At the age of eighteen, Irina Tschistjakowa can already look back at a ten-year international career of concerts. Irina was the youngest of the four protagonists in the documentary film Russia’s Wonder Children, which celebrated its original premiere at the Berlinale 2000. Ten years later, the young geniuses of yesteryear are now competitors in the tough field of music. They now experience the tragedy that befalls many child prodigies: while they were still children, they could amaze the public through the contrast between their delicate appearance and precocious ability—but now, it is all about the sublimely perfect performance and the top prizes at competitions, as well as simple luck. They all want to attain the pinnacle of the Mount Olympus of piano playing, but the air there is very thin. And there is only enough room for a handful of talented virtuosos.
Like Irina, Nikita Mndoyants, 19, Dmitri Krutogolovy, 20, and Elena Kolesnitschenko, 26, have remained faithful to their music. They have spent tens of thousands of hours practicing the piano. Has all the hard work been worth it? Did the childhood that they barely experienced leave any psychological scars? The innocent simplicity of the early years is long gone by now, and the concert appearances have become rarer. And it’s not just the size of their bodies that has changed: the world of classical music has also changed since then. Performing artists are now expected to act like pop musicians and be as attractive as a Hollywood star. How can all that be combined under one hat alongside physical and spatial precision when performing on stage? The thresholds for psychical and psychological pain are commonplace in the everyday work life of a professional concert pianist, and they have to overcome time and again. And it is incredibly difficult to add something new, individual, refreshing to the world’s collected concepts of piano playing.
The documentary THE COMPETITORS narrates a universal story about success and failure within the thoroughly commercialised world of classical music. Up close and personal with the four protagonists, and utilising moving flashbacks from the film Russia’s Wonder Children, the documentary presents a compassionate look at growing up under the constraints of an almost inhumane competition. Within her film, which she has been working on for a number of years in Russia, Western Europe and Mexico, Irene Langemann dramatically and poetically interweaves the highs and lows in the lives of her protagonists.

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A documentary by Kai Christiansen, 89/45 minutes, HD, stereo
Comm. editors: Christian von Behr, RBB, Uwe Bergmann, RBB, Alexander von Sallwitz, NDR
Funded by Filmstiftung NRW (development) Filmförderung Hamburg/ SHH (Production)

The documentary film “Starfighter – A High-Tech Death” tells the story of the procurement of the most modern combat aircraft of the time and the mysterious crash and death of over 100 pilots.
In the 60s, the West German Air Force had over 900 Starfighter supersonic fighter-bomber aircrafts of the model 104G in service ? to the initial jubilation of the pilots, for the speed and acceleration of the new fighter jets were exceptional. But the new technology proved tricky: one-third of the machines crashed, and every second crash proved fatal for the pilot.
copyright Ullstein/dpa
Kai Christiansen’s film is the first film to deal with the Starfighter scandal, and it does so from a variety of perspectives: the viewpoint of those affected is presented, as is the desire of the politicians for both a new German aviation industry and the access to the atom bomb. Particular attention is given to the widows of the fallen pilots and their desperate struggle for the clarification of the causes behind the accidents and the hope for an end to the series of crashes. The film, however, also lets the pilots speak who enthusiastically continued to get into their machines everyday despite the numerous deaths.
The documentary “Starfighter ? A High-Tech Death” is 88 minutes of highly interesting German post-war history. It is a film about the largest and most expensive armament project in the history of the Federal Republic. The documentary offers insight behind a tangle of military secrets, political intrigue, corruption and deliberate misinformation. It is revealed how the catastrophe came to be and why the series of crashes could continue for almost 30 years.
The film also tells little stories of the purchase of the first car and the first camera as well as of the young army’s recruitment of professional soldiers. On the other side, the film presents the new army’s attempts to position itself with the Warsaw Pact on the one side and the NATO allies on the other ? and the price that was paid for this ambition.
It is a film about the difficult relationship between the German Federal Republic and its army, about the parallel worlds of the German Armed Forces and the civil society.

“Starfighter ? A High-Tech Death” is also a film full of anger, sadness and outrage at a military leadership that demands heavy losses even in times of peace and a political policy in which nobody takes responsibility. It is a film about the difficult new beginning of the Air Force in the shadow of World War II, about the close friendship with the United States, and about the thrill of supersonic flight.

Ms. Lantzberg-Hippel sued Lockheed to force the Bundeswehr to open the files.

Peter Vogler has been attracted by flying the  Starfighter

Hubert Merkel also has been Starfighter pilot and is a consulter for the aircraft industry now. copyright Ullstein/dpa

Starfighter – F 104 – in formation flight. copyright Ullstein/dpa

Leftovers of a  Starfighter                                     copyright Ullstein/dpa

The 131st crashed Starfighter in Germany

The author and director of the documentary, Kai Christiansen

Horseback riding has become one of the most popular sports in Europe and attracts millions of people. German horses dominate the international tournaments. At the Olympic Games in Hong Kong, 40% of the horses originally came from Germany and half of the show jumping horses from Holstein. This film looks into how Germany was able to become such a horse “superpower” and whether this position remains unchallenged. In doing so, the film also pursues some curious historical paradoxes. When the National Socialists overran and occupied Poland, for example, German equine specialists took over the nation’s state studs. Noble, half-breed horses for the military had traditionally been bred there using English and Arabian thoroughbreds, and the Germans learned from this.

