Berlin International Film Festival 2021 Premieres "Anamnesis" and "Mission Ulja Funk"

Two MDM-funded films, the documentary "Anamnesis" ("Forum" section) and the children’s movie "Mission Ulja Funk" ("Generation" section) are having their world premiere at the 71st edition of the Berlin International Film Festival.

For "Anamnesis", renowned documentary filmmakers Stefan Kolbe and Chris Wright accompanied a felon for the last four years of his prison sentence while scrutinizing how both society and the individual grapple with these issues: murder, guilt, and the question of redemption. In a fascinating mix of footage material and puppet play, the scope of their contemplation includes their own role as filmmakers.

A co-production of Leipzig-based Ma.ja.de and television networks ZDF and 3sat, the film was co-funded by MDM with 80,000 euros, as well as by the Cultural Foundation of the State of Saxony and the EU’s MEDIA program.

The unconventional road movie "Mission Ulja Funk" by first-time director Barbara Kronenberg tells the story of the 12-year-old girl Ulja, who discovers a small asteroid bound for Belarus with only a few days left before impact. When grandma Olga, the Funk family’s staunchly religious materfamilias, seeks to banish all things scientific from Ulja’s life, the defiant preteen sneaks away and soon teams up with a 13-year-old boy named Henk. Together, they set out, traveling in a stolen hearse, for the predicted site of impact.

The production was born out of the initiative "Der besondere Kinderfilm" ("The Unique Children’s Film") and was shot, among other locations, in Mitteldeutschland: Burgenlandkreis county as well as the towns of Altmörbitz, Nempitz, and Nobitz. Barbara Kronenberg developed the story at the Academy of Children’s Media in Erfurt, which secured her the 2017 MDM advancement award. Leipzig-based In Good Company co-produced the movie together with ShipsBoy (Poland) and Samsa Film (Luxembourg). Apart from MDM, which contributed 600,000 euros to the making of this family film, BKM, the North-Rhine-Westphalian Film and Media Fund, and the MDR public television network provided additional funding.

The 71st edition of the Berlin International Film Festival is taking place from March 1 to 5 in purely digital form and will be limited to an industry and press audience. However, a part II is scheduled for June 9 to 20, entitled "Summer Special", which will welcome the general public to screenings of most of the festival’s films in Berlin’s cinemas and in the presence of the filmmakers.