Category: CURRENT

I’m happy to share that I’m currently in early development (and seeking funding) for two creative documentaries — The Disquiet Forest and Commodified Enlightenment.

The films are set in Poland and Peru and I will share loglines and more details as the film development continues. Both projects tackle socio-ecological issues, and fundamentally the question of how we as humans can rethink our relationship with nature coming from an attitude of humility and reciprocity. Indigenous knowledge systems show us that beyond the rational scientific observation of natural phenomena, the emotional and spiritual components are equally important parts of learning and understanding. This is a stance that I would like to aspire to also as a filmmaker working on themes at the interrelationships between humans and the more-than-human natural environment.

Following our premiere at Filmfest Hamburg in autumn 2023, This is our Everything has been shown at numerous film festivals and received some awards:

In winter 2023, the film was given the Jury Special Mention at Polish WATCH DOCS Festival. This spring and summer, This is our Everything was shown at Cine Latino and Kino Latino in Freiburg, Tuebingen, and Cologne, as well as at Filmtage Globale Perspektiven in Frankfurt. In July, we’re taking part in the RETHINK and audience award competitions at major environmental film festival NaturVision .

Beyond Germany, we’re excited that the film is traveling internationally and especially to South America, where it just won the best documentary award at Santiago del Estero Film Festival in Argentina. Our Brazil premiere will also be announced very soon.

Last but not least, we’re establishing partnerships with civil society for additional screenings and are happy to host a Special Screening at Cinematheque Leipzig on June 25 together with director Frederik Subei and Survival International Deutschland.

There are more screenings to come soon! Follow the film’s homepage oureverything.net and our Instagram @thisisoureverything_film to stay tuned for more updates.

Over the past year or so, I have worked on my second feature-length documentary as an editor, This is our Everything (directed by Frederik Subei).

It has been an intense creative journey with this film and I am incredibly happy that it is now out there in the world. We celebrated the world premiere on September 30 at FILMFEST HAMBURG and will have our international premiere at WATCH DOCS Festival in Warsaw in early December, where the film is nominated in the green competition.

We’re looking forward to many more screenings and discussions of this film and are grateful for the energy we felt from the audiences so far.

For the past year, I’ve been editing and helped to produce This is our Everything, directed by Frederik Subei.

More on the film and my creative process soon – for now, here’s the film summary:
The Guajajara people decide not to stand idly by while their land and that of the uncontacted Awá people is being destroyed. They put together a group of forest guardians who are determined to defend the Amazon rainforest — if necessary with their own lives. 

Swiss NGO GREEN BOOTS has kindly offered to support the last remaining post-production tasks for the film with a fundraising call.
Donations for the project are possible until January 15 and every incoming donation will be doubled by GREEN BOOTS!

Our film festival screenings have now come to an end, but you can now watch A House in Pieces through video-on-demand at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/ahouseinpieces

A war between government and ISIS-affiliated jihadists forced hundreds of thousands to flee from Marawi, Philippines. After the battle, residents struggle to rebuild their homes and lives in a deformed city. The film accompanies its protagonists for two years through fear, worry, and hope, towards a new beginning on their long journey.

Selected screenings and awards:

Happy to announce that A House in Pieces (Philippines/Germany 2020) which I co-directed with Jean Claire Dy has won the Golden Hercules awards at Kassel Dokfest and Best Documentary Award at Mimesis Documentary Festival.

We’re grateful to the juries for truly “seeing” our film, and here’s some of what they had to say:

“In a documentary that is just as moving as it is magnificent in technical design, the filmmakers show us the people who had to deal with the act of terrosim and its consequences. Precisely through the unagitated, unsentimental narrative style, we feel the fear of protagonist Yusop, attempts a new beginning within eyeshot of the city centre, but nonetheless gets stuck given the overpowering finality of the destruction. ‘As long as you treat them well, they will always return’ says Yusop about his doves. The film leaves us with an immediate mixture of empathy for its protagonists and a deep grief given their difficult situation.”(Kassel Dokfest Jury)

There is an obvious gracefulness to this film –nothing awkward or forced in the photography or storytelling, and the most deeply touching moments seemed to be picked up out of thin air and handled so lightly in the editing. The filmmakers were able to focus on the larger narrative of violence and tragic loss without neglecting the smaller, mundane moments through which this traumatic experience is expressed in individual lives. (Mimesis Features Jury)

Watch our film trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayBArZ5vGqA