Please note that the Open Eyes school films are offered especially for school classes and are not open to the public. More information about the programme and registration for teachers can be found at www.nihrff.de/en/open-eyes.
Since 2007, Open Eyes has been generously sponsored by Stabilo International GmbH.
DIRECTED BY: Christoph Eder COUNTRY: Germany YEAR: 2021 SPOKEN LANGUAGE(S): German SUBTITLES:RUNNING TIME: 96 min
SECTION: Open Eyes 2021
SYNOPSIS Christoph Eder draws a personal portrait of the inhabitants of his home village on the Baltic Sea island of Rügen and describes the conflict between the interests of individuals and the common good in times of modern tourism.
BIOGRAPHY Christoph Eder works as a director and author. In his films, he mainly deals with socio-political issues of our time. In addition to his work on documentaries, he is active in online and television productions. Among other things, he directs the satire format “Browser Ballet” (ARD/ZDF), which was awarded the Grimme Prize 2019. Eder’s short films have screened at national and international festivals and have won several awards. He studied media art at the Bauhaus University Weimar and directing at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF. Together with four filmmakers, he founded the KAMMER11 film collective in 2013.
FILMOGRAPHY Mr. Wood (2015), Imbiss (2016), Streaming through Life (2017), Die Isolation der Oma Lilo (2020), Wem gehört mein Dorf? (2021)
SCRIPT: Christoph Eder PRODUCER: Marcel Lenz, Guido Schwab, Claritta Kratochwil CINEMATOGRAPHY: Domenik Schuster EDITOR: Patrick Richter SCORE: Anna Kühlein
SYNOPSIS Without solidarity, hope would long since have died. The borders in the Italian-French Roya valley have been closed since 2015. Countless refugees try in vain to leave the Italian town of Ventimiglia for France and are sent back again and again. But the liberal inhabitants of this stubborn region refuse to settle for this. Together they oppose the law, shelter young migrants, provide them with bread behind the backs of the police – plainly doing everything to give these people a future. So in the foggy gorges far from the great European metropolises there is a community that stands together and just wants to help, resists – out of love of their homeland, out of human kindness, out of the shared belief in a world where we can live together peacefully and which is worth fighting for. WORDS OF BANDITS shows an oasis of hope. A film about arriving, progressing and approaching each other. (Julia Weigl, DOK Leipzig)
BIOGRAPHY Jean Boiron-Lajous studied film at the University of Lille 3 and at the University of Aix-Marseille. In 2012 he directed LA MÉMOIRE ET LA MER, a documentary film produced by the University of Aix-Marseille with the participation of INA (FID Marseille 2013 selection). In 2015 he directed TERRA DI NESSUNO, a documentary produced by Prima Luce that won awards at FID Marseille and many international festivals. He continued his collaboration with Prima Luce and in 2018 directed PLUS T’APPUIES MOINS J’AI MAL, a short film and WORDS OF BANDITS (PAROLES DE BANDITS), another documentary.
FILMOGRAPHY La mémoire et la mer (2012), Terra di nessuno (2015), The harder you hit the less it hurts (2018), Words of Bandits (2019)
SCRIPT: Jean Boiron Lajous PRODUCER: Loïc Legrand CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jean Boiron Lajous EDITOR: Myriam Aycaguer, Jean Boiron Lajous
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Prima Luce (info@primaluce.fr)WORLD SALES:Prima Luce (info@primaluce.fr)
Wolves, The
Lobos, Los
DIRECTED BY: Samuel Kishi Leopo COUNTRY: Mexico YEAR: 2019 SPOKEN LANGUAGE(S): Spanish, English, Cantonese SUBTITLES: German live voice over RUNNING TIME: 95 min
SYNOPSIS Eight year old Max and his younger brother Leo don’t have much, but they have each other and their mother Lucía. And they share a dream as well: To visit Disneyland one day. The family has recently emigrated to the USA from Mexico, and while Lucía tries to finance their new life by doing odd jobs, the two brothers spend their days in their sparsely furnished one-room flat. The walls of the room, which they are forbidden to leave, become a projection screen for imaginative adventures and open a window on their new life. Director Samuel Kishi Leopo recalls aspects of his own childhood in Los Lobos and resituates them in a currently highly charged context – brutally honest and yet poetic, melancholic and full of hope. (Souce: Berlinale)
BIOGRAPHY Samuel Kishi Leopo holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in audiovisual arts from the University of Guadalajara. His work has been shown in over 100 festivals around the world, including Clermont Ferrand and the Berlinale, where he competed on the Generation Kplus section with his feature film debut SOMOS MARI PEPA. Some of his awards include the Morelia International Film Festival’s Silver Eye, the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences’ Best Short Film for MARI PEPA, as well as three Ariel nominations for his feature film debut SOMOS MARI PEPA.
