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In "Forever - The Story of a Love", Hamburg filmmaker and Grimme Award winner Pia Lenz accompanied a married couple from Harburg with her camera for five years during the last stage of their lives. A film about the highs and lows of a life together - until one of them has to go first at the end. Just released at Filmfest Hamburg and in cinemas from 9 November.

A protector that we all need: "Totem and I" is about 11-year-old Ama, whose family in the Netherlands is to be deported from one day to the next. Ama flees from the police - and from then on has a giant porcupine at her side to protect her. Directors and Script Writer Sander Berger's film was co-produced by Leitwolf Filmproduktion from Hamburg and is celebrating its Hamburg premiere at the MICHEL Filmfest Hamburg.

The film was produced by Leitwolf Filmproduktion from Hamburg.

In recent years, Heinz Strunk has mainly made a name for himself as a bestselling author. Now he has written a script for an Amazon Prime series in which he also plays the lead role alongside Marc Hosemann. The MOIN-funded series will premiere at Filmfest Hamburg. We spoke to Strunk about his humorous role models, loser types and his comfort zone.

An extraordinary film - in every respect: almost exactly five years ago, the camps of environmental activists in Hambach Forest were cleared by the police. Film student and journalist Steffen Meyn, who had accompanied the protest movement for many months with his camera, died during the sometimes very chaotic eviction. Three of his fellow students at the time used the 360-degree footage he left behind to make a documentary that will be released in cinemas on 21 September. We spoke to the filmmakers.

From 0 to 100 in just three years: Portuguese-Brazilian VR artist and filmmaker Lui Avallos presented his VR project "Queer Utopia" at Venice Immersive as part of the 80th Venice Biennale this year. Until the coronavirus pandemic, he had little to do with VR and XR. In this interview, he reveals what has happened since then and what makes his current project so special.

Summertime is open-air cinema time. You haven't watched a film in the open air yet this year? Here we show you a selection of current open-air cinemas in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein.

With the "Hamburg Animation Club", Till Penzek has been focussing on the Hamburg animation film scene since last year. At each evening event, he invites exciting guests from the Hanseatic city to present their works and working processes at the Metropolis cinema. Next event: 23 March! He reveals how he came up with the format here.

The six-part historical series "Davos" is set against the imposing mountain backdrop of the Grisons Alps and will be filmed at various locations in Switzerland, South Tyrol and Hamburg until the end of March. The joint production between Swiss Contrast Film and Hamburg-based Letterbox Filmproduktion has now been presented for the first time at the Berlinale Series Market.

School is a highly explosive topic, and not just for parents of school-age children. İlker Çatak has made a film about the microcosm of The Teachers' Lounge and school in the broadest sense. The award-winning Director, who once completed his Master's degree at Hamburg Media School, sees school as a mirror of our society. Ahead of the world premiere of the MOIN-funded drama on 18 February at the Berlinale, we spoke to İlker about his film.

From famous North German novel adaptations to Hamburg school dramas and mystery stories from Turkey, the range of MOIN-funded material at this year's Berlinale extends. Here we reveal which eight films and series with North German participation can be seen from 16 to 26 February.

What do Hollywood star Michael B. Jordan, Nora Arnezeder from "Mozart in the Jungle" and the team behind the new diving thriller "The Dive" have in common? They have all filmed spectacular scenes in the water basin of the OffTEC company in Schleswig-Holstein in recent years. Here we reveal what makes the so-called GreenTEC Campus so unique.

On 28 October, Friedrich Tiedtke's short film "Kalb" celebrates its world premiere at the Hof Film Festival. In the film, the up-and-coming director shows the generational conflict in rural areas. The film was produced by the Hamburg production company Tamtam Film together with Tiedtke. Here we reveal why "Kalb" almost never got made and the challenges involved in filming a real Kalb.

Different from the others: "Human Flowers of Flesh" by Helena Wittmann is a film that comes across without many words but with a strong visual language and has already won over audiences in Locarno and recently at Filmfest Hamburg. We met up with the Hamburg filmmaker to talk about her work.

Oliver Masucci has already proven several times in past works that he gives his all for his roles. For the new Prime Video series "German Crime Story: Gefesselt", he descends into the mental abysses of the Hamburg acid barrel murderer. The first two episodes of the high-end series by Director Florian Schwarz premiered at Filmfest Hamburg 2022, and all episodes are now available to watch on Amazon Prime.

