For the past ten years, environmental activists have been occupying an ancient forest in western Germany which energy company RWE planned to clear to expand the nearby lignite mine. In 2018, the police attempted to take down over 50 tree houses in an operation, courts later declared illegal. In the course of the evictions, a tragic accident occurred. Film student Steffen Meyn, who was filming the events at the site, fell from one of the tree houses and died. This film is based on footage Steffen shot over two years spent in Hambach Forest.
Germany, 2023, 100 min., German with English and Bulgarian subtitles
Script: Fabiana Fragale, Kilian Kuhlendahl, Jens Mühlhoff
Directors: Fabiana Fragale, Kilian Kuhlendahl, Jens Mühlhoff
Cinematography: Carina Neubohn, Nora Daniels, Steffen Meyn
Music: Antonia de Luca, Caroline Kox
Production: Made in Germany Filmproduktion
Director’s Biography:
Fabiana Fragale was born in Zurich in 1994. She has been a resident of Cologne since 2015 and is a student at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. Her documentary and fictional works deal mostly with anti-capitalist and intersectional feminist themes. In 2018 she founded the art collective Polsprung.
Kilian Kuhlendahl graduated from the Academy of Media Arts Cologne in 2017 and have since worked in various narrative formats as director and author such as film, audio book and graphic novel. As a member of the Polsprung collective, Kilian create multi-perspectival spatial installations and performances.
Jens Mühlhoff was born 1991 in Wuppertal, studied at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne from 2011 – 2018. His works as an artist often investigate and deal with places of public and semi-public space and thus explore the everyday realization of politics. For several years he has worked as a director and writer on various film productions and as artistic director for independent art projects.