Phillip Klinger‘s debut film “Dark Dreamers” (German title: “Albträumer“) celebrated its premiere at the Hofer Filmtage 2020 and since then has already had an impressive festival career (including in Braunschweig, Wiesbaden, Biberach). “Dark Dreamers” is a coming-of-age drama with mystery elements, told in intoxicating images and sensitively acted, in which a young woman’s painful search for answers collides with the mental and emotional confinement of her surroundings.
17 year-old Rebekka grows up sheltered in a secluded village in the Black Forest. She is popular with everyone, has had a boyfriend for a long time and supposedly leads a carefree life. But appearances are misleading: since her older brother Dennis jumped to his self-imposed death two years ago, the domestic idyll is only a façade. While her parents are mainly trying to suppress the trauma and to be perceived as a “normal” family by the outside world, the young woman has not yet found a way to deal with her brother’s suicide. Until one day Vincent, Dennis’ best friend, who jumped off the bridge with him and miraculously survived the fall, reappears after a long time.
Immediately, old wounds are reopened in the small village. The village community and Rebekka’s parents blame the eccentric loner for Dennis’ death, but for Rebekka he provides the chance to finally get answers to her pressing questions and to understand who her brother really was.
Despite the contempt they meet from all sides, and although her parents strictly forbid her to see him because they fear they will lose their daughter as well, Rebekka’s slightly morbid fascination with Vincent develops first into a cautious closeness, then into a stormy love. And finally it becomes something that she herself no longer knows whether it is healing or destructive. The more the two young people open up to each other, the further Vincent slips back into the old trauma, and Rebekka is drawn deeper and deeper into her brother’s emotional world. It becomes clear to her that she must dare the painful outbreak in order to escape the fatal maelstrom and find herself.
Growing up in a conservative village in the Black Forest, Philipp Klinger found refuge and a home early on in theatre, the visual arts, creative writing and film. After graduating from high school with a Scheffel Prize award and training as a media designer, he worked as an editor and assistant director on feature films and commercials. With his first short film “Das Institut der verlorenen Dinge (2010), he managed to gain admission to the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, where he studied scenic directing as a scholarship holder of the renowned “Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes”.
In 2014, at the height of the Gezi protests, he completed a semester abroad at Kadir Has University in Istanbul. There he realised a documentary social spot for the NGO Mavi Kalem, which campaigns for children with a refugee background and women’s rights. He has also been active in social institutions for years, with a focus on media education projects with children and young people. During his studies, he realised various short films that were screened and awarded at numerous national and international festivals. His last three short films, co-produced with SWR and arte, were also broadcast by BR and ARD.
Filmography (selection)
| 2020 | Albträumer (feature film, 93 Min), director & co-writer |
| 2018 | Feuertaufe (short film, 20 Min), director & co-writer |
| 2015 | Die Blaue Sophia (short film, 8 Min), director |
| 2014 | Mavi Kalem (social spot, 8 Min), director, cinematography, editing |
| 2013 | Am Ende Licht (short film, 45 Min), director & co-writer |
| 2010 | Das Institut der verlorenen Dinge (short film 15 Min), director, co-writer & producer |
His debut film “Dark Dreamers“, also co-produced by SWR, premiered at the International Film Festival Hof, was nominated for various awards and won both the jury prize in the “International Youth Film Competition” and the audience award for the “best feature-length film” at the exground filmfest Wiesbaden. Philipp Klinger works as a freelance writer and director in Berlin.
Original title: Albträumer
Director: Philipp Klinger
Screenplay: Simon Thummet, Philipp Klinger (Book editing)
Actors: Sarah Mahita, Béla Gabor Lenz, Stephan Szasz, Birge Schade, Andreas Warmbrunn, Gustav Schmidt, Valerie Stoll, Julia Brendler
Producer: Christoph Holthof, Daniel Reich
Production manager: Sebastian Ebert
Production coordinator: Patricia Langenhan
Cinematography: Adrian Langenbach
Sound: Christoph Schilling
Editing: Bastian Epple
Visual effects: Marco Zanoni
Production design: Cosima Vellenzer
Costume design: Teresa Crosser
Make-up: Heidi Wick
Sound Design: Robin Harff
Music: Francesco Wilking, Patrick Reising
Production company: Kurhaus Production
Year of production: 2020
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Language: German
Subtitles: English
Length: 93 Min
Rating: FSK 12
Aspect ratio: 2.39 : 1
Sound: Surround 5.1, Stereo 2.0
Resolution: digital 2K
Other titles:
English: Dark Dreamers
Prices:
2020 exground filmfest Wiesbaden: Jury Prize “Best International Youth Film” -> Albträumer
2020 exground filmfest Wiesbaden: audience award “best feature film” -> Albträumer
Filmlabel: Artkeim²
Distribution: UCM.ONE
Theatrical release: August 12, 2021
DVD-Start: tba
VoD-Start: tba
„An unusually large number of suicides and murders occurred in the small village in the Black Forest where I grew up – my best friend was among the victims. But the abysses behind the white garden fences were hardly ever talked about, because the possible realisations were too painful and shocking.
