06/12/2018 - The director of Stations of the Cross and Heil is working on a new film about love

The cast and crew of Nö, led by actors Alexander Khuon and Anna Brüggemann (front row) and director Dietrich Brüggemann (back row, centre) (©rbb/Alexander Sass/Flare Film)

Three years after the premiere of Heil [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dietrich Brüggemann
film profile], German director Dietrich Brüggemann has started production on his new film, Nö [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dietrich Brüggemann
film profile]. Brüggemann, who attracted international attention with Stations of the Cross [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Dietrich Brüggemann
film profile] (winner of the Silver Bear in 2014), is now ready to tackle the theme of love.

“Nö is a film about love, about our pursuit of it and our incapability to live it fully when it’s there. It’s a film about the passage of time and about people who are in their thirties, people who have a lot, who attempt a lot, and who still often fail. It is also a film about something that cinema does particularly well: portraying emotional states. Because although they are not visible, they are nonetheless real and play a crucial role in our lives,” the director revealed in a press release. 

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The story follows Dina, an actress, and Michael, a doctor, as they try to hold on to their love over the course of several years. The task turns out to be a tough one as, over time, they struggle to win the approval of their parents, try to avoid unemployment and attempt to master the art of parenting. 

As with most of his films, the director has written the script together with his sister, Anna Brüggemann, who will also play the lead role, alongside Alexander Khuon. The cast also stars Isolde Barth, Hanns Zischler and Petra Schmidt-Schaller. Cinematographer Alexander Sass, who has worked with Brüggemann on several of his previous projects, has joined the crew and plans to shoot the film in long static takes. Filming will take place in Berlin and Babelsberg.

The film is being produced by Martin Heisler and Gabriele Simon for Flare Film. It has received funding from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM), the German Federal Film Board (FFA), the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), Rotor Film, Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting (rbb) and ARTE. World sales will be handled by The Match Factory, while NFP Marketing & Distribution will be in charge of the film’s German release, which is scheduled for 2019.