Pianomanias theatrical release has begun

For more information on release dates, countries and participating theatres please visit our Pianomania microsite.

Nominations, Awards and Prizes

Pianomania recently received the Golden Gate Award for the best documentary at the 53rd International Film Festival San Francisco. Our film further won the audience award for the best documentary at the 36th International Filmweekend Würzburg and was revarded with an Honourable Mention diploma at the EURODOK film festival held by the Norwegian film institute in Oslo. At the end of November 2009 Pianomania received ‘the Lüdia’, first prize at the 20th Cinema Festival in Lünen, Germany. Pianomania also received the award for ‘Best Editing” at the Diagonale Graz, Austria.  Above all our documentary was chosen as the ‘Semaine de la critique’ in its section at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland.

Pianomania has also been nominated by the European Film Academy for its 22nd European Film Prize. The Film Evaluation Committee in Wiesbaden, the official body for certifying the artistic, documentary and historical quality of films in Germany, awarded Pianomania the rating ‘Highly Recommended’. This is the announcement of the jury.

Film festivals in 2010:

The Magnificent 7, Serbia
(21.01. - 25.01.2010)

Internationales Filmwochenende Würzburg, Germany
(27.01. - 31.01.2010)

Göteborg International Film Festival, Schweden
(29.01 - 08.02.2010)

Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Berlinale), Germany
(11.02. - 21.02.2010)

Jameson Dublin IFF, Ireland
(18.02 - 28.02.2010)

Zagrebdox, Croatia
(28.02. - 07.03.2010)

Sofia International Film Festival, Bulgaria
(05.03 - 25.03.2010)

34th Hong Kong International Film Festival, China
(21.03 - 06.04.2010, Screenings: 27. & 31.03.)

Macau International Film Festival, China
(02.04. - 11.04.2010, Screening: 04.04.)

BAFICI – Festival International de Cinema Independiente Buenos Aires, Argentinia
(07.04 – 18.04.2010)

St. Paul International Film Festival Minneapolis, USA
(15.04. – 29 04.2010)

Doc Outlook-Market, Switzerland
(15.04. – 21.04.2010)

San Francisco International Festival, USA
(22.04. – 06.05.2010, Screenings: 25.04., 29.04. & 02.05.2010)

DOK.Fest München, Germany
(05.05. – 12.05.2010)

Planet Doc Review Film Festival, Poland
(07.05. - 16.05.2010)

Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia
(22.07. – 08.08.2010)

New Zealand International Film Festival, New Seeland
(08.07. – 15.08.2010)

Jecheon International Music & Film Festival, South Corea
(12.08 – 17.08.2010)

Official selection in numerous international festivals 2009

Pianomania was shown very successfully at noumerous international festivals in 2009. Among others for instance the:

International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA), Nederlands

Max-Ophüls-Preis, Germany

Kinofest Lünen, Germany

International Hof Film Days, Germany

Unerhört Hamburg, Germany

Diagonale, Austria

Cork Festival, Ireland

Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland

Zurich Film Festival, Switzerland

Valladolid International Film Festival, Spain

Sheffield Doc/Fest, Great Britain

SoNoRo Bucharest, Romania

September 1st, 2009: "Preying on Patients" shown on ARTE

The documentary directed by Martin Gronemeyer and Robert Cibis reveals where the health systems' budget in Germany and France - billions of Euros - finally goes to.
Who benefits from it? Who suffers? Where does policy come into play?

"Happiness is a warm Pill" DVD-release

The documentary by Stefanie Schmidt and Lilian Franck shows the controversy around bipolar disorder in children.
ARTE aired it on May 14th, 2009.
The film can now be ordered as a DVD - in German.

History of success of "Jesus loves you"

The "Jesus Loves You" success story began in February 2008, when this documentary, which observes missionaries during the World Cup 2006 in Germany, had its premiere at the 58th Berlinale in the section “Perspektive Deutsches Kino”. The first international screening of our film was held at the Canadian film festival Hot Docs in Toronto.
In the beginning of June “Jesus Loves You” was shown at the 48th Krakow Film Festival. The section was “German Documentaries” and the film had Polish subtitles for this event.
Its British premiere was at the Sheffield Doc/Fest in November. These are only a few highlights in the career of "Jesus Loves You" at international film festivals. We were delighted with the stimulating discussion with the audience.
The Austrian cinema premiere (Top Kino, Vienna) took place in the summer of 08, and the film can also be seen in German movie theatres beginning in January 2009.

The Cultural Commissioner of the Evangelical Church in Germany, Petra Bahr, wrote the following in the Rheinischen Merkur after the film's opening:
The film crew takes the subject as seriously as the persons who are being documented. If the public is left somewhat irritated at the end, then only because in spite of the humor which the film shows, the religious style, which goes the whole nine yards, does not trivialize, but also does not mock […] We wish this film a large number of viewers who take time for discussion afterward.

You can read the entire article here (German).
Additional press reaction can be read here (German).

Disgustingly Healthy - Leeches and Maggots

Our two part documentary about medical treatment with leeches and maggots was shown in Athens in May 2009 as part of the International Science Film Festival (ISFFA). The competition will take place in October.
Furthermore Disgustingly Healthy received the Ekotop Film Prize within the context of the International Film Festival Bratislava 2007 and made it to the finals of the Dragon China Award 2009.
It shows the suspenseful ascent, the dramatic fall and the surprising renaissance of the bloodsucker and the maggot in Western medicine, and the ambivalent relationship that we humans have to this little "monster".
A relationship between attraction and disgust.
The films were aired on ARTE and ARD-Digital.