Dana Herfurth wins the 2025 Bunte New Faces Award for her outstanding performance in Smalltown Girl.
She received the award for ‘Best Young Actress’. The jury praised her ‘unbridled enthusiasm for acting’. Further information is available at Blickpunkt:Film:
Blickpunkt:Film
We are delighted for Dana and congratulate her warmly!
The film ‘Smalltown Girl’ by Hille Norden was produced in and around Hamburg in 2024 by Leitwolf Film.
Filming of the long-awaited film ‘Heysel 85’ has been successfully completed. Directed by Teodora Ana Mihai (La Civil), the film offers a compelling and moving interpretation of the tragic events that took place on 29 May 1985 at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels during the final of the then European Cup I between Liverpool and Juventus.
Violet Braeckman and Matteo Simoni lead the cast of this film, which includes other famous names such as Josse De Pauw, Ben Segers, Fabrizio Rongione, Paolo Calabresi and Bobby Schofield.
Heysel 85 will hit Belgian cinemas in the autumn of 2026.
The award ceremony for the Grimme Prize 2025 in the ‘Fiction’ category took place on 4 April at the theatre in Marl. Here you can find more information about the award and the jury’s statement: https://www.grimme-preis.de/61-grimme-preis-2025/preistraeger/preistraeger-detail/d/festmachen-1
The series was produced by Leitwolf Filmproduktion in Bremen, in co-production with NDR and supported by the film funding organisations nordmedia and MOIN.
In the photo (from left to right): Sven Rudat (producer), Ira Neukirchen (editor NDR), Paula Lichte (producer), Jenny-Lou Ziegel (DoP), Hilke Rönnfeldt (writer/ director), Salka Weber (leading actress), Philine Rosenberg (editor NDR), Anette Unger (producer)
We are delighted to announce that our mini-series ‘Festmachen’ by Hilke Rönnfeldt has been nominated for the Grimme Prize 2025. You can find more information here: https://www.grimme-preis.de/61-grimme-preis-2025/nominierungen/nominierte-detail/d/festmachen The award ceremony will take place at the beginning of April.
Great success for Greetings from Mars: the film was awarded the Golden Goat for Best Feature Film for Children at the 42nd International Film Festival ALE KINO! in Poznań. The screenings took place on 24 and 25 November and 1 December and delighted the young audience and the jury alike. Every year, this renowned festival honours outstanding films for young audiences and awarded Greetings from Mars with the Golden Goat.
On 15 November 2024, Greetings from Mars was shown as the opening film of the Schleswig-Holstein School Cinema Weeks in Kiel. Around 170 pupils enthusiastically took part in the event and experienced the magical journey of Kepler and his friends. The School Cinema Weeks offer young people the opportunity not only to watch films, but also to discuss them critically – and Greetings from Mars got off to a brilliant start right at the beginning.
On 22 November 2024, the children’s film ‘Totem’ celebrates its premiere at 7:30 pm on KiKA. The NDR production tells the moving story of Ama, who meets her totem animal in a difficult situation. Together they fight to ensure that Ama does not have to leave her home. The film explores themes such as friendship and a sense of belonging and will be available with subtitles on kika.de and in the KiKA player. With empathy and depth, ‘Totem’ offers young viewers a story about courage and solidarity in challenging times.
On Saturday evening, the German Film Music Prize was awarded to Amaury Laurent Bernier for his outstanding score for the film „Totem“ as part of the 17th Saxony-Anhalt Film Music Days. The film music in the children’s film convinced the jury, who recognised Bernier’s work as emotionally supportive and culturally unifying.
The motto of this year’s Saxony-Anhalt Film Music Days was „Transformation – film music according to new rules“ and impressively demonstrated how music intensifies stories and builds cultural bridges.
Yared Dibaba was honoured for his impressive performance in the NDR series ‘Yared kommt rum’ and received the award in the category ‘Best performance in front of the camera’. The programme shows Dibaba on his journey through the villages of northern Germany, where he discovers unique places and the stories of authentic personalities.
In the award-winning episode from 28 June 2024, Dibaba visits the village of Waffensen and lets viewers experience the lively stories of the residents. With charm and openness, he manages to capture the special features of rural life and give people a platform to share their stories with a wide audience.
