Films by Ritchie Staringer

2023, 90 min
by André Schäfer

"Die Ente bleibt draußen!" A film obeisance to the German humorist Loriot. To mark Loriot’s 100th birthday, André Schäfer paints a multi-facetted portrait of the best-known German humorist: With numerous film excerpts from his famous sketches, rare documentary footage of Vicco von Bülow from the early days of his career and interviews with companions, colleagues, experts and fans. The film remembers the inventor of the bulbous-nosed Knollennasenmännchen and explores the secret of his very German universe. It’s also a homage to the German post-war economic miracle and Loriot’s singular symbiosis of Prussianism and anarchic humour. [31 FFHH]With: Johann von Bülow, Olli Dittrich, Oliver Kalkofe, Hape Kerkeling, Helge Schneider, Ariana Baborie , Dagmar Biener, Mirja Boes, Katja Bogdanski, Sarah Bosetti, Claudia Hillebrandt u.a.

2017, 90 min
by André Schäfer, Jascha Hannover

"There are three golden rules to filmmaking: thou shalt not bore, thou shalt not bore, and thou shaltnot bore!" Billy Wilder was one of the greatest writers and directors in Hollywood. The man who filmed Marilyn Monroe with her dress blowing up, wrote screenplays with Raymond Chandler and created film history with classics like 'Sunset Boulevard', 'Some Like It Hot' or 'One, Two, Three'.Billy Wilder was a legend in his lifetime and embodies a period of contemporary history. He was successful beyond measure, and became very rich as a result – but he never sold out.Our film rediscovers this cultural figurehead. Via trailers and film extracts from his greatest works, it documents and analyses Wilder's filmmaking. In exclusive, newly-filmed interviews companions and contemporaries of Billy Wilder, such as Volker Schlöndorff, Marthe Keller und Paul Diamond document a century of contemporary history and portray a person who above all was never boring.

Germany 2012, 90 min
by André Schäfer

John Irving is one of the world’s most read writers: More than 10 million copies of his 12 novels have been sold in 30 languages. In 2012 Irving celebrated his 70th birthday.When reading John Irving, you get the feeling that you are sitting at a table and one of the characters is handing you a glass of wine: Irving is one of the world’s most read writers: More than 10 million copies of his 12 novels have been sold in 30 languages. In 2012 Irving celebrated his 70th birthday. The film visualises the elation in Irving’s novels, a factor which makes him a literary figure of global format: a reality available for everyone, approachable though closely knitted and inhabited by characters and inventions boasting an exuberant lust for storytelling.