System sprinkler (film)

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Movie
Original title System sprinkler
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 2019
length 120 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Nora Fingscheidt
script Nora Fingscheidt
production Peter Hartwig ,
Jonas Weydemann ,
Jakob D. Weydemann
music John Gürtler
camera Yunus Roy Imer
cut Stephan Bechinger ,
Julia Kovalenko
occupation

Systemsprenger is a German feature film by Nora Fingscheidt from 2019 . The play provides a 9-year-old girl (shown by Helena Zengel ) in the center, which as the title imaging system Sprenger passes through an ordeal between alternate foster care stays in psychiatry and homes and unsuccessful participation in anti-aggression training.

The premiere of the film took place on February 8, 2019 in the competition at the 69th Berlinale . The official cinema release in Germany was on September 19, 2019.

Systemsprenger was successful with critics and audiences in Germany and also won a number of German and international film and festival awards. In 2020, the social drama was awarded eight German Film Awards, including in the categories of Best Feature Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay, as well as for the two main actors Helena Zengel and Albrecht Schuch .

action

9-year-old Bernadette, known as “Benni”, is considered aggressive and unpredictable. Due to traumatic experiences in early childhood, no one is allowed to touch her face. It is permanently suspended from the special needs school and it is not endured for long in any foster family or residential group. As a so-called "system sprinkler", it threatens to fall through all the grids of German child and youth welfare. Benni longs to live with her mother again. Bianca is just as overwhelmed and is afraid of the violent daughter. At the same time she is the mother of two other underage children and lives with Jens, who is also overwhelmed with Benni. In a renewed violent argument, Bianca's friend locks her in a closet and calls the police.

In a desperate attempt, the warm-hearted Ms. Bafané from the youth welfare office hires an anti-aggression trainer for Benni. Micha, who is fond of boxing and has previously worked with delinquent youths, is hired as a school companion. After further outbreaks of violence, he spends three weeks with the girl in the forest at his own suggestion. Although he reached his limits in experiential education , Benni got involved with him and he found access to her. When the stay with the girl ends, Benni clings to Micha and wants to stay with him. Micha has a family of her own and is afraid of losing his professional distance. He wants to give up the case, which Mrs. Bafané tries to talk him out of. When Benni's mother suddenly shows up and offers to take her back home, a viable solution seems to have been found. Bianca, who claims to have separated from her boyfriend, shies away from responsibility at the last moment and flees from the conversation. Ms. Bafané subsequently suffers a nervous breakdown when she has to tell Benni of her recent disappointment. The placement with a former foster mother also fails because Benni seriously injures a foster child who is already there in an outburst of anger.

As an interim solution, Benni will be handed over to her old care center . Pedagogically closed accommodation or a stay abroad are discussed as the last possible options for the girl. Benni fled to Micha and his family, who agreed to take them in for one night. When Benni plays with Micha's infant son in the early morning without supervision, the situation escalates. She refuses to hand the child over to her mother and locks herself in the bathroom. Then Micha breaks open the door in a panic. Benni leaves Micha's son unharmed and flees into the nearby forest, only lightly dressed. Hours later, she is found hypothermic and taken to the hospital. Another attempt to later send the girl to Africa on a stay abroad also fails. Benni escapes from the security area of ​​an airport. The last shots of the film show how she jumps (in the air) and smiles. The freeze frame from the last shot is cracked like broken glass.

History of origin

Nora Fingscheidt at the presentation of Systemsprenger at the Berlinale 2019

For Nora Fingscheidt's system Sprenger , the first full-length feature film as director. According to her own statements, she became aware of the topic while filming the documentary Das Haus besides the Gleisen (2014), which was staged together with Simone Gaul . The film shows everyday life in the women's pension in Stuttgart , a home for homeless women. Among the women Fingscheidt got to know there was a 14-year-old girl who had not been accepted as a system sprinkler in any other youth welfare institution.

