Cast

Pope Benedict XVI, Volker Spengler

Film description

In a series of black-and-white takes, director Thomas Heise records preparations for the September 2011 visit of Pope Benedict XVI in Germany. The preparations are so far removed from the media frenzy surrounding the event; the director focuses on the laborers and cordons of security services, showing a world that helps believers not get closer to God, but instead to a police officer. When they look up, they are more likely to see a sniper’s rifle than the sky. The main purpose, the joy in the coming of the Holy Father, gets lost in the chaos of preparations. This rigid procedure-filled framework forces questions about the eponymous condition of the system and times in which we live.

Prepared by: Sławomir Wasiński

Information about director

Thomas Heise

Thomas Heise was born in Berlin in 1955. In the early 1970s, he worked as a printer and, after a yearlong stint in the military, he became a director’s assistant at DEFA film studios, where he was mentored by Heiner Carow and Juli Raisman. In 1978, Heise began studies at the Potsdam Film and Television University, but dropped out in 1982, when he debuted as a director with Why Make a Film About People Like Them? He has worked as a screenwriter and director; his documentaries often discuss difficult and important themes that stir fervent discourse in Germany.

Selected filmography

1980 Wozu denn über diese Leute einen Film? / Why Make a Film About People Like Them? (short, doc.)

1990 Specjalność zakładu / Imbiß spezial / Underground Bar (short, doc.)

2005 Mój brat / Mein Bruder / We’ll Meet Again (doc.)

2009 Material (doc.)

2009 24 h Berlin – Ein Tag im Leben / 24 Hours Berlin (co-dir., TV, doc.)

2012 Położenie / Die Lage / Condition (doc.)

Prepared by: Sławomir Wasiński

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