"Things that are alive. Ideas you can see. People you’ll never forget."
09 October 2011
Film on Drottningholm castle at Archaeological Film Festival Mainau
Our film on Unesco World Heritage Drottningholm Castle, Stockholm, will be shown at the opening of the International Archaeological Film festival on the Island of Mainau, Lake of Constance, on October 18, 2011. The 15-minutes film (directed by Hartmut Schwenk) will be shown as a tribute to the Swedish prince Lennart Bernadotte, founder of the Mainau park and coproducer of the legendary "Kon-Tiki" film.
23 September 2011
"Faces of Islam" attract an audience of eleven million
An audience of over eleven million have watched Schwenk Film's four-part series "Faces of Islam" so far - after 30 broadcasts of the series on ARD, Third Channels, Arte, Phoenix, Swiss and Austrian channels. The international version will go to Indonesia, Slovenia, Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands. Schwenk Film coproduced the series with SWR and most ARD channels, ARTE, ORF and Swiss TV; important funding came from MFG Filmförderung Baden-Württemberg.
30 August 2011
"Mont Blanc - Descent into the Ice" at Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival
Our documentary "Montblanc - Descent into the Ice" will again be featured at Tegernsee Mountain Film Festival: October 20, 2011, at 5 pm in the "Barocksaal". Schwenk Film with Gédéon Programmes (Paris) produced "Mont Blanc" for ARD, WGBH/NOVA and other channels in France, the UK, and Japan. It was written by Rolf Schlenker and Hartmut Schwenk, directed by Liesl Clark, and was awarded several prizes.
28 July 2011
"Messner's Alps" airs over a hundred times - including Iran
Schwenk Film's three-part series "Messner's Alps" crossed the line: it has attracted more than ten million viewers so far, on German TV as well as in France, the UK, Austria, Italy and Finland, with Iranian TV to follow.
07 June 2011
Handke documentary at the Salzburg Festival
Schwenk Film's documentary on famous Austrian writer Peter Handke, "Der schwermütige Spieler", will be part of this year's opening of the Salzburg Festival (on Juy 24th, 2011). The 90-minutes documentary has already been aired several times on ARTE, SWR, 3Sat and ORF. (Directed by Peter Hamm, DOP Bodo Kessler, film editor Sylvia Seuboth-Radtke, executive producer SWR Martina Zöllner, executive producer Hartmut Schwenk).
31 May 2011
Award-winning musical road movie "Country Road"
Christopher Mosselman's diploma documentary "Country Road", produced in 2010/2011 in co-operation with Schwenk Film, received the audience award at Baden Wurttemberg State Film School's "Twilights" show. The project had already been awarded the school's Caligari prize in 2010. The road movie of young filmmaker and musician Christopher Mosselman who spent a few years in Texas as a child, takes us all the way across the US, from Los Angeles to the American Southwest and South and on to Virginia and New York. The 90-minute documentary (DOP Niklas Zidarov, film editor Christoph Gripentrog) has heartwarming encounters with musicians and people of all sorts, spontaneous musik-making, story-telling, hair-cutting, talking, cooking, harvesting, praying..., driving and staying, getting lost and getting invited, retracing childhood steps and musical tastes, American dreams, and realities.
05 February 2011
1,5 million viewers per episode watch "Faces of Islam"
"Faces of Islam" attracted an average of 1.5 million viewers on ARD First Channel in November and December, and many more at the occasion of several broadcasts on ARD Third Channels at the beginning of this year. Many more, including ARTE, are to follow. The German Council of Culture (Deutscher Kulturrat) "warmly recommended ths great TV series to everybody interested". Many newspapers, magazines and newsletters published articles and photographs. More broadcasts and info on ARD's Islam website (www.daserste.de/islam).
02 November 2010
"Faces of Islam" starts on November 14 on German Television
After two years of production our four part documentary "Faces of Islam" will be broadcasted on First German Television (ARD). Air dates are Sundays, 5:30 pm, on the 14th, 21st and 28th of November and on the 5th of December 2010. Swiss Television will start airing on the 21st of November 2010. ARD Dritte Programme (Channel 3 stations) as well as ARTE (Germany/France) and Austrian Television (ORF) will air an extended version of the the series (4x45 min.) beginning in January.