Fatih Akin's new film "Rheingold" celebrates its world premiere at the anniversary edition of Filmfest Hamburg. It tells the story of Kurdish rapper, dealer, label founder and gold digger Giwar Hajabi, aka Xatar. It can't really be categorised into a genre, nor does it have to be. For the Hamburg-based Director, it is a new German mythology, as he tells us in an interview. The film was shot in Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands and, of course, Hamburg. A home game for Fatih Akin. By Britta Schmeis

Time for series material: In June, 20 author\*producer\*teams from all over Europe came together at the Series Lab Hamburg to work on their scripts with experienced script consultants. Among the participants were five teams from Hamburg.

With the Romy Schneider drama "3 Days in Quiberon", Director and Script Writer Emily Atef won more German film awards than any other film in 2018. Her new feature film "More Than Ever" celebrated its premiere around four years later in the Un Certain Regard section in Cannes and is now being released in German cinemas. We spoke to Atef and her Executive Producer Nicole Gerhards about the difficult filming during the coronavirus pandemic, her strong ensemble of actors and post production in Hamburg.

Many people are probably aware that the Reeperbahn of the 80s is not comparable to today's party district. However, the high-end documentary series "REEPERBAHN - SPECIAL UNIT 65" by gebrueder beetz filmproduktion, which tells the fight from a police perspective and can now be seen at Filmfest Hamburg, impressively shows just how brutal the fights between rival gangs and louts really were at the time.

With the feature film "The Peppercorns and the Secret of the Deep Sea", German Script Writer Dirk Ahner shows how green storytelling and exciting entertainment can be symbiotically combined. In their latest adventure film, the peppercorns track down a dubious rubbish dealer who illegally disposes of plastic waste in the sea for profit. By Birgit Heidsiek

With "France" by Bruno Dumont and "The Stranger" by Ameer Fakher Eldin, Hamburg-based Executive Producer Dorothe Beinemeier is represented at Filmfest Hamburg with two very different films. But both are international co-productions that celebrate auteur cinema. A look into the world of Red Balloon Film.

After award-winning documentaries such as "The Woman with the Five Elephants", and "The Venice Principle", the production company Filmtank realised the multimedia project "Bauhaus Spirit", which included a cinema film, a VR application, a game and a TV format for the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus in 2019. This year, Filmtank is celebrating its 20th anniversary and the premiere of the cinema film "Willi und die Wunderkröte" as part of Filmfest Hamburg.

Great European arthouse cinema has been announced for Filmfest Hamburg. The renowned and multi-award-winning Hungarian Director and Script Writer Ildikó Enyedi will present her latest film "The Story of my Wife" on 6 October as a German premiere on the Elbe. The opulent drama about love and jealousy is largely set in Hamburg, in locations such as the harbour, the Speicherstadt warehouse district, on the canals in the city and in front of and in the Hotel Atlantik.

A total of 110 films from 57 countries can be seen on the big screen at Filmfest Hamburg from 30 September to 9 October. Among them are 15 productions from the Film North, many of which have already been honoured at international festivals in recent months. We'll show you the film gems here.

The film industry is going green. Since more and more film funding organisations and TV stations are making green filming a requirement, expertise and advice is in demand. Green Consultants help film teams with preparation and shooting. We spoke to Hamburg-based Executive Producer and Green Consultant Rike Steyer about how this works in practice and what options they have.

How digitalisation is turning everything upside down, how it is shaking up the production industry and changing film funding; what role streaming services and TV stations are taking on and how public broadcasters are reinventing themselves in the transformation process: the second Explorer Konferenz will deal with these topics as well as questions about innovative technology and diversity. The second edition will take place as part of the Filmfest Hamburg on 8 October. The Explorer Impuls on 7 September will provide an initial preview. Register now!

What a start: Finnish filmmaker Khadar Ahmed made it straight to Cannes with his feature film debut "The Gravedigger's Wife" - the film celebrated its world premiere at the International Critics' Week in July and can now be seen at Filmfest Hamburg. We spoke to the Director and Script Writer about the unusual story, shooting with amateur actors in Djibouti and working in Hamburg.

MEDIA, the European Union's funding programme for the audiovisual industry, is entering its sixth term in 2021 and celebrating its 30th anniversary. In the previous period (2014-2020), projects from Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein were supported with over 11.3 million euros. This will be increased again for the future.

