Eberhard Diepgen, Klaus Landowski, Renate Künast, Sandy Kaltenborn, Marion Brasch, Peter Fox, Klaus Wowereit, Kool Savas, Dimitri Hegemann, Thilo Sarrazin, Pamela Schobeß, Franziska Giffey a.o.

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, 92 min
by Stanislaw Mucha

The loneliest workplace in the world on a weather station on the edge of the Russian polar sea: A professional soldier who was retrained to become a meteorologist and traumatized in the Chechnya war, his young wife, whose previous life in the world of cities and money had brutally failed, a cancer patient who has returned to his place of birth Pensioner, the boss of the station - with a dubious if not criminal past and Jack the dog. Five traumatized souls who try in the loneliness of a hostile nature that appears paradisiacal to deal with themselves, the absence of civilization, their human needs and inadequacies and to master their lives.

Germany 2020, 86 min
by Agnes Lisa Wegner

Céphas Bansah is from Ghana and lives in the German city of Ludwigshafen on the Rhine river. In Ghana, he is the king to over 200,000 members of the Ewe, in Ludwigshafen he runs a car shop. His daughter Katharina, whose mother is German, is an artist, feminist, free spirit – and a king's daughter. Both of them feel that the social climate in Germany has changed. They experience racism and hostility. So for the first time after many years, Katharina accompanies her father to Ghana. She wants to find out which role her Ghanaian side is to play in her life – and whether or not she wants to succeed to the throne someday. KING BANSAH AND HIS DAUGHTER is a film about clichés and roles, expectations, boundaries, definitions of belonging – and challenging all of the above. It is a film about the search for an inner home.

Germany 2020, 85 min
by Moritz Springer

Alternative life? Director Moritz Springer seeks answers to uncomfortable questions about the 68ers and the Nazi era in his own family. (Süddeutsche Zeitung, SZ.de)What exactly is family? In what way are we shaped by the fates of our forebears? "My Grandpa, Karin and I" is an intimate glimpse into the filmmaker's family life. His grandparents are old and needy. They live in a retirement home. The grandfather expects daughter Karin to take care of him now that grandmother can't manage anymore. And Karin does visit them regularly, although her parents are strangers to her and she's busy with her own life. Unresolved conflicts break out. Father and daughter suffer. The grandson wants to mediate between the former National Socialist and his mother, who had sought new ways of life and roles for women during the 1968 movement and rebelled against her father's SS past and her parents' bourgeois lifestyle. The film traces and juxtaposes these varying perspectives that constitute pieces of German history. Grandfather and mother struggle to get closer while the grandson wonders why this should be so difficult. Yet the longer the impasse continues, the more he realises that he too is implicated in this generational conflict. And so an unexpected, open exchange between Karin and her son ensues. The roles of interviewer and interviewee become blurred whilst the camera is part of the action, affording viewers proximity to family events without tarring them as voyeurs.

Germany 2019, 52 min
by David Bernet

The inauguration of the Barenboim-Said academy in Berlin marked a new phase within the political and educational engagement of musician and pedagogue Daniel Barenboim. BEYOND THE MUSIC portrays this innovative academy whose mission it is to unite humanistic ideals, music and philosophy. Almost 20 years after the founding of the West-Eastern-Divan orchestra, another project of intercultural understanding is derived from the friendship between Barenboim and the Palestinian humanist Edward Said.

2019, 82 min
by Hubertus Siegert

CHILDREN OF UTOPIA takes us into the Berlin lives of six young people on the cusp of adulthood, as they look back at their time at an inclusive school – a radical concept back then. Some would be described as disabled, but they reject that label. As they discover the new lives they’ve made in the 12 years that have passed, their focus is on the ups and downs of life: love, careers, doubt and determination. This sweet and entertaining coming-of-age movie shows how the respect fostered in Class 5D has only grown over the years, and the poignant moments of honesty and compassion catch you by surprise throughout.

France, Germany 2018, 82 min
by Philipp Jedicke

Chilly Gonzales is a Grammy-winning composer, virtuoso pianist and entertainer. Criss-crossing between rap, electro and solo piano music, he became the outrageous pop performer who invited himself to the ivory tower of classical music. Change seems to be the only constant in Gonzales‘ journey. The cinematic documentary Shut Up And Play The Piano follows Gonzales from his native Canada to late 90‘s underground Berlin, and via Paris to the world‘s great philharmonic halls. The playfulness of his character is mirrored in the look of the film. Reality and fiction blur together as we embark on a trip through Chilly Gonzales‘ world.with: Peaches, Leslie Feist, Sibylle Berg, Jarvis Cocker, Joe Flory, Adam Traynor, Paul PM aka Mr. Maloke (Puppetmastaz), Raik Hölzel, Raz Ohara, Renaud Letang, Kleber Valim, Lena Buhl, Cornelius MeisterBerlinale catalogue:'One of these days I will shut up and play the piano’ is how the chorus goes in the song which provides the title of this cinematic portrait of eclectic musician Chilly Gonzales. In fact, after making a name for himself as a brazen electro-rapper, this Canadian, whose real name is Jason Charles Beck, really did reinvent himself as a creator of quiet sounds on the piano. In 2003, this self-styled maverick loudly declared himself president of Berlin’s underground music scene, only to conquer bourgeois concert halls shortly afterwards with his tranquil album, ‘Solo Piano’. An extended conversation between him and writer Sibylle Berg is the thread that runs through the film. No holds are barred as they get down to the business of question and answer, and each of them gives as good as they get. In his directing debut, Philipp Jedicke displays a lightness of touch as he blends archive material with playfully dramatised scenes and interviews with the musician’s contemporaries such as Peaches, Leslie Feist and Jarvis Cocker. Rounded off by Gonzales’ energetic performances, the film allows us to discover a hard-working entertainer who never fails to surprise.

Germany 2018, 84 min
by Martin Baer, Claus Wischmann

Who owns the image(s) of the world? We take more photographs in a single day than we did in the entire twentieth century. Our world transforms itself into its own image. It would be illegal if we were to show you everything we see around us. Because every single image is owned by someone.Copyright-owners of objects, buildings, trademarks and even landscapes claim money for the depiction of their property. The real moneymaker is the wealth of pictures of us all. Who do the pictures of ourselves and of our world belong to?

Germany 2017, 96 min
by Sandra Budesheim, Sabine Zimmer

It is the culmination of every refugee story that is supposed to end with official asylum and resettlement in Germany: the personal interview with a case officer at a branch of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). The applicant and case officer meet on only one occasion. Asylum-seekers have to provide credible proof that they were persecuted in their home country. BAMF staff are responsible for deciding who stays and who leaves. They rely on the law, their common sense and their conscience. For the first time, BAMF decision-makers in the asylum proceedings offer us an insight into their day-to-day work and allow viewers to witness the asylum interviews which usually take place behind closed doors. They do their job in the eye of the storm of daily media coverage about mass migration and heated debates about the permeability of our borders. They have to find out what is true and what is false, and it is up to them to decide who is still allowed to stay in Germany for humanitarian reasons.

2017, 91 min
by Judith Keil, Antje Kruska

Der Film begleitet den Imam bei seiner täglichen Arbeit, in der er für Familienprobleme Rat geben soll und zugleich Stellung beziehen zu politischen Fragen der Öffentlichkeit. Dabei führt er ein offenes Haus, indem er immer wieder zu Diskussionen einlädt. Während er in seiner muslimischen Gemeinde oft gegen eine zu strenge Auslegung der Religion ankämpft, steht er in der deutschen Öffentlichkeit unter Verdacht, zu konservativ, wenn nicht sogar radikal zu sein."Dabei entwickelt der Film eine stimmige Dynamik und umgeht mit beschwingter Leichtigkeit die Gefahr, zum Problemstück zu werden." (FilmDienst)

Germany 2015, 105 min
by David Bernet

Democracy offers an insight into a hidden world of political struggle for new data protection legislation in the European Union. Euro-MP Jan Philipp Albrecht and EU-Commissioner Viviane Reding attempt the supposedly impossible. They take on a hard-edged apparatus of political power, in which intrigue, success and failure are frequent bedfellows. After two and a half years following the legislative process, the documentary brings complex power structures to life and offers a snapshot of democracy today.

