jessi_pressem print engl

-JESSI - Press
J E S S I
A film by Mariejosephin Schneider
Cinematography Jenny Lou Ziegel
Press Screening
W e d , 1 7 . 2 . , 1 4 . 0 0 U h r, C i n e m a x X 6
Festival Screenings
W e d , 1 7 . 2 . , 1 9 . 3 0 U h r, C i n e m a x x 3
T h u , 1 8 . 2 . , 1 3 . 0 0 U h r, C o l o s s e u m
Thu,
1 8 . 2 . , 2 0 . 3 0 U h r, C i n e m a x x 1
p r e s s c o n t a c t : J a n a Wo l f f
mobile:
email:
+49.176.218 09145
[email protected]
F e st i va l Co- ordin a t i on , P re ss an d P u bli c Re l at i o n s
Deutsche Film - und Fer nsehakadem ie Berlin (d ffb )
Germ an Film and Television Academy Ber lin
Potsdam er St r. 2, D-1078 5 Ber lin, Ger man y
-JESSI - Press
J E S S I
German y 2010, sh ortfilm, 31 minutes, color, shooting format super16 mm, screening format HD Cam,
screen ratio 16:9, sound format LT/RT, German with English subtitles
-co-production by German Film- and Tel evision Academy and Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg-
SHORT SYNOPSIS
E l e v e n - y ear-old Jessi lives wi th a foster family while her mother is in p r i s o n . I n
s e a rc h o f self-identity and comfort, she runs away, back to the sma l l v i l l a g e
s h e g re w up in. Not until Jessi reveals her inner world to the outside d o e s s h e
u n d e r s ta nd that there is no w ay for her to pick up her old life again.
SYNOPSIS
E l e v e n - y ear-old Jessi longs for the place of her childhood. She c a r r i e s
re s p o n s i bility for her mother Rosa, incarcerated several months ago, a c t i n g a s
R o s a ' s s ole connection to the outside since Bibi, Jessi's older sister, b ro k e o ff
c o n t a c t . Jessi lives with a foster family in the city. Her relationship w i t h h e r
f o s te r m other, Claudia, is strained: Claudia wants everything to be p e r f e c t ,
p re s s u r i ng Jessi and unconsciously building a rivalry between her s e l f a n d
J e s s i ' s real mother.
To d a y i s Bibi's birthday: Jessi visits her mother in the corrections f a c i l i t y,
b r i n g i n g telephone money so that her mother can give her sister a c a l l . H e r
m o t h e r refuses. So Jessi dec ides to fight for her family again, coming u p w i t h
a p l a n to get back to her home village and give her sister a presen t i n h e r
m o t h e r ' s name. Her plan succeeds: for the first time in months, Bibi a s k s h o w
th e i r m o ther is doin g.
B u t J e s s i can’t stay long with her sister: Bibi's life has changed as w e l l . S h e
h a s m o v ed out of their old house and in with her boyfriend Kevin in h i s t i n y
a p a r tm e nt. Tucked in on the sofa that night, Jessi hears the two o f t h e m
m a k i n g l ove. Jessi sneaks away, riding her bike home to her moth e r ' s o l d
h o u se .
J e s s i m u st reveal her inner world to the outside to understand that the re i s n o
w a y f o r her to pick up her former life. Retur ning to the comfort of chil d h o o d i s
i m p o s s i b le. She has to make her own way, find her place in the world a n d i n
s e a rc h o f someone who can make her “me” a “we”.
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-JESSI - Press
DiIRECTOR´S STATEMENT
“ T h e b a sis of this film was the desire of director and cinematogr a p h e r t o
d e v e l o p the visual and content levels of the story concurrently. The p i c t u re s
s h o u l d c ome to us both simultaneously through our work on the sc r i p t a n d
v i s i ti n g l ocations as we developed the material. We wanted to tell t h e s t o r y
c l o s e t o the figure of the girl and to trust our young actress to car r y i t . We
p l a c e d i mportance on not psychoanalyzing or judging but on observ i n g . T h e
observational point of view should allow space to engage with the
p ro t a g o n ists. Through Jessi we meet adults who are not bad or e v i l , b u t
c a n n o t g ive her foundation. Jessi fights to have a family and tries, w i t h t h e
m e a n s s he has, to better her situation. Unfortunately, the plan does n o t w o r k
o u t . T h e adults, trapped in the world of their own needs, wor r i e s a n d
p e r s p e c t ives, can't understand Jessi's initiative, her fight for the para d i s e s h e
h a s a l re ady lost. The first person to satisfy Jessi's need for intimacy w i t h o u t
d e m a n d i ng anything in retur n is the woman with whom she hitchhike s t o t h e
v i l l a g e . T he woman whose head everyone wants to caress.
S o w h e n Jessi comes out of the bathroom with a shaved head, she is n o t o n l y
n a k e d i n a mythological sens e, but uses a known gesture of teen cul t u re i n a
to ta l l y d i fferent context: instead of hiding in a group of other shaved - h e a d e d
te e n s , s he shows herself. She wants to be seen in a way that doesn't e n d w i t h
th e s u r f a ce of her body. She says what she feels inside: “Touch it, it ' s s o f t . ”
a n d m e a ns bot h h er bo dy an d soul.
