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Nie wieder schlafen

Never Sleep Again
Retrospective 2019
© Deutsche Kinemathek / Pia Frankenberg Musik- und Filmproduktion
Three girlfriends are invited to a wedding on a riverboat in Berlin. When Rita gets into a fight with her ex-boyfriend, the trio cuts their celebration short and disembarks. Their car is broken, so Rita, Lilian, and Roberta spend the next few days in the newly re-unified city. They roam the streets and bars, explore East Berlin, meet men. They are confronted over and over again with both evidence of German history and very personal avowals … “Maybe a little more ladylike?” With snappy dialogue and an uncertain outcome, Pia Frankenberg’s film is a laconic depiction of the female advantage in the battle of the sexes, a film that is as adventurous as its protagonists. In 1992, Frankenberg said, “I don’t want to tell a story. No total identification with the people on screen. Recognition, sure. A test set-up”. To do that, she depends here on three marvellous actors, who have free rein to develop their characters in front of cinematographer Judith Kaufmann’s camera. At the same time, improvised episodes cast an ironic look at the phenomena of national nostalgia.
by Pia Frankenberg
with Lisa Kreuzer, Gabriela Herz, Christiane Carstens, Ernst Stötzner, Michael Altmann, Leonard Lansink, Peter Lohmeyer, Klaus Bueb, Thomas Struck Germany 1992 German 92’ Colour Rating R0

With

  • Lisa Kreuzer
  • Gabriela Herz
  • Christiane Carstens
  • Ernst Stötzner
  • Michael Altmann
  • Leonard Lansink
  • Peter Lohmeyer
  • Klaus Bueb
  • Thomas Struck

Crew

Director Pia Frankenberg
Screenplay Pia Frankenberg, Karin Åström
Cinematography Judith Kaufmann
Editing Raimund Barthelmes
Music Loek Dikker
Sound Gunther Kortwich
Art Director Uli Fischer
Costumes Irmgard Kersting
Producer Pia Frankenberg

Additional information

Film print: Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin