am 19.9.2017 im Lichtblick-Kino, Kastanienallee 77, Berlin/ Prenzlauer Berg, Tel. 030 – 44 05 81 7
am 16.5. 17:30 h in Teheran
am 22.4.2017 im Kino Prager Frühling, Leipzig
director
Albrecht Hirche
director of Photographie
Demian von Prittwitz
sound
Till Coester
editing
Katja Jopp
cast
SABETH (seen in flashbacks)- Sophia Ito, young Japanes Greek actress
SASCHA – Denis Schmidt, Cologne based actor, works at Theater an der Ruhr, Mühlheim
MIKE – Oliver Moumouris, actor, works at Theater Lindenhof, Melchingen
MALLORY – Lena Kitsopoulou, Greek actress,singer, director and playwright
CAR DEALER/DEVIL – Konstantinos Avarikiotis, Athens based actor
music
Blaine L.Reininger (Tuxedomoon), sings the 9 poems
location
Berlin-Pankow/motorway to the north/Uckermarck,Eichhof near Lychen/Neustrelitz/Schwerin/Baltic sea/motorway to Poland/Wroclaw/
shooting time:
August-September 2014/ 17 days
GIRL IN SUITCASE ist the first feature film of Albrecht hirche (written and directed)
Hirche worked continously in theater as a director, actor, designer and playwright. He uses live music and re-produced or live Video-sequences in his projects. For his theater projects he dramatised numerous novels, among others by Camus, Musil, Marquez, Oksanen, Goethe, Houellebecq, O`Toole, Kafka and Stevenson.
the CHARACTER`s biographies
Sascha
born 1980 in Niederfinnow. An Orphan who grew up with his grandparents,later with his uncle.1998 admission into the German Army (Bundeswehr). 2001 dishonorably discharged due to repeated violence when drunk. 2001 waiter in Mallorca, later entertainer at a holiday resort/ lives in Berlin since 2003/ different occasional jobs in gastronomy,later in auto industry, copyshop and video store/t ough guy/ athletic/smoker/hard-drinking/drawing skills. Lives together with Mike in Berlin Pankow for the last 18 months.
Mike
born 1973 in Sindelfingen/mother swabian/father portuguese violin maker/ 1991 moved to Berlin to become a preschool teacher/ later changing professions,mainly in music industry/ Prince and Micheal Jackson imitator/secretly wears glasses/ hypochondriac/medium sized, sturdy built/f inancially supported by an aunt/takes the homeless Sabeth in his house and half a year later Sascha ( back then homeless).
Mallory
original name Malamatenia Lorydzoglou, born 1974 in Katerini/mother Greek rembetiko singer/ father polish sailor from Sobot/ attends German school in Thessaloniki/ 1984 resettlement to Poland/ attends Willy-Brandt school in Warsaw/1990 parents get divorced/ studies 1 term literature in Kracow, 2 more terms in Thessaloniki/1995 married to a Russian physicist/ 1996 moves to Wroclaw,where her mother lives with her new husband/1997 divorce/ occasional jobs as waitress or singer/ an attempt to build up an escort service fails/hard-drinking/chain smoker/language skills.
Sabeth
original name Elisabetta Ywo/ born around 1993/ orphan/half asian/father vietnamese, grew up in a childrens home in Zinnowitz/ repeatedly attempted escape/ finally adopted by a retired nurse/ finally flees in 2009 over Anklam, Neubrandenburg, to Berlin.
disappears first in punk, later in gothic scene/lives on the street begging/ probably drug addict/ meets Mike 2011 at a street party at the public swimming pool in Wedding/moves in with him a year later/manic depressive/2012 two suicide attempts/beginning of 2013 pregnancy/ father unknown/ either Mike or Sascha could possibly be the father/ both of whom would like to be/ the child supposedly dies in it`s mothers womb/ unresolved circumstances/ on 10.th of June2013 a week after the scraping of the dead foetus, Sabeth commits suicide.
style
The movie is in black and white.The style is characterized by long silent engagements.The music is only sporadically used.The 9 poems are spoken and musically underlined by Toxedomoon singer Blaine.L.Reininger. There are no sound effects, just live-audio.Through long silent engagements, the rhythm of the pictures, play a crucial role in the style.The calm is defintive, sometimes oppressive. That time slowly creeps along, should be felt by the observer.Boredom is something different.The concise manner of the characters and the melancholic landscapes stand in stark contrast to the superficial,witty language used by the characters.All this indicates profound, inexpressible feelings.Feelings of loneliness and deep despair. The need to come to terms with the death of the young consort and the inability to express this. Whilst Sascha pretends to be part of a video game, Mike wallows in self-pity.
role models
At the beginning of this work stood all relevant road movies, starting with “The last Detail”.. leading up to “Stranger than Paradise”. Even the provincial dreariness of Fellinis Vitelloni, the idlers, is currently relevant in contemporary Berlin. Nowadays all those films are, where they are. Everything points to familiarities. Everything refers to the known. They are same roots but still can strive for and develop into something incredible.
Albrecht Hirche 