No song in autumn

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Movie
German title No song in autumn
Original title No Song in Autumn
In the autumn no song movie poster.jpg
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 2009
length 22 minutes
Rod
Director Karsten Prühl
script Karsten Prühl
production Improma. Creation. Movie.
music Christian Schumann
camera Daniel Kruger
cut Kristin Herzinger
occupation

The short film Im Herbst kein Lied is a German film drama from 2009. The very successful thesis by director Karsten Prühl, who studied at the Bauhaus University Weimar , premiered on April 23, 2009 at the sehsuchten student film festival in Potsdam. The film is about a timeless interpersonal conflict that is embedded in the context of the Second World War .

action

Framework for action

During the Second World War, far from the villages, two brothers lived and fought for the favor of their despotic father. When both unauthorized search for the parachutes of two crashed bomber pilots in the forest, they become the cause and secret witness of a disturbing event that will change their lives.

action

Germany near Eisenach, autumn 1944. After an aerial battle, two Americans jump with their parachutes over the forest near a forester's house.

The 14-year-old Alfred, who was hit hard on that day by his father, the forester, sees the search for the parachutes as an opportunity to win back his father's favor and respect - the umbrellas promise clothing and trade for the upcoming winter. In doing so, however, his 10-year-old brother Ludwig gets in the way, who wants to assert himself as an equal in the family despite being physically inferior.

The crash of the American machines did not go unnoticed. After the father is forced by some representatives of the Volkssturm during breakfast to take part in the hunt for the American soldiers in the forest, Alfred sees his chance, secretly and despite the father's prohibition, to get the parachute home. Ludwig's ambition is spurred on and so he pursues Alfred into the forest. There a violent argument breaks out between the brothers. When both find the parachute, the situation escalates - the brothers fight. Alfred seriously injured his brother's knee. While Alfred is looking for a way out to bring his brother and parachute home, Ludwig's wailing cry attracts his father's search party. Alfred decides to hide the parachute and take Ludwig with him. Meanwhile, the search party is getting closer and closer to the boys. For fear of the father's punishment, Alfred and Ludwig hide in the undergrowth. But the dogs of the squad sense their trail.

Just before they can spot them, one of the American pilots appears behind the trees and attracts all the attention of the search party. In the heat of the moment, the American shoots the two dogs. The father, out of anger over the death of his dog, shoots the American without realizing that his sons will witness the crime. The squad then moves away with the corpse. The boys secretly return home. At home, Alfred has lost all respect for his father. For this reason, the father wants to punish his son with beatings, but Ludwig interferes. He confronts the father with the guilt of the murder. Ashamed, the father turns away from the family.

  • The brothers Alfred and Ludwig

  • The parents

  • The search party in the forest

background

The film is based on real events as they happened at Mihla's in the Eisenach area on November 23, 1944.

Director's Note from Karsten Prühl

“The film In the autumn no song is based on the stories of my grandfather Jürgen Grohs. When Allied bomber associations flew attacks on the city of Eisenach in Thuringia in November 1944, some of the bombs also hit surrounding villages. As a result, the police, villagers and Volkssturm men hunted down the crews of downed B-17 bombers . Many of the fleeing pilots were mistreated or killed in a mixture of anger, fear and despair. For business reasons, foresters were also forced to take part in these hunts.

The film aims to convey the shame of war through the eyes of children. However, the direct experience of the war is not placed in the foreground, but its constant invisible presence in a protected atmosphere. The isolated life of the family, far beyond the actual horror in the cities and at the front, symbolizes a war ignorance that is also (or especially) widespread today. The possibilities to defend oneself against a war are given, but the well-being and the calm of one's own self are placed above the suffering of those people and war victims whom one neither sees nor knows. We get used to war through news and stories. Soldiers whose job-related means of carrying it out is violence are declared heroes or victims. They are presented to young people as idols. The everyday occurrence of this indirect proximity to violence lowers one's own inhibition thresholds for violence. Ultimately, as the film wants to convey, the human shame of war also reaches those whom we first loved and adored.

With my film, I want children and young people to be emotionally confronted with the terrible consequences of resentment and violence. Just like the main characters, the young audience should lose respect for the powerful, brutal father. But I would also like you to ask questions at the time that you may not have asked yet, because most films about the Nazi era deal exclusively with soldiers, prisoners or adults - that is, worlds that are mostly still too foreign to the younger generation, in order to understand their effects or to question them. "

Locations

The drama In the Fall No Song was recorded on various locations. The film was set in the oak forest near Emden (Saxony-Anhalt), the Lübberitz forester's house and the Diesdorf open-air museum. The locations were deliberately chosen to be historically authentic.

camera

Technical specifications

Recording format Red One 4K
Final format 35 mm, 1: 1.85

For cost reasons, the recordings were made with the Red One 4K. The Red One is a digital cinema camera. It records in 4K (4,520 × 2,540 pixels) and is an equivalent alternative to the conventional 35 mm cinema camera.

advancement

In autumn, no song was supported by the Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM) with € 25,000.

production

The short film was made in cooperation with the Magdeburg advertising agency Improma GbR. Improma GbR was founded in 2004 and focuses on film productions in the advertising industry. Improma GbR made its debut in the feature film sector with Im Herbst kein Lied .

Producer's Note by Mike Berghausen

“In May 2008 Karsten Prühl called Improma with the request to support him with the implementation of his diploma film. We had been looking for the right material for a debut film for a long time, and Karsten Prühl's request was basically open doors. We hadn't planned to make a short film until 2009, so now everything would have to be done a little faster. We had specific ideas about the material for our debut film. In addition to an essential interpersonal conflict, it should also be authentic, but above all timeless. The special thing about In Autumn No Song is not only the combination of all our ideas, but also that the story is based on a true story. In autumn no song tells the true story of Jürgen Grohs, the director's grandfather. That made it clear: Karsten Prühl's script would be the basis for our debut film. [...] Just as important as necessary was the effort to get film funding. With the help of the Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM) we were able to put the project on a solid financial basis. In mid-October the first stone fell, and a highly qualified crew was involved in the implementation of the project with great enthusiasm. In my opinion, the historical implementation has also been very successful, this is not least due to the costume, mask, equipment and set design. [...] With the entire crew and great actors as well as numerous supporters, the impossible was made possible. "

Awards

Web links

Commons : In the fall no song  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b press kit for In the autumn no song (PDF; 1 MB), accessed on November 23, 2010