At this year’s Giffoni Film Festival, which takes place from July 19 to 28, 2024, the film „Greetings from Mars“ by Sarah Winkenstette will be shown. The film tells the story of 10-year-old Tom, who copes with change with the help of his astronaut suit. While his mother is on a business trip, Tom and his siblings move in with their grandparents and experience exciting adventures there.
The Giffoni Film Festival is known for its diversity and empathy. This year, over 100 films are competing, dealing with topics such as ethnic discrimination, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the challenges of growing up. In total, over 3,000 productions were pre-selected and evaluated by the Giffoni jury. The winners of the Gryphon Award are decided by more than 5,000 young jurors from 33 countries.
Great success for lead actor Theo Kretschmer: at this year’s GOLDENER SPATZ, he was awarded Best Actor for his outstanding portrayal of Tom in “Greetings from Mars”.
With over 112 events, the 32nd German Children’s Media Festival in Erfurt and Gera offered a diverse media experience for children and young people. The children’s jury was particularly impressed by Kretschmer’s performance and awarded him one of the coveted trophies. A photo from the award ceremony shows Kretschmer together with director Sarah Winkenstette and festival director Elisabeth Wenk.
We congratulate Theo Kretschmer on this well-deserved success!
“Totem” opens in cinemas on Thursday, June 6, 2024. Visit the movie in the following cities: Augsburg, Berlin, Bochum, Bremen, Dortmund, Dresden, Emden, Freiburg, Fürstenfeldbruck, Gelsenkirchen, Gera, Hamburg, Ingolstadt, Kempten, Kiel, Cologne, Leipzig, Munich, Münster, Nuremberg, Oberhausen, Rostock, Soest, Stuttgart and Templin.
“Totem” by Sander Burger is a co-production with the Netherlands (Volya Films), Luxembourg (Tarantula), Leitwolf Film and NDR. German distribution is being handled by Farbfilm. Funding in Germany comes from MOIN.
The filming of „Fucking Freedom“ is now complete. After intensive weeks in Hamburg and the surrounding area, we have successfully shot the last scenes. It was an exciting and moving shoot and we can hardly wait to present the final result.
A big thank you goes to our fantastic team, the talented cast and the generous funding from MOIN Filmförderung, nordmedia, BKM and DFFF.
Erfurt/Gera, April 11, 2024: From June 2 to 8, 2024, the 32nd German Children’s Media Festival Goldener Spatz invites you back to the cinemas in Gera and Erfurt. This year’s program includes 112 events with German-language films, television productions and digital offerings for children and young people.
One highlight is the opening film “Greetings from Mars”. Other premieres and anniversaries, such as the 125th anniversary of Erich Kästner and the 65th anniversary of the Sandman, round off the program.
In the Cinema TV and Digital competition, 41 nominated entries will be competing for the coveted Spatzen trophies.
More information can be found here: https://goldenerspatz.de/goldener-spatz-gibt-festivalprogramm-2024-bekannt/
At the renowned Barnefilmfestivalen in Kristiansand, Norway, the children’s film co-production from Leitwolf Filmproduktion by director Sarah Winkenstette (screenplay: Thomas Moeller and Sebastian Grusnick) won two of the main prizes. The jury for “Best International Feature Film” honored the story of 10-year-old Tom, who would like to travel to Mars but first has to spend the summer vacations with his hippie grandparents. The European Children’s Film Association also awarded GREETINGS FROM MARS, which was produced in collaboration with NDR, HR and Kika, as “Best European Film for Children”. GREETINGS FROM MARS was filmed last summer in Hamburg and the surrounding area (production design: Jakob Berger, production design: Susanna Haneder). Support was provided by MOIN Film funding, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, nordmedia, BKM, FFA and DFFF.
„You know, I’d rather walk through the park 100 times and get raped once than take a detour every evening out of fear. Freedom has to be worth that much,“ says main character Nore in the feature film „Ficken für Freiheit“, which Leitwolf Filmproduktion has been shooting in Hamburg since Monday.
In her debut, director and writer Hille Norden poses questions about freedom and sexual self-determination and tells the story of a special female friendship. She was already nominated for that for the German Screenplay Award in 2023.