Germany 2014, 96 min
by Arne Birkenstock

A mesmerizing, thought-provoking yet surprisingly amusing documentary on the life and times of Wolfgang Beltracchi, who tricked the international art world for nearly 40 years by forging and selling paintings of early 20th-century masters. A larger-than-life personality who was responsible for the biggest art forgery scandal of the postwar era.

Germany, Switzerland 2013, 92 min
by Noël Dernesch, Moritz Springer

The German singer Gentleman and his Italian counterpart Alborosie are two of the most important reggae artists in Europe. In 1999, Alborosie went on a two-week trip to Jamaica. He's been living there for 14 years now and plays to enthusiastic Jamaican audiences together with Gentleman. Journey to Jah paints a varied picture of the importance and spiritual meaning of reggae on the Caribbean island, where music is used to fight violence, sexism and poverty. As Alborosie says, "God lives here, but Satan too." For seven years, filmmakers Noël Dernesch and Moritz Springer followed the two 'Jamaicanized' artists on their flight from Western consumerism and their search for the roots of the Rastafarians and reggae music, and for a way to give meaning to their lives. Several musicians on the island support them along the way. They play together on the streets and are faced with the joyful, but also harsh reality of life on the island. Footage focusing on their lives as musicians is interspersed with interviews and stylized montages of scenes from everyday life. The result is a kaleidoscopic impression of a world where music serves as a path to unity. (IDFA)

Germany 2012, 90 min
by Arne Birkenstock

Germany 2011
by Bettina Borgfeld, David Bernet

The ground in Paraguay is perfect for the cultivation of soy. In recent years, countless acres of forest have been chopped down to make room for the growing of this protein-rich bean. The land of a farmer named Geronimo is now completely surrounded by soy plantations. These are generously sprayed with pesticides - poison that only the genetically modified soy plants are immune to. Unfortunately, the pesticides spread farther than the boundaries of the soy fields. So not only is there less and less land for the campesinos, or local farmers like Geronimo, but it also becomes impossible for them to cultivate healthy crops themselves. In Raising Resistance, Bettina Borgfeld and David Bernet capture the campesinos as they revolt against the enormous soy business in their country. Led by the ever-friendly Geronimo, they squat a section of farmland, try to stop the spraying of pesticides, and make their voices heard in the media. The filmmakers also give the floor to the large landowners.

Germany 2011, 79 min
by Branwen Okpako

Branwen Okpako’s „The Education of Auma Obama“ is a captivating and intimate portrait of the U.S. president’s older half-sister, who embodies a post-colonial, feminist identity.An academic overachiever, she studied linguistics and contemporary dance in Heidelberg, Germany, before enrolling in film school in Berlin, where she met Nigerian-born director Okpako in the nineties. After living in the United Kingdom for a short period, Auma Obama eventually moved back to Kenya to mentor a young generation of community activists, social workers and other ambitious young men and women who lacked her privileged education and training, but were nonetheless determined to make a positive contribution to their society.Okpako has always been interested in questions of identity, affiliation and belonging. Although she frames her film as a biographical portrait of Obama, she goes much further, providing a layered historical context and discussions of post- colonial African identity from a feminist perspective. Okpako collects testimonies almost exclusively from women, echoing the African tradition of women as chroniclers of oral history. When coupled with these accounts, Okpako’s use of archival footage — filmed during colonization for an entirely different purpose — offers a new reading of history and the present. Obama is also the daughter of a charismatic man who fought for the liberation of his country and participated in the shaping of the first years of independence. She witnessed his hopefulness and rise as well as his disillusionment and demise, coming into adulthood as her country - and continent - fell prey to despotism, corruption and poverty.The Education of Auma Obama is also a film about a generation of politically and socially engaged Africans whose aspirations are informed by their parents’ experiences, and whose ambition to forge a better future for their communities starts from the ground up. Rasha Salti, September 2011 [Programmer's Note – REAL TO REAL / TIFF]With: Auma Obama, Kezia Obama, Marsat Osumba Onyango, Mama Sarah Obama, Elke Brenstein, Gloria Hagberg, Paula Schramm, Lois Wambui Thuo, Njeri Karago, Prof. Wierlacher, Jai Gonzales, Alfons L. Ims, Wanjiru Kinyanjui a.o.