Two prizes (Fipresci + Special Jury Award) were awarded at the 25th Sofia International Film Festival in March for "German Lessons". The drama even won Best Film at the Tertio Millennio Film Fest 2021 - the film is now screening at Filmfest Hamburg. Co-producer is Sebastian Weyland with his Hamburg-based company Heimathafen Film. We met up with Director of Photography Pavel Vesnakov and Executive Producer Orlin Ruevski to talk about the Bulgarian film scene, filming in Sofia and post production at Optical Art in Hamburg.

Together against the pandemic: next weekend (27 + 28 February), Hamburg's art house and district cinemas are joining forces for the online event "Eine Stadt sieht einen Film" (A City Sees a Film) and showing the 70s Hamburg classic "Supermarkt" by Roland Klick, including a large supporting programme. In Schleswig-Holstein, an association called Kinoverbund-SH has even been founded to pool the strengths of cinemas in joint campaigns and send out a nationwide signal.

These are not easy times for the film and cinema industry. It's even more difficult if you're fresh out of university and haven't yet built up a functioning network. How are students who have just graduated and now want to gain a foothold in the labour market? We spoke to eight graduates of the Hamburg Media School.

In "Am Ende der Worte", "Dark" star Lisa Vicari slips into the role of a young Hamburg policewoman who is torn between her ideals and the esprit de corps of her team. The drama was made as part of the "Nordlichter" programme for young talent by NDR, FFHSH and nordmedia. We spoke to Executive Producer Linus Günther (klinkerfilm) about filming with corona restrictions, the Nordlichter application process and the topicality of the film's subject matter.

The Hamburg actress Pheline Roggan is actively committed to implementing green measures on film sets. Together with her fellow actors Miriam Stein, Moritz Vierboom and Director Laura Fischer, she has launched the Changemakers.film initiative.

What if an algorithm could tell us who our perfect partner is? Software developer Samuel explores this question in the eight-part series "Big Dating", which has been available in the ARD media library for a few days. We spoke to Hamburg-based Directors Nathan Nill about the endearingly quirky characters and what it was like for him to work on what is now his second series.

A romantic love story with bizarre ideas: The film "Gaza mon Amour" by Directors and twin brothers Arab and Tarzan Nasser celebrated its German premiere at Filmfest Hamburg 2020 and will be released in German cinemas on 22 July. The brothers reveal in an interview what role a broken penis plays in the film and who else from Hamburg was involved in the project.

Finally a film festival again! From 24 September to 3 October, Filmfest Hamburg opens its doors in a hybrid edition. For many films, you can choose between going to the cinema and streaming. Seven subsidised films have made it into the programme, including the Berlinale winner "There is no evil" and a remastered version of Fatih Akin's classic "Short Sharp Shock".

At the age of 31, she already has an Oscar in her pocket - a few weeks ago, she beat off the competition at the Screen Talent Europe Pitching Forum: Things couldn't be going better for Hamburg-based Director of Photography and Script Writer Zamarin Wahdat at the moment. Here we reveal which projects she will be working on next and what she considers to be good camera work.

Developing new streaming platforms, writing future material or simply renovating the bathroom - everyone is using the time of coronavirus restrictions differently. We asked around a bit among film and media professionals in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein to find out where they are heading in the coming months.

The episodic film "There is no evil" won the Golden Bear at the 70th Berlinale and will be released in German cinemas on 19 August 2021. Directors and Hamburg resident Mohammad Rasoulof is still not allowed to leave Iran due to his regime-critical films. In an interview, he told us why he is still not letting it get him down and how he has processed his experiences of the last two years in his new film.

An arthouse horror film "Made in Germany"? Directors Michael Venus shows with his debut film "Schlaf" that this combination definitely doesn't have to be a contradiction in terms. The film was produced by Verena Gräfe-Höft (Junafilm). Both studied together at the Hamburg Media School many years ago and have now joined forces for the first time. The film is currently available "on demand" due to the cinema closures.

On 23 February, the film "Futur Drei" by up-and-coming director Faraz Shariat, which won the First Steps Award last year, celebrated its premiere at the 70th Berlinale. With his film collective "Jünglinge", he is committed to a queer, feminist and anti-racist agenda in the film industry.

Almost every German knows Udo Lindenberg - but who knows his past? This is exactly where Hermine Huntgeburth's biopic "Lindenberg! Do your thing", which has been showing in cinemas since 16 January. In it, she traces the time leading up to his first major performance in Hamburg in 1972 with a great Jan Bülow in the leading role. We met up with the Hamburg-based Director and Jan Bülow for an interview and talked about smoking on set, thwarted rock stars and preparing for the film.

