PRESS KIT - Locarno Film Festival

PRESS KIT
DIRECTOR OF
PRODUCED BYPAUL
ZISCHLER· MATTHIAS BITTNER PHOTOGRAPHY JULIA SCHLINGMANN
EDITED BYFRIEDEMANN SCHMIDT ORIGNAL
SOUND
RE-RECORDING
MUSICCHRIS BREMUS EDITORANDRÉ ZIMMERMANN MIXERMALTE
ZURBONSEN
SOUND
COLOR
LINE
DIRECTED
RECORDIST MA FINSKI GRADINGHARALD
MAUCH PRODUCERTHOMAS LECHNER BYMATTHIAS
BITTNER
IN COOPERATION
A PRODUCTION OF FILMAKADEMIE BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG WITH ZISCHLERMANN FILMPRODUKTION GMBH
WWW.NIMBY-FILM.COM

NOT IN MY BACKYARD a film by Matthias Bittner
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LOGLINE / SYNOPSIS
TECHNICAL DATA
DIRECTORS STATEMENT
TEAMINFO
COMPANY PROFILE
FILM STILLS
CONTENTS
CONTACT DETAILS
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Page 4
Page 5
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A production of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in cooperation with zischlermann filmproduktion GmbH
Contact: Paul Zischler, Phone: +49- 30-5770975-22 – paul@zischlermann.com

LOGLINE
NOT IN MY BACKYARD a film by Matthias Bittner
“I know that the proper debate that we should be having in America and probably in any other country is, what do
we do with these people when they get out of prison.”
Ronald L. Book / Chairman Miami-Dade County Homelesstrust
SYNOPSIS
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NOT IN MY BACKYARD is about two convicted sexual offenders in Miami, Florida and deals with one of the great
taboo topics of our society: the rehabilitation of child abusers. The film seizes the unusual perspective of the offenders
and solely tells from their point of view. Confronted with their life on the edge of society, their past and
their offences the films outlines a picture of the perpetrator which raises the question which part society plays
in the existence of repeat offenders.
Both sex offenders, Teofilo (49) and Elliott (33) are not allowed to leave Miami – Dade County in Florida. Their
residence has to be further away than 750 metres from places where children regularly congregate, like schools,
parks and playgrounds. A night-time curfew is imposed on them. For a permanent localization of their whereabouts
they have to wear a GPS monitoring device.
With these restrictions it is nearly impossible to find a place to live, no one wants to offer them a job. Their responsible
authority, the Department of Corrections, can only tell them where they are not allowed to live.
Under the bridge of the Julia Tuttle Causeway heading Miami Beach, far away from the public, a tolerated clustering
of released sex offenders has formed itself in 2007.
But when the camp spread out next to the eight-lane motorway, it became visible for everybody and discussions
within the population started getting out of control. It was then quickly shut down and surrounded with a fence
early 2010. All sex offenders were relocated.
Elliott receives a flat free of charge for one year by the City of Miami. Situated within a huge palm plantation, 45
minutes south of Miami, he lives door-to-door with families, kids and 21 other sex offenders. After about half a
year Elliott seems to be accepted by his next-door neighbors. But he has to realize, that the trust in him is not
as high as he thought.
Teofilo on the other hand stays homeless and camps out on a parking lot in front of the Department of Corrections,
the authority which is responsible to care and monitor him. He has to share the small space underneath a
narrow roof with two other convicted sex offenders. Right across a multi-lane motorway passes by. They sleep
on the concrete ground, as a support they use towels and cardboard boxes. His belongings are neatly stowed
in a small trolley case, with which he roams through the city everyday. Always in search of work and a better
place to stay. Every week, both offenders by-law have to take part in a psychological treatment called ”Mental
Disordered Sexoffender - Program“ (MDSO). In this group therapy all offenders of different sexual offenses are
treated in the same way.
The film not only observes the offenders in their everyday situations, but also confronts them with their crimes
and defies them to reflect their past and presence openly. Besides their daily obstacles, Elliott and Teofilo want
to be part of our society again - but this seems to be impossible.
A production of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in cooperation with zischlermann filmproduktion GmbH
Contact: Paul Zischler, Phone: +49- 30-5770975-22 – paul@zischlermann.com