Germany, Switzerland 2011
by Bettina Borgfeld, David Bernet

The ground in Paraguay is perfect for the cultivation of soy. In recent years, countless acres of forest have been chopped down to make room for the growing of this protein-rich bean. The land of a farmer named Geronimo is now completely surrounded by soy plantations. These are generously sprayed with pesticides - poison that only the genetically modified soy plants are immune to. Unfortunately, the pesticides spread farther than the boundaries of the soy fields. So not only is there less and less land for the campesinos, or local farmers like Geronimo, but it also becomes impossible for them to cultivate healthy crops themselves. In Raising Resistance, Bettina Borgfeld and David Bernet capture the campesinos as they revolt against the enormous soy business in their country. Led by the ever-friendly Geronimo, they squat a section of farmland, try to stop the spraying of pesticides, and make their voices heard in the media. The filmmakers also give the floor to the large landowners.

Germany 2010, 89 min
by Jan Peters

When Jan Peters' girlfriend accidently takes his wallet on a trip to foreign climes, she leaves the filmmaker standing in Frankfurt Airport without a penny to his name. The only capital he possesses is a group ticket for the public transport system. After hearing about people who supplement their inadequate incomes by “escorting” groups of tourists across the city, Mr. Peters decides to apply the same method to his own situation. The filmmaker starts a business as an "independent travel escort" and enters an obscure world of supplementary jobs and adventurous business models. During his trips he encounters troubled, laden, indifferent and optimistic souls, as well as those trying to cast off their abject yoke with courage, solidarity and creativity. The audience is confronted with the demise of familiar employment structures and is introduced to concepts designed for a future without full employment..

Germany, Austria 2010, 90 min
by Jan Tenhaven

The film tells the life-affirming stories of five senior athletes across the world who all have one goal – to take part in the track and field World Masters Championships in Finland. The biggest challenge is their age as all athletes are between 77 and 100 years old - a race against time and personal degeneration as they jump, run and throw the discus. In their long lives, they have fought many personal crises and losses, they have survived wars and other tragedies, some of them have won the battle against terminal diseases. Now they are united in one common goal: to take part in the Championships. No matter what it takes. If they only do not die before. Life will end soon – so what? As everybody is quite aware of that biological fact, there is plenty of space for a good portion of humour. Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion Köln GmbH + Co KG

Germany 2008
by Rick Minnich

One week after a seemingly harmless car accident, a 45-year-old man suffers total amnesia. Christening himself the “New Richard,” he embarks upon a new life with a new wife far away from his family. Sixteen years later, his oldest son returns with a camera to investigate why his father’s memory never returned.

