Berlin Rhapsody
By Malte Wirtz
2025 | 80 min | Documentary
BERLIN RHAPSODY observes a city of contrasts, using documentary images to trace how tradition, tech and restlessness shape modern life in Berlin.
Malte Wirtz
DirectorMalte Wirtz, born on October 5, 1979, in Marburg and trained as a film and theater director, has established himself as an innovative filmmaker in German indie cinema. His films are characterized by playful, improvised staging, innovative techniques, and tense, urban narrative worlds.
VOLL PAULA! (2015, directed by Malte Wirtz) was his cinema debut and attracted attention for its fresh ensemble charm and spirit of improvisation. HARD & UGLY (2017, directed by Malte Wirtz) tells the story of a drifter in Berlin who moves aimlessly through the city after losing his job. NUR 1 TAG IN BERLIN (2018, directed by Malte Wirtz) was shot in a single day and won the “Best Feature Award” at the Boddinale. LICHTER DER STADT (2020, directed by Malte Wirtz) opened the FILMZ Festival of German Cinema, while SIE WAREN MAL STARS! (2020, directed by Malte Wirtz) is a mockumentary about washed-up internet actors. GESCHLECHTERKRISE (2021, directed by Malte Wirtz) is a German silent film and marked a cinematic premiere, followed by DAS BÖSE IM WALD (2022, directed by Malte Wirtz) and DIGITAL LIFE (2023, directed by Malte Wirtz), which was shot digitally during the Corona pandemic. DER DRITTE GAST (2024, directed by Malte Wirtz) rounds off his latest film series.
Films
Rot
By Malte Wirtz
2004 | 3 min | Shorts
Eduard loves everything that is red, but Beate knows nothing of it and only wears yellow.
Digital Life
By Malte Wirtz
2023 | 91 min | Independent
A digital flat share in the middle of the pandemic. Everyone is always reachable. Love and hate are close together. A comic nightmare by Malte Wirtz.
The Third Guest
By Malte Wirtz
2024 | 72 min | Horror
A lonely hostel hides more than just silence - a secret that needs to be uncovered.
Gender Crisis
By Malte Wirtz
2021 | 80 min | Comedy
Samson and Delilah: The Old Testament story of a man with irrepressible strength - as a silent film, told in a modern way.
Evil in the Woods
By Malte Wirtz
2022 | 79 min | Horror
The "German indie machine" Malte Wirtz turns to horror and does it so successfully that the audience left the cinema hall in fear.
Lichter der Stadt
By Malte Wirtz
2020 | 102 min | Drama
Joscha is on high alert. He wants to take a pill, but chance encounters with old friends keep him from swallowing it. Shot in a single t ake!
Only One Blink
By Malte Wirtz
2020 | 10 min | Shorts
This student film about the power of chance was lost for years and only rediscovered by chance.
Only One Day in Berlin
By Malte Wirtz
2018 | 74 min | Independent
Mia and Linda meet again after years in Berlin. Mia is in debt and plans to blackmail the man she has been having an affair with.
Hard & Ugly
By Malte Wirtz
2017 | 71 min | Independent
Ridiculously funny analysis of metropolitan hipsterism in Berlin, the German capital.
All About Rita
By Malte Wirtz
2019 | 77 min | Independent
The love and life suffering of young people between Cologne and Berlin, with Woody Allenesque lightness.
5 Stories in 4 Days
By Malte Wirtz
2015 | 82 min | Independent
The lives of Paula, Louise, Max, Randolf and Donnie are getting out of hand.
The Jackpot
By Malte Wirtz
2015 | 13 min | Shorts
THE JACKPOT: 4.12 Billion Euro. Five hungry mouths. Nobody wants to share. A short film by Malte Wirtz (5 Stories in 4 Days).
Behind Fortune
By Malte Wirtz
2006 | 20 min | Drama
BEHIND FORTUNE by Malte Wirtz (FULL PAULA) is a story about a father attempts to get in touch with his estranged son at any cost.