After extensive research, Fingscheidt wrote the screenplay for the film over a period of five years. During this time she lived or worked in residential groups, in a school for educational assistance, a care center, a child psychiatry and had discussions with employees of institutions or offices as well as child and youth psychologists. According to his own statements, Fingscheidt shot Systemsprenger to arouse understanding for severely traumatized children like Benni. She made a conscious decision in favor of a 9-year-old girl without a migrant background and before the onset of puberty as the main character, even if boys are in the majority as systemic wreckers. According to her own statements, she wanted to “stay away from clichés and hasty categorizations”, such as B. the pubertal rebellion in a 14-year-old and similar assignments to gender or ethnicity, the film should therefore not be set in Berlin. Shooting a documentary about system sprinklers never served as an option for Fingscheidt. “I wanted to create a wild, energetic audiovisual cinematic experience that doesn't claim to be realistic. Because reality is much worse, ”says Fingscheidt.

Leading actress Helena Zengel at the Berlinale 2019

The Berlin child actress Helena Zengel was hired for the lead role . Although Fingscheidt looked at around 150 girls, Zengel was already in the first selection of ten candidates. The filmmaker kept coming back to the girl. According to Fingscheidt, she was the only child who could play aggression together with hardship. “There was never anything purely warped or naughty to be seen, it was always linked to fragility and vulnerability,” says Fingscheidt. In preparation for the system sprinkler, Zengel's mother first read the script alone with her daughter. Six months before filming began, Fingscheidt began to work with the girl, who was also involved in the selection of actors down to the smallest supporting role. During the actual shooting, texts and scenes were rehearsed with Zengel the day before.

The shooting took place in coproduction with the small television game from ZDF in Hamburg , the Lüneburg Heath and Berlin . The production by Weydemann Bros. GmbH, Kineo Filmproduktion and Oma Inge Film was closed from November 7th, 2017 to March 27th, 2018.

reception

Reviews

Director Fingscheidt together with actors Albrecht Schuch, Helena Zengel and Lisa Hagmeister at the Berlinale 2019

At the Berlinale 2017 , Fingscheidt's as yet unfilmed script was awarded the Kompagnon-Förderpreis of the Berlinale Talents program . The jury around Feo Aladag , Sigrid Hoerner and Johannes Naber praised the script as an "oppressive, sensitive and carefully researched scenario about our educational system and a moving, humanistic plea for the 'difficult', the non-conformists, the supposedly dysfunctional".

At the premiere, Systemsprenger received two out of four possible stars in the international reviews of the British trade magazine Screen International and thus achieved 11th place among all 16 Berlinale competition films. Emin Alpers A Story of Three Sisters and Nadav Lapid's Synonymes (3.0 each) topped the ranking.

Oliver Kaever ( Spiegel Online ) reviewed Systemsprenger in a short review as an “anti-family film” and praised the performance of the actors as “terrific”, especially the leading actress Helena Zengel. “ Systemsprenger is a typical debut film, exuberant in the choice of cinematic means, dramaturgically meandering and too long, but its raw and unpolished energy enlivens the Berlinale competition, which is quite sedate in this initial phase,” says Kaever.

Verena Lueken ( Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ) also praised the leading actress and described the film as a "surprise". Fingscheidt did not shoot a social drama, but "body cinema" and referred to the effective soundtrack. Wenke Husmann ( Zeit Online ) rated the film together with Angela Schanelec's I was at home, but ... as “outstanding” in her résumé of the ending Berlinale .

Visitor numbers in Germany

At the cinema release in Germany, Systemsprenger counted over 43,000 viewers after the first weekend and thus took an unexpectedly strong 10th place in the cinema charts as well as a 2nd place in the arthouse cinema charts collected by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Kino - Gilde eV , behind the British historical film Downton Abbey . The social drama started with the best cut of the weekend, also in the market as a whole. As a result, ticket sales continued to increase and Systemsprenger was able to reach number 1 in the art house charts the following week, again with the best copy cut. After three weeks, Systemsprenger reached the 200,000 visitor mark. Only after five weeks did the number of viewers decrease significantly for the first time. Systemsprenger was able to stay in the top 20 of the regular cinema charts until mid-November 2019, and in the top 10 of the art house charts until mid-December 2019.

Recorded until the end of 2019. System Sprenger over 632,000 visitors, making the film number 41 took the top grossing films of the year and became the seventh most successful German production, behind The perfect secret , meat loaf Junkie , When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit , The Fall Collini , east wind - Aris arrival and The goldfish . This was rated as a great success, especially when compared to the low production costs. In the top 20 of the Arthouse cinema charts in 2019, Systemsprenger took fifth place, behind Green Book - A special friendship , The boy must get some fresh air , Joker and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood , making it the second most successful German production.

Awards

Nora Fingscheidt, Helena Zengel and Albrecht Schuch with the Silver Bear won (Alfred Bauer Prize)

Even before Systemsprenger was realized , Fingscheidt's unpublished screenplay received a number of prizes. In 2019 she competed for the first time at the Berlin International Film Festival for the Golden Bear , the festival's main prize. The film was selected in August 2019 as a German proposal for the category “ best international film ” at the 2020 Academy Awards , but did not make it onto the shortlist. For the presentation of the European Film Prize in December 2019, nominations in the categories of Best Film and Best Actress (Helena Zengel) followed. At the presentation of the German Film Prize 2020 , Systemsprenger was able to convert eight of its ten nominations into victories. The production received awards in the Best Feature Film category , while Nora Fingscheidt was honored for direction and screenplay. Helena Zengel, Albrecht Schuch and Gabriela Maria Schmeide received actor awards . Supporting actress Lisa Hagmeister and film composer John Gürtler were nominated but not awarded .

Pre-production

Awards before completion of the film:

Film and festival prizes

Prizes won after the film was completed in 2019/20:

year Film award / festival category Award winners
2019 Berlin International Film Festival Alfred Bauer Prize Nora Fingscheidt
Prize of the readers' jury of the Berliner Morgenpost Nora Fingscheidt
European film award Jury Prize - Best Film Music John Gürtler
Film Festival Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Main prize flying ox Nora Fingscheidt
Prize of the DEFA Foundation Nora Fingscheidt
Award for the best music and sound design Sound design: Dominik Leube , Oscar Stiebitz ; Sound: Corinna Zink , Jonathan Schorr ; Music: John Gürtler
FIPRESCI award Nora Fingscheidt
International film festival Emden-Norderney DGB film award Nora Fingscheidt
Creative Energy Award Helena Zengel (actor), Nora Fingscheidt (director)
TV film festival Baden-Baden MFG star Baden-Baden Nora Fingscheidt
Günter Rohrbach Film Prize movie Award Nora Fingscheidt
Saarland Broadcasting Prize Albrecht Schuch
Lord Mayor's Prize Julia Kovalenko , Stephan Bechinger
Les Arcs European Film Festival Audience Award - Best Feature Film Nora Fingscheidt
Molodist Film Festival Kiev Ecumenical Jury Prize Nora Fingscheidt
Noordelijk Film Festival Audience award Nora Fingscheidt
Santiago International Film Festival Best Actress Helena Zengel
São Paulo International Film Festival Best Film - New Directors Competition Nora Fingscheidt
Taipei Film Festival Main Prize - International New Talent Competition Nora Fingscheidt
Transatlantyk Festival Łódź Transatlantyk Distribution Award - "New Cinema" competition Nora Fingscheidt
Transilvania International Film Festival Audience award Nora Fingscheidt
Vukovar Film Festival Best movie Nora Fingscheidt
Zurich Film Festival Best film in the competition Focus: Switzerland, Germany, Austria Nora Fingscheidt
2020 Bavarian film award Best producers Peter Hartwig , Jonas Weydemann , Jakob D. Weydemann
German film award Best Feature Film - Gold Film Award Peter Hartwig, Jonas Weydemann, Jakob D. Weydemann
Best script Nora Fingscheidt
Best director Nora Fingscheidt
Best female lead Helena Zengel
Best male lead Albrecht Schuch
Best Supporting Role Gabriela Maria Schmeide
Best cut Julia Kovalenko, Stephan Bechinger
Best sound design Corinna Zink, Jonathan Schorr, Dominik Leube, Oscar Stiebitz , Gregor Bonse
Palm Springs International Film Festival FIPRESCI Award - Best Actress Helena Zengel
Romy Best Director in Motion Picture Nora Fingscheidt

The German Film and Media Assessment (FBW) in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title “particularly valuable”.