TECHNICAL DATA
NOT IN MY BACKYARD a film by Matthias Bittner
Title NOT IN MY BACKYARD
Screening Format DCP, cinemascope, 1:2,35, 25fps, color
Add. Formats HD-CAM SR, HD-CAM, DIGITAL Betacam
Original Language English
Subtitles French, German, English
Year of Production 2011
Country of Production Germany
Genre Documentary
CREW
Director, Script, Research Matthias Bittner
DOP Julia Schlingmann
Editor Friedemann Schmidt
Sound Recordist Ma Finski
Sound Editor Andre Zimmermann
Re-Recording Mixer Malte Zurbonsen
Foley Artist Wilmont Schulze
Foley Recordist Sebastian Stroux
Original Music Christopher Bremus
Producer Paul Zischler
Matthias Bittner
WORLD SALES
Sigrid Gairing
Tel: +49 (0) 7141 / 969 193
Fax: +49 (0) 7141 / 969 55 193
E-Mail: sigrid.gairing@filmakademie.de
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A production of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in cooperation with zischlermann filmproduktion GmbH
Contact: Paul Zischler, Phone: +49- 30-5770975-22 – paul@zischlermann.com

NOT IN MY BACKYARD a film by Matthias Bittner
DIRECTORS STATEMENT
The treatment of sex offenders after serving prison in Miami, Florida, represents to me a loud cry for help of
society, which is deporting their perpetrators out of fear of re-offences towards the edge of community. Costly
assurance, control mechanisms and lack of social support reveal the helplessness of an entire legal system.
The discussion of the topic here and elsewhere is strong characterized by the emotions of the people and the
reflex “the perpetrator must somehow disappear”. In Poland, the chemical castration is brought into use, in Switzerland
offenders are placed under house arrest controlled by a GPS ankle bracelet and in Germany the majoritarian
opinion is, someone who commits a crime against a child, has forfeited his right to participate in society.
At the point where you would normally turn away from the child abuser, my film sets in and gives the human
behind his heinous acts a voice and a face, even though it’s hard to look into his eyes.
But I see it as imperative to deal intensively with the offender far away from any “perpetrator pornography”,
because it´s him that we want to prevent by all means not to repeat his cruel offense.
As hard as it may be, we must not turn away, we have to deal with unpleasant truths and face the fact that there
is no simple and quick solution to the problem. The dialogue with sex offenders should not be canceled, because
this is the only way to keep them in society.
CV Matthias Bittner / DIRECTOR
Matthias Bittner, born 1982, made his first experiences with film, video and photography
during art class and shot first short films and portraits. After completing
A levels and civilian service, he participated in various internships in the directing
and camera department. Since 2004 he is a freelance directors-assistant and
set-manager, among others for „Das Maß der Dinge“ (nominated for the Student-
Oscars) and Angela Schanelec’s “Nachmittag”.
His animation film “Operation: Terror Tape” was shown on numerous Festivals and
was awarded a Special Mention at the Filmschau Baden-Wuerttemberg. His recent
short „Wie die Raben“ acclaimed its world premiere at the Filmfestival San Sebastian
and was aired on ARTE and SWR. NOT IN MY BACKYARD is his first feature
length film.
Filmography (selection):
„Operation: Terror Tape“ (2007) – 7min – short animation
„Divorce Talk“ (2009) – 28min – documentary
„Wie die Raben“ (2009) – 8min – short fiction - SWR, ARTE, San Sebastian, Max-Ophüls-Festival
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A production of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in cooperation with zischlermann filmproduktion GmbH
Contact: Paul Zischler, Phone: +49- 30-5770975-22 – paul@zischlermann.com

