Film and television soundtracks (selection)
Col. Shaffer's Death play, stop
All-new 90-minutes-feature based on the TV-serial. Here the roles are largely reversed: Commissioner Sophie Haas gets into suspicion of murder. She and her team spend an uncomfortable night being interrogated on the police station in Hammelforst until the case takes an unexpected turn …
Director: Jan Schomburg
Cast: Caroline Peters, Bjarne Mädel, Maike Droste, Nina Proll, Petra Kleinert, Johann von Bülow a.o.
The stressed-out and obsessively order fanatical chef Oliver knows nothing of the existence of his daughter, until one day she shows up at his door - and shakes his life vigorously. The sitcom tells the troubled lives of the unequal couple on six episodes of 30 minutes each.
Director: Joseph Orr
Cast: Alexander Schubert, Amelie Plaas-Link
Everything will be fine! play, stop
With the third season, the team from Hengasch around Commissioner Sophie Haas had more viewers than ever before: On average 6.52 million watched the bizarre Eifel series, corresponding to a market share of 20.9 percent, making it the most successful series on German television.
Directors: Christoph Schnee, Kaspar Heidelbach and Lars Jessen
Cast: Caroline Peters, Bjarne Mädel, Maike Droste, Petra Kleinert, Johann von Bülow a.o.
Bonn 1948: The delegate of the German Parliamentary Council, Elisabeth Selbert, fights against many obstacles for including the fateful sentence "Men and women have equal rights" in Article 3 of the Constitution. The way to her triumphant success is staged as a thrilling and moving political drama by Erica von Moeller.
Director: Erica von Moeller
Cast: Iris Berben, Anna Maria Mühe, Rudolf Kowalski, Walter Sittler a.o.
The second season of this off the wall crime series has been a complete success once again: sensational ratings and rave reviews!
Directed by: Christoph Schnee, Lars Jessen, Thorsten Wacker
Cast: Caroline Peters, Bjarne Mädel, Hans Peter Hallwachs, Meike Droste, Petra Kleinert, and others
Baustelle Deutschland play, stop
Cabaret and comedy show with Jürgen Becker: Germany's under construction: Sending up society in general – and a little of everything. From final disposal sites for atomic waste that can, in any case, still only be regarded as provisional to the train station that will go underground forever. Germany is one big building site making it a true challenge for those plying the comedy trade as well. Jürgen Becker has invited five highly talented representatives of this guild for a joint stock-taking:
Django Asül, a Muslim from Bavaria; Marek Fis, a Polish Catholic; Katja Garmasch alias Madame Olga, a Russian Jew; Uwe Steimle, an atheist from Saxony and Abdelkarim Zemhoute, a Muslim from Morocco.
The theme music for the program quotes a nearly deaf German colleague and complements his somewhat simplistic ideas with much-needed sounds from a construction site.
This fast-paced social thriller is about a group of street children threatened by prostitution, poverty, and human traffickers. At their arranged rendezvous – a seaside diving board – they dream of a better future and finally get the better of one of their worst adversaries.
Directed by: João Rodrigo Mattos
The first six episodes in 2008 thrilled millions of viewers and met with very positive reviews: "intelligent, funny, subtle" (SZ), "the biggest success on ARD for a long time" (Spiegel), "more youthful and featuring unconventional and affectionate characterization" (FAZ), "a strong cast" (NRZ).
Broadcast in 2010, episodes 7-13 further boosted success with sensational ratings and a big response from viewers. There is still strong demand from enthusiastic fans for the series sound track (sole previous broadcast: OBST-Almanach 9).
Directed by: Torsten Wacker, Joseph Orr
Cast: Caroline Peters, Bjarne Mädel, Hans Peter Hallwachs, Meike Droste, and others
"Is it a living being, which has separated in itself?" asked Goethe in 1815. The poet felt the ginkgo's bipartite leaf was symbolic of friendship. The tree is considered a living fossil, for after all, the dinosaurs once fed on its leaves. The film traces the history of the medicinal plant that is even resistant to radioactivity.
Script and directed by: Michael R. Gärtner
Sponges are animals even though they possess neither organs nor a nervous system. There are 8,000 different kinds known, yet scientists believe that there are up to 50,000. As the subtitle indicates, in her documentary Corinna Belz deals with the 'wonderful world of sponges' – portraying them in a completely new light.