One of them, Clemens Freiherr von Nagel, bought the Anglo-Arabian Ramzes from a Polish officer in 1948. The grey stallion revolutionised horse breeding in Germany and is one of the reasons behind the current dominant position of German high-performance horses. Since then, German breeders have crossbred more and/or less thoroughbred breeds into the existing warmblood lines. They combined the good qualities of different types and created a new type of German riding horse. The centuries-old preferred characteristics of a coach or plough horse have been crossbred with those of thoroughbred breeds to bring in speed, agility, alertness and intelligence, as well as courage and better reflexes. Today, breeders and equestrians from around the world come to Germany to try out horses and bid at auctions — and pay between fifty-thousand and one million euros. Some people fear that the best horse are being sold abroad; the 2009 World Equestrian Festival CHIO in Aachen, for example, revealed that the dominance of Germany is not only threatened but that other nations have caught up.

Harm Thormählen is one of the leading breeders of the Holsteiners

Noble Breed visits breeders and equestrians, veterinarians and the scientists, to unravel the secrets of successful breeding. The film looks back into history and also travels to the original sources of the noble breeds — Uzbekistan, for example. In addition to Germany, both Poland and Hungary play an important role in the film, for both these countries have been successfully crossbreeding thoroughbred lines for centuries.

Prof.  Hartwig Schmidt, a former academic physician, is the most innovative and riscing breeders in Holstein.

A film by Irene Langemann, 2009, HD, 89 min.
Comm. editors: Gudrun Hanke-El Ghomri, SWR, Jutta Krug, WDR, Frauke Sandig, DW
Since the end of World War II, American armed forces have been stationed in Ramstein in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The fascination for the “American way of life” has not only cast a spell over many Germans there, but it has also left visible traces in the area. On the Ramstein Air Base, the largest US air base found on foreign soil, one even has the impression of being in “Little America”.

The military installation is structured on the principal of self-sufficiency. Although the drama of the Iraqi War has lead to a general disenchantment with the superpower, the people of the area cannot imagine a life without Americans. The cooperation and coexistence of the two nations remains very intensive here, particularly when it comes to German-American marriages. Although a clash of cultures is found in each individual relationship, the German wives and husbands quickly and unconditionally adopt the patriotic attitude of their American partners — even when it comes to the USA’s adventure in Iraq. This is all the more amazing since the service members are regularly deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan. As a result, the German spouses also become fatally and closely involved with the events of the war. Their lives are full of worry and anxiety about their loved ones, who could possibly return home from the conflict area injured or even dead.

The film presents highly personnel German-American family stories from “Little America”, Germany, against the backdrop of the Iraqi War. Again and again, the private sphere merges with the world of international events. Through the perceptive narrative flow and the close observation of the people involved, the question whether or not personnel happiness is possible in the shadow of a war is continually brought up for discussion.

James Ewing is flight engineer in the Iraq                                                 ©Lichtfilm

The Ewing family enjoys the weeks beeing together in Ramstein      ©Lichtfilm

Blessed soldiers from Iraq brought to the Ramstein hospital.                    ©Lichtfilm

Schläfer family after an avancement ceremony                                       ©Lichtfilm

Cast and crew afther the premiere of the film at the International Munich Film Festival at the July 3rd 2009.

A documentary by Irene Langemann
Germany 2008; Running time: 60 minutes

Most people in Europe are familiar with Liverpool as the poor, former industrial city where The Beatles   began their international career. Today, the city not only enjoys the well earned reputation as a new and fabulous cultural center, but has even been chosen the European City of Culture for 2008. The Film is an appreciation on Liverpool and its fascinating cultural life.

The city on the River Mersey is going to be celebrating the arts, its music, its cultural heritage and its diversity. The city fathers have promised an extensive and magnificient cultural programme “like on other yet experienced in the world”.

The film covers different varied and colorful events and performances: visitors have the choice of a rich spectrum of exhibitions, festivals and premiers in all art forms and genres ranging from public art, architecture, dance and fashion to film, literature, music and both street and stage theater. Many events have been conceived especially for younger people, like a celebration of the best of the Merseyside youth culture at the Halton Stadium.

Pop Music is truly a aspect of Liverpool’s cultural heritage. For, above all, pop music is The Beatles. The cult that surrounds the legendary band  is ubiquitous. The Beatles’ legend and heritage are also one of the thematic aspects in the film. After The Beatles and its football clubs, Liverpool is renowned for its architecture. The film presents the magnificent waterfront with The Three Graces on its docks, the Anglican and Metropolitan Cathedrals, and the diversity of Liverpool streets.

At the Albert Dock, a showcase of maritime songs present the nautical extravagance of Liverpool. The Arabic Arts Festival celebrated for two weeks at numerous locations. And, of course, at the same time the famous Liverpool “Mersey Beat” – that special style of pop music that the North English youths made so popular in the early sixties – can be experienced everywhere.