"Bonnie & Bonnie"", Ali Hakim's feature film debut and Wilhelmsburg movie, is being released in German cinemas this week. But it's been a long road to get here - we've fast-tracked it for you.

Directors Ilker Çatak's second feature film "I Was, I Am, I Will Be" has just won awards for script and lead actor at the Munich Film Festival and is now being released in German cinemas. We spoke to the Hamburg-based Director about his fears during the development process and working with co-author Nils Mohl.

In his early 20s, Darío Aguirre followed his girlfriend Stephanie from Ecuador to Germany to build a new life here as an artist. He probably never thought it would take almost two decades before he was finally naturalised. In his documentary "In the Land of My Children", he shows what it means to settle into a new culture - and how difficult it is to find your way through the jungle of German authorities.

In their film "Romy's Salon", Directors Mischa Kamp and Script Writer Tamara Bos show how differently children and adults deal with Alzheimer's disease. An emotional drama that has already won numerous awards in recent months and has finally been showing in German cinemas since 31 January. We met up with the Director and Script Writer for an interview.

Director Shahrbanoo Sadat was honoured with the Art Cinema Award in 2016 for her film "Wolf and Sheep". Now the sequel "The Orphanage" about an orphanage in Afghanistan is also starting in the "Quinzaine des réalisateurs" series in Cannes. Executive Producer is Katja Adomeit from Lübeck. We met up with her for an interview.

A son accompanies his father on his last journey to his home village: "Noah Land" is the feature film debut of up-and-coming Turkish director and Script Writer Cenk Ertürk at the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival in New York. We met up with Cenk and his Hamburg-based Executive Producer Titus Kreyenberg (klinkerfilm) to talk about the debut film.

Fatih Akin's film adaptation of the novel "The Golden Glove" has been showing in German cinemas since 21 February. A genuine Hamburg project that was filmed entirely in the Hanseatic city. However, many of the shots were not taken at the original locations, but in the studio. Why? We'll tell you here.

In his Berlinale film "All My Loving", Directors Edward Berger focuses on the turbulent lives of the three siblings Stefan, Julia and Tobias played by Lars Eidinger, Hans Löw and Nele-Mueller Stöfen, with whom he also wrote the script. In the interview, Berger and his wife Mueller Stöfen reveal, among other things, what makes Hamburg a film city and how they approached the script.

In "Olanda", Hamburg-based Directors Bernd Schoch accompanies mushroom pickers at work in Romania, who live for months in makeshift camps along the Transalpina. The Documentary shows the viewer both the magical world of the Carpathian Mountains and the complex economic structures behind the mushroom trade. The film is celebrating its world premiere at the Berlinale.

After 35 years, the little green dragon is finally coming to the big screen: Peter Maffay's "Tabaluga - Der Film" opens in German cinemas on 6 December. Directors Sven Unterwaldt worked with animation studios from Germany, Canada and China for Tabaluga's first 3D adventure - including an animation studio from Hamburg.

With "Wo kein Schatten fällt", the Hamburg production company "Das Kind mit der goldenen Jacke" is bringing its first 90-minute film to the big screen. The mystery film celebrates its Hamburg premiere at the Abaton on 6 November and can be seen on NDR television on 8 November. We met up with the film collective for a brief interview.

60 years of Nordic Film Days Lübeck - this needs to be celebrated in style: this year, the festival team led by Linde Fröhlich and Florian Vollmers has selected 199 films and extended the festival by an extra day. Fans of Nordic films will get their money's worth from 30 October to 4 November. Want a few tips? You'll get them!

A wild, harrowing animated ride through war-torn Angola in the 1970s: "Another Day of Life" celebrates its German premiere at Filmfest Hamburg on 28 September. The Hamburg-based company "Animationsfabrik" was responsible for large parts of the animation. Here we show you exactly how the fascinating look of the international co-production was created and how much work went into the production.

Mystery and horror films from Germany are still in short supply. Directors Damian Schipporeit and Executive Producer Stefan Gieren prove that there is no reason to hide behind the international competition with their Hamburg production "Tian - Das Geheimnis der Schmuckstraße". We spoke to Stefan about the former Chinese quarter in St Pauli and asked him what attracts him to the mystery genre.