Script and directed by: Corinna Belz
An apartment, four bedrooms, four different tenants who never enter each other's rooms. The refurbishment of a former Soviet communal apartment as a crash course in Russian capitalism.
"...more exciting than any thriller, more human than a lot of melodrama and more analytical than most articles about the economy, politics, and society. And, at the same time, full of truth." (Joachim Kurz in kino-zeit.de)
The film music was recorded a cappella by the Cologne-based Les Saxosythes ensemble.
Script and directed by: Christiane Büchner
The docu-drama "Fräulein Stinnes fährt um die Welt" tells the adventurous story of Clärenore Stinnes who, in 1927, was the first woman to drive a car around the world.
The lyrics of the song for the closing credits were written and sung by Verena Guido in the original style of that period.
Directed by: Erica von Moeller
Cast: Sandra Hüller, Bjarne Henriksen
Crime series: Cologne police detective Sophie Haas, a typical single woman in the big city, senses that her career is about to take a big step forward. However, things don't come as expected: Instead of being named head of Cologne's homicide division, she ends up as head of department at Hengasch in the remote Eifel region ...
Directed by: Arne Feldhusen, Christoph Schnee
Cast: Caroline Peters, Bjarne Mädel, Hans Peter Hallwachs, Meike Droste, and others.
Veronika had actually planned to leave the family business and her husband. Just when she was packed and ready to go, her husband dies. Now she has to make up her mind: If she stays, she has to accept the inheritance ...
The music was recorded with members of the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, among others.
Directed by: Matthias Tiefenbacher
Cast includes: Saskia Vester, Oliver Stokowski, Rosel Zech
tells the moving and dramatic story of a friendship between girls against all odds. With considerable empathy, the director provides glimpses of how a group of exploited Romanian street children live in Germany. The film won numerous prizes, including the "Best Foreign Film Award" at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.
Script and directed by: Martin Theo Krieger
Cast includes: Katharina Derr, Patrick von Blume, Sina Tkotsch
The new "true family series" from the author and director Ute Diehl ("Die Fussbroichs") reveals the everyday life of the Özdags, a large Turkish-German family who run a Turkish baker's shop on Cologne's Keupstrasse.
The vocal version in the closing credits was sung by the five-year-old Nihal Serindag.
A picture of destruction – the result of fifteen years of civil war and terror. As a journalist, the Irishwoman Leila Blacking has already reported about the Liberian civil war. That's precisely why Liberia, the first assignment in her new role as an ICRC delegate, isn't exactly her favorite destination. Tense encounters with corrupt warlords, happier moments with former child soldiers who now light-heartedly play soccer again and some successful family reunions ...
Script and directed by: Luzia Schmid
"A cheerful Heimatfilm with idyllic landscapes and country animals" – that's how the ARD Degeto Film "Der Sonnenhof" can be described. What could be more full of sunbeams than having the proven acting duo of Suzanne von Borsody and Peter Sattmann play the leading roles in this sumptuous TV melodrama about a troubled stud farm owner... (W. Geldne1r at monstersandcritics.de)
The music was recorded with members of the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, among others.
Directed by: Matthias Tiefenbacher
Cast: Suzanne von Borsody, Peter Sattmann, and others
In 1945 brothers Ernst and Peter are held captive in former Yugoslavia as young members of the Wehrmacht. They spend several years there before they are released and return home again. In 2005 the film maker Gabriele Hochleitner traveled with her father and her uncle back to the Balkans. Against this background the two old men remember past events – the war, their childhood and youth ...
The song "Zwa traurige Buam" is sung by both protagonists in the film. The music accompaniment was later recorded by the Markus Reinhardt Ensemble.
Script and directed by: Gabriele Hochleitner
Mika Kaurismäki's new film SONIC MIRROR dives into the world of rhythm in a surprising way – on an unusual journey he uncovers the magical relationship between life and rhythm.
Drum legend Billy Cobham leads us from Western music via its African origins and Brazilian rhythms to musical experiments with autistic people ...
Directed by: Mika Kaurismäki
The name Benidorm stands for package tourism, for sun and cut-price booze and for a coastline that's been paved over. In winter its main residents are retired people. "Benidorm" is a quiet, vividly photographed film about age, dignity, and transience.
The film uses music very sparingly, the "muzak" style music that can be heard reproduces the sounds of hotel corridors, elevators and restrooms.
Script and directed by: Carolin Schmitz
Die Herren der Liegezonen play, stop
Mattresses – we are born on them, we sleep on them, make love on them, weep on them and, finally, we die on them. The lords of the comfort zones who sell us this essential but largely unappreciated object are the ones who make sure we get a good night's sleep. The film deals with that almost unknown species, the mattress dealer.
Script and directed by: Konstantin Faigle
"...feels like a holiday: roaring waves, rolling sand dunes, the smell of a fresh sea breeze." Enraged and disappointed by her unfaithful boyfriend, Carla (Stefanie Stappenbeck) escapes on the ferry to Amrum. Based on the motto "New life, new luck." If it were only that simple... Made in 2005, this lively, charming comedy stands head and shoulders above the ranks of TV romances... (J. Schöppner in m&c). The music was recorded with members of Gürzenich Orchester Cologne, and others.
Directed by: Matthias Tiefenbacher
Cast: Stefanie Stappenbeck, Axel Milberg, Mareike Carrière, and others
Die Grosse Depression play, stop
Are we Germans depressed moaners or do we simply have a couple of screws loose?!
Himself a hypochondriac and suffering, according to his doctor's diagnosis, from depressive moods, filmmaker Konstantin Faigle embarks on an ethnological, historical, sociological, and scientific journey from one side of Germany to the other.
On the way he meets prominent anti-depressives such as Father Faigle, Father Anselm Grün, Ludwig II, Alice Schwarzer, and Walter Jens.
Script and directed by: Konstantin Faigle
Dance film, choreography: Jochen Ulrich, directed by: Stefan Weinert
Lorent killt Söntgen play, stop
Cologne's Ehrenfeld district, shortly before the end of WWII. The city is sinking beneath the rubble from the bombing raids. Nevertheless, a group of young boys and girls are impervious to it all and go about their daily lives the way they choose t o...
Directed by: Niko von Glasow
Cast: Anna Thalbach, Bela B. Felsenheimer, and others
The "Steinbrück" theme is heard in a version by solex mechanics, a Django Reinhardt remix project (Gehrke/Schilling). The Auryn Quartett recorded most of the soundtrack as well as the music for the scene where, on an alcoholic binge, the traumatized and desperate Lorent shoots the Ortsgruppenleiter (Nazi municipal mayor) Söntgen dead.
Espionage stronghold Berlin in the 1950s: The political systems, East against West, West against East, fought each other here. Intelligence agencies, press organizations, political parties – they were all involved. Attempts were made from the West to destabilize the GDR, the East mercilessly tracked down those opposed to the regime – all the way to West Berlin. By the time the Berlin Wall was built more than 600 people had been abducted from the Western part of the city into the GDR. The film portrays four of them.
Script and directed by: Erika Fehse
TV crime drama. Detective Springer (Rita Russek) files away a homicide too quickly. Private detective Wilsberg (Leonard Lansik) reveals the treacherous game behind a lucrative building project in Münster ...
The film does not contain any music composed for scenes. I arranged the Musette Waltz accompaniment for the Markus Reinhardt Ensemble who also play it in a pub scene in the picture.
Short film by Stefan Weinert, can be viewed here:
Die schönste aus Bitterfeld play, stop
Comedy. Bitterfeld shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The skies above the city are just as gray as the daily lives of the women working in a chemical plant. Which is why they want to organize a beauty contest on International Women's Day. Glamor in Bitterfeld, in a manner of speaking! But there's a long way to go to get there, especially since the main organizer Gisela also has to cope with many personal problems …
Directed by: Matthias Tiefenbacher
Cast: Astrid Meyerfeldt, Oliver Korittke, Doreen Jacobi, Hannes Jaenicke, Wolke Hegenbarth, and others.
It's about a completely normal shift for an average group of policemen. Their dealings with down and outs, crackpots, prostitutes, and the relationships of the men and women in the police station form the backdrop of the episodes. With the focus on the underbelly of street life, this satirical TV series takes a serious look at the daily grind of real police work and condenses it to make the private and professional lives of the characters move and entertain ...