Suicide and mental illness are no longer a taboo subject in public, but are often repressed and stigmatised in the personal sphere. Relatives and loved ones often feel powerless and lost, as do the patients themselves. With “Dark Dreamers“, I want to give space to these feelings, raise understanding for the individual facets and create a resonance space in which the audience can empathise with the healing process of Rebekka, the main character, at close quarters.
Just as she increasingly dares to change perspectives, the boundaries also become more fluid for the audience and simple, monocausal answers to the question of why become increasingly insufficient.
Because Rebekka’s preoccupation with her brother’s suicide calls into question the village way of life, her mourning ultimately leads to emancipation and escape. This self-realisation has a unique energy: the radically subjective sensuality of youthful perception, of first love, of first loss. A force that shakes Rebekka’s world to its foundations, but in its truthfulness also finally makes real healing possible.
That is what I focus on in this film. I want to encourage people to see necessity, even grace and beauty in the destructive energy of change.”
Sarah Mahita was born in Filderstadt in 1997. From 2005 to 20011 she was a member of the Junges Ensemble Stuttgart (JES) children’s and youth theatre, where she appeared on stage in productions including “Wir sind Kunst“, “Wo bist du Zuhause” and “Mein unmögliches Leben“. From 2014 to 2019 she appeared in the television series “Dr. Klein“. Several recurring and episodic roles in TV series followed, as well as the impressive TV drama “Atempause” directed by Aelrun Goette. In 2017 she then received her first major leading role in the web series “Technically Single“. In the acclaimed feature film “Bonnie & Bonnie” (2019) by Ali Hakim, she starred alongside Emma Drogunova in the lead role of Kiki. For her portrayal of Rebekka in the drama “Dark Dreamers“, she was nominated for the “Braunschweig Film Award” alongside Béla Gabor Lenz at the Braunschweig International Film Festival in 2020.
Filmography (selection)
| 2020 | Beckenrand Sheriff (director: Marcus H. Rosenmüller) – feature film |
| 2020 | Albträumer (director: Philipp Klinger) – feature film |
| 2019 | Wir sind die Welle (directors: Anca Lazarescu & Mark Monheim) – Netflix series |
| 2018 | Bonnie und Bonnie (director: Ali Hakim) – feature film |
| 2017 | A Schicht über’d Lieb (director: Peter Evers) – feature film |
| 2017 | Atempause (director: Aelrun Goette) – feature film |
| 2017 | Technically Single (director: Sebastian Stojetz) – web series |
Béla Gabor Lenz was born in Duisburg in 1997. In 2007, at the age of nine, he was already acting in the musical “Vom Geist der Weihnacht” in Duisburg. At the age of twelve, he went to a boarding school for actors in Munich, where he was trained in singing and acting, before returning to his hometown of Viersen at the age of 15 to attend the Clara-Schumann-Gymnasium. In the summer of 2013, he appeared in front of the camera for the first time for the TV film “Die Auserwählten“. In the film, which deals with the cases of abuse at the Odenwald School, Lenz played alongside Ulrich Tukur, among others. Many other cinema and television roles followed starring alongside well-known actors such as Katja Riemann, Corinna Harfouch and Anton Rattinger.
At First Steps 2019, he was nominated for the “Götz George Young Actor Award” for the role of Leon in “Benzin“. In 2020, he received a nomination for “Best Young German-Language Actor” at the Braunschweig International Film Festival together with Sarah Mahita for the role of Vincent in “Dark Dreamers“.
