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Herbert Fritsch

ActorDirector
Herbert Fritsch is a notable figure in German theater, recognized for his innovative and often comedic theatrical productions. He initially trained and worked as an actor, with a significant portion of his career spent at the Volksbühne in Berlin, where he collaborated with legendary director Frank Castorf. Transitioning to directing, Fritsch became known for his visually striking and highly stylized productions. Some of his noteworthy works include adaptations of classic plays like "Der Biberpelz" and "Die Spanische Fliege." His distinctive approach often involves exaggerated physical comedy and a vibrant use of color and design, earning him acclaim and several awards within the German theater community. Fritsch's work continues to push the boundaries of contemporary theater, blending humor and visual artistry to create memorable, thought-provoking performances.

Films

Eleven Uncles

Eleven Uncles

By Herbert Fritsch

2010 | 101 min | Independent

Volksbühnen actor and director Herbert Fritsch and celebrity cast transform the classic Hamlet tale into a hilarious, multimedia fever dream.

Happiness Is a Warm Gun

Happiness Is a Warm Gun

By Thomas Imbach

2001 | 90 min | Timeless

Green Party icon Petra Kelly is shot in her sleep by her partner Gert Bastian, an ex-Federal Armed Forces general, before he kills himself.

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Happiness Is a Warm Gun

Happiness Is a Warm Gun

2001 | 90 min | Timeless

In the 1980s, Petra Kelly was a prominent figure in the Green Party and a passionate peace activist. Her tragic end came in 1992 when she was shot in her sleep by her partner, former German army general Gert Bastian, who then took his own life. Thomas Imbach's film HAPPINESS IS A WARM GUN tells this story in an unusual way. The film does not begin with the lives of the protagonists, but with their deaths. Petra and Gert find themselves in a glass transit room in a modern airport – an artificial ...

Freakstars 3000

Freakstars 3000

2003 | 75 min | Independent

The TV series became a film: an idosyncratic combination of disability, pop, and style. Christoph Schlingensief dared to walk a delicate tightrope of social criticism and exploitation with this casting show satire, which exposes the cynical casting format to the cringe point. Singing, dancing, air guitar - two dozen contestants were put through a casting competition under the eyes of a 'merciless jury'. "The freak is the situation itself, which forces us to distinguish what is normal and what ...

Unmensch

Unmensch

2016 | 26 min | Drama

In Jasmin Baumgartner's short film, three young actors take part in an experimental play called 'Youth Sucks' at the Vienna Theater. The situation quickly becomes explosive. The main actor is supposed to improvise a monologue that comes across as left-liberal self-abuse of a politically impotent young generation pretending to care about the world. While the ensemble members Dany (Jasna Fritzi Bauer) and Patrick (Dominik Brauweiler) perform appropriately with emotion and expression, Jasper (Daniel ...

The Amber Amulet

The Amber Amulet

2013 | 23 min | Kids & Family

Liam knows everything about the positive energy of gemstones and minerals. At night, dressed as a masked avenger, he wanders the streets seeking to do good deeds in secret. He makes anonymous contact with an unhappy lonely woman and gifts her an amber gem which will lift the curse of her misfortune. Unfortunately, the gem has come from his mother’s jewellery box. She soon discovers it is missing and now she's the one who could do with a knight in shining armour. The short film THE AMBER AMULET ...

Lifetimeshort

Lifetimeshort

2009 | 87 min | Comedy

Theater director Gesine Danckwart's feature debut LIFETIMESHORT is an ironic comedy about Berlin big city girls and how they cope with life and love in a late capitalist urban setting. ACHTUNG BERLIN 2009 Danckwart contrasts the women's tumultuous lives against a backdrop of cool, almost clinical-looking Berlin architecture. The city becomes another character in the story. Danckwart collaborated with her six actresses over the course of a year to develop the film's situations and dialogue. The result ...

Lower Upper Cut

Lower Upper Cut

2011 | 92 min | Drama

Everyone wants to "get to the top" as early and as fast as possible, and everyone is out for themselves. At the same time, the program itself is being evaluated and is struggling to stay in the curriculum. In order to save the program and themselves, the graduating class rehearses a revolt and is soon surrounded by rumors and intrigue, panic attacks and vanity. "Wackerbarth looks fearlessly into the eye of a central contradiction of the culture industry: people pretend that everything revolves ...

Faust 1 Superstar

Faust 1 Superstar

2015 | 51 min | Drama

Silent movie meets musical in this intense and colourful version of the classic piece by Goethe, FAUST. The devil wagers with God that he can lead Berlin-Kreuzberg musician Faust astray. Faust composes a sure-fire hit and falls for the virtuous Gretchen. Fate is set to take its course. Director Mingus Ballhaus is a graduate of the DFFB - German Film and Television Academy Berlin, who lives and works in Berlin as a filmmaker and drummer. Here Ballhaus is supported by cinematographer Jide Tom Akinleminu ...

Foreigners Out! Schlingensief's Container

Foreigners Out! Schlingensief's Container

2002 | 90 min | Documentary

A deportation container for asylum seekers, interactively influenced by the audience, racist speeches by the former FPÖ success figure Jörg Haider blasting out of speakers. What sounds like a mixture of the realty TV show "Big Brother" and a dark vision of fear was an art project by Christoph Schlingensief, which took place in the middle of Vienna in the early 2000s. On "www.auslaenderraus.at" the audience could decide daily which inhabitant was deported. Thousands of passers-by got angry on site ...

Gisela

Gisela

2005 | 90 min | Drama

A dreary highrise apartment block, inhabited by the less fortunate members of society. In the middle of it all lives Gisela, married, one child, a cashier, unsatisfied and discontent. Georg and Paul, two no longer young petty thieves from the anonymous housing estate, indulge in drinking bouts and sexual boasts and fall under the spell of the married supermarket cashier Gisela. Gisela doesn't say no when the easygoing Georg invites her to his party. There she meets Paul. He's also just hanging out, ...

Lucky Devils

Lucky Devils

2013 | 95 min | Music, Dance, Theater

In St. Petersburg, 8,500 children live on the streets, but the innovative circus Upsala and its director Larissa give some of those children a chance to forget their hardships. The heartwarming documentary LUCKY DEVILS by Verena Endtner portrays day to day life in the circus and takes us on a journey from the Russian slums to the big top’s lights and the joys of a tour to Switzerland. LUCKY DEVILS portrays the half-orphan Danja, who discovers the pleasure of playing and performing, the street ...