Dana Herfurth („Nore“) and Luna Jordan („Jonna“) play the leading roles, as well as Vera Fay („Little Nore“) and Jakob Gessner („Michel“). Other roles include Johann von Bülow, Jan-Georg Schütte, Meike Droste, Campbell Caspary, Marcel Heupermann and Wanja Mues. Sabine Jankowski is DoP, Anette Unger and Sven Rudat are the producers and Paula Lichte is in charge of production.
Filming will continue in Hamburg and the surrounding area until the end of May. The cinema co-production is being made in collaboration with ZDF kleines Fernsehspiel (editors: Sara Günter and Jakob Zimmermann), with Kinescope co-producing. The project is supported by MOIN Filmförderung, nordmedia, the BKM and the DFFF. Neue Visionen is on board as the German distributor.
Our film ‚Greetings from Mars‘ is finished and we are very happy!
It is celebrating its world premiere at the Barnefilmfestivalen in Kristiansand and will be shown there in the competition. https://barnefilmfestivalen.no/en/program/hallo-fra-mars/
The film has also been invited to the Goldener Spatz in Gera and Erfurt. We’re also in the competition there and opening the festival. This is a great honor https://goldenerspatz.de/festival/programmdetails-kino-tv/?flim_page=details&flim_id=30663&schedule_uid=729
We are excited to see where else the journey will take us.
At the end of September, TOTEM was able to impress at the Schlingel International Film Festival and thus win the European Children’s Film Award in Chemnitz. The prize is endowed with 12.500€. We are very happy!
Furthermore, the film won the PELLI Award – the prize of the children’s jury – at the KinderFilmFest Muenster.
Our heartfelt thanks go to the prize donors, the cinema operators, the juries and the entire film festival teams.
„Mein Totemtier und Ich“ by Sander Burger is a co-production with the Netherlands (Volya Films), Luxembourg (Tarantula), Leitwolf Film and NDR. German distribution is handled by Farbfilm. Funding in Germany comes from MOIN.
We are incredibly happy about receiving the MAJA award yesterday for our co-production ‚Mein Totemtier & ich‘. The prize, endowed with 10,000€, was awarded for the first time this year in the course of the MICHEL Filmfest in Hamburg.
Our heartfelt thanks go to the prize donor, cinema operator Hans-Peter Jansen, the children’s jury and the entire film festival team.
Here you can find more information: https://www.filmfesthamburg.de/news/maja-fuer-mein-totemtier-ich/
We are very happy to announce that our co-production TOTEM (with Volya Films, NL, Tarantula, LUX) is represented at several national and international film festivals this year. Here in Germany, the film will screen at three festivals this fall:
At SCHLiNGEL (23.-30.09. in Chemnitz), at MICHEL (29.09.-05.10. in Hamburg) and at LUCAS (05.-12.10. in Frankfurt).
And now it’s already over again. On Wednesday, August 30, the last take of our children’s movie ‚Greetings from Mars‘ was shot in Hamburg. Shooting took place in July and August in Appen/Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg. It was an intensive and great shooting and we are now looking forward to the finished film.
A big thank you goes out to the whole team, crew & cast and the film funders who supported us: MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, nordmedia – Film- und Mediengesellschaft Niedersachsen/Bremen mbH, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, FFA, BKM, and DFFF.
On Tuesday, 22.08. the first take for our ‚Nordlichter‘ series FESTMACHEN fell. From 22.08. to 20.09. we will shoot the five-part series in Bremen, primarily at the Oslebshausen lock and the surrounding area.
The series is part of the Nordlichter program, which is a program of Norddeutscher Rundfunk, MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein and nordmedia – Film- und Mediengesellschaft Niedersachsen/Bremen mbH. The series stars Salka Weber, Nina Petri, Jochen Nickel, Nils Rovira-Munoz, Karsten Antonio Mielke, Meryem Ebru Öz and many more.
Click here for the NDR start of filming announcement:
https://www.ndr.de/der_ndr/presse/mitteilungen/NDR-dreht-in-Bremen-die-Mini-Serie-Festmachen-im-Rahmen-der-Nachwuchsreihe-Nordlichter,pressemeldungndr24064.html
The time has finally come…we are very pleased that the first take for the children’s and family film Greetings from Mars fell today. The film is directed by Sarah Winkenstette (ZU WEIT WEG) and stars Eva Löbau, Michael Wittenborn and Hedi Kriegeskotte.