Filmography (selection)
| 2020 | Wild Republic (directors: Lennart Ruff & Markus Goller) – series |
| 2020 | Albträumer (director: Philipp Klinger) – feature film |
| 2019 | Dark III (director: Baran bo Odar) – series |
| 2019 | Wir sind die Welle (directors: Anca Lazarescu & Mark Monheim) – Netflix series |
| 2018 | Benzin (director: Oliver Mohr) – feature film |
| 2016 | 1000 Arten Regen zum Beschreiben (director: Isabel Prahl) – feature film |
| 2015 | Der Körper des Astronauten (director: Alisa Berger) – feature film |
kurhaus production is an independent film production company in Baden-Baden, which was founded in spring 2007 by Christoph Holthof and Daniel Reich. kurhaus production develops and produces feature and documentary films as well as documentary series for the German and international cinema and TV market.
With now twelve feature film productions as well as the production of documentary series and documentaries, it has been possible to set up the company broadly and versatile. In particular, thanks to the success of “Unter Nachbarn” (broadcast on the renowned ARD primetime slot “Filmmittwoch im Erste”, “Goldene Kamera” for Charly Hübner) and “Freier Fall” (Berlinale 2013, 100,000 moviegoers, various foreign sales) kurhaus production has made a name for itself in the film industry and is recognized by film funding institutions and television broadcasters alike. In the past three years, the production volume has increased significantly. The good cooperation with the SWR and the MFG Filmförderung Baden-Württemberg has proven itself. Further co-production partners such as arte, ARD Degeto, KIKA & ZDF were added.
Festivals (selection)
Trigger warning (the media handling of the subject of suicide)
The media have an important role in society in the public and individual perception of problems and events. They influence individual and social attitudes and opinions on suicidality and suicide. Sensitive media coverage can therefore have a preventive effect. The majority of people considering suicide are ambivalent about making that decision. Often the focus is not on the desire to die, but on the idea of not being able to go on living as before. The people affected are in an extreme crisis-ridden emotional and psychological state of emergency. In this situation, media reports about suicides can influence the decision or impulse to commit suicide on the one hand, but also to seek help on the other.
Source: National Suicide Prevention Program (NaSPro)
We try to keep this careful handling of the subject of suicide in the reporting on “Albträumer” and ask all media and multipliers to do the same. Further information on the subject of suicide prevention can be found here, among others: suicide prevention
Technical datas
DVD | Picture: 2.39:1 in 16:9 | Sound: German (Dolby Digital 5.1), German (Dolby Digital 2.0) | Subtitles: English | Rating: FSK 12
VoD | Picture: 2.39:1 in 16:9 | Sound: German (Dolby Digital 5.1), German (Dolby Digital 2.0) | Subtitles: German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Russian, Turkish, Arabic, Chinese (not all subtitles at all portals) | Rating: FSK 12
Press comments
“An impressive debut with perhaps the toughest soundtrack in German film history.” (Süddeutsche Zeitung)
“A radical, disturbingly intense film on the subject of suicide.” (Cinema)
“A tense mix of drama and thriller that takes its subject and characters seriously and benefits from its talented lead actress Sarah Mahita.” (Spielfilm.de)
“With its strong imagery, believable actors and a fitting sound design, Nightmare is, in its best moments, like a cross between Nightmare and The Samurai.”” (Deadline)
The moving feature film “Dark Dreamers” (German title: “Albträumer”) by director Philipp Klinger will be released on DVD on 21 January 2022 on UCM.ONE’s Artkeim² label and as VoD on portals including Apple TV, Prime Video, Kino on Demand, Maxdome, Videociety, Google, Videoload and Vimeo. The film had its theatrical release on 12 August 2021. In…
We are very happy to announce that Philipp Klinger’s feature film debut “Dark Dreamers” (German title: “Albträumer”), which was released by UCM.ONE on the label Artkeim² on August 12, was honored with the Goethe-Institut’s “Children’s and Youth Film Award ” at the Chemnitz Youth Film Festival Schlingel. The film, with a great cast including Sarah…
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Phillip Klinger’s debut film premiered at the Hofer Filmtage 2020 and since then has already had a remarkable festival career (in Braunschweig, Wiesbaden, Biberach, among others). “Dark Dreamers” (German title: “Albträumer”) is expected to be released in early summer 2021 under the UCM.ONE label Artkeim². The two young leading actors, Sarah Mahita and Béla Gabor…