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NOT IN MY BACKYARD a film by Matthias Bittner
CV Julia Schlingmann / DOP
Julia Schlingmann was born in Wolfsburg, Germany, in 1981. After graduating highschool she moved to Hamburg
to study construction engineering.
In addtion to that, she realized several photo-productions and gained further remittance works in the field of
photography. Subsequently she completed internships in the field of camera and lightrental-companies. For
several years she worked as a camera-assistant and electrician and applied for the course of camera-studies
at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, where she studies since 2007.
Since then she realized about eleven short films and one feature film as a director of photography and works
for different production companies. Her films acclaimed their premieres on well-known international festivals
around the globe and were retailed by TV-stations.
Filmography (selection):
„What about Germany“ (2009) – 50min – short fiction, Sehsüchte 2011
„Grabpflege“ (2010) – 8min – short fiction, Atelier-Ludwigsburg/Paris, ARTE, Max-Ophüls-Preis
„Das Blaue vom Himmel“ (2010) – 30min – short fiction, Interfilm 2010, Festival de Cine International de
Ourense 2010, BR
„Augenscheinlich“ (2011) 40min – short fiction
CV Paul Zischler / PRODUCER
Paul studied filmproduction at the German Film – and Television Academy Berlin (dffb). He worked as a producer
on several commercials and imagefilm-productions (“Hewlett Packard”, “Audi”, “Pepsi”), Musicvideos
(“Juli”) and shorts as VERWEHTE starring Ulrich Mühe (for ARTE), the German- Israeli NACHTGEBET (financed
by Medienboard and nominated for First Steps ), WHAT´S LEFT (as above).
He was part of the feature documentary “Football under Cover” (Winner First Steps, Berlinale 2008) and
worked for Wim Wenders “PALERMO SHOOTING” and „PINA 3D“.
With his own company (together with Susanne Mann) he coproduced „Like Sailors“ (ZDF- Das kleine Fernsehspiel),
which was shown at competition at Max-Ophüls Festival 2010 and Festival of German Film; it also
won the Starter Filmaward of the city of Munich.
As an assistant producer he joined “A Dangerous Method” by David Cronenberg in Berlin, Cologne und Vienna
and worked for companies like Essential Film/ Coproduction Office, Cine Plus Production und New Road Movies.
Several selected feature films and documentaries nationally and internationally are currently in development.
Filmography (selection):
„What´s left“ (“Was bleibt”, 2007) – 17min – Nominated for German Film Award, European Film Award,
won Grand Prix du Jury Plans D´Angers
„Football under Cover“ (2008) – 86min – Berlinale Perspektive 2008 (Prod. Adviser)
„Wie Matrosen“ (“Like Sailors”, 2010) – 50min – ZDF Das kleine Fernsehspiel, German Film-Arthouse Award,
Starter Filmaward München
„Adams End“ (“Adams Ende”, 2011) – 81min – Diagonale, Max-Ophüls-Award
A production of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in cooperation with zischlermann filmproduktion GmbH
Contact: Paul Zischler, Phone: +49- 30-5770975-22 – paul@zischlermann.com

NOT IN MY BACKYARD a film by Matthias Bittner
CV Friedemann Schmidt / EDITOR
Born in 1982, Friedemann started an education at Bavaria Film in Munich in 2001. After that he worked for one
more year as a postproduction manager at Bavaria. That followed a further education at Filmakademie Baden-
Württemberg in the field of Montage/ Editing.
In summer 2010 he graduated from Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and moved to Munich, where he works as
a freelancer.
His last edited short “When The Hurlybuly’s Done” was shown and awarded among others in Chicago and New
York. Furthermore it was contributed to the New German Directors Showcase 2010.
Filmography (selection):
“Sparkasse - Zombie” (2009) – 60sec – commercial
“When The Hurlyburly’s Done” (2009) – 16min – short fiction
“Hallmark - Closer” (2010) – 90sec – commercial
“Marsgesichter” (2011) – 28min – pilot
Further information: www.friedemannschmidt.de
CV Christopher Bremus / COMPOSER
Born in 1977 in Speyer, he studied jazz and pop music at the conservatory Mainz. He graduated in 2005. Additionally
he studied Score/ Sounddesign at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, where he graduated in 2008. Among
others, he remixed several music-productions for Xavier Naidoo and Söhne Mannheims, he worked with the German
Filmorchestra Babelsberg, the Nationalorchestra Mannheim, the Filmorchestra Jilina (Slovakia) and the New
Symphony Orchestra Berlin. Today, he lives and works in Berlin.
Filmography (selection):
“Einer bleibt Sitzen” (2008) - 90min - feature film - ARD
“Der innere Krieg” (2009) - 89min - documentary - ZDF
“Der mann aus der Pfalz” (2009) - 90min - docufiction – ZDF
“Go west - Freiheit um jeden Preis” (2011) 2x90min - feature film - ProSieben
“Tatort - Mauerpark” (2011) - 90min - feature film - ARD
Further information: www.chrisbremus.de
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A production of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in cooperation with zischlermann filmproduktion GmbH
Contact: Paul Zischler, Phone: +49- 30-5770975-22 – paul@zischlermann.com