A documentary by Wolfgang Bergmann
Germany. 2007. Running time: 94, 89 and 58 minutes

Non-lethal weapons were promoted and used to humanize social and political conflicts: in other words, to make sure no one dies during demonstrations and arrests. However, things did not went the way authorities wanted and soon te name had to be changed into “less-lethal” weapons because of too many ‘accidental’ deaths along the way. NO MORE KILLING looks at the utopia of “soft bullets”, non-lethal confrontation and peaceful conflict resolution.

After the end of the Cold War the world conjured up dreams about an era of peace. But violent conflicts caused by increasing divide between rich and poor and terrorism appeared on the scene. New and more precise weapons were developed to prevent collateral damages. The “magic bullet” like in “Star Trek” was to become reality. But are lasers and tasers, electro shock weapons, microwaves, hypersonic sound, nanoparticles, stinking gases, pepper spray, nets, nerve-blocking systems able to break the cycle of violence?

NO MORE KILLING introduces to us the masterminds behind and the critics of these weapons. Many of the proponents mean well, but don’t place conflicts and confrontations in their social and political context. The film shows shocking case studies in which the weapons have hurt innocent civilians or even killed them. Critics talk about a move backwards towards an escalation of violence. And criminals also using these new weapons, some of them can even be bought in supermarkets.

Here you can watch the trailer.

Credits.pdf (220.98 KB)

A electrifying insight in the Russian society of today

Rublyovka Road is the traffic artery connecting the powerhouse Moscow with the Russian outback. At all times, the region bordering on
Rublyovka has had a magnetic attraction for the ruling elite classes: Tsars, dictators, presidents. Of course, also present-day head of state Putin resides here. In Putin’s Russia, Rublyovka has become synonymous with wealth, social ascent and decadent lifestyles. Tell-tale signs of the past and gross excesses of Russian cutthroat capitalism have created a bizarre microcosm that does not have a parallel elsewhere in this giant empire. Nouveau riche upstarts have caused prices of properties on the Rublyovka to rocket sky-high. Now the fight for the last remaining pieces of land has broken out. The last remaining huts of the poor are swept aside to make way for the palaces of the wealthy by means that could not be any more unfair or brutal. The Russian State, celebrating an imperial comeback bolstered by petro-billions, has declared open season on the weak and poor. Like “Indians in their reservations”, they feel. And hardly anyone dares to protest. No wonder. Rublyovka is a strictly guarded maximum security area, where many things are hushed up and kept under wraps. In spite of grudgingly granted filming permits, the film team was constantly harassed and threatened by the Russian security service FSB, traffic police and each and every security company. Many parts were filmed with a hidden camera. Nevertheless, the film was completed.

The camera follows losers and profiteers, rich and poor, the powerful and their string puppets through their daily lives, in which the social divide has become increasingly wide. The film draws a social portrait of present-day Russia, in which Putin’s “steered democracy” increasingly assumes dictatorial features.

www.rubljovka.de

Credits.pdf (192.37 KB)

What happened to the dream of a Europe without frontiers? Where do old conflicts fester and new conflicts evolve?

More than 14.000 kilometers Irene Langemann (MARTINS’ PASSION, ICE AND ORANGES) travelled cross country through Europe with her crew. Her film BLOOD AND HONEY is looking for the inner and outward frontiers of the visions of a united Europe.Outside the well-known metropolises the film strolls through ruptured places and cities, where limits dominate the daily life.
While the people of Sibiu in Romania are enthusiasticly celebrating the joining of their country to the EC, young artists in Mostar feel as far from Europe like people from Africa. Their city makes feeling like “Blood and Honey”, in which hidden barriers are splitting the Croatian and Bosnian part of Mostar. In the thrilled city of Belfast the peace process is progressing. But at what price? The “peace-lines” are nothing more than fences and walls, separating strictly the antagonized protestants and catholics. This is a bizarre contrast to the open borders between Ireland and Great Britain.
Also in Nicosia, Kaliningrad, Antwerp and Tanger visible and unvisible frontiers dominate the life of the people. Musicians, artists and writers reflect in the film about their daily life. Some are successful and well established, other are at the beginning of their career. All together they work at interfaces where old conflicts are still visible. Mainly unpathetic and like a matter of course they are building bridges to bring forward a better life for the people in Europe.

The dramatic story of a murder case through stalking

In conjunction with one of ARTE’s toppical evenings, Lichtfilm produced two documentaries on the subject of stalking:
MURDER ON BREAK-UP – THE FUTILE STRUGGLE OF A VILLAGE and HOW TO DEAL WITH STALKING?

The film MURDER ON BREAK-UP describes the chronology of an announced murder in Bremen, 2005: 40 years old Michael, a forwarding agent, breaks up with his wife. Soon after he regrets his decision and wants her back. He harasses her, besieges her, pursues her. He turns into a stalker.
The film reconstructs the circumstances of the development from a happy marriage with two children to the horrible scenario of a murder case.

Description.pdf (205.18 KB)

Credits.pdf (219.10 KB)