Films by Michael Schwarz

Germany 2025, 79 min
by Michael Schwarz

An unconventional undertaker and his team want to change radically how death and grief are tabooed in our society. Less reticence, more honesty, more empathy. But how do professional undertakers act when they have to handle cases that affect them personally and emotionally? A subtle, a concise documentary about Eric Wrede and his team in action.DEATH IS AN ASSHOLE is an artistic documentary about the innovative undertaker Eric Wrede and his team. How does the new generation of undertakers proceed, especially those who are interested in attending the bereaved with empathy and who want to facilitate new ways of mourning? And how do these modern professional undertakers deal with cases that affect them personally and emotionally? It is not just Eric Wrede's approach which is innovative, but also the film itself: we approach the tabooed topics of death and grief without depicting prevalent stereotypical situations. We observe very attentively: the important and sensitive consultations with the bereaved, the final dressing of the deceased, internal preparations and postprocessing of the team. "If you spend a day with Eric Wrede (...), death loses some of its terror." (Süddeutsche Zeitung)With Eric Wrede, Maria Schuster, Katja Seydel, Siv-Marie Wrede, Gabi Kohn, Marco Ammer

Germany 2019, 82 min
by Michael Schwarz

How does an election campaign work at grass-roots level, far away from Berlin? Six young politicians of the biggest political parties compete in the German federal election 2017 to stand up for their beliefs. By attending panel discussions, door-to-door campaigning, visits at the local fair and interviews we learn how election campaigns work on a small scale. Our protagonists are always close to the people, who support, criticize or reject them. Despite the difficulties, they all have to act according to the motto "Keep on fighting!".With David Dietz, Thomas Hitschler, Max Keck, Misbah Khan, Jan Metzler, Sebastian Münzenmaier