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Pia Marais

Director
Pia Marais is a German filmmaker known for her work in both film and television. She gained recognition for her debut feature film "The Unpolished" in 2007, which received critical acclaim. Marais' other notable works include "At Ellen's Age" (2010) and "Layla Fourie" (2013), which further showcased her talent as a director. While she has not received major awards, her films have been well-received at various international film festivals.

Films

The Unpolished

The Unpolished

By Pia Marais

2007 | 94 min | Drama

All this 14-year-old wants is a 'normal' life, but that's not easy to come by given the lifestyle of her hippie parents.

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For Nothing

For Nothing

2014 | 95 min | Drama

Aziza lost interest in her internship in Portugal so she returned to Germany. But her room in Berlin had already been sublet to Zach, who came from New Zealand on a one-way ticket. Now life in Berlin is now pretty cramped - especially since her new roommate doesn't know how long he'll be staying. And Aziza isn't enjoying Kreuzberg anymore. She feels alienated by all All the hipsters just looking to chill out. "A political as well as sociological -and at the same time highly sensitive - Berlin ...

Marseille

Marseille

2004 | 91 min | Drama

Sophie flees to Marseille. She roams the streets alone, taking photographs. As she abandons herself to the city, she finds it impossible to reconcile her previous life with the now... Slowly, characters emerge and weave themselves into the story - then a cut follows - and Sophie is back in Berlin. "All my films are based on the idea that much of life is inscrutable, full of misunderstandings and left to chance. The characters live in contradiction to being at the mercy of chance, and are more or ...

Vacation

Vacation

2007 | 92 min | Drama

Four generations meet at a country house. Scenes of veiled jealousy and open teasing, candid confessions and fisticuffs, crack the thin veneer of an idyllic summer vacation. "I wanted to make a film without flashy dramaturgical momentum. I was concerned with finding a balance between the individual storylines and setting them in motion over the course of the film. All the characters who are struggling have only one life. They're all trying to be happy, but they don't know how to do it. It's a long, ...

Afternoon

Afternoon

2007 | 95 min | Drama

Konstantin is an unsuccessful writer, his mother is a narcissistic actress, his uncle is dying and shows no interest in his surroundings. The web of relationships between them, marked by speechlessness and inspired by Chekhov's "The Seagull," gradually unravels until blood ultimately flows. "Angela Schanelec is an auteur filmmaker par excellence, a filmmaker who likes to deliberately subvert audience expectations and subjects her works almost exclusively to rules she has set herself. Afternoon ...

9 Lives

9 Lives

2011 | 106 min | Documentary

9 LIVES portrays the fate of young people who decided at the age of 11, 12 or 13 to leave home and to live on the streets. Any of these young people could have lived nine lives by now and they have been battered, both mentally and physically. But despite this, they have an enormous ability to find their own strengths, gifts and talents. This wealth of personal possibility is the focus of the film. "I was surprised at how many of them didn't fit the stereotypes that are easily associated with homeless ...

A Fine Day

A Fine Day

2001 | 74 min | Drama

DER SCHÖNE TAG is the third part of Thomas Arslan's "Berlin Trilogy," which includes the films GESCHWISTER - KARDEŞLER (1997) and DEALER (1998). "In THE BEAUTIFUL DAY, the character of Deniz may not be representative of an entire population group in its entirety, but in one respect she certainly stands for the experiences of many others her age: She has something else to do besides constantly obsessing about her identity. It was important to me not to define her in terms of what is supposedly ...

Siblings - Kardeşler

Siblings - Kardeşler

1997 | 82 min | Drama

The everyday life of the German-Turkish siblings Erol, Ahmed and Leyla in Berlin-Kreuzberg. The first part of Thomas Arslan's "Berlin Trilogy" with Berlin hip-hop legend Kool Savage. SIBLINGS - KARDEŞLER is the first part of Thomas Arslan's "Berlin Trilogy", which includes the films DEALER (1998) and DER SCHÖNE TAG (2001). "SIBLINGS is the first film to film Turkish youth from their own perspective. Not a treatise on, but a question of everyday scenes, conversations, quarrels, and reconciliations. ...

The Dreamed Path

The Dreamed Path

2017 | 87 min | Drama

Greece 1984: Kenneth, an English musician, and Theres, a young German woman, sing on the street to finance their vacation. They love each other. When Kenneth receives the news that his mother has died in an accident, he hastily travels home, leaving Theres behind. Thirty years later, in Berlin. Ariane, now a 40-year-old television actress, breaks away from her husband. The man moves into an apartment at the main train station. From his window, he sees a homeless person. It is Kenneth, who does not ...

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 ...

Looteyo

Looteyo

2022 | 83 min | Drama

Mansour, an 11-year-old boy, witnesses the murder of his father by a stray bullet during a shootout between drug dealers and police. With his mother's dream of opening a café on their small island, Mansour takes on the responsibility of supporting her by becoming a tourist guide and getting involved in the dangerous drug trade. Mansour's naivety and his good intentions to save money for his mother's café are heart-wrenching. When he finally saves enough, his childhood impulses lead him to spend ...