Films by Raphael Schanz

2025, 24 min
by Raphael Schanz

An aging Osho commune in the German countryside. The dream of enlightenment and free love still echoes, but the winds of change are impossible to ignore. What remains of the utopias of the 1980s? How to face impermanence? Wahhab is the caretaker of this aging community, answering the slow fade-out of things with his steadfast cordless drill. A film about growing old, holding on and letting go, at the threshold between old ideals and new realities. ___________________ Kasseler Dokfest 2025

Germany 2022, 28 min
by Raphael Schanz

Every year, five to ten percent of all deceased Berliners are buried by the authorities. Most of them are put into the ground single-handedly by urn attendant Bernd Simon. But sometimes companions do turn up who say goodbye in their own special way. An observational documentary about a mortician who actually wanted to become an animator, a whimsical portrait of a city and a mirror of how we deal with death, mourning and memory.