Germany 2006, 90 min
by Sung-Hyung Cho

Just as the church choir pipe up the chorus of "We praise you, dear Lord", a few hundred metres away on the Black Metal Stage, a loud rumble can be heard. The lead singer of "Kreator" is bellowing "Enemy of God" into his microphone, roaring out his visions of death and the immortality of evil, brimming over with hatred. At first glance, the cultural chasm that exists between the inhabitants of Wacken and the heavy metal fans who have travelled from all over the world to be here could not be greater. On one hand, lace shirts, golden crucifixes and dark single-breasted suits; on the other, black Lederhosen, studded collars, tatoos of Satan and shoulder-length hair. Once a year, on the first weekend in August, the tiny village of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein bids farewell to the peace and tranquility that normally characterize this community of two thousand souls. It is then that the Wacken Open Air Festival takes place. Things all started 17 years ago in a barn full of a couple of hundred "headbangers", with their numbers growing to a few thousand in the years which followed. The Wacken Open Air Festival has now become something of a place of pilgrimage for 40,000 heavy metallers from all over the world. "Full Metal Village" examines the curiously amiable clash between these two cultures. Through its focus on the temporary music event, however, the film documents a picture of a rural community whose sense of identity and cohesion would now be practically unimaginable without the heavy metal festival. The canny Farmer Trede for instance, who "cultivates" a number of sidelines alongside the business of traditional farming: a biogas site, share dealing and the leasing of land for the festival are all helping to secure his "additional income". He is also in charge of coordinating over 150 helpers for the Festival. Farmer Plaehn, in contrast, seems uninterested in all of this. When he sits in his stall, smoking a cigarette as he waits for the milk to warm up to 40 degrees, time seems to stand still for a while. "This is the fun part of farming", he declares, sighing. Norbert, co-founder of the festival some 17 years ago and unemployed for the last couple of years, now only attends the festival as a visitor - he regrets bowing out of the organisational side of things. For 16 year-old Kathrin the festival offers the opportunity to break free of the confines of village life once a year and to party with people from all over the world. She dreams of being able to travel, of seeing something else: "A holiday in Bavaria, or something like that." Her Grandmother Irma, in contrast, is unimpressed by the Wacken Open Air Festival and the terrifying music, prayers to Satan and bloody rituals of which she has heard tell. She herself has never been to the festival... The village appears to have been in the throes of a series of dramatic shifts over the past 17 years: from the revolution in the now largely unprofitable milk business, right through to a new definition of the centuries old agricultural self- image. Perhaps it was precisely this shift in mentality which Farmer Trede had in mind when he said: "You're better off milking people than cows."

Germany 2004, 100 min
by Thomas Grube, Enrique Sánchez Lansch

This Box Office hit is about Marie, Martin, Olayinka and 250 kids and teenagers who never danced or listened to classical music when they faced their biggest challenge: to perform Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring’ with Sir Simon Rattle and the legendary Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra! Berlin, one cold January day. Amazing things are happening in the Arena down at Berlin’s industrial harbour. 250 Berlin schoolchildren from 25 different nationalities and socially difficult neighbourhoods are dancing to Stravinsky‘s 'Rite of Spring' choreographed by Royston Maldoom and accompanied by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under its chief conductor, Sir Simon Rattle. RHYTHM IS IT! follows the fascinating process leading to a breathtaking performance. It shows the first efforts at dancing made by these very diverse youngsters, few of whom had prior knowledge of classical music and dance. A touching adventure spanning three-months of rehearsals which shows the perseverance, affection and patience with which Royston Maldoom and his assistant Susannah Broughton care for them while the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra is rehearsing during the same period. Through the eyes of three young protagonists we take part in the project‘s development, its ups and downs, doubts and enthusiasms, uncertainties and renewals of self-confidence. Marie, 15, who is desperately trying to pass her secondary school exams; Olayinka, 16, who has recently arrived as a war-orphan from Nigeria and Martin, 19, who is battling to overcome his inhibitions. They never had a chance so far, but as dancers they suddenly discover their real potentials. This is a fascinating journey into new, undreamed-of worlds which reveal surprising facets of the their personalities. An emotional ravishment into hidden worlds present in all of us. This film also marks the start of a new era - one in which the orchestra strides confidently forth from behind the golden walls of the Philharmonic to other, darker regions of society. In this respect too, this film is an arresting historical document. RHYTHM IS IT! is a beautiful cinematic experience full of passion, respect and zest for life.