Filming will take place from 18.07. – 31.08.2023 in Appen/Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg.
A big thank you goes already now to the entire film team and to the film fundings: MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, nordmedia – Film- und Mediengesellschaft Niedersachsen/Bremen mbH, FFA, BKM, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and DFFF.
We are very happy about the support of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, which supports our production ‚Greetings from Mars‘ with 250.000€ in production funding. Shooting will take place this summer and we are really looking forward to it.
Thank you very much!
Click here for the funding decision:
Die Film- und Medienstiftung NRW fördert 22 Projekte mit rund 4,88 Mio. Euro
We are very happy about the great support of the German Federal Film Board (Filmförderungsanstalt, FFA), which supports us with 250.000€ for our production ‚Greetings from Mars‘ (by Thomas Möller and Sebastian Grusnick).
We send a heartfelt thank you to the FFA and look forward to realising the project.
Click here for the funding decisions:
FFA funding decisions
We are very happy to announce that our project ‚Lämpchen‘ (by Julia Keller) is supported by MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein with 39.000€ in the category project development.
We say: Thank you very much!
https://www.moin-filmfoerderung.de/de/foerderung/entscheidungen/High-End/2022/1412-foerderentscheidung.php
We are very happy about the great support of MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, which supports us with 480,000€ for our production ‚Greetings from Mars‘ (by Thomas Möller and Sebastian Grusnick) in the Director’s Cut panel.
We are very grateful for the funding and look forward with great anticipation to the realisation of the project.
https://www.moin-filmfoerderung.de/de/foerderung/entscheidungen/Directors-Cut/
We are very happy to announce that our project ‚HAPPY NO END‘ (by Simone Höft) is supported by the FFA in the category screenplay with 25.000€.
https://www.ffa.de/pressemitteilungen-detailseite.html?meldung=ffa-foerdert-die-entstehung-von-acht-film-und-sieben-drehbuchprojekten-mit-36-millionen-euro
On Wednesday 12 October, TOTEM celebrated its world premiere as the opening film at cinekid in Amsterdam. We are very happy about the positive feedback from the audience and the press.
Here are a few impressions from the premiere:
The Netherlands, Amsterdam, 12 October 2022. Cinekid Opening at Pathe Noord. All photos: Corinne de Korver
We are very happy to announce that our production ‚Greetings from Mars‘ has been selected as one of the 20 projects at this year’s Junior Co-production Market 2022. The market will take place from 18-22 October in Amsterdam as part of Cinekid, the world’s leading film and audiovisual festival for children and young people. The 20 selected projects were submitted from 15 countries. The market offers space for exchange and funding opportunities for participants, producers and broadcasters.
More about the selected projects here:
https://cinekid.nl/nl/professionals/news-profs/457
Totem (by Sander Burger) will premiere on the twelfth of October as the opening film of Cinekid Amsterdam!
The renowned children’s film festival is taking place for the 36th time this year and we are very happy to present the co-production with Volya Films (NL) there.
https://cinekid.nl/nl/nieuws/447
In June, twenty writer/producer teams from all over Europe came together to work on their scripts with experienced script consultants at the Series Lab Hamburg organised by MOIN, Letterbox Filmproduktion and 15 Creative Europe Desks.
Among them was our drama series PASSEPARTOUT.
Over the course of three days, writer Florian Fey and producer Paula Lichte received valuable input and had an exciting exchange with international colleagues.
Here is a detailed report:
https://www.moin-filmfoerderung.de/de/Magazin/Stories/2022/20220722-series-lab-hamburg-2022.php
In the first awarding session of 2022, nordmedia funded the project development of our workplace drama series „Festmachen“ by Hilke Rönnfeldt as part of the „Nordlichter“ programme.
Cast off! Or rather: All clear to moor in the Bremen lock!
