‍AM KÖLNBERG

‍Feature Film

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‍In 1974, a housing estate consisting of nine high-rises was built in the middle of a field on the southern edge of Cologne. Its silhouette, seen from a distance and in the right light, resembles a massive elevation, which soon earned it the name of Kölnberg (Cologne mountain). It also gained a reputation as a deprived area very quickly. People don’t like to talk about Kölnberg, and if they do, it’s usually in lurid headlines. In 2013, 4,100 men, women and children from around 60 nations lived in Kölnberg, the percentage of foreigners was listed as 61.8 %. Statistics are an effective tool and whoever has power over statistical definitions very much shapes our image of reality.
With patience and a lot of time, Filmmakers Robin Humboldt and Laurentia Genske worked their way behind the social stereotypes, headlines and statistics. Their film portrays four people to whom Kölnberg has become a home a long time ago or just recently. They avoid the equally well-meaning and condescending perspective of social services and try to realise a respectful, participatory encounter with the protagonists, who are both extraordinary and extraordinarily diverse in their respective “normalities”.

‍- Ralph Eue, Dok Leipzig 2014

‍Germany 2014 / 88 Min / HD

‍Direction and Script: Laurentia Genske, Robin Humboldt
Cinematography: Laurentia Genske, Robin Humboldt, Johannes Waltermann
Editing: Carina Mergens
Sounddesign, Soundmix: Robert Keilbar
Colour Correction: Fabiana Cardala
Production Company: Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln
Theatrical Distribution: Real Fiction Filmverleih

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Theatrical Release: 12.03.2015

‍DVD Release: 15.01.2016

‍TV broadcasting WDR, 22.05.2019, 23:25–00:50

‍TV broadcasting 3sat, 23.04.2018, 22:25–23:50

‍TV broadcasting Phoenix, 13.02.2018, 00:15–01:40

‍TV broadcasting Phoenix, 19.01.2018 03:00–04:25

‍TV broadcasting Phoenix, 13.01.2018 22:30–23:55

‍TV broadcasting SWR, 06.09.2017 23:45–01:10

‍Watch Online:

‍DOKOMOTIVE Plattform

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‍Festivals / Awards

‍2017 - WINNER Meduc Award
2016 - Oaxaca Filmfest Mexiko
2016 - International Film Festival Cinematik Piestany
2016 - WINNER dpa news talent dpa Förderpreis
2016 - Deutsche Filmwoche Mexiko Goethe Institut
2016 - Lola at Berlinale PRESELECTION Deutscher Filmpreis
2015 - blicke filmfestival des Ruhrgebiets
2015 - Kasseler Dokfest
2015 - Filmz Festival des Deutschen Kinos Mainz
2015 - Wilde Möhre Festival Brandenburg
2015 - Docfest Maastricht
2015 - Dokumentarfilmwoche in Kreuzberg
2015 - Turtle Filmfest Hólmavík
2015 - Krakow Film Festival
2015 – Filmplus, WINNER Bild-Kunst Schnittpreis Dokumentarfilm
2015 - Bonner Dokumentarfilmwoche
2015 - Dokka Dokumentarfilmfestival Karlsruhe
2015 - Neisse Filmfestival
2015 - Sehsüchte Potsdam Babelsberg
2015 - NOMINATION First Steps Award
2015 - Wroc FF Miastomovie Polen
2015 - Nonfiktionale Bad Aibling, WINNER Preis der Stadt Bad-Aibling
2015 - Stranger than Fiction Köln
2015 - Max Ophüls Preis Saarbrücken
2015 - WINNER Prädikat „Besonders Wertvoll“, fbw
2015 - WINNER Förderpreis des Hauses des Dokumentarfilms Deutscher Dokumentarfilmpreis
2014 - Dok Leipzig WINNER German Competition, Honorary Mention

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‍Press Reviews

‍"The documentary 'Am Kölnberg' is a deeply human and authentic study of milieu. An impressive film that shows more than just a housing estate on the outskirts of Cologne — it reveals a social stratum right in the heart of Germany. Unadorned, honest, and good."
— German Film and Media Rating (FBW)

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"It is good, then, that quiet, unassuming yet intense documentaries like 'Am Kölnberg' exist — films that bring into view a reality almost entirely ignored by the media."
— Ralf Schenk, Filmdienst

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"The essential thing about filmmaking cannot be learned. It is the gaze with which we look at the world. It is the way we regard people, the space we allow them, the rhythm we find beyond modernist trends yet still within our time. It is the distinctiveness within us. We were unanimous in our decision that these two young filmmakers deserve the Newcomer Award. We want to see more films from them."
— Jury Statement, German Documentary Film Award

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‍"Laurentia Genske and Robin Humboldt step right outside their own front door to explore a world unknown to most of us — that of a so-called social flashpoint. The viewer gets to know people in a life situation that offers them little opportunity. Yet the film does not reduce them to this lack of prospects. Instead, it turns toward them in a way that captures not only their loneliness and looming failure, but also their humorous defiance of life."
— Jury Statement, Honorable Mention, DOK Leipzig 2014

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