Films by Philip Scheffner

Germany, France 2022, 105 min
by Philip Scheffner

A bus stop, a town square, a few blocks of houses in the suburb of a small French town, in Chatellerault. Zohra Hamadi, an Algerian citizen, can stand upright thanks to several metal rods, and now seems free of her debilitating scoliosis – the very reason for her immigration to France. By a twist of fate, this same recovery leads to her residence permit being revoked by the French State: she must consequently disappear, become invisible and inaudible. Choosing to make what he describes as State-

Germany 2020, 67 min
by Khaled Abdulwahed, Amel Alzakout

“I see everything,” she says, as if it was a curse. Brilliant sunshine, clear blue skies. The sea is calm, framed by a piece of railing. Buzzing voices. A peaceful moment if it weren’t for the fact that the sea is standing upright, vertical, like a waterfall. A rush of images, twirling, upside down, jolting. People in the boat, in the water, screams, life jackets, emergency whistles. Fluorescent orange, geometrical shapes cast by the sun.There’s no horizon any more, no sky, no up or down, only d

Germany 2018, 17 min
by Alex Gerbaulet

Two newspaper articles, ten years apart, two different women, the same wording. In 2001 the “Göttinger Zeitung” wrote that Margit (69) had lived a secluded life as an inconspicuous woman. In 2011 the “Hamburger Abendblatt” stated that Irina (65) had lived in seclusion, a non-descript woman. Up to the moment of their appearance in these newspaper lines, both women were invisible, forcefully concealed by their roles as wives and homemakers. Only for a brief moment did they claim visibility. Throug

Germany 2012, 106 min
by Philip Scheffner

On June 29th, 1992 a farmer discovers two bodies in a corn field in the North East of Germany. Police enqiries lead to the fact that the dead men are Romanian citizens. During the attempt to cross the EU border, they have been shot by hunters. The hunters claim that they had mistaken the people for wild boar. Four years later, the trial begins. It will never be proved, which of the hunters has fired the fatal bullet. The verdict: not guilty. German Press Agency dpa reports: 'From Romania, noone

Germany 2010, 100 min
by Philip Scheffner

DAY OF THE SPARROW is a political wildlife documentary. It tells the story of a country where theborder between war and peace is disappearing. On November 14th , 2005 a sparrow is shot dead in Leeuwarden, and in Kabul a German soldier dies. These competing headlines are the starting point for director Philip Scheffner, to trace the war using the methods of an ornithologist. On his journey through Germany, the camera circuits a reality of the war – by capturing images of apparent peace.Dialogue

2007, 87 min
by Philip Scheffner

"There once was a man.This man came into the European war.Germany captured this man.He wishes to return to India.If God has mercy, he will make peace soon.This man will go away from here."Mall Singh's crackling words are heard as he spoke into the phonographic funnel on 11th December 1916 in the city of Wünsdorf, near Berlin.90 years later, Mall Singh is a number on an old Shellac record in an archive - one amongst hundreds of voices of colonial soldiers of the First World War.The recordings wer