Alarm via Moocall

When the "moocall" goes off on the film crew's mobile phone at night, there is still about an hour to go. One hour until a new Kalb sees the light of day. One hour until actress Stefanie Reinsperger and the film crew shoot what is probably one of the most challenging scenes of her career to date: A real calving in front of the camera. "Everything was prepared in a small extra set: The light, the microphones, the cameras. We knew exactly who would be needed from the team and where everyone was allowed to be on set. And it all worked out really well," says Directors and Script Writer Friedrich Tiedtke. In his new short film "Kalb", the calving is the central scene. "A short film about cutting the umbilical cord" is the title of the short film - but not just in the literal sense. At the centre of the film is 30-year-old Franziska, who is trying to become independent in Schleswig-Holstein with a self-sufficient garden. At the same time, however, she has to fight against the paternalism of her neighbouring parents, whose ideals are anchored in conventional agriculture.

For a long time, Friedrich Tiedtke didn't know whether his project itself would ever see the light of day: "Actually, 'Kalb' was supposed to be my graduation film at Babelsberg Film University. But then coronavirus came along and we had to postpone filming several times. In the summer of 2021, we were on the verge of no longer being able to realise the project," says the Director, who wrote the script together with Danish Script Writer Ida Åkerstrøm Knudsen. However, a conversation with the Hamburg production company Tamtam was to save his short film. The two Executive Producers Andrea Schütte and Dirk Decker had fond memories of the 31-year-old from a workshop at the Hamburg Short Film Festival in 2014 and had followed his work over the past few years - and now the perfect opportunity had arisen for their first collaboration. "We immediately liked the script and setup for 'Kalb', which is why we wanted to embark on this adventure again after years of making short films," says Tamtam Executive Producer Paulina Toenne, who was in charge of the project at Tamtam. The first take was shot in January 2022, just four months after the first meeting.

The film was shot on a farm in Schwackendorf in Schleswig-Holstein and in Rabenholz. It took the team ten days to get everything in the can. Tiedtke himself comes from a small village near Eckernförde, so he knows first-hand what rural life is like in Germany's northernmost state. And the conflicts that can arise: "The film shows a generational conflict that I have observed time and again in my own environment. Many young adults are financially dependent on their parents - often even after graduating - which goes hand in hand with a feeling of inferiority. I wanted to shed light on the resulting desire for independence in 'Kalb'. Industrial farming, into which our main character Franziska was born, seemed to me to be a suitable setting. Because there are also many dependencies here," reveals the up-and-coming director.

The date for the shoot was set so that two potential calvings would take place on the farm during the time slot. In order to be on site in time at night, the team used a "moocall" - a kind of contraction recorder on the cow's tail that sends an alarm to the mobile phone about an hour before calving.

Weeks before filming began, lead actress Stefanie Reinsperger attended a calving and lent a hand. The actual calving in January was then filmed with a very small team so as not to stress the cow: "Stefanie put herself in the situation with incredible courage. That is by no means a matter of course," says Tiedtke. Cow farmer Agnes Greggersen was on site the whole time and could have supported or taken over at any time.

The Tamtam production office also waited daily for the good news: "I woke up in the morning and had a message from Friedrich on my mobile phone with a picture of the calf. When we watched the footage from the shoot, it was very moving," says Paulina Toenne. Even though she has been working in the film industry for many years, "Kalb" was her first job as an Executive Producer at Tamtam Film. What are the biggest challenges in the new job? "Keeping a cool head even in stressful situations and having the creative team's back. Communication skills are also one of the most important qualities," says Toenne.

Kalb" celebrates its world premiere at the Hof Film Festival at the end of October, then travels via Lübeck and Flensburg to the Black Nights in Tallinn, Estonia. There are also good signs that there will be another collaboration between Tamtam and Friedrich Tiedtke. Perhaps a German-Danish co-production, as the Director now lives mainly in Copenhagen? We are curious.