07 October 2010
Press conference of First German Television (ARD) to present "Faces of Islam"
With a press conference in the Hamburg Literaturhaus, First German Television (ARD) presents the four-part project, "Faces of Islam". The first episode, "Faith and Culture" will be shown at the press conference. Several ARD officials and editors will be present, including Egon Meyer, Uwe Bork and Reinhard Baumgarten (SWR), along with director Hannes Schuler, executive producer Hartmut Schwenk and line producer Jan Bullerdieck. Air dates are set to start on November 14, 2010, 5:30 pm on Das Erste, Channel 1 of German Television.
15 July 2010
Country Road - Tracking down US music, everyday lives
On July 23, Christopher Mosselman and his team of musicians and film-students of Baden-Wurttemberg Film Academy set out to cross the American continent. Their documentary project, "Country Road", is a road movie with music and social reality - encounters with musicians and their everyday lives. "Country Road" is supported by Baden-Wurttemberg Film Academy, the Caligari Prize and Schwenk Film.
05 June 2010
"Une vie pour les alpes" - "Messner's Alps" aired again on France 5
Our three-part series "Messner's Alps" will be aired again in France - after several repeats this year on various channels of German TV. France 5 shows "Une vie pour les alpes" starting June 7, 2010, Mondays at 11:05 PM.
31 May 2010
Filming Islam series successfully completed in Saudi-Arabia
Locations included Mecca, Jeddah, Riyadh and the Saudi desert, as the filming of our Islam series was completed in Saudi Arabia after ten months. Director Hannes Schuler und editor Jens Greuner have more than 80 hours of Hi-Def footage to work with for various versions of "Faces of Islam".
13 March 2010
"Faces of Islam" - the Book
Theiss Verlag Stuttgart is publishing an attractive book based on the "Faces of Islam" television documentary series. The book will be written by Reinhard Baumgarten, who did Islamic studies, was ARD's radio correspondent in Cairo and is currently editor at SWR Radio. The book will be published in October 2010 in co-operation with Hartmut Schwenk and Schwenk Film. "Faces of Islam" is a co-production of Schwenk Film and SWR/ARD, Arte, ORF and Swiss TV, and is co-funded by MFG Film Fund Baden-Württemberg.
02 February 2010
„Faces of Islam“ – four-part documentary for ARD and ARTE in production
Intense encounters characterize our four-part documentary "Faces of Islam" - with Imams and social workers, craftsmen, farmers, scientists, teachers and students, in everyday life and at festivals, in medieval markets and modern universities - across the Islamic world. The co-production of Schwenk Film with SWR and six other ARD stations, ARTE, ORF Austria and SF Swiss television is significantly funded by the MFG Film Fund Baden-Württemberg. Filming started in August 2009 and continues through March 2010. Most recent film shoots: a speech delivered by US-Egyptian Nobel Prize winner Prof. Ahmed Zewail at the Cairo Opera House and an extensive interview with him in Alexandria. Also: an extensive shoot in Java, Indonesia. – ARD will broadcast weekly starting 14th of November, 2010.
10 November 2009
SCHWENK FILM co-produces international expedition film
„Secrets of Shangri-La - The Mystery Caves of Mustang“ is an international science-and-adventure film project Schwenk Film participated in. Emmy award winner Liesl Clark, who realized „Mont Blanc“ for Schwenk Film, ARD, NHK, France 5, Gédéon, WGBH and Channel 4, is the author and director of this exciting documentary film, shot in HD. „The Mystery Caves of Mustang“ documents expeditions into caves high up in the Himalayas, in the northern part of the ancient Kingdom of Mustang in Nepal – a scenery of manifold settlements and cultures of old Tibet, and find spot of great treasures of art and every day life of the 12th to 14th centuries. The caves were inaccessible for hundreds of years due to their position in brittle rock face, at an altitude of more than 4000 meters, and due to the restrictions imposed by the Royal House. Finds of the advance expedition, including Tibetan manuscripts and extensive Buddha wall paintings from the 12th century attracted worldwide attention, e.g. by the New York Times and SPIEGEL-Online. SCHWENK FILM is a partner of National Geographic TV, PBS and Sky Door Productions (USA), National Geographic International (UK) as well as of France 5. The French public channel aired a two-part film of 140 minutes in total.