We are very happy and thank very much for the support!
https://www.nordmedia.de/pages/foerderung/vergabeentscheidung/subpages/die_aktuellen_entscheidungen_im_einzelnen_/index.html
We are very happy about the support of MFG Baden-Württemberg, which is funding the development of our mystery series „Looking for Sandman“ (by Lavina Stauber). Many thanks for that.
https://film.mfg.de/news/details/3173-erste-jurysitzung-2022-mfg-foerdert-23-projekte-mit-insgesamt-fast-3-millionen-euro/
Hello art!
We are very happy about the support of MOIN Filmförderung, which is funding our drama series „Passepartout“ (by Ipek Zübert, Johannes Rothe and Florian Fey) in project development! Many thanks!
Click here for the film funding website:
https://www.moin-filmfoerderung.de/de/
GREETINGS FROM MARS in the race for the Emden script award Our tragic comedy GRÜSSE VOM MARS by Thomas Möller and Sebastian Grusnick, funded by Moin Filmförderung, is one of the three nominations for the EMDER SCREENPLAY AWARD On October 8th the award ceremony takes place during the Emden Film Festival. We keep our fingers crossed and we are really happy!
GREETINGS FROM MARS is supposed to be a funny and touching comedy about the great goals of an outsider, whose otherness is at the same time his secret strength. A film that brings the different generations together, even if they sometimes perceive themselves as beings from strange planets.
Our latest children’s film “Luzie’s Mad World” by writer Anna Lott has received funding by Creative Europe MEDIA Single Project Development support in their latest funding round. Our project was supported as one of seven German projects.
We’re extremely happy and excited to continue the development of this fun project and dive deeper into Luzie’s mad world.
Here’s the link to the German press release (only in German):
Creative Europe press release
As part of the incentive funding program 3×3 initiated by the FFHSH as part of the Corona-support measures, Leitwolf was selected as 1 out of 13 companies from the funding region. The support allows us to develop the script for our new children’s film GREETINGS FROM MARS by writers Thomas Möller and Sebastian Grusnik, based on the children’s book with the same title, as well as launch the development for two new screenplays in the next three years.
In March, our international co-production, the coming of age film MNK BOY by director Mete Gümürhan had already received production support from the FFHSH. The film is a coproduction between Circe Films (NL) and Liman Film (Turkey).
We also received funding from the nordmedia film fund: Our children’s film CALYPSO ALL NIGHT (Die ganze Nacht Calypso) by writer Ulrich Klingenschmitt and director Damian Schipporeit was awarded script funding in the last funding round.
Here are the links to the official press releases by FFHSH and nordmedia (only in German):
Projects FFHSH
Nordmedia
On Thursday, March 5th, our award-winning Dutch-German coproduction MESSI AND MAUD (LA HOLANDESA) by Marleen Jonkman will air on arte Germany and France.
The film will air at 23:40h (in Germany) and 23:35h (in France) and will be availbale for streaming online subsequently for 7 days on the arte platform:
Messi & Maud german Messi & Maud france
On January 30th, ROMY’S SALON celebrated its Hamburg premiere. Actress Beppie Melissen (Grandma Stine), writer Tamara Bos and director Mischa Kamp came to Hamburg to celebrate the German release together with the Leitwolf team and other team members.
ROMY’S SALON is in German cinemas now. All viewing times under: Viewing Times ROMYS SALON
Our family film ROMY’S SALON won Best Dutch Family Film at the renowned CINEKID children’s film festival in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The film was also awarded 2nd prize by the professional jury at Chicago International Film Festival. In Germany, ROMY’S SALON is continuing its successful festival run. After sold-out screenings in Lübeck at the Nordic Film Days, the film travels on to Oldenburg, Vienna, Cologne and Braunschweig before its official release to German theatres on January 30.
Today ROMY’S SALON is celebrating its German festival premiere at the SCHLINGEL International Film Festival in Chemnitz. More festivals in Germany are coming up. Director Mischa Kamp will present her film at the screenings in Münster and Bielefeld.
Already before its official release in January 2020, our family film ROMY’S SALON will be screening in selected cinemas in Germany. For World Alzheimer’s Day and throughout the whole week of dementia September 16-22 exclusive previews will be showing in selected German cinemas, with the support of the German Alzheimer’s Association.
