Stories about freedom, fears and underworlds

In her new tragicomedy, Hamburg-based actress Lilli Thalgott devotes herself toWithout net (60,000 euros fuenferfilm, Hamburg) deals with the omnipresent theme of fear in our society. For one day, it follows a handful of people in several episodes. A digital detox weekend leads to a series of smaller and larger catastrophes and throws the protagonists into free fall.

The question of what leads a teenager to leave his home and family and seek his fortune in the most dangerous corners of the world is the subject of filmmaker Waldemar Obermann's DocumentaryNow is later/Rusty Diamonds (60,000 euros, element e, Hamburg). It tells the breathtaking life story of Hamburg native Uwe Ehinger, the world's first motorbike archaeologist, and his quest for freedom. Twelve of the 20 days of filming took place in northern Germany.

A German-Bulgarian co-production with a torn hero: InNot Angry Anymore (60,000 euros, Heimathafen, Hamburg), Georgi has exactly one day to bring his father's dead dog back to life - or rebel against the whole world. Unfortunately, on this day he has to accomplish a series of almost impossible, irreconcilable tasks. The drama is the feature film debut of Director Pavel Vesnakov.

In the documentationThe Hidden City (40,000 euros, dirk manthey film, Hamburg), Directors Victor Moreno takes the viewer down into the depths of big cities and lets them experience the hidden world. The team will also descend into Hamburg's underworld for four days. Inspired by his contact with Scandinavian role models and the birth of his son, Hamburg filmmaker Jonas Rothlaender embarks on a journey of discovery in the documentaryBeing a Man (40,000 euros, StickUp, Berlin) sets off on a journey through Finland, Sweden and Germany, where he lives, to get to the bottom of the modern man's identity crisis. In the experimental animated film A Part of Something (35,000 euros, Fabian&Fred, Hamburg), Directors Rebecca Blöcher is concerned with nothing less than the search for our roots, the primordial soup, our origins. In her multidisciplinary film portrait, Marie LosierAtomium Vertigo (15,000 euros, Michel Balagué, Berlin) follows in the footsteps of musician and artist Felix Kubin, using drawings, stop-motion, archives, tableaux vivants and fictional scenes. The approximately seven-minute experimental film, shot entirely in Schleswig-HolsteinI have nothing to offer (10,000 euros) by the North German filmmaking team Arne Bunk and Tanja Bächlein, on the other hand, shows viewers a sweaty close-up.

A total of eight projects received production funding totalling 320,000 euros. Of this, 120,000 euros went to four projects directed by women and 160,000 euros to five productions whose scripts were written by women.

Fundings in the area of project development were provided forThe great freedom (40,000 euros Tamtam Film, Hamburg) by HfbK graduate Wendla Nölle. The chamber drama-like love story is about a married couple in their early/mid-60s who have to deal with the wife's illness, the shame associated with it, but also with disappointed expectations and constantly shifting hopes. A total of 19,000 euros went to Jochen HicksBerlin Revisited (Galeria Alaska, Hamburg), who is thus realising the conclusion of his Berlin trilogy. For the coming of age storyGUSTAF (Mutter Film, Hamburg) by Director Patrick Schuckmann received screenplay funding totalling 15,000 euros. The DocumentariesBauhaus Spirit (15,000 euros, Neue Visionen Filmverleih) by Niels Bolbrinker and Thomas Tielsch andThe legend of the ugly king (20,000 euros, mîtosfilm) by Hamburg Director Hüseyin Tabak received distribution funding. Funding also went to three Hamburg cinemas.The detailed overview of all funded projects is available herer.

The funding decisions were made on Wednesday, 17 January 2017: Timo Großpietsch, Birgit Glombitza, Katrin Klamroth, Maria Köpf, Joachim Kühn and Arne Sommer.