{"id":103010,"date":"2024-03-29T23:16:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-29T23:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ucm.one\/surviving-brandenburg-2023-by-zoltan-paul-ben-von-grafenstein-darling-berlin\/"},"modified":"2024-03-30T01:45:30","modified_gmt":"2024-03-30T01:45:30","slug":"surviving-brandenburg","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ucm.one\/en\/surviving-brandenburg\/","title":{"rendered":"Surviving Brandenburg (2023) by Zoltan Paul & Ben von Grafenstein | Darling Berlin"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Surviving Brandenburg:<\/span><\/h1>\n

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\n“Surviving Brandenburg<\/strong>” (German title: “\u00dcberleben in Brandenburg<\/strong>“) by Zoltan Paul<\/strong> and Ben von Grafenstein<\/strong> tells the story of a marginalised “best-ager director”<\/em> who tries to prevent a right-wing mayor from taking office in his village of 120 inhabitants. The film, which is being distributed by UCM.ONE<\/strong><\/span> on the Berlin film label Darling Berlin<\/strong>, is a comedy about age discrimination and the post-midlife crisis with a highly topical reference to the political situation.
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Summary<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Kov\u00e1cs, auteur filmmaker, is denied funding for his film project: too old, white and heart problems to boot! Conclusion: no longer employable. Wasn’t the Hungarian from Lake Balaton aiming high? What now? Continue to be on his successful wife’s back? L\u00e1szl\u00f3 slips into a real life crisis and initially finds solace in the fascinating attraction of a “crazy woman” from the neighbouring village. But when a right-wing populist stands as the only candidate for mayor in the village of 120 souls, L\u00e1szl\u00f3 comes to his senses. In order to “prevent the right-wing idiot”, he puts himself forward as a liberal counter-candidate.<\/p>\n

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The only question that remains is whether L\u00e1szl\u00f3’s marriage and he himself will survive the village election campaign?<\/p>\n

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Director’s Note by Ben von Grafenstein<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

“\u201eSurviving Brandenburg” is a film about growing old, missteps and the post-midlife crisis with a highly topical reference to the political situation in Germany and Europe. Despite and precisely because of the important social and political background, \u00dcberleben in Brandenburg is a film for the audience, an entertaining comedy.<\/em><\/p>\n

At the centre of the story is L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Kov\u00e1cs, a discarded best-ager director. The film deals with many personal experiences and stories about Zoltan Paul. Zoltan lived as an indie director in the Brandenburg countryside. The crisis of meaning that L\u00e1szl\u00f3 experiences is all too familiar to him as a filmmaker. L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Kov\u00e1cs is actually Zoltan Paul’s alter ego. The film draws its comedic power from Zoltan’s self-deprecating, unsparing portrayal and his honest and courageous way of dealing with himself. That was and has been the film’s concept from the very beginning.<\/em>
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Unfortunately, there is something very sad about the film’s genesis. Zoltan and I lived on the same lake in Brandenburg, just a few rowing strokes away. We spent almost every weekend there with friends over the last few years. We drank, argued, had inspiring and less inspiring conversations – a bit like in a film. A few years ago, Zoltan asked me if I wanted to work with him on his last film before he retired. We started talking about the story. As he was playing the lead role, he asked me if I would like to direct the film with him. Being involved in film projects myself, I had to say no. Then Zoltan died unexpectedly and everyone was shocked. Although the main shooting had been completed, the unfinished and not yet functioning film lay idle.<\/em><\/p>\n

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There were many attempts to integrate Zoltan’s death into the film with reshoots and voiceovers. It was only after a long struggle that I decided to take over the baton, the direction, and discard all these concepts. I worked on the film for about a year, concentrating on the story, characters and humour. Dialogue was written and inserted where necessary and the ending was reshot in the form of a kiss-off. Together with Julian Adam Pajzs, Zoltan’s son and film musician, we both wanted to avoid the well-trodden paths of folk music, western or country music that you often hear in German village comedies. Inspired by old master Piero Umiliani and South American rhythms, we created a mixture of lo-fi sound aesthetics and an emotional score that gives the film something special, warm and quirky at the same time.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Despite the politically serious background, “Surviving Brandenburg” is a warm-hearted, touching film. A film about life and survival. It is a film for Zoltan: a fun-loving, quirky bon vivant, a colleague – a loyal friend.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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