Films by Peter Rösner

Germany 2020, 89 min
by Carmen Losmann

Layer by layer, the episodic documentary OECONOMIA reveals how the rules of the contemporary capitalist game systematically precondition growth, deficits and concentrations of wealth. With particular shrewdness and rigor OECONOMIA articulates the more egregious aspects of capitalist economy rendered invisible by the prevalent media coverage.

Germany 2019, 30 min
by Hannes Lang

RIAFN is a cinematic journey into the soundscape of the Alps. Idiom, song, as well as calls and commands of farmers and shepherds are condensed to create a motion picture driven by local character and rhythm. Between artistic ideal and documentarian realism, the musical portrays a utopian site detached from the compulsive speed and accessibility of communication technology saturating modern life.

Germany, Austria 2017, 94 min
by Christian Tod

What would you do if your income were taken care of?Just a few years ago, an unconditional basic income was considered a pipe dream. Today, this utopia is more imaginable than ever before - intense discussions are taking place in all political and scientific camps.FREE LUNCH SOCIETY provides background information about this idea and searches for explanations, possibilities and experiences regarding its implementation.Globalization, automation, Donald Trump. The middle class is falling apart. One hears talk about the causes, rather than about solutions. Time for a complete rethinking: An unconditional basic income means money for everyone - as a human right without service in return! Visionary reform project, neoliberal axe to the roots of the social state or socially romantic left-wing utopia? Depending on the type and scope, a basic income demonstrates very different ideological visions. Which side of the coin one sees depends on one's own idea of humankind: inactivity as sweet poison that seduces people into laziness, or freedom from material pressures as a chance for oneself and for the community. Do we actually need the whip of existential fear to avoid a lazy, depraved life in front of the TV set? Or does gainful employment give our lives meaning and social footing simply because we haven't known anything else for centuries? And because we've never all had the freedom to self-actualise in other ways?That basic income is a powerful idea is indisputable: land, water and air are gifts of nature. They are different from private property that humans create by their individual effort. However, when we receive wealth from nature, from the commons, then that wealth belongs to all of us equally. From Alaska's oil fields to the Canadian prairie, from Washington's think tanks to the Namibian steppes, the film takes us on a grand journey and shows us what the driverless car has to do with the ideas of a German billionaire and a Swiss referendum. FREE LUNCH SOCIETY, the first international film in cinemas about basic income, is dedicated to one of the most crucial questions of our times.

2017, 86 min
by Filip Antoni Malinowski

After 21 years of continuous failure in UN climate change negotiations 195 nations, 20.000 worldwide negotiators meet at a private airport shielded by the military in the north of Paris for a last attempt to save our planet. Behind closed doors these delegates have to agree on the first global climate change agreement that shall operate for the next decades and be a milestone in multirateral diplomacy. An agreement that will impact each human on earth, born or unborn. A negotiation that will decide if we as a species can survive. “Guardians of the Earth” shows the battle towards this monumental agreement through the perspective of major players as the head of the UNFCCC, the fossil fuel exporting countries and the most vulnerable states to climate change. Unreleased footage gives insight into the process behind closed doors and reveals the conflict of a globalized society: the dilemma between solidarity versus national self-interest – a fight between economic growth and massive loss of lives. As sea levels keep rising, glaciers are melting, heat-waves, droughts and Super-Typhoons become more frequent – time is running out to act – climate change is our reality. While showing the complex progress to the final success of the agreement, the film also exposes the crucial question for the viewer: Can mankind unite to challenge the biggest threat of our times?The film will also go along with a Cross-Media platform and already has participated in X-Media Lab & Dok Leipzig Net Lab. Cross Media development funding by: bmu:kk

Germany 2015, 87 min
by Stephan Bergmann

If life was a Romantic Comedy this is the film that makes us want to celebrate it to the end! The last gigolos have gotten grey. But still they are gentlemen, perfect and suave to the sole. They spend their golden years on cruise ships – as dancers and entertainers for solvent ladies of 60 years and over whoare hungry for amusement. Slowly and with a lot of humour, the film reveals that happiness is mainly down to everybody’s individual skill and luck. Some will try and make their dreams come true. And some will never give up dreaming.with:Peter Nemela, Bärbel Schlömer, Heinz Löffelbein, Barbara Maierhofer

2014, 93 min
by Hannes Lang

"After one look at this planet any visitor from outer space would say: I want to see the manager." – William S. BorroughsIn the light of the current transformations within the global power structure, I WANT TO SEE THE MANAGER traces the linkage of economic ascent and decline in seven paradigmatic episodes. India, Bolivia, China, USA, Italy, Thailand, Venezuela – each place contains fragments of another; each episode bears testament to the hopes and fears of its protagonists.By juxtaposing these local experiences in the face of global economy, the film questions the notion of rise and decay.original English/Spanish/Thai/Mandarin version with English, Spanish, French, Italian, or German subtitles