08 October 2009
"Mont Blanc" - Excerpts in Canadian Glacier Museum
The Multimedia Museum in Québec (Canada), "Jardin des Glaciers" has included clips from our production "Mont Blanc" in its exhibit.
08 August 2009
Schwenk Film hosts US Travel Channel for Stuttgart shoot
A crew of twelve stopped off in Stuttgart for US Travel Channel's (Scripps Networks) series "World Wide Tribe", shooting in Stuttgart and Zurich with full service from Schwenk Film (Producer Pascal Nothdurft). The US production had chosen Schwenk Film on the recommendation of their colleagues from "The Amazing Raze" (CBS) who had produced one of their episodes in Stuttgart before.
10 June 2009
Comprehensive TV documentary „Faces of Islam“ for ARD and ARTE in production
After a year of development SCHWENK FILM starts producing a four-part television documentary about Islam from Summer 2009 to Fall 2010. An additional 90-minute version is being created for ARTE’s Saturday night program. The co-production includes seven ARD stations lead by SWR (with WDR, BR, NDR, RBB, SR and RB), as well as ARTE, ORF and SF. Important funds are provided by the MFG Film Fund Baden-Württemberg. The films are directed by Hannes Schuler, and written and produced by Hartmut Schwenk. Shot in High Definition (HD) in Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Indonesia, Spain, Germany and other countries.
09 June 2009
FUTURE WORKS – in SWR and MFG Young Documentary series
Nataša von Kopp’s first film „Worldstar“ about Czech photographer Miroslav Tichy was shown at two dozen festivals in Europe and the USA, receiving seven awards. With Schwenk Film the young director is now producing a documentary about the future of work, called „FUTURE WORKS“. Partners of this „Young Documentary“ are MFG Film Fund Baden-Württemberg and SWR. In this series for graduates of the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg Schwenk Film has produced the successful film „Storytelling Man“ with Henning Mankell (directed by David Spaeth).
03 April 2009
„Messner's Alps“: Television, festivals, world wide distribution
After airing on ARD German Television, on Phoenix and Eins Festival as well as on France 5 and S4C Wales, „Messner's Alps“ is also broadcast by RAI Bozen, YLE Finland and ORF, Austria. At the Mountain Film Festivals of Graz (Austria), Tegernsee (Germany) and at the IFIF-Festival in Idanha-a-Nova (Portugal), „Messner's Alps“ was included into the program. World distribution was taken over by Telepool, Munich.
13 March 2009
Hartmut Schwenk interviews Daniel Barenboim for ARD Buffet
Conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim, Karl Kardinal Lehmann and alpinist Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner were interview partners in new episodes of the short film series „Was ist mir wichtig“ (What’s important to me), that Schwenk Film has been producing since 2004 for the televison magazine „ARD Buffet“. Nobel Prize Winner Christiane Nüsslein-Vollhardt, Olympic gold-medalist Kati Wilhelm, Hollywood director Roland Emmerich, violinists Anne Sophie Mutter and Julia Fischer as well as author Henning Mankell took part in this series.
14 October 2008
Golden Lion for Lachenmann – our film at festivals and on television
„... where I’ve never been before“, an impressive 90-minute documentary about renowned composer Helmut Lachenmann, has been shown at numerous festivals and events since its Stuttgart premiere in July 2006: at Wien Modern (Vienna), doku.arts in Berlin, Doc Fest in Rome, at the Art Festivals of Asolo (Italy) and Montreal, in the Goethe Institutes of New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo, in the Academies of Art in Berlin and Munich as well as at the Musik Festival Schwetzinger Festspiele, among others. A television broadcast in the ARD Third Channels and on 3Sat is yet to come. Bettina Ehrhardt’s brilliant portrait of the world famous composer – who was awarded the Golden Lion of the Biennale of Venice in October 2008 – was realised on HD and in full feature length through the support of the MFG Baden-Württemberg Film Fund. SCHWENK FILM was co-production partner of bce Film Munich.