O u r a c tress had to have as much courage as Jessi did in the story, w e d i d n ' t
h a v e a s tuntman for moments like that. We looked for our actress fo r a l o n g
ti m e . A f ter three months of casting we found six girls who were willin g t o t r y
o u t f o r t he role. One was Luzie Ahrens. We all immediately felt that L u z i e ' s
p re s e n c e would be able to fill the open space I had prepared for Jes s i i n t h e
bo o k . “
-JESSI - Press
CAST & CREW
CAST
J e s s i
Luzie Ahrens
B i b i Sophie Rogall
J e s s i s M u t t e r
Jasmin Rischar
P f l e g e m u t t e r
Michaela Hinnenthal
F r a u m i t P e r ü c k e
Anja Stöhr
K e v i n
Pit Bukowski
Vo l l z u g s b e a m t i n n e n Eva Günther
Annette Borchardt
J u n g e
Robert Ernst
A r z t Dietrich Delekat
B a b y
Va l e n t i n o K o s s m a n n
Writer / Director Mariejosephin Schneider
C i n e m a t o g r a p h e r
Jenny Lou Ziegel
Production Design Kerstin Eichner
C o s t u m e D e s i g n
Susanne Weiske
M a k e - u p A r t i s t Adriana Metzlaff
S o u n d
CREW
Benny Dunker
Montage Inge Schneider
P r o d u c t i o n M a n a g e r Nicolai Zeitler
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-JESSI - Press
BIOGRAPHY + FILMOGRAPHY
LEAD ACTRESS I LUZIE AHRENS
B o r n 1 9 98 in Berlin. First screen appearance in Michael
H a n e k e ' s “Th e Wh it e R ibbo n ”.
DIRECTOR I MARIEJOSEPHIN SCHNEIDER
B o r n 1 9 76 in East Berlin. Following her secondary
s c h o o l e xaminations, she traveled to Mexico and the
U . S . A . Back in Berlin she assisted in the areas art
production and production, followed by assistant
d i re c t o r s hips for Maria Speth, Oskar Röhler and Marc
M e y e r, a mong others. Student at the dffb since 2002.
D i re c t e d numerous shorts during the course of her
s t u d i e s , w h e re b y h e r s o c i a l s p o t L O V E H U R T S ( a
c o l l a b o r ation with
Döndü Kilic) ran successfully at
i n t e r n a t i onal festivals.
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
• A C T I O N THEATRE IN BANGLADESH, Documentary, Short, 13 min, HD V C o l o r
• L O V E H UR TS, Social Spot, Co-director: Döndü Kilic, 1 min , 35mm B & W
- 5 7 . B e r l inale Section Panorama: Teddy Jury Special Mention
- S p o tl i g ht Award 2007 -Bronze- W i n n e r of St. Petersburg, Fil mfestival 2007, Section Social Spots
• D I E L E T ZTE G AR B E , Sh ort dr am a 20 m in, S16m m C olor
C o n ta c t : [email protected]
-JESSI - Press
CINEMATOGRAPHER I JENNY LOU ZIEGEL
B o r n i n 1980 in Frankfurt/Main. Following secondary
school exams in 1999, she spent 18 months in
M e x i c o , thereafter studied comparative literature for
th re e s e mesters in Giessen. She moved to Berlin in
2 0 0 1 , i n ter ning with various film productions. Camera
s tu d e n t at the dffb since September 2003. Rosa
L u x e m b u rg Foundation scholarship recipient.
SELECTED AWARDS:
J e n n y L ou Ziegel´s collaboration with director Roberto
A n j a r i - R ossi in "In T irana“ was awarded the 2008
S h o r t T i g e r S p e c i a l P r i z e o f t h e J u r y. F o r h e r
c i n e m a t ography in "Zur Maloche" she received the
" S p e c i a l Award" at the 29. M anaki Brother Cinematographers Film Fes t i v a l s i n
S k o p j e . The short film "Gester n in Eden", by director Jan Speckenba c h , w a s
i n v i te d to screen in the Cinefondation section at Cannes Film Festival i n 2 0 0 8 .
C o n ta c t: [email protected]
MONTAGE I INGE SCHNEIDER
Bor n 1947 in Ermsleben, Inge Schneider k n e w h e r
choic e of profession by age 14. After se c o n d a r y
school and practical experience as assistan t e d i t o r,
she lear ned her trade at HFF Babelsberg. Fro m 1 9 8 6
to 1994 she taught film editing at the dffb.
Collaborative work with her daughter Marie j o s e p h i n
Sch n eid er since 2001.
S E L E C T E D A W A R D S : 2000 Special Mention for Montage at the G e r m a n
C a m e r a Awards for the film "Nach dem Fall". "Film+" editing award, g i v e n f o r
th e f i r s t time from the magazine "SCHNITT" for her work on Andre s Ve i e l ' s
" S p i e l w ü tigen“ in 2006. "Pr inzessinnenbad" (2008, Documentary, D i re c t o r :
B e tt i n a Blümler), "Dancing W ith Myself" (2004, Documentary, Directo r : J u d i t h
K e i l u n d Antje Kruska), "Kinderland ist abgebrannt" (1997, Docu m e n t a r y,
D i re c t o r s : Sibylle T iedemann and Ute Badura).
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-JESSI - Press
FILMSTILLS
1) Luzie Ahrens
2) Luzie Ahrens and Jasmin Rischar
3) Luzie Ahrens
4) Luzie Ahrens
5) Luzie Ahrens and Pit Bukowski
6) Luzie Ahrens
7) Luzie Ahrens and Sophie Rogall
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J E S S I
Ge rm an y 2 01 0, shortfilm, 31 minutes, color, shooting format super16 mm, screening format HD Ca m,
screen ratio 16:9, sound f orm at LT/RT, German with English subtitles
-c o-pr oduction by German Film- and Tel evision Academy and Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg-