Axel Schneppat

1984. With war raging in Lebanon, young Israeli soldier Yossi is separated from his wife Myriam shortly after she gives birth to their son. In Lebanon, Yossi discovers the harsh reality and brutality of war alongside Fouad, a fighter with the South Lebanon Army, a militia backed by Israel in order to counter the advance of Hezbollah. The war scatters the families of the two soldiers on either side of the border, and continues to pursue them into the early 2000s, when the conflict flares up again, threatening the lives of their children

Filmmaker Natalija Yefimkina’s directorial debut is dedicated to the Russian man’s refuge, the garage, in the inhospitable area of Northern Russia on the Kola Peninsula.

With humorous, unpredictable and bizarre scenes, GARAGE PEOPLE tells the story of Russian men and the celebration of their private independence as they embellish their garages at their own discretion into parallel worlds. We hear tales – both tragic and lighthearted – that allow us to gaze into the deep souls of Russian men who scarcely speak for themselves – or with each other, sharing their concerns, fears and joys. In this way, we gain an insight into an everyday reality that takes place in secret.

World Premiere: Berlinale 2020 (section "Perspektive Deutsches Kino")
Werner Herzog Film Award 2020
Nomination German Documentary Award 2020
Nomination German Camera Award 2021 for Axel Schneppat

Aaron (Alexander Fehling) invites his girlfriend Lea (Bérénice Bejo) and her 8-year-old son Tristan on a trip to the mountains. What could be a starting point of a new life together, slowly turns into difficult territory as the three fight for their positions within the new family. High up in the Three Peaks region in the Italian Dolomites, Aaron and Tristan are faced with their ambivalent love and deepest fears of one another, while Lea stands in between the two, trying to navigate this triangle. In his attempt to win the boy’s respect, Aaron takes him up the mountain and confronts Tristan with his continuous aggression towards him. When fog sets in and Aaron loses the boy, their power games reach a dangerous level…

The German-Italian co-production Drei Zinnen (Three Peaks), directed by Jan Zabeil was premiered in August 2017 in Locarno, where it was awarded with the Variety Piazza Grande Award, selected by the film magazine’s attending critics for the film that best combines artistic achievements with commercial potential. Following its German Premiere, the film received the German Cinema New Talent Award at Hof International Film Festival 2017.

Variety writes on the cinematography of this "tense, gripping, expertly made three-hander that tests conflicting ideas of fatherhood in the crucible of a mountainside vacation": "Axel Schneppat's stunning cinematography equally serves the forbiddingly fanglike mountains and the micro-expressions that flit across the actors’ face."

„a powerful and beautifully shot film of love and survival“ (cine-vue.com)

North American Premiere: Toronto International Film Festival 2017
German Premiere: Hof International Film Festival 2017 (Opening Film)
Theatrical Release Germany: February 1, 2018

Together with the stars of Malian Global Pop – Fatoumata Diawara and Bassekou Kouyaté, Mali Blues, the latest documentary by Lutz Gregor embarks on a musical journey to Mali’s agitated heart. The film is a musical road movie trough the country's music culture, it's threat of Sharia and the musicians' fight for peace.

The year is 1975. Cyrilson, 55, retires, shuts down his transportation company, fires the old drivers and his vibrant, young secretary and goes home.

At home there’s Eva, 50, his wife, a holocaust survivor, beautiful and gentle on the outside, but strong-willed and brave on the inside. The two of them have a daughter, Yehudit, 24, who has left home to study medicine - leaving Eva to be Cyrilson’s entire life, and Cyrilson to be Eva’s entire life.

Cyrilson finds it hard to get used to the empty stretches of spare time at home, while Eva continues to head out for work. He spends his days doing errands he’s been putting off for years. While cleaning up the messy shed, Cyrilson finds a letter from the bank and discovers he owns a property he knew nothing of.

Cyrilson goes to see the property he never knew he owned and discovers that the small apartment in the slums of Amidar has a tenant: Meni, 55, a holocaust survivor who was not able to assimilate into Israeli society and spends his days fixing old washing machines. Gradually, Cyrilson discovers that Meni is Eva’s long lost husband, back from the horrors of the holocaust, and that he and Eva have been having a secret relationship for the past 25 years, practically since the day Cyrilson and Eva were married. Cyrilson now has to question everything in life: Eva, Meni, his daughter and himself…

Source: www.vandertastic.com