To find a preview near you visit: http://www.romyssalon.de or find ROMY’S SALON on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RomysSalon.Film
We are overjoyed and thankful that regional film fund nordmedia has granted support for three of our projects. Our Belgium-Dutch-German family comedy MY DAD IS A SAUSAGE, a coproduction with A Private View (Belgium) and The Film Kitchen (The Netherlands) received production support and is currently in production in Belgium. The children’s film LUZIE’S CRAZY WORLD by Anna Lott and the thriller NACHTTAXI by Carsten Woike were granted screenwriting support.
Here’s the link to the official press release (only in German): Normedia press release
Today, principle photography begun on our Belgium-Dutch-German coproduction MY DAD IS A SAUSAGE, starring Johan Heldenbergh (known from „The Broken Circle Breakdown“). Heldenbergh plays a father, who from one day to the next decides to quit his job at a bank and pursue a career in acting instead. While his family believes he has gone mad, only daughter Zöe (Savannah Vandendriessche) believes in her dad’s dream. The debut feature by director Anouk Fortunier has received support from nordmedia and Eurimages among others and is being produced in co-production with NDR.
While finalizing the last touches of the post sound on our German-Dutch co-production ROMY’S SALON, our team received a visit from the representatives of the Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, who supported our project. Besides taking a look (and a listen) at the almost finished film, they asked director Mischa Kamp and writer Tamara Bos some questions. The complete interview has been published in the AUFBLENDE magazine of the film fund. However, it’s only available in German: https://aufblen.de/de/Interviews/2019/20190510-romys-salon-tamara-bos-mischa-kamp.php
After celebrating ist world premiere at the renowed children’s film festival in Kristiansand, Norway, our Dutch-German co-production ROMY’S SALON took home the main prize of the festival, the BFF Children’s Film Award. We’re extremely honored and proud that the film was so well received.
Here’s the explanation of the jury: The winner deals with two persons in a relationship that develops from skepticism to a growing respect and ends up with a unique cooperation. The movie is funny, wistful, tragic and full of love. It is impressively well acted and told in a way that is calm, yet full of tension. The ending brought tears to the eyes of the jury. It will be suitable for tying bonds between the youngest and oldest generation.
Our TV-Film DAS LEBEN VOR MIR will be airing on Wednesday, October 24th, 2019 at 20:15h on ARD. Directed by Anna Justice the film features a rather unusual family constellation and stars Matthias Habich, Stephan Kampwirth and Eleonore Weisgerber in the lead roles.
Even before it’s official release, our Dutch-German coproduction Romy’s Salon picked up ist first prize. The family film was awarded the prize for Best International Literary Adaptation for Children or Young Adults at the Frankfurter Buchmesse, the international publishing industry’s biggest trade fair.
Yared Dibaba launches a 4-day campaign to actively support a socially relevant organisation. With his rousing manner, he motivates an entire region to lend a hand. From manual labour to catering and donations in kind – everyone pitches in! Challenges are tackled together, from renovation work to the purchasing of materials.
For centuries, Ylva’s (11) family has been evil by tradition and with all their heart. Just like Ylva – until, to her dismay, she discovers a good core in herself! In order to win back the love of her disappointed parents, Ylva asks her great-great-great-grandmother, the witch Katarina Hanen, for help. She resurrects Ylva’s most wicked ancestors – but instead of using them to prove how evil she is, Ylva brings her world and everything she believed in crashing down …
May 1985 at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels. Shortly before kick-off of the European Cup final there is a mass panic and 39 people die. 2 young women are confronted with it: Martine, a firefighter, and Jeanne, a press officer, are powerless in the face of the scale of the disaster and the depths of human nature.
13-year-old Elias has been waiting half his life for a donor heart. Finally, the time has come. But when he wakes up after the heart transplant, an unknown boy is standing next to his bed. Elias is the only one who can see him. “You have my heart,” says the boy. And he has a mission for Elias, which presents him with a great challenge.
When an aerial bomb from the Second World War is found on a building site and an entire residential area has to be evacuated as a precaution, the evacuated residents find themselves in the old gymnasium right next to a refugee shelter, of all places. Prejudices, fears and hostility increase the longer the bomb disposal takes and eventually threaten to escalate.
