Best man

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
Original title Best man
Best Man Film.jpg
Country of production Austria , Germany
original language German
Publishing year 2018
length 44 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Florian Research
script Florian Research
production Philipp Fussenegger
music Moritz Kerschbaumer
camera Dino Osmanović
cut Judy Country Chamber
occupation

Best Man is a German-Austrian feature film by the director Florian Forsch from 2018.

The drama is about a young outsider, played by Adrian Grünewald , who befriends a seedy hermit ( Frederik Schmid ) and through him gets into a world of manipulation, sexual abuse and organized crime. The film had its world premiere on January 23, 2018 in Saarbrücken , where it was awarded the Max Ophüls Prize 2018 for the best medium-length film . In December 2018 he was nominated for the Austrian Film Award 2019 in the category of best short film.

action

Being bullied is everyday life for shy teenager Kevin. Every day he cycles through the forest along a dam on his way home, and every day bullies lurk there that have been bullying him for ages. One day, by chance, the elder Benny comes to his aid, who owns a house in the vicinity. A world of its own made up of technology and patriotism in the middle of the forest. Visibly taken with the self-assured demeanor of his supposed savior, Kevin feels strangely drawn to him. He is curious about his life. When Benny catches him doing it, he shows interest in Kevin and they become friends. Benny becomes a role model and mentor for Kevin. But he doesn't just want to protect him, on the contrary: the naive boy is just right for his purposes. Kevin blossoms quickly under Benny's attention and guidance. He's losing his shyness. When the self-proclaimed talent scout offers the adolescent a photo shoot, he has to cross his own limits for the first time. He goes on and on for his newfound friend. It does not occur to Kevin to question Benny. The longing not to be alone predominates. Benny manages to make a profit from Kevin. He constantly demands greater consideration in exchange for the recognition and self-confidence he gives the boy. When Kevin finally left Benny, his own limits had been exceeded too far.

production

The film was produced by Funfairfilms GmbH from Dornbirn in co-production with the Cologne Academy of Media Arts . The background for the script were 66 real crimes that had occurred in a similar way in Thuringia . After several months of research, the screenwriter created a fictional case in which he focused in particular on the perpetrator strategies and their consequences. The project was supported by, among others, Zartbitter Köln eV and film subsidies from the federal states of Carinthia and Vorarlberg . The financing concept also included crowdfunding . The film was shot in the summer of 2017. Best man belongs to the genre of medium-length films and is distributed by Edition Salzgeber .

publication

Following the premiere, the film went on a festival tour. In 2018 it was seen at the 18th Diagonale in Graz, the 21st Pink Apple Film Festival in Zurich, the 40th Biberach Film Festival , the 29th Cottbus Film Festival and the queer film festival in Berlin and Munich.

Reviews

Florian Eichinger , Odine Johne and David Keitsch justify their jury decision as follows: “A boy looking for belonging. If he thinks he is making a friend, we quickly see that he is going to take advantage of his need for closeness, and we watch the boy move towards a traumatic turning point in his life. The film tells this path with two incredibly strong actors, ambivalent, and with an ending that is so courageous and powerful that it forces the viewer to grapple. "

Thomas Linden reports for the Kölnische Rundschau : “The ability to look with focus, to get involved in nuances, remains consistently present in the school's film work. This is also the case in Florian Forsch's feature film 'Bester Mann', in which a schoolboy is seduced by the male demeanor of a right-wing national fraudster. An atmospheric film about the subtle strategies of sexual coercion, which makes understandable the injuries that can result where the boundaries of adolescents are disregarded. "

Tobias Kessler writes in the Saarbrücker Zeitung : “Florian Forsch (director and script) tells calmly and with brutal consistency about manipulation and sexual abuse. Adrian Grünewald and Frederik Schmidt play victims and hunters brilliantly. It's creepy when Benny says sentences like 'I thought you were someone you can rely on' and, the most perfidious, 'You don't have to do anything that you don't really want'. "

Awards

Florian Forsch ( Austrian Film Award 2019 )

Web links

Commons : Best man  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Release for Best Man . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 179646 / K). Template: FSK / maintenance / type not set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. ↑ a b Best man. In: filmportal.de. Retrieved January 5, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Prize winners | Film Festival Max Ophüls Prize. Retrieved January 6, 2019 .
  4. ↑ a b austrian film academy. Retrieved January 4, 2019 .
  5. ↑ a b Best man. In: khm.de. Retrieved January 4, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Saarländischer Rundfunk: SR Mediathek :: Best man: "Perfide friendship". November 25, 2015, accessed January 5, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Best Man, medium-length film, 2017. In: crew-united.com. Retrieved January 7, 2019 .
  8. ↑ BEST MAN | FUNFAIRFILMS. In: fffyeah.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019 .
  9. ↑ a b BESTER MANN @ FilmFestival Cottbus 2019 - Festival of Eastern European Films. Retrieved January 5, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Best man - aug & ohr medien. Retrieved January 5, 2019 .
  11. ↑ "Best Man" at the 40th Biberach Film Festival. Retrieved January 5, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Best man a film by Florian Forsch see page queerfilmfestival.net. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  13. ^ Winner of the 39th Max Ophüls Prize 2018 | Film Festival Max Ophüls Prize. Retrieved January 5, 2019 .
  14. ↑ Thomas Linden: Ever make your own coffins . In: Kölnische Rundschau . No. 165 . DuMont, July 2018, p. 16 .
  15. ↑ Tobias Kessler: Saarbrücker Ophüls Festival: Suicide and manipulation: Two last medium-length tips. Retrieved January 5, 2019 .