Press Kit - Sola Media GmbH

After two decades in prison
a former terrorist is released …
Olaf Aue
After 22 years in prison, the one-time terrorist Widmer has been
released. Widmer was a leading member of the “second generation of the RAF [Red Army Fraction, in its early phase a.k.a. the
Baader-Meinhof Gang].” During a kidnapping that backfired badly,
his commando killed von Seichfeld, a bank director – as well as one
of Seichfeld’s employees. To this very day it has never been determined with absolute certainty who fired the deadly shots then. All
the other participants in the commando are dead save Marita, who
was Widmer’s lover in those past days. As state witness, Marita has
testified against Widmer and thus secured her own pardon.
Widmer’s attorney Ellen has furnished him with a place in an
anonymous apartment complex in Freiburg. Widmer would like to
reintegrate himself in everyday life of a world he has not gotten
used to yet. The first thing he would like is to take care of some
“simple matters” – but above all, he wants to make contact with his
son Samy, who is a grownup by now. All those years Widmer wrote
him letters every month from prison. But his letters were delivered
to Samy’s mother Marita, and Samy never got any of them.
Widmer’s neighbor in the next apartment is a young woman
called Valerie. She also is a client of lawyer Ellen. After Valerie had
beaten and injured her eight-year-old son, he was put under public
custody and lives with foster parents now. Widmer isn’t aware that
Valerie is the daughter of the gardener who had been shot dead
in the assault. He senses her tension but has no way of knowing
Valerie is searching for her father’s murderer. Valerie is driven by a
wish for revenge.
When things turn
nasty at a garden party
at the apartment block,
Widmer and Valerie leave
by car that same morning. They want to go visit
Samy, Widmer’s son. On
the ride to Berlin, Valerie
reveals her identity to
Widmer and accuses him
of murdering her father.
The disappearance of the
two of them does not go unnoticed. Ellen, Widmer’s lawyer, and
Decker (“Fisch”), the ex-investigator who had been in charge of the
manhunt pursuing him, run into each other in the building where
Valerie and Widmer are being missed at this point. Ellen and Fisch
had met at Widmer’s trial and briefly been a couple then. Now each
has something to conceal from the other. Ellen hides the fact she
had slipped Marita’s Berlin address to Widmer. Decker on his part
knows better than to reveal to Ellen he had carried on an intimate
affair with Valerie.
On their way to Berlin, Widmer denies he had anything to do
with the death of Valerie’s father. Instead he claims Marita, Samy’s
mother and, like himself, a member of the commando, was the
gardener’s murderer. Is he lying or telling the truth? Valerie takes
Marita by surprise in Marita’s Berlin apartment, holding a gun. Yet,
vehemently protesting, Marita denies the crime as well. The choice
is Valerie’s to make.
Jens Eisermann
Synopsis
Director Connie Walther
Director’s Statement
A headline written by a tabloid journalist helped us to hold an exceptionally large press conference during shooting. The author had
vented his rage over Peter-Jürgen Boock, who as a co-writer of the
screenplay had been paid partly through public film funding: “This
sort of film funding constitutes a mockery of the victims.”
Beside the fact that this appears to indicate a rather dubious
comprehension of the law, the interest of the media in the “myth
of RAF” thrusts aside precisely whom it is pretending to protect:
the victims.
Schattenwelt (Long Shadows) is the story of an “unintentional” victim dealing with a perpetrator whom the public would
not permit to be released from his history even after 22 years behind bars. She: a victim who has been forgotten alongside those
of the dead who are more renowned, who cannot cope with her
distorted life. He: a dubious celebrity anxious to find his way in an
inconspicuous manner in a world that has become alien to him. In
earlier days, he thrust himself into her life, violently; now she does
not leave him alone. They have to go on with their common history,
they have to get involved with each other to step from the past’s
overwhelming shadows.
In reality, this may be an unbearable confrontation, which a single human life might not be capable of coping with. In fiction, it
constitutes a possibility.
The conflict told in Schattenwelt takes place between people
on an equal footing; it is recounted chronologically, always leaving
open the option to let the story take on a new direction. Franziska
Petri and Ulrich Noethen, both familiar with the project for several
years, have endowed their characters with their own personalities
to an exceptional degree. The protagonists are guiding the story
at every moment and create a presence in which their past is ultimately mastered. The cinematic realization of Schattenwelt was
quite a challenge for me, and I hope it will be a thrilling film experience for the audience.
Filmography
2007 12 Means: I Love You
(Best director, German Television Award 2008)
2006 Mord in aller Unschuld
2005 Ei In Japan, documentary, Expo Japan
2002 Und tschüss, Ihr Lieben
2001 Im falschen Leben
2001 Wie Feuer und Flamme / Never Mind The Wall, X-films,
distr. Warner Bros.
