Language

Philosophy

From the idea to the finished film

We have always seen it as a great challenge to build bridges with our films – between continents, cultures and people with all their different ideas

Faranak Djalali-Lorenz & Rüdiger Lorenz
Faranak Djalali-Lorenz and Rüdiger Lorenz in front of a mosque with a blue dome, blossoming branches in the foreground

  1. Idea

  2. The ideas for our films come from two cultural worlds. Faranak Djalali-Lorenz, born in Iran, and Rüdiger Lorenz have been working on projects together since 1990.

  3. Young women in headscarves in a cheering crowd, some whistling through their fingers
    Scene from the film “Jenseits des Spiegels” (Beyond the Mirror), Tehran during the Football World Cup

    In a world increasingly shaped by the confrontation of cultures, it is becoming ever more important to approach subjects from many angles. Looking at things from East and West at the same time gives us the chance to see behind doors that would otherwise stay closed, and to understand connections differently than a visitor who is only passing through could.

  4. Young men standing in a room, a man in a checked shirt holding a rifle
    Training of young people in a mosque in Iran during the Gulf War

    Portraying people’s world from their own point of view and taking the viewer there sometimes leads to films that leave the usual clichés behind, because they deliberately give up distance.

  5. Three people talking at a white garden table with notes
    Director’s meeting: the film “Ambohimanga” about the city of kings was made in Madagascar

    Involving local people in the creative process and being open to discussing the substance of a film can build bridges. Crossing them – questioning one’s own way of thinking – can sometimes feel like walking a tightrope.

  6. Group of men sitting in a room with a bookshelf, blue folders on the table
    Talking with founding members of the Indigenous University in Cuiabá, Brazil

  7. Research

  8. Whether in Asia, Africa, South America, the Orient or the Occident, we have learned a great deal from the people of these countries, both in preparing and in carrying out projects on location. They showed us the way and led us to places and goals we would never have reached without them.

  9. Smiling man wearing a headband looking through the viewfinder of a large film camera
    A San man at the 35 mm camera during filming of “Tsodilo – the Hills of the Stone Python”, Botswana

    Having time to engage with their stories and the rhythm of their lives was perhaps the most important experience of all. Along the way, warm friendships have grown on every one of these continents – friendships that help us again and again in realising new projects.

  10. Five men with a film camera on a tripod in front of ancient sandstone ruins
    Our film crew in Meroe, Sudan

  11. Script

  12. The first draft of a script may well be written right where things “happen”. Sometimes we simply cannot resist the chance to consult people on the spot, to experience settings again and again, to place them in new contexts and to see them in a different light.

  13. Dead tree in front of red sand dunes and a blue sky in the Namib Desert
    Scene from “Die Namib – the Place Where There Is Nothing”

    Sitting at the computer at home, working with experts and institutions, and drawing on our own archive of thousands of photos, video tapes and film reels – that is the other side of writing.

  14. Cleric with a white beard in gold-embroidered robes in a richly decorated church
    From the film “Bethlehem – Between Walls and Mass Tourism”

    Last but not least, the script also develops in collaboration with an editorial team that shares our enthusiasm for a subject or a new series.

  15. Man in white robes and turban praying in front of the setting sun over mountains
    From “Treasures of the World – Heritage of Mankind”: “The Friday Mosque”

  16. Production

  17. Where the production of a compelling documentary begins, we have usually left well-trodden paths far behind. Making sure that even demanding 35 mm film technology or digital equipment can play to its strengths under such conditions calls for the highest professionalism from the team.

  18. Film camera on a long crane arm above a trench cut into the rock, the crew above
    35 mm Arri on a crane – the only way to reveal the scale of the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia

    Now it is a matter of fulfilling our own standards and those of our commissioning broadcasters one hundred percent. Being largely self-sufficient in terms of equipment gives us additional security.

  19. Bright room with coloured glass windows, a carpet and an editing desk with several monitors
    Mobile editing suite in a 500-year-old house in Isfahan

    Editing on location is perhaps the ideal case. In our studio in Isfahan – sadly only for half a year – three films were made. The music was written by a local composer.

  20. Wind towers, minarets and a mosque dome above the mud-brick roofs of Yazd
    Above the rooftops of the oasis city of Yazd. From the film “Der Windturmbauer” (The Wind Tower Builder)