Recommended for you
The Third Guest
2024 | 72 min | Horror
German director Malte Wirtz's latest independent production, THE THIRD GUEST, transports viewers into a suspenseful atmosphere that mixes classic horror with subtle parody elements. The young couple Eva and Arthur, played by Merle Peters-Moorhouse and Tim-Fabian Hoffmann, decide to escape the stress of everyday life and book a weekend in a run-down hostel. Once there, they are greeted by the idiosyncratic porter, played by László Nagy, who creates an ominous atmosphere with mysterious allusions to ...
Gender Crisis
2021 | 80 min | Comedy
Samson is blessed with magical hair that gives him inhuman strength and hypnotically attracts women and men. The cunning femme fatale De seizes his mane and thereby acquires seductive powers herself. However, De's happiness is also short-lived and her new powers arouse desire. Lilah, too, has her sights set on the magical mane. "Malte Wirtz gives the Old Testament fairy tale about faith, masculinity and mother complexes a new twist in his variant." (kino-zeit) "A successful film experiment that ...
Night Shifts
2010 | 97 min | Documentary
Some people work and live at night by choice, others because fate has compelled them to do so. Still others use darkness to operate in secret. At time when most of the city is asleep, the film accompanies the night active as they go about their business and sheds light on the essence of night in today’s big cities. Director Ivette Löcker's declaration of love for the night. The film looks at the many the different angles of what it means to live and work in darkness.
Lichter der Stadt
2020 | 102 min | Drama
The conversations with his chance encounters give deeper and deeper insights into Joscha's past and his chaotic life. When he's finally alone and takes the pill, his journey finally begins and he wonders if it was the right decision. The film was shot in a single take, with no cuts. The camera follows Joscha through a winter night on the banks of the Rhine in Cologne.
The Jackpot
2015 | 13 min | Shorts
Hansi picked six numbers right and wins the lottery. His friend Frankie is excited and wants half of the winnings. But, where's the darn lottery ticket? Together Hansi and Frankie set out to find the lost ticket, but everyone they ask about it know shockingly little, until the truth comes out. Apparently more than one person had their eyes on claiming the jackpot. And what exactly does Sabine have to do with all of it? (Generale Festival)
Gate #5
2011 | 84 min | Documentary
Through eloquent descriptions of former truck drivers, El Habre presents The Lebanon of the 1960s to the present day. They were once young, thrived on adventure and had choices. In the 1960s and 70s thousands of young Lebanese men left their villages and made a new life in Beirut. Truck driving became a lifestyle, income, money, and a vibrant urban life.
Rot
2004 | 3 min | Shorts
A woman who has a penchant for the color yellow loves a man who only has eyes for the color red. To win him over, she comes up with a few ideas to convince him of her merits. Will her love be reciprocated? Malte Wirtz is a German filmmaker and theater director known for his experimental and independent work. With a background in theater studies and directing, Wirtz often combines socio-critical topics with unconventional aesthetic approaches in his works. His style is characterized by a clear handwriting ...
Evil in the Woods
2022 | 79 min | Horror
A group of three young people go into the forest, having heard that there is a stone altar, they search until late at night and suddenly a young woman disappears from the group. The two men stay in the forest but can't find her. Initially, Malte Wirtz had wanted to shoot a romantic comedy in Cologne's Königsforst. But the local circumstances, no light, no cell phone reception, and the actual, temporary disappearance of the main actress, then moved the Berlin and Cologne-based director to try his ...
Birds of September
2013 | 99 min | Documentary
People are invited to share a personal moment. It is a thoughtful portrait of some of the city's inhabitants as they sit at the back of the van and express their innermost thoughts. Sarah Francis' documentary BIRDS OF SEPTEMBER is her debut film and was screened at CPH: DOX and the Art of the Real New York. "A portrait of a city and the people who live there, which amazingly enough manages to unite a number of otherwise highly different genres into a unified whole. An original and accomplished ...
Lebe schon lange hier
2019 | 98 min | Documentary
A year in the life of an ordinary street in Berlin. "Summer from of a balcony in Berlin - but also spring, fall and winter: Sobo Swobodnik spent a year observing life in his neighborhood from his apartment and made a unique film about it - with intimate perspectives and vantage points." Filmportal.de The minimalist work of art unfolds a fascinating image-sound-music collage about the “productivity of waiting”.