FILMOGRAPHY Luces negras (2009), Acerca del drama de los calcetines (2010), Mari Pepa (2011), Somos Mari Pepa (2013), Juglares del Gol (2016), Los Lobos (2019)
SCRIPT: Samuel Kishi Leopo, Sofía Gómez Córdova, Luis Briones PRODUCER: Inna Payan Stoupignan CINEMATOGRAPHY: Octavio Arauz EDITOR: Yordi Capó, Carlos Espinoza Benítez, Samuel Kishi Leopo SCORE: Kenji Kishi Leopo CAST: Maximiliano Nájar Márquez, Leonardo Nájar Márquez, Martha Reyes Arias
INHALT Transgender/Trans*-Menschen bezeichnet Menschen, deren Geschlechtsmerkmale nicht mit ihrem gefühlten Geschlecht, dem sogenannten Identitätsgeschlecht, übereinstimmen. TRANS – I GOT LIFE stellt sieben verschiedene Menschen vor, bei denen genau dies zutrifft. Sie erzählen offen von ihren persönlichen Erfahrungen mit ihrer Umwelt und den eigenen Identitätskonflikten. Neben den persönlichen Geschichten beleuchtet der Film auch die Möglichkeiten der modernen Medizin durch chirurgische Geschlechtsangleichung. TRANS – I GOT LIFE zeigt eindrücklich wie unterschiedlich die Wege zur Selbstverwirklichung aussehen können und macht deutlich, dass Geschlechter nicht mehr nur binär gedacht werden können.
BIOGRAPHIE Doris Metz lebt und arbeitet in München. Sie ist in Oberstdorf/Allgäu aufgewachsen. Nach einem Studium in Neuerer deutscher Literaturwissenschaft, Linguistik und Politikwissenschaft an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in München und einem SZ-Volontariat in Bonn und München war sie zehn Jahre lang Redakteurin und Autorin der Süddeutschen Zeitung im Bereich Medien und Innenpolitik und war nach der Wende als Reporterin in den neuen Bundesländern im Einsatz. Seit 1998 macht Doris Metz Kino-Dokumentarfilme und Fernsehfilme. Ihr Fokus liegt auf gesellschaftspolitischen Stoffen. Ihre Filme „Lesbos“ und „Kleine Eroberer“ wurden für den Grimme-Preis nominiert. Mit „Schattenväter“, einem Film über Matthias Brandt und Pierre Boom, die Söhne von Willy Brandt und DDR-Spion Günter Guillaume, drehte sie 2005 einen vielbeachteten Kinodokumentarfilm. 2017 gründete sie zusammen mit Imogen Kimmel die Kimmel & Metz Filmproduktion. „TRANS – I got Life“ ist für Doris Metz der dritte gemeinsame Kinofilm mit der Bildgestalterin Sophie Maintigneux. Seit 2016 ist Doris Metz im Rundfunkrat des WDR (stellvertretendes Mitglied) und von 2016 – 2020 war sie im Bundesvorstand der AG DOK.
Imogen Kimmel studierte zunächst Literatur an der FU Berlin, dann an HFF München Dokumentarfilm. Anschließend Postgraduate Studies an der NSFTV, Leeds, England. Dort dreht sie die internationale Co-Produktion SECRET SOCIETY – CLUB DER STARKEN FRAUEN (Kinospielfilm, Buch und Regie), eine britische Sozialkomödie mit Sumoringerinnen aus feministischer Perspektive. 2011 lebt sie als Artist in Residence in Phnom Penh, Kambodscha und realisiert u.a. ein Social Art Project im Rahmen des UN Rote Khmer Tribunal. Ihre Spielfilme laufen auf Filmfestivals weltweit. SECRET SOCIETY gewinnt den Publikumspreis in Créteil Films de Femmes, der Social Spot MOVE YOUR ASS gewinnt auf dem New York Filmfestival. ALL OUT AT SEA (Kurzfilm) läuft im Wettbewerb der Berlinale, in Tokio, Chicago u.a. Seit 2007 hat sie zahlreiche TV-Spielfilme und TV-Serien inszeniert. Als eine der Initiatorinnen von Pro Quote Regie setzt sie sich für die Gleichstellung von Regisseurinnen ein, lehrt als Professorin für Regie an der Macromedia in München und gründet 2017 mit Doris Metz die kimmel&metz Filmproduktion.
