On January 18, 2024, the feature film “Talk to me” (Original German title: “Sprich mir mir“) by Janin Halisch will celebrate its cinema premiere at Berlin’s renowned Colosseum Filmtheater on Schönhauser Allee in the Prenzlauer Berg district of Berlin. Following the screening, radio presenter and film critic Knut Elstermann will hold a film discussion with director Janin Halisch, the main actors Alina Stiegler, Barbara Philipp and Peter Lohmeyer and producer Clara Gerst.
The premiere is also the official screening of the German Film Academy in the nomination process for the “Lola“, the German Film Award 2024 and the kick-off event in the distribution anniversary year “10 Years Darling Berlin“. With the cinema premiere of “Talk to me“, UCM.ONE is continuing its collaboration with the traditional Colosseum Filmtheater, which is also celebrating its 100th birthday in 2024.
Summary
Karo (28) is newly separated and is struggling with her non-existent relationship with her father. When her mother Michaela (50) wants to take her on holiday to Rügen, Karo suspects another failed male affair. What begins as a spontaneous trip soon turns out to be a journey into the past of two women who couldn’t be more different: Michaela wants a distraction, Karo wants peace and quiet.
When they arrive at the hotel, they meet the newly divorced Jochen (60) and his teenage daughter Marie (16). For Michaela, Jochen is a holiday flirt and for Karo he could be the answer to all her questions and longings, while Marie is the mirror of a youth that Karo never had. Mother and daughter quickly realise that their absent father has left a void that is bigger and more painful than they thought.
Old wounds are torn open and both try to heal in their own way and free themselves from their entrenched roles.
The production of the German Film and Television Academy “Talk to me“, distributed worldwide by UCM.ONE, had its world premiere at the Max Ophüls Festival 2023 Saarbrücken (awarded the prize for Best Newcomer Actress: Alina Stiegler).
About Janin Halisch
Janin Halisch was born in East Berlin in 1984. She gained her first film experience at the Filmarche, a self-organised film school in Berlin-Kreuzberg.
Janin Halisch has been studying directing at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (DFFB) since 2009. She graduated in 2022. To date, she has written and realised several short and medium-length films that have screened successfully at national and international festivals. She works as a freelance director, writer and dramaturge. In 2021 she shot three episodes of the 2nd season for the ZDF series “Echt“.
Filmography
2023 Sprich mit mir – Long film, 80 min
2016 Lui – Short film, 20 min
2015 The Lost Ones – Short film, 10 min
2014 Ihr und Eure Welt – Short film , 25 min
2013 Skinny Love – Short film, 20 min
2012 Vor Dir – Short film, 20 min
Data about the film
| Title: |
Sprich mit mir (Talk to Me)
|
| Director: | Janin Halisch |
| Screenplay: | Janin Halisch & Hannah Sioda |
| Producer: | Clara Gerst |
| Cast: | Alina Stiegler (Karo), Barbara Phillipp (Michaela), Peter Lohmeyer (Jochen), Pearl Graw (Marie), Jonathan Berlin (Alex), Zethphan Smith.Gneist (Victor), Pierre Besson (Vater) |
| Genre: | Drama |
| Country | Deutschland |
| Year of production: | 2023 |
Director’s commentary by Janin Halisch
“Ever since I was born, I’ve been going on holiday with my mother. This woman who laughs at everything, who is scarred by life, and her late-pubescent, all-controlling daughter. Holidays with my mother are full of humour, shame, pain and love. They have shaped my life. My generation was mainly raised by women. The absence of fathers and the mistrust between the sexes shaped our mothers and us. The absence of a father is always present in Karo’s life too. Mother and daughter have to prove again and again how well they can compensate for this absence. The complex bond that this creates still too rarely finds its way onto the screen, yet this is precisely what has always accompanied and deeply moved me as a director and writer.”
“Talk to Me” is a belated coming of age drama. It is a film about the bumpy road to acceptance between mothers and daughters, if not a declaration of love for this unique relationship.
More information about the movie: Talk to me
More information about the film label: Darling Berlin
