Polar
- 2008
- Germany, Switzerland
- 29 min. / 16mm, Blow-up 35mm
- 1:1,85 / Dolby 5.1
Luis travels to the mountains to reconnect with his father, who lives in a remote village. There he finds out his father has a new family. Torn between anger, incomprehension and the desire for emotional closeness, Luis tries to draw his father out.
Cast
- Max Brauer
- André Hennicke
- Maria Kwiatkowsky
Produced by Academy of Media Art Cologne and Kinomaton München in co-production with Dschoint Ventschr and Schweizer Fernsehen SRF
Crew
- Director
- Michael Koch
- Screenplay
- Juliane Grossheim, Michael Koch
- Cinematographer
- Bernhard Keller
- Editor
- Stefan Stabenow
- Production design
- Valerie Hess, Stefanie Schaad
- Costume design
- Juliane Maier
- Makeup
- Marina Aebi
- Key grip
- Henry Notroff
- Sound
- Benjamin Simon, Marc Wesemann, Jonas Hummel
- Sound design
- Knut Jensen
- Music
- Huck Finn
- Producer
- Elena von Saucken
- Production
- Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln and Kinomaton München in co-production with Dschoint Ventschr and Schweizer Fernsehen
Press
“Polar has a perfect density that is unparalleled even in short film. Michael Koch and his team have extracted a mere concentrate of the narrative from the original material. Anything that could distract from the essential, every basically unnecessary embellishment has been jettisoned and gives way to an astonishingly focused clarity. Polar is a masterpiece of reduction that only short film can achieve.”
Oliver Baumgarten, Schnitt, das Filmmagazin 03/09
“The masterful camera consistently stays with the characters and captures the barren landscape in such a way that it seems to reflect the state of their souls. This results in reduction on all levels for a film of great atmospheric density that is deeply moving without being in the least sentimental.”
Jury Deutscher Kurzfilmpreis in Gold 2009
Festivals
- Berlin International Film Festival, 2009
- Int. Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, 2008
- Int. Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, 2009
- Filmfest Dresden, 2009
- Int. Kurz Film Festival Hamburg, 2009
- Cinema Corto in Bra Festival, 2009
- Warsaw Int. Film Festival, 2009
- São Paulo Int. Short Film Festival, 2009
- Kiev Int. Film Festival „Molodist“, 2009
- Alcine, Festival de Cine Alcalà de Henares, 2009