FILMOGRAPHIE Doris Metz: Ich werde reich und glücklich (2002), Schattenväter (2005), Trans – I got Life (2021) Imogen Kimmel: All out at sea (1995), Secret Society – Club der starken Frauen (2001), Trans – I got Life (2021)
DREHBUCH: Doris Metz, Imogen Kimmel PRODUZENT:IN: André Schäfer, Doris Metz, Imogen Kimmel KAMERA: Sophie Maintigneux SCHNITT: Frank Müller MUSIK: Gregor Schwellenbach MIT:
KONTAKTE PRODUKTION: Florianfilm, Kimmel & Metz Filmproduktion WELTVERTRIEB: New Docs (sales@newdocs.de) DEUTSCHER VERLEIH: mindjazz (office@mindjazz-pictures.de )
Oeconomia
Oeconomia
DIRECTED BY: Carmen Losman COUNTRY: Germany YEAR: 2020 SPOKEN LANGUAGE(S): English, German SUBTITLES: German RUNNING TIME: 89 min
SECTION: Open Eyes 2021
SYNOPSIS What is money? What are debts? What are the consequences of both? And how can images be found for them? In Oeconomia, Carmen Losmann undertakes a journey in the strategic heartlands of neoliberal policy.
BIOGRAPHY Carmen Losmann was born in Crailsheim in 1978 and grew up in Hohenlohe. Three years of studies in Cologne and England (Bachelor of Arts Marketing) were followed by studies at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne with a diploma in film. Her debut film – the feature-length documentary WORK HARD PLAY HARD – deals with the effects of modern human resource management and was awarded numerous prizes, including the Grimme Prize 2014. She received the Gerd Ruge Project Scholarship for the documentary OECONOMIA. Carmen Losmann lives and works in Cologne and Templin.
FILMOGRAPHY Nicht wie jeder (2009), Work hard – play hard (2011), Oeconomia (2020)
SCRIPT: Carmen Losman PRODUCER: Hannes Lang, Mareike Wegener CINEMATOGRAPHY: Dirk Lütter EDITOR: Henk Drees, Carmen Losmann
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Petrolio Film Gmbh (lang@petroliofilm.de) WORLD SALES: Deckert Distribution (info@deckert-distribution.com) GERMAN DISTRIBUTOR: Neue Visionen Filmverleih Gmbh (info@neuevisionen.de)
Kabul, City in the Wind
Kabul, City in the Wind
DIRECTED BY: Aboozar Amini COUNTRY: Afghanistan, Netherlands, Germany, Japan YEAR: 2018 SPOKEN LANGUAGE(S): Dari SUBTITLES: German RUNNING TIME: 88 min
SECTION: Open Eyes 2021
SYNOPSIS Afshin and his younger brother Benjamin live at the hillside of the Chil Dokhtaran mountains. Grown up next to the city full of bombs and sirens, violence has become a part of their innocence. When their father leaves for another country, an end comes to Afshin’s childhood. Abbas is a ruthless bus driver. The lengthy process of his tempts to fix his broken bus reveals his way of living between truth and lies. Their stories will intermingle with the city scenes, passengers etc on the bus ride, to complete the symphonic portrait of the city. Without showing shocking scenes, the film portraits the soul of Kabul that is in agony.
BIOGRAPHY
Aboozar Amini (1985, Bamiyan, Afghanistan) migrated to the Netherlands as a teenager. After high school, he completed his bachelor’s degree at the Rietveld Art Academy in Amsterdam. His graduation film KabulTehranKabul (2010) won the prestigious Wildcard Award of the Dutch Film Fund. He did his MA in Directing and Aesthetic Cinematography at the London Film School, where he made 12 short films. His graduation film LFS Angelus Novus (2015) was inspired by the paintings of Paul Klee. The film premiered at IFFR (Rotterdam) and won numerous awards. His film Where is Kurdistan (2016) was screened at IFFR. His latest short film had its world premiere as the opening film of the Directors` Fortnight of the Cannes International Film Festival 2018. Aboozar lives and works in Kabul, Afghanistan, and Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. He is currently developing his first feature film, The Cineaste, which was selected for Open Doors in Locarno and the Film Bazaar in Goa.
FILMOGRAPHY Kabultehrankrabul (2010), Angelus Novus (2015), Where is Kurdistan? (2016), Kabul, City in the Wind (2018)
SCRIPT: Aboozar Amini PRODUCER: Jia Zhao CINEMATOGRAPHY: Aboozar Amini EDITOR: Barbara Hin
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Color of May, Silk Road Film Salon (jiazhao98@hotmail.com) WORLD SALES: Rediance (info@rediancefilms.com) GERMAN DISTRIBUTOR: Jip Film & Verleih Gbr (info@jip-film.de)
