Jannis Alexander Kiefer is one of those filmmakers who approaches the world with a keen eye—never preachy, but always precisely observant. Raised on a farm, he studied Audiovisual Media and later Directing at the Filmuniversität Babelsberg. His films navigate the line between satire and social study, between reality and staging. Whether winning the Deutscher Kurzfilmpreis or with his most recent feature film ANOTHER GERMAN TANK STORY: Kiefer sees cinema as a space of friction—where the absurd suddenly tips into the real.
In conversation, he discusses why short film is not a stepping stone for him, but rather an independent format. It’s a space that allows artistic freedom, yet is often overlooked. With his agency shortlisted, Kiefer works to strategically integrate short films into the festival circuit—not as prestige projects, but as a distinct storytelling form. The fact that his film MEETING 2020 won the Deutscher Kurzfilmpreis was less a finish line and more a door opener for him: for conversations, new ideas, and the realization that lasting impact can also be made with short formats.
In his debut feature film ANOTHER GERMAN TANK STORY, Kiefer expands on these ideas. The film is set in a village where an American film crew is shooting a historical drama, and suddenly the boundary between memory, performance, and the present becomes thin and blurred. It’s a satirical reflection on historical cinema, on the mechanisms of filmmaking, and the German perspective on history. Kiefer tells it with humor, sharpness, and a real pleasure in ambiguity—just like all his films, which ask more questions than they answer.
Enjoy the episode!