We experience the story from the perspective of 14-year-old Anne, who clashes with Faried, who is the same age, during running training. Faried has fled Afghanistan and now lives in the shelter. Although the two don’t like each other at first, they get to know each other better during the evacuation.
But there is also 17-year-old, right-wing extremist Tobi, who is interested in Anne, and last but not least Anne’s father Achim, who also has no love for refugees.
While the explosive ordnance disposal team on the construction site do everything they can to defuse the bomb, it is Anne and her older neighbour Clara who try to prevent the escalating conflict in the accommodation.
Clara herself experienced the Second World War as a child and quickly realizes what is at stake here.
When Anne’s supposedly stolen bicycle turns up outside the refugee shelter and Achim recognizes it, the situation threatens to get out of hand for good.
For the first time in her life, Anne has to take a political stance and even stand up to her father…
School friends Nore and Jonna meet again by chance in their mid-twenties and decide to move in together. In conversation, it becomes clear that Nore was never the precocious femme fatale that Jonna admired and condemned in equal measure, but an abused child. As Nore struggles to reclaim the narrative for herself and not be a victim, a deep friendship develops and a perspective for Nore to deal with the abuse.
LAMPIE (10), the daughter of the lighthouse keeper, is sent as a punishment to be a maid in the eerie house of the admiral, where rumour has it that a monster lurks. But what she finds there is stranger and more beautiful than any monster. A fairytale adventure begins…
There’s glamour in the smallest hut! That’s why presenter Yared Dibaba sets off on a journey to track down small, as yet unknown spots in the north! He knocks on doors, talks to the residents on the street, in the village pub or directly in the field at work, so that they show him their beautiful home. In this way, Yared discovers new things in the north – from unknown gems to funny transit villages – and lets them tell him why their inhabitants want to live here and nowhere else!
In LOOKING FOR SANDMAN, 28-year-old Nathalie, following the accidental death of her mother, a respected sleep researcher, experiences an accumulation of very real nightmares that repeatedly present her with the circumstances of her mother’s death.
And seem to contain more information than Nathalie can know in reality.
When Nathalie returns to her home village in the Black Forest to care for her still teenage brother, she comes across secret and possibly illegal studies of her mother, whose participants are suffering from massive side effects. They are barely responsive while awake, but in her dreams Nathalie encounters the same people clearly and tidily.
Together with her old school friend Lothar, Nathalie gets to the bottom of her mother’s research, and soon understands that all is not right at the local research center for dreams and sleep, and that the mystery surrounding her dreams will call her entire family history into question.
Ship’s officer MALIKA is about to be promoted to captain. Then an incident occurs on board that puts Malika’s crew and herself in danger. Her captain gives her one last chance and offers her an unusual deal: Malika is to spend the summer working ashore with the mooring crew in Bremen harbour and get her life together before a return on board is even considered. Out of necessity, Malika accepts, but tying and untying ship’s lines in a family of harbour workers brought together Malika doesn’t really see it as an opportunity to get her life in order. She is certain that she does not want to arrive on land, in any community – and above all not with herself. She wants to go back to sea.
But Malika’s new mooring family challenges the officer and her attitudes towards life and herself in unexpected ways. Malika is thrown off course in an unknown, rough sea of emotions and has to row hard for her love of the sea and for herself.
„A strange Tribute to Motherly Love“ is an adult fairy tale peppered with horror. Samuel Dirk, a 48-year-old piano tuner, is cleaning out his house because his wife recently exploded from stress. To make Samuel’s life „complete“ again, his mother, who makes magical jams, brings in Samuel’s oldest friend.
They persuade Samuel to go on a whirlwind German joyride, forcing him to grapple with the question of what makes a happy life before returning home with new perspectives for one last taste of his mother’s magical concoction.
The heist of a priceless painting brings very different characters from both legal and illegal sides of the art business together. All of them try not to be caught up in a whirlwind of activity.
11-year-old Ama lives in the Netherlands as the daughter of illegal immigrants. When her family is about to be deported, she can hide but witnesses the arrest of her mother and brother. Searching for her father Ama finds herself alone wandering around Rotterdam – until her Totem animal reveals itself to her and accompanies her.