1998 Tictactoe…, documentary
1998 Life Is The Main Thing / La vie avant tout
1996 The First Time
Olaf Aue (2)
Franziska Petri
Ulrich Noethen
VALERIE, a victim‘s daughter
WIDMER, called “Saul“, ex-terrorist
“A discovery,” wrote the Süddeutsche Zeitung in 2000 about her
appearance in Vergiss Amerika: “She has that certain something,
which is difficult to define and turns a good actress into an electrifying phenomenon: glamour, mystery, magnetism.” Between 1992 and 1995, Franziska Petri
studied at the renowned Hochschule für
Schauspielkunst “Ernst Busch” in Berlin.
While still a student, she played her first
major roles in TV productions, such as Operation Medusa, Mord an der roten Rita
and Annas Fluch. Franziska Petri made her
debut on the cinema screen in 1997 in
Michael Gwisdeks Das Mambospiel, alongside Corinna Harfouch and Jürgen Vogel. The film opened the
48th Berlin International Film Festival in 1998. It was followed by
the motion picture Der Vulkan and her first big cinematic lead in
Vergiss Amerika. The film won the Hypo Award of the Munich
Film Festival, the First Steps Award, and it was awarded the prize
as the best German film at the 5th Forum du Cinéma Européen
de Strasbourg.
After the rather extravagant film comedy Max & Moritz Reloaded (2004), where she starred alongside Ben Becker, she
played in Porno!Melo!Drama!, the debut by Korean filmmaker
Heesok Sohn and Das Herz ist ein dunkler Wald, the second film
by Nicolette Krebitz alongside Nina Hoss and Devid Striesow. Next, she will be starring in two more leading parts in films coming to movie theaters soon: Helenes Nacht by Matthias Luthardt
and Die Mathematiklehrerin by Lars-Gunnar Lotz.
“You have to attempt to find a certain amount of distance from
yourself and keep asking what you’re actually doing at the moment, to what end you’re playing in a story and what the story is
conveying.”
Ulrich Noethen is one of the most versatile German actors today: He can distinguish
himself in a film for kids and likewise in the
cinematic adaptation of a novel, has shown
his talents brilliantly on the film screen,
lends “a face” to a TV production – and
continues to be committed to the theater.
He has been awarded with prizes several
times for his acting skills, receiving the German Federal Film Prize plus the Bavarian Film Prize as well as the
Golden Lion and the Golden Camera.
Ulrich Noethen studied law, learned Spanish and went through
a thoroughly classic training as an actor at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart. “The theater is the foundation of everything I have done so far.”
Filmography – a selection
2008 Helenes Nacht (Helene’s Night), Director: Matthias
Luthardt
2008 Die Mathematiklehrerin (The Math Teacher), Director:
Lars-Gunnar Lotz
2006 Das Herz ist ein dunkler Wald (The Heart is a Dark
Forest), Director: Nicolette Krebitz
2005 Under the wings, Director: Harry Verbeek
2005 Porno!Melo!Drama!, Director: Heesook Sohn
2004 Max und Moritz reloaded, Director: Thomas Frydetzki
2001 Leo & Claire (Montreal Film Festival), Director: Joseph
Vilsmaier
2000 Vergiss Amerika (Forget America), Director: Vanessa
Jopp
1999 Sabotage (Hof International Film Festival), Director: Andi
Niessner
1999 Der Vulkan (The Volcano), Director: Ottokar Runze
1998 Das Mambospiel (The Big Mambo), Director: Michael
Gwisdeck
Filmography – a selection
2008 Henri IV, Director: Jo Baier
2007 Ein fliehendes Pferd (Runaway Horse), Director: Rainer
Kaufmann
2006 Mein Führer – Die wirklich wahrste Wahrheit über Adolf
Hitler (Mein Führer – the Truly Truest Truth about Adolf
Hitler), Director: Dani Levy
2005 Das wahre Leben (Life Actually), Director: Alain Gsponer
Polly Blue Eyes, Director: Tomy Wigand
2004 Der Untergang – Hitler und das Ende des Dritten Reichs
(Downfall – Hitler and the End of the Third Reich),
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Bibi Blocksberg und das Geheimnis der blauen Eulen
(Bibi Blocksberg and the Secret of the Blue Owls),
Director: Franziska Buch
Kammerflimmern (Off Beat), Director: Hendrik
Hölzemann
2003 Sams in Gefahr (Danger for the Slurb), Director: Ben
Verbong
Das fliegende Klassenzimmer (The Flying Classroom),
Director: Tomy Wigand
2002 Francisca, Director: Eva López-Sánchez
Väter (I’m the Father), Director: Dani Levy
Bibi Blocksberg, Director: Hermine Huntgeburth
2001 Das Sams (The Slurb), Director: Ben Verbong
Vera Brühne, Director: Hark Bohm
2000 Gripsholm, Director: Xavier Koller
Bonhoeffer – Die letzte Stufe (Bonhoeffer – Agent of
Grace), Director: Eric Till
1999 Beresina oder die letzten Tage der Schweiz (The Last
Days of Switzerland), Director: Daniel Schmid
Grüne Wüste (The Green Desert), Director: Anno Saul
1998 Viehjud Levi (Jew-boy Levi), Director: Didi Danquart
1997 Comedian Harmonists (The Harmonists), Director:
Joseph Vilsmaier
Der Skorpion (The Scorpion), Director: Dominik Graf
Uli Herrmann
NextFilm
He was born 1959 in Offenburg, Baden, Germany. He majored in
history and German language and literature studies in Freiburg and
received his master’s degree in 1983. Subsequently he worked as
an assistant director and assistant dramatic advisor to Andrea Breth
and Peter Zadek.
From 1990, freelance writer for various large dailies and weekly
papers (Die Zeit / FAZ), focusing on theater and film.
Between 1992 and 1994, he was cultural reporter for television.
Subsequent work as editor for TV films at the SWF (Südwestfunk),
with focus on Debüt im Dritten and Tatort.
Since 2000, in charge of the program department Kino Koproduktionen (Cinema Co-productions) at SWR (Südwestrundfunk). Responsible for the following films, among others: Sophie
Scholl (Marc Rothemund/Fred Breinersdorfer, 2005), Warchild
(Christian Wagner/ Edin Hadzimahovic, 2006), Eden (Michael Hofmann, 2007), Alle Anderen (Maren Ade, 2008), Sturm (Hans-Christian Schmid/Bernd Lange, 2009).
Between 2000 and 2005, he taught at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Karlsruhe, lastly as a visiting professor and published a
book: Stoff: Von der Idee zum Drehbuch (From idea to script).
His second film script, the cinematic adaptation of the bestselling novel entitled Nachtzug nach Lissabon (Night Train to Lisbon),
is in the works.
NextFilm was originally founded in Hamburg by Pia Frankenberg
and her husband Laurens Straub, one of the co-founders of Filmverlag der Autoren. In 2000 Clementina Hegewisch became Straub’s
partner. NextFilm then moved its base to Berlin and today has also
offices in Cologne and Leipzig. Hegewisch has been the sole managing director since Straub’s death in April 2007.
The focus of NextFilm is on the development and production of
cinematic feature films and the production of documentaries and
theme nights.
Our main strength is concentrated on the development of original material in conjunction with talented directors and writers.
Since 1998 NextFilm has produced the following films:
The Trio (Das Trio, dir: Hermine Huntgeburth, 1998), Fisimatenten
(dir: Jochen Kuhn, 1999), Prüfstand 7 (dir: Robert Bramkamp, experimental docu-feature film, 2001), Der Cowboy weint (dirs: Eckhard Theophil and Thomas Frydetzki, short, 2002), Führer Ex (dir:
Winfried Bonengel, 2002), Neubau – VW in Dresden (dir: Thomas
Tielsch, documentary, 2003), Klaus Kuron – Spion in eigener Sache
(dir: Thomas Knauf, documentary, 2004), Max und Moritz Reloaded (dir: Thomas Frydetzki, 2005), Coffee Beans For A Life (Mein
Überleben in Kolbuszowa, (dir: Helga Hirsch, documentary, 2006),
Detektive oder Die glücklichen Engel der inneren Sicherheit (dir:
Andreas Goldstein, 2006), Schattenwelt (LONG SHADOWS dir:
Connie Walther, 2008), Unter Strom (dir: Zoltan Paul, postprod),
Das Milliardenspiel, der Berliner Bank-Skandal (working title, dir:
Ulrich Stein, in development), and Die Totenwäscherin (dir: Ben
Verbong, in development).
Contact:
NextFilm Filmproduktion
Almstadtstraße 5 · 10119 Berlin
phone: +49 (0)30 / 617 89 16-0
fax:
+49 (0)30 / 617 89 16-19
e-mail: next@nextfilm.de · www.nextfilm.de
Gambit
As an independent production company Gambit Film, founded by
the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg graduate Michael Jungfleisch in 1998, produces and co-produces Arthouse features and
documentaries for the cinema.
Our aim is to develope new creative talents and to produce
unique films with artistic value.
These films are feature films like Schattenwelt (Long Shadows) by Connnie Walther, Mein Bruder, der Vampir (Getting My
Brother Laid) by Sven Taddicken, Eden by Michael Hofmann, Heimkehr (Coming Home) by Damir Lukacevic and feature documentaries
like Die Blume der Hausfrau (The Housewive‘s Flower) by Dominik
Wessely, Schotter wie Heu (Money Goes Round) by Böller&Brot and
Zur falschen Zeit am falschen Ort (Wrong Time, Wrong Place) by
Tamara Milosevic.
Our main office is located in Ludwigsburg, very close to the hottalent-spot of the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. And thanks
to our strong relationships with companies in different regions
of Germany, we are in a position to act as a german-producer, as
a german service-production company (28 Days Later by Danny
Boyle) and co-financier for international co-productions.
Olaf Aue (2)
“There’s something about this particular subject
matter that absorbed us right from start: Is it
possible to break through the cycle of guilt and
violence and bring an existential trauma to its
conclusion? That was one of the key questions
on our part, captured in the story of Valerie and
Widmer.” Author Uli Herrmann
Cast
Franziska Petri
Ulrich Noethen
Tatja Seibt
Uwe Kockisch
Christoph Bach
Mehdi Nebbou
Rino Zepf
and
Eva Mattes
“My generation grew up with the RAF. I went to
school with the daughters of Ulrike Meinhof. Since
that time, the ‘German Autumn’, in all likelihood one
of the most consequential phases of German postwar history, has been analyzed and interpreted in
school books. Our film Schattenwelt recounts the
impact of this history but, above all, it deals with
the fact that history has always emerged and will
always emerge from personal decisions. – Valerie
and Widmer are looking to make a choice.” Valerie
Widmer (Saul)
Ellen Weber
Decker (Fisch)
Samy
Talat
Robbi
Marita
Producer Clementina Hegewisch, NextFilm
Crew
Uli Herrmann
Peter-Jürgen Boock
Connie Walther
Director
Assistant directors
Casting
Connie Walther
Claudia Beewen
Anna Schlichting
Sabine Schwedhelm
Cinematography
Assistant & Stillphotographer
Production design
Costume design
Make-up artist
Sound
Production manager
Birgit Gudjonsdottir (aac, bvk)
Olaf Aue
Agi Dawaachu
Juliane Friedrich
Iris Kettner
Bernhard Joest-Däberitz
Reinhild Gräber
Editor
Music
Re-recording Mixer
Audio post-production
Film lab
Karen Lönneker
Rainer Oleak
Jörg Höhne
Studio Mitte Cooperation
CinePostproduction
Commissioning Editors
Co-producers
Producers
Andreas Schreitmüller / ARTE
Bettina Ricklefs / BR
Jochen Kölsch, Monika
Lobkowicz / BR/ARTE
Connie Walther
Uli Herrmann
Clementina Hegewisch
Michael Jungfleisch
Olaf Aue (3)
Screenplay
Co-writers
Screening Dates
Press Screening
World Premiere
Other Screenings
October 23rd19:30 h
October 24th19:00 h
October 25th15:00 h
October 26th19:30 h
Salacinema Ikea
Sinopoli Theater
Salacinema Lotto
Metropolitan Theater 2
“Not every film dealing with the RAF or its history
is immediately an RAF movie! Schattenwelt tells
the story of two people whose lives are inextricably
connected with each other by their common past
at such a time when the terrorism of the Red Army
Fraction reached its highest peak of violence.
Nonetheless, today, the two have applied all their
strength and their every effort to their present
and future.” Producer Michael Jungfleisch, Gambit Film
After two decades in prison Widmer, a former German RAF-terrorist, is released.
He meets Valerie his next door neighbour. The young woman tries to get her life
back on track after she lost child custody for her little son. She shows some
interest in Widmer, the two of them seem to have something in common. They
discreetly enter into the secrets of their lives. Till the truth comes between them.
NextFilm Filmproduktion GmbH & Co. KG
Almstadtstraße 5 · 10119 Berlin · phone +49 (0)30 / 617 89 16-0 · www.nextfilm.de
Clementina Hegewisch: mobile +49 (0)170 / 472 81 27 · clementina.hegewisch@nextfilm.de
Connie Walther: mobile +49 (0)177 / 414 94 19 · conniedada@aol.com
Sola Media
Filder Hauptstraße 49 · 70599 Stuttgart · phone +49 (0)711 / 479 36 66 · www.sola-Media.net
Solveig Langeland +49 (0)177 / 278 16 25 · post@sola-Media.net