What does the life of a top politician actually look like? The Kiel filmmaker Malte Blockhaus pursued this question from 2014 to 2017 and portrayed the then Schleswig-Holstein Environment Minister Robert Habeck. The result can be seen in cinemas from 30 August. "Following Habeck" is a close-up between election campaign and ministerial office, province and big city, victory and defeat. In an interview, Blockhaus reveals how he found his way between these poles

Get off the couch! We've put together a list of some of the best festivals in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein that are taking place in the north until the end of the year.

With his multi-award-winning film "Love Steaks", Jakob Lass caused a stir in the German film landscape in 2013 - particularly due to his working method, as a large part of the dialogue is improvised. With his new film "So Was Von Da", based on the novel of the same name by Tino Hanekamp, Lass shows that this method is perfectly suited to bringing a huge demolition party to the big screen.

Hille Norden was the youngest filmmaker to receive funding from Filmwerkstatt Kiel with her debut film "Jola" - at just 16 years old. In her new film "Khello Brüder" she accompanies the two Syrian brothers Tarek (journalist) and Zakwan (artist), who fled from their home in Aleppo to Germany and now talk to the Directors about their experiences. The Documentary has its first public test screening on 30 July at the Kino in der Pumpe in Kiel.

In recent years, animated films such as Shrek, Finding Nemo and Despicable Me have been global box office successes, often relegating their live-action counterparts to the lower ranks. And they were all produced in the USA. The fact that it is now more than worth taking a look at German productions is demonstrated by numerous examples from local production companies. We took a look around the Hanseatic city for you on the occasion of the Hamburg Animation Conference on 19 June. Spoiler: The north has a lot to offer!

A journey back in time to Hamburg in the 70s: on Sunday, 3 June, 15 cinemas in the Hanseatic city will be showing Wim Wenders' classic "The American Friend", starring Dennis Hopper and Bruno Ganz. Director legend Wenders and his team will also be on site at several screenings and reveal exciting details about the film.

With Fatih Akin, he wrote the scripts for "Tschick" and "Into the Fate", directed classics such as "Nordsee ist Mordsee" and is co-founder of the Hamburg Film Office and the Munich-based film publisher Script Writer: Hamburg filmmaker and actor Hark Bohm has now been honoured with an honorary LOLA at the German Film Awards for his outstanding services to German film. We looked back with him on his career.

More Schleswig-Holstein: The Filmfest Schleswig-Holstein 2018 will take place on 20 and 21 April at the Pumpe in Kiel. With an even more regional programme, the festival aims to better connect the local film scene and at the same time bring the latest productions by filmmakers from Schleswig-Holstein to the big screen. The audience and short film awards will also be presented for the first time.

In her documentary feature film debut "Family Life", Director Rosa Hannah Ziegler shows a family life on the margins of society. The documentary about a family living on a dilapidated farm is currently screening at the Berlinale in the "Panorama" section. We met up with the filmmaker from the Wendländische Filmkooperative for a brief interview.

The most important German film festival is entering the next round: from 15 to 25 February, the international film industry will meet for the 68th Berlin International Film Festival. Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein is represented in the programme with 18 funded productions. Find out which ones here.

More than "just" a visit to the cinema: the SchulKinoWochen (School Cinema Weeks) start again in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein at the end of November. The screenings are specially designed for school classes and aim to introduce children and young people to film education.

For many North German cineastes, it is THE highlight of the year. Filmfest Hamburg will be showing a total of 130 films in five Hamburg cinemas for its 25th anniversary, many of which have a North German connection in one way or another or were shot here. We'll tell you which ones now.

From 15 to 18 September, Territorium Film will host the German-Russian Documentary Film Festival in Kaliningrad for the sixth time. Numerous films with a northern German connection will be screened as part of the festival - we'll tell you exactly which ones here.

Red carpet, flurry of flashbulbs: Stefanie Bieker actually prefers to leave both to the actors and actresses for whom she designs and selects costumes. In 2016, she appeared on stage herself and was honoured with the European Film Award for Best Costume Design in the film Land of Mine. In an interview with us, she talks about her work, sources of inspiration and artistic freedom.

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, the Aufblende editorial team went in search of interesting film facts from the last ten years. Which was the longest film? And which was the most bizarre film location? We clear things up.

The 2017 festival season is starting, get off the couch. We've put together a list of the best festivals in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein below.

This year's Special Teddy Award for queer filmmaking goes to Monika Treut. We spoke to the Hamburg native.