Films by Stefan Eberlein

2021, 97 min
by Stefan Eberlein

In 2004, Khaled El Masri was illegally abducted by the CIA and taken to a secret prison near Kabul. His case brought the CIA’s worldwide so called “rendition program” to light. We tell this political thriller for the first time. In 2004, while on a bus trip close to the Macedonien border, German citizen Khaled El Masri disappeared. He was kidnapped by the CIA and taken to a secret prison near Kabul. Five months later, he was released in a forest in Albania. El Masri was an innocent man. His case was the main reason why the CIA’s worldwide “rendition programme” came to light. Its agents were forcibly taking suspected terrorists to secret locations and torturing them in order to extract confessions and obtain information. It then became clear that ever since the attacks on September 11, moral categories within the US intelligence services had shifted and that the extent of violence used during the CIA operations was out of control. With the support of human rights lawyers in Europe and the United States, El Masri spent the years after his abduction trying to restore his moral and legal integrity and to obtain a formal apology – so far in vain. In September 2020, he made a statement in the extradition procedure against Julian Assange, regarding the question how wikileaks contributed to revealing US war crimes in Afghanistan. In this political thriller, we tell the story of a man who fell victim to a government intervention and was caught up in geopolitical power interests that eventually destroyed his and his family’s life.

Germany 2016, 90 min
by Stefan Eberlein

2017DOK.fest München im Internationalen Wettbewerb Filmkunstfest Mecklenburg - Vorpommern im Deutschen Wettbewerb57. Film Festival KrakauThey sing about homesickness, love, war and forgiveness. The voices pertain to drug dealers, thefts or murderers jailed in one of the about thousand Russian prisons or penal camps. They all dream about becoming part of the song contest “Kalina Krasnaya“ (English: Red Elderberry). Each of the approximately 700,000 Russian prisoners has the opportunity to participate.For Natalia Abashkina, director of the show and soul of the programme, working with the prisoners is a vocation. Tirelessly she travels through the country looking for talents and caring about her fosterlings. Stefan Eberlein accompanied her. His film provides insights into a paralell world. The life stories of the protagonists not only reveal personal fates but also reflect the social reality of a state still characterized by arbitrariness and brutality. A Tale of Singers and Murderers also demonstrates that even in the harsh reality of nowadays Russia it is possible to act deeply human and solidarily- and reveals the unique power music can unfold.90 or 52 mins version with English or German subtitles available

Germany 2015, 90 min
by Stefan Eberlein

A Chinese investor buys the regional airport of Parchim in provincial north Germany to turn it into a hub for international cargo and passenger transport. Sheer megalomania or enviable drive and enthusiasm?In 2007 Chinese investor Jonathan Pang bought an old military airport in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, northern Germany. In the small town of Parchim, he wants to create an international hub for air cargo transport between China, Europe and Africa. Mr Pang plans no less than to reroute international commodity flows and turn Parchim into a new centre of globalisation. But is this idea compatible with the north German provinces? The unemployment rate is high, the airport has laid idle for 17 years. A container on stilts acts as a temporary control tower, the runway is crumbling and staff speak no English. While Jonathan Pang’s German adviser Werner Knan gets increasingly bogged down by German bureaucracy, Mr Pang travels the world and with unfailing optimism endeavours to win the support of others for his undertaking. The filmmakers accompanied the investor over a period of seven years, encountering wealthy Chinese entrepreneurs, a German district administrator, a networking member of parliament and finally visiting Mr. Pangs home town in the remote Chinese province of Henan. Will he succeed in turning Parchim into a new centre of global trade?