NOT IN MY BACKYARD a film by Matthias Bittner
COMPANY PROFILE zischlermann filmproduktion GmbH
zischlermann filmproduction GmbH is a Berlin and Dresden based film production company run by Susanne Mann
and Paul Zischler. Founded in 2009 with the aim to produce feature films and documentaries for an international
market. We have, among others, co-produced the Austrian-German feature film ADAMS ENDE (Dir: Richard Wilhelmer;
Diagonale, Max-Ophüls-Preis) and the documentary NOT IN MY BACKYARD (Dir: Matthias Bittner; Filmfestival
Locarno 2011) shot in the USA.
Thanks to our experience with international productions (in Turkey, Spain, Morocco, Lebanon, Czech Republic,
Italy, UAE, Serbia, Croatia, Ukraine, USA, etc.) we know that we want to be part of stories told from other parts of
this world, their people and places far from ourselves. It is a natural choice for us to be involved in international
co-productions.
We also provide high quality service-production and post production support in Germany.
ADAMS ENDE (in evaluation: Max-Ophüls-Preis 2011, Competition Diagonale 2011) Associate Producer
Director: Richard Wilhelmer
Fiction, 81 min
- Theatrical release in Austria through Filmladen Distribution
TRABANTEN (in postproduktion)
Executive Producer
Director: Michaela Schweiger
Art Film, 75 min
Funded by Medienboard Berlin/Brandenburg and Filmstiftung NRW
DECKNAME PIRAT (in pre-production)
Coproducer
Director: Eric Asch
Documentary, approx. 90 min, in coproduction with IMBISS FILM, Munich
Funded by FFF Bavaria and ZDF – Das kleine Fernsehspiel
HUMIDITY (in development: Binger Filmlab, Hubert Bals Fund)
Coproducer
Director: Nikola Ljuca
Fiction, approx. 110 min, Serbian/German coproduction
DIE FÜNFTE FARBE / THE FIFTH COLOR (in development)
Executive Producer
Director: Heiko Aufdermauer
Fiction, ca. 100 min
BASTARD (in development: La Résidence / Cannes Cinefondaton)
Producer
Director: David Nawrath
Fiction, ca. 100 min
DAS FÜRSTENTUM / THE PRINCIPALITY (in development)
Producer
Director: Moritz Laube
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A production of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in cooperation with zischlermann filmproduktion GmbH
Contact: Paul Zischler, Phone: +49- 30-5770975-22 – paul@zischlermann.com

FILM STILLS
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NOT IN MY BACKYARD a film by Matthias Bittner
A production of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in cooperation with zischlermann filmproduktion GmbH
Contact: Paul Zischler, Phone: +49- 30-5770975-22 – paul@zischlermann.com

PRODUCTION COMPANIES
Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH
Akademiehof 10, 71638 Ludwigsburg
T: +49 - 7141 - 969-0
F: +49 - 7141 - 969-299
info@filmakademie.de
www.filmakademie.de
zischlermann filmproduktion GmbH
Alexandrinenstr. 4, 10969 Berlin
T: +49 - 30 - 5770975-20
F: +49 - 30 - 5770975-29
kontakt@zischlermann.com
www.zischlermann.com
WORD SALES
Sigrid Gairing
Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
T: +49 - 7141 - 969-193
F: +49 - 7141 - 969-55193
sigrid.gairing@filmakademie.de
PRESS INQUIRIES
Paul Zischler
zischlermann filmproduktion GmbH
T: +49 - 30 - 5770975-22
M: +49 - 170 - 8129530
paul@zischlermann.com
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NOT IN MY BACKYARD a film by Matthias Bittner
This presskit, the trailer and film excerpts can be found here:
http://www.zischlermann.com
http://www.nimby-film.com
With kind support:
A production of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in cooperation with zischlermann filmproduktion GmbH
Contact: Paul Zischler, Phone: +49- 30-5770975-22 – paul@zischlermann.com