Web links

Commons : system sprinkler  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for system sprinkler . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF). Template: FSK / maintenance / type not set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. ↑ a b press booklet for the film Systemsprenger. P. 6 (PDF; 607 kB).
  3. ↑ Press release for the film Systemsprenger , p. 8 (PDF; 607 kB).
  4. ↑ a b press release for the film Systemsprenger , p. 15 (PDF; 607 kB).
  5. ↑ Maria Wiesner: Director Nora Fingscheidt: "In films, the girls are always too good for me" (interview). In: faz.net. February 17, 2019, accessed February 5, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Press release for the film Systemsprenger , p. 13 (PDF; 607 kB).
  7. ↑ Press booklet for the film Systemsprenger , p. 14 (PDF; 607 kB).
  8. ↑ ZDF shoots “Systemsprenger” with Albrecht Schuch and Gabriela M. Schmeide . In: presseportal.de, November 16, 2017 (accessed January 31, 2019).
  9. ↑ Profile at filmportal.de (accessed on January 31, 2019).
  10. ↑ The two partner sponsorship awards Berlinale Talents and Perspektive Deutsches Kino go to Nora Fingscheidt as well as Levin Peter and Elsa Kremser . In: berlinale.de, February 17, 2017 (accessed January 28, 2019).
  11. ^ Dalton, Ben: Two films tie for top spot on Screen's final Berlin jury grid . In: screendaily.com, February 15, 2019 (accessed February 16, 2019).
  12. ↑ Kaever, Oliver: Germany, a slaughterhouse . In: Spiegel Online , February 9, 2019 (accessed February 16, 2019).
  13. ↑ Lueken, Verena: Look at these children . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, February 9, 2019, No. 34, p. 11.
  14. ^ "I will miss myself, too" . In: Zeit Online , February 15, 2019 (accessed February 16, 2019).
  15. ↑ Top 20 Germany - Weekend 38 from September 19-22, 2019 . In: insidekino.de (accessed April 25, 2020).
  16. ↑ a b Arthouse cinema charts: Expectations blown . In: beta.blickpunktfilm.de, October 1, 2019 (accessed April 25, 2020).
  17. ^ Kinocharts Germany: Good Will Hunter . In: beta.blickpunktfilm.de, October 1, 2019 (accessed April 25, 2020).
  18. ↑ Kinocharts Germany: "Joker" almost silvered . In: beta.blickpunktfilm.de, October 21, 2020 (accessed April 25, 2020).
  19. ^ Kinocharts Germany: Lonely German top . In: beta.blickpunktfilm.de, November 18, 2020 (accessed April 25, 2020).
  20. ↑ Arthouse cinema charts: Standstill . In: beta.blickpunktfilm.de, December 17, 2019 (accessed April 25, 2020).
  21. ↑ Top 100 Germany 2019 . In: insidekino.de (accessed April 25, 2020).
  22. ↑ ComScore advance figures show recovery in the cinema market . In: beta.blickpunktfilm.de, January 3, 2020 (accessed April 25, 2020).
  23. ↑ Arthouse Charts 2019 - High growth in visitors and sales . In: agkino.de (accessed April 25, 2020).
  24. ↑ Shortlist for an Oscar abroad: German film "Systemsprenger" already out of the running. Süddeutsche Zeitung , December 17, 2019, accessed on December 17, 2019 .
  25. ↑ Prize winners 2020 . In: deutscher-filmpreis.de (accessed April 25, 2020).
  26. ↑ Systemsprenger Awards . In: imdb.com (accessed April 25, 2020).
  27. ↑ The prizes of the 29th FILMKUNSTFEST MV have been awarded . Article dated May 4, 2019, accessed May 10, 2019.
  28. ↑ The prices for 2019. Baden-Baden TV Film Festival, accessed on December 1, 2019 .
  29. ↑ The Günter Rohrbach Film Prize has just been awarded in Günter Rohrbach's hometown Neunkirchen. Blickpunkt: Film, accessed December 9, 2019 .
  30. ↑ International New Talent Competition . In: taipeiff.taipei (accessed August 22, 2019).
  31. ↑ 2019 Transatlantyk Festival - the awards winners . In: transatlantyk.org (accessed August 22, 2019).
  32. ↑ Christoph Silber: ROMY Academy selects winners: androids, underworlders and drug dealers. In: Kurier.at . May 19, 2020, accessed May 19, 2020 .