Quarterly 2 · 2008 - German Films

66/67
Type of Project Feature Film Cinema Genre Drama
Production Company FRISBEEFILMS/Berlin, in co-production
with jetfilm/Berlin, ZDF Das kleine Fernsehspiel/Mainz,
ARTE/Strasbourg With backing from Medienboard Berlin-
Brandenburg, Nordmedia Producers Alexander Bickenbach,
Manuel Bickenbach, Jon Handschin Co-Producers Burkhardt
Althoff, Georg Steinert Directors Carsten Ludwig, Jan-Christoph
Glaser Screenplay Carsten Ludwig Director of Photography
Ngo The Chau Editor Sarah Levine Music by Dirk Dresselhaus
Production Design Petra Albert Principal Cast Fabian
Hinrichs, Christoph Bach, Sibel Kekilli, Maxim Mehmet, Fahri Oguen
Yardim, Bernhard Schuetz, Ludwig Trepte, Victoria Deutschmann,
Aurel Manthei, Christian Ahlers, Marc Zwins Casting Suse
Marquardt Besetzungsbuero/Berlin Format Super 16 mm, blow-up
to 35 mm, color, 1:1.85, Dolby Digital 5.1 Shooting Language
German Shooting in Braunschweig and Berlin, July – August 2008
German Distributor Farbfilm Verleih/Berlin
Contact
FRISBEEFILMS GmbH & Co. KG
Alexander Bickenbach
Mulackstrasse 19 · 10119 Berlin/Germany
phone +49-30-24 62 83 30 · fax +49-30-24 62 83 31
email: info@frisbeefilms.com · www.frisbeefilms.com
In this rough, gang movie the six members of the football fan club
66/67 are a close-knit bunch, sticking together through thick and thin.
But all too late they realize that their time has run its course and their
potential for violence is steering them towards disaster. They are all
forced to question the basis of their friendship, their love for the team
and their future in their home town.
“We’re interested in the subject, of course, which is very con -
temporary,” say Alexander Bickenbach, 66/67’s producer, “as
well making an ensemble film with upcoming young talent before the
camera and recognized talent behind it. Most of all we deal with re -
levant themes such as friendship, home and when football fandom
becomes football fanaticism.”
For the main characters, 66/67 is about how the individual should
tackle the modern world. It’s easier to cheer on their favorite football
team than to think about their future, staying rooted in a familiar past.
But some of them, such as Ulf, are already thinking of moving on
(He’s applied for a new job in a new town but not told his friends)
Cast of “66/67” (photo courtesy of FRISBEEFILMS)
whilst Otto sees the disaster which is heading Christian’s way, but
does nothing.
“On this level,” Bickenbach continues, “this is a film the vast majority
can relate to, especially in a world which is always making demands
on us; demands that we should always perform more quickly, with
increased digitalization and globalization. Many young people are
unsure if they even want to fight for a place for themselves in such a
world.”
In the face of such challenges, 66/67’s protagonists can still feel the
meaninglessness, almost tragedy, which their attempt to conserve the
past entails.
“The film relies on an explosive mixture of aggression, humor and
subversive behavior,” Bickenbach explains. “It’s authentic and deliberately
aims to be the outsider, the underdog.”
Arthouse specialists FRISBEEFILMS was founded by brothers
Alexander and Manuel Bickenbach (both graduates of the
Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg) in 2006.
66/67 also marks the continuation of the successful teamwork be -
tween FRISBEEFILMS and jetfilm after the feature film Berlin – 1.
Mai, for which the director duo of Ludwig & Glaser made the episode
Ausflug.
The film’s author Carsten Ludwig studied at the German Film &
Television Academy in Berlin. A keen football fan himself, he and his
co-director, Jan-Christoph Glaser, “intend to give 66/67 a high
tempo. Viewers will be unable to escape the feeling that the characters
are constantly on the look out, always ready to strike, whether
verbally or physically.”
They are assisted in this by DoP Ngo The Chau, who won the
German Camera Award in 2006 for his work on the 600th episode of
the Scene of the Crime (Tatort) detective series.
german films quarterly in production
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