FESTIVALS:
When their mother gets ready to leave for a business trip, Tom (10) and his siblings Elmar (13) and Nina (15) have to stay with their grandparents in the middle of nowhere in Northern Germany. The problem is that granny and grandpa have completely forgotten that their grandchildren are going to be staying with them and are all but prepared. Since Tom, who is a bit peculiar, has trouble dealing with the change, his mom presents the move as a preparation for his biggest dream, a mission to Mars.
Festivals and Awards (selection)
Martin, an outsider with not many friends, is forced to spend his summer holidays in an outdoor camp in the woods with his step brother and a group of kids scouts. Martin is not interested in adventures in the wildnis or camping and would much prefer staying at home and playing video games. When discovering tiny magical creatures that inhabit the forest and whose habitat is being destroyed by construction work, Martin learns to overcome his aversion to nature in order to help the forest creatures save the forest.
Festivals
Grandma, who is still actively working as a hairdresser, is struggling with the early stages of Alzheimer’s. Romy doesn’t like having to go to the hairdressing salon every day, but this changes when grandma Stine confides in her granddaughter, telling her about her increasing confusion. Romy realises that grandma is not only taking care of her, she will have to take care of her grandma in return. The bond between grandmother and granddaughter grows stronger as grandma seems to change more and more: she is sweeter than before, easier, and she recounts tales of her childhood in Denmark. Romy helps grandma run the salon the best she can, but when they can no longer manage together, Romy comes up with a plan. She decides to make grandma’s dearest wish come true.
and more
Cornelius, in his 70s, lives in a long and happy relationship with his younger husband Frank. After thirty years without any contact or an announcement, the woman who Cornelius had left after realizing that he loves men and with whom he has two children, suddenly shows up at his doorstep. Julia, formerly a successful journalist, is back in Germany after having spent most of her life in San Francisco. When asked for the reasons for her return she announces that she is terminally ill and does not have much more time to live. Out of a sense of pity and responsibility for his estranged former spouse, Cornelius takes Julia in with him – much to Frank‘s surprise. The confrontation with his former life shakes Cornelius‘ present existence…
Eleven-year old ZOË is shocked to learn that DAD has quit his bank job to make a living as an actor. His rash move upsets the family dynamic. Zoë is afraid that it may ultimately lead to a breakup between Mum and Dad. She will need to come out of her shell to save her family.
While on vacation in Chile, Dutch tourist Maud abandons her husband to travel alone. When she befriends ‘Messi’, a local boy who fills a void in her heart, the pair embark on a road trip to reinvent themselves.
Toronto International Film Festival, 2017 (World premiere) Rotterdam International Film Festival, 2018 (European premiere) Internationales Filmfest Emden-Norderney, 2018 (German premiere) Festival des deutschen Films, 2018
The Matthiesen’s seem to have an almost natural tendency for failure in their family. Stony-broke Esther, Rachel and Thirza return to the pre-pomeranian „prairie“ of their childhood, where their alcoholic father welcomes them as unruly as ever. But the once idyllic horse riding school is completely overgrown. The last refuge of the stranded siblings is in danger: the bank wants to take over the stud because of the ever increasing debt. When faced with the loss of their family‘s property, hidden powers and a strong bond awakens within the stubborn family clan.
Passion, art – and a blooming garden.
Philipp Keyer is chasing a lost painting. It‘s his last chance to get back on his feet professionally. He knows no scruples when he has to use the young painter Alma to approach the owner of the painting. Too late Philipp realizes that he is becoming more and more addicted to the young woman…
As an independent production company, LEITWOLF FILM stands for individuality, for art that touches, for the courage to create high-quality productions from initial ideas, for trust in young talents and appreciative cooperation with experienced filmmakers.
We love to tell stories, whether as a series or a feature film, whether family entertainment or mystery, whether media library formats or TV – with passion and dramaturgical expertise we are involved in our projects! We highly appreciate national and international co-productions and look back on enriching and valuable projects that have positioned us as a professional and reliable producer on the market in a short time. Topics such as sustainability, social relevance, diversity, but also humor and lightness have and will always accompany us in our productions in the future. In doing so, we never lose sight of artistic quality and high-quality content.
Founded in 2016, we are now present in northern Germany with our two locations in Hamburg and Bremen and can draw on an extensive network of national and international contacts.
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