26 September 2008
Corporate Film Award for image film
At the 16th ITVA Festival SCHWENK FILM's HDTV image film for corporate customer Siller NOTES was given a "State of the Art Award". The short film is a particularly attractive combination of atmospheric shots from the PSI Industry Fair and of elegant packshots.
28 August 2008
„Gewissensfragen“ ("A Matter of Conscience") – new episodes of the series
Jurist and medic Dr. Dr. Rainer Erlinger is the author and presenter of a series of short films Schwenk Film has been producing since the end of 2007 for the television magazine „ARD Buffet“. 'SZ Magazin' Newspaper columnist Rainer Erlinger answers practical moral questions in his very personal way: close to reality, profound and often with a wink.
25 May 2008
„Messners Alps“ as DVD edition from Kinowelt
SCHWENK FILM's three-part film about the fascination and the future of the Alps is now available as DVD edition. „Messner's Alps“ was released by leading distributor Kinowelt – in a series with the most successful international nature documentaries including „Deep Blue“, „Microcosmos“, „Nomads of the Air“, „March of the Penguins“ or „To the Limit“. „Messner's Alps“ is published as a DVD edition including bonus material and an informative booklet (2 DVDs, about 20 Euro). The bonus material includes a compilation of the most beautiful aerial shots and an exclusive one-hour interview Hartmut Schwenk conducted with Reinhold Messner on the premises of his castle museum Sigmundskron near Bozen.
09 January 2008
Strong press response to "Messner's Alps"
"'Messner's Alps' are a paradise, and one we will not be expelled from (...) 'Messner's Alps' can take the credit for conveying an idea, not just in nostalgic retrospect, but as a critical foresight". Stefan Fischer in SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG, 29.12.07 ––– "Around New Year's, 'Das Erste' will air the three-part documentary 'Messner's Alps', tidying up romantic cliches ... Well done! ... Of course, the journey works already because of the fantastic images, when the camera races across snow-covered slopes in a helicopter or accurately stages lonely convents and deserted villages... Even by ARD standards, this was of rare quality, balanced, entertaining and educating." Peer Schrader in STERN.de, 27.12.07 ––– "The ambitious three-part film 'Messner's Alps' dares to offer an overview in 135 minutes, and so it stands out from among other modern mountain films. 'Messner's Alps' – its strong images can fill a movie screen, while going directly to television. (...) 'Messner's Alps' was created as a co-production of 16 European partners. Projects of this size are usually entrusted to the big players in the industry, not to small Stuttgart companies..." Thomas Klingenmaier in STUTTGARTER ZEITUNG, 28.12.2007 ––– "The places of tranquility are staged with equal care as the spectacular events. (...) Many wonderful nature shots and beautiful aerials." Fritz Wolf in epd MEDIEN, 09.01.2008 ––– "Peaks in High Definition – impressive three-part television film 'Messner's Alps'. (...) An enthralling experience, precisely because it addresses the problems of the mountain world and its perspectives, offering solutions. (...) Spectacular movie-quality images, rarely seen so brilliant." Kay Hoffmann in FILMECHO/FILMWOCHE, 49/07 ––– "A constantly-changing cultural landscape, filmed breathtakingly... A brilliant three-part mountain documentary." Stefan Ruzas in MONTE-WELT.com ––– "Successful mix of science documentary and portrait with interesting encounters and impressive pictures." 'TV SPIELFILM', 26/07
02 January 2008
"Messner's Alps" a success on ARD Das Erste
A total of 5,5 Million viewers watched the three episodes of „Messner's Alps“ around New Year's on ARD, attaining a market share between 8,1 and 10,4 percent. The documentaries competed successfully with strong programming on other channels – popular sports events and attractive feature films.
