Titel Kino 2/2002 - german films

Berlin – Sinfonie einer Grossstadt
BERLIN SYMPHONY
”I think most people who feel a rush of excitement watching my Berlin film don’t know where it’s coming from.
If I managed to give people a sense of that excitement, of allowing them to experience the city of Berlin, then I
achieved what I set out to do and proved that I was right all along.“
(Walther Ruttmann)
In 1927, Walther Ruttmann shot his majestic documentary Berlin. Symphony of a City. In September of
that same year, this milestone of the silent film era was premiered at Berlin’s Tauentzien Palast with a
specially composed live soundtrack.
Seventy-five years later, Berlin is in the midst of a uniquely vibrant and exciting transition. Ten years
after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the re-energized drive of history is bringing forth a new city. People from
all over the world and from all walks of life are coming together to form a new metropolis, one reminiscent
in many ways of 1920s Berlin.
While retaining some of the original’s basic dramatic principles and characteristics – organizing every
shot in the film according to a symphonic structure, depicting one day in the life of the city using several
main themes, and shooting on black-and-white 35 mm film – this remake also strives to establish its
own cohesive pictorial language and narrative structure.
Genre History Category Documentary Cinema
Year of Production 2001/2002 Director
Thomas Schadt Screenplay Thomas Schadt
Director of Photography Thomas Schadt
Editor Thomas Wellmann Music by Helmut
Oehring, Iris ter Schiphorst Producers Nico
Hofmann, Thomas Schadt Production
Companies teamWorx, Berlin, Odyssee-Film,
Berlin Length 82 min, 2,300 m Format 35 mm,
b&w, 1:1.66 Sound Technology Dolby SR
With backing from Filmboard Berlin-
Brandenburg, MFG Baden-Wuerttemberg, BKM
German Distributor ottfilm GmbH, Berlin
Thomas Schadt was born in 1957 in Nuremberg. During his Photography studies, he
worked as a film projectionist, photography assistant and theater photographer, followed
by studies at the German Film & Television Academy (dffb) in Berlin from 1980-1983.
He then founded his own film production company, Odyssee-Film, and has been working
since as a freelance documentary filmmaker, photographer and cinematographer. Since
1991, he has been teaching at various film academies, including the dffb and the Film
Academy Baden-Wuerttemberg in Ludwigsburg. His films include: his graduation film
Was hab i in Hawaii verloren (1982), Unterwegs nach immer und
ueberall – Eine Deutschlandreise (1985/1986), Der Autobahnkrieg (1991)
- winner of the Adolf Grimme Award, Grenzgaenge – Die Deutschen auf der
Suche nach einer Identitaet (1993) and Augenzeugen – Die Fotografen
Hoepker, Lebeck, Moses und Scheler (1998) together with Reiner Holzemer,
Der Kandidat – Gerhard Schroeder im Wahlkampf ’98 (1998) – winner of
the German Television Award for Best Documentary in 1999, Hans im Glueck –
Deutsche Banker an der Wall Street (1999), My Way – James Last
(2001), Berlin Symphony (2001/2002), and many, many more.
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44 Kino 2/2002
Scene from ”Berlin Symphony“ (photo © Thomas Schadt)
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