Script and directed by: Ute Diehl
Surrealistic road movie: On a tour through Eastern Europe a half-forgotten pop star gets to know the secretive blond, Natasha, and falls in love with her. The film by Mika Kaurismäki is based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.
The accompanying music was recorded for a nightclub scene.
Directed by: Mika Kaurismäki
Cast: Henry Thomas, Irina Björklund, Helmut Berger, Bela B. Felsenheimer
The entire life of the family revolves around her: Mother is in a coma. The film portrays the unusual daily life of a family who manage to look after their mother at home with tremendous strength and a positive outlook.
A film in the Menschen Hautnah series
Script and directed by: Monika Siegfried-Hagenow
The end of the 1960s: Amid the political and social upheavals between revolution and reaction the journalist and film maker Oswalt Kolle (Sylvester Groth) breaks a lance for his vision of liberal sexual enlightenment with a good dose of commitment and sometimes even missionary zeal ...
Directed by: Susanne Zanke
Cast: Sylvester Groth, Annett Renneberg, Petra Zieser, and others.
Short film by Stefan Weinert, can be viewed here
19-year-old Mario is arrested after committing several crimes and sent to a closed psychiatric unit where he refuses to cooperate at all with doctors and psychotherapists. Isa suddenly shows up and feels herself drawn to the odd boy. She helps Mario to run away ...
Directed by: Hanno Brühl
Cast: Antonio Wannek, Lena Lauzemis, Axel Prahl, and others.
Two songs can be heard (Tough Guy, Twisted) for the title and closing credits sung by Nicola Neumann.
The accordion part comes from Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" and was recorded by Ruslan Slinko.
Leben nach Microsoft play, stop
"You can break up with Bill, but you will never get rid of him." (Douglas Coupland: "Microslaves")
This film about Microsoft dropouts takes a critical, sobering look at the Gates empire and at working patterns that will be the patterns of the 21st century.
Script and directed by: Corinna Belz and Regina Schilling
An early film appearance by Daniel Brühl, who can be seen here in one of his father Hanno's directorial works. Fast-paced mix of drama and love story that accurately captures the coming of age of the main characters.
Daniel is seen and heard as the singer in a rock band with the song "Alone" (M.+T.:Schilling): YouTube
The optician Sarah Urban has drawn conclusions from the failed marriage with her husband Ralf. She brings up her eight-year-old son Benny alone and only has affairs. Her son doesn't like it at all. Vicious and cryptic ...
Directed by: Oliver Sudden
Cast: Simone Thomalla, Mathieu Carrière, Ingrid van Bergen
Since 1997 Schimanski has been back on German TV not as the "Tatort" detective anymore but as man out fighting on his own ……which is why he also needed his own theme song ...
Various directors worked on the series
Cast: Götz George, and others
This two-part thriller has won many awards: The art dealer Bernhard Rohleder allegedly dies while on a business trip to Moscow. But his wife distrusts the Russian authorities. Together with chief inspector Bubka she investigates on her own and is caught in a net of drugs, prostitution, and secret service skulduggery...
Directed by: Adolf Winkelmann
Cast: Sissi Perlinger, Sergej Garmash, and others.
... are probably Cologne's best-known family. In the cult series “Die Fussbroichs – Die einzig wahre Familienserie von Ute Diehl” the family’s candid and spontaneous wit has been thrilling millions of viewers for more than 11 years. Even today the series is still among the highlights of German TV history.
The whistling soloist of the theme music is Alex Sputh.
Script and directed by: Ute Diehl
Cast: Fred, Annemie, and Frank Fussbroich
In 1813 the war against Napoleon is raging in Prussia. 16-year-old Marie (Sylvie Testud) doesn't care: Sheltered by her governess, she lives through puberty on the estate of her aristocratic mother. She falls in love with Auguste (Bastian Trost), the nephew of a mirror dealer. When displaced soldiers seek shelter on the estate, Marie's affections pass to the leader Friedrich (Martin Feifel). The marauder has evil plans …
Niko von Glasow made his directorial debut with this artistically produced story about growing up.
The accompanying waltz was recorded for a dance scene by Cologne's Auryn Quartett.