Tall Girls

Crew

Director: Edda Baumann-von Broen
Camera: Boris Fromageot, Heiko Rahnenführer, Christoph Lerch
Sound: Stefan Klein, Moritz Hömberg, Enno Grabenhorst, David Kammerer
Editor: Philip Kiessling
Animation: Bryce Hallett, Frog Feet Production

The Film

Tall Girls

I am tall. Some say very tall – others, too tall. By my twelfth birthday I had grown to a height of 5’11” My friends’ aunts were sure I would never find a husband. I was always the last girl to be asked to dance. On the street, I was the first to be noticed—and stared at.

Until 11 years ago, my height of 6’2”, with all its benefits and drawbacks, always seemed just part of my personal biography, which began in the 1970s in a provincial German town. Then my daughter was born. From the beginning on she was taller than the other babies. On the playgrounds of our central Berlin neighborhood she was taken to be older than she was, and other parents were quick to appeal to her sense of reason or talk about her with a mixture of respect and pity. Through her I have become aware that my story is not mine alone, but rather a collective experience.

I began researching on the internet. Why do just a few inches set us apart from the rest? We may be despised, desired, stared at… but are seldom seen simply as girls or women. Statistically, tall women earn more money and are less likely to marry than shorter ones. It shocked me to learn that many girls in the Western world still undergo high-dosage hormone treatment to slow or stop their growth. I discovered a strange sub-universe in which clinic addresses are secretly exchanged and men create websites to indulge their passions for the feet and hands of especially tall women.

Ironically perhaps, tall women as a group have been conspicuously quiet. I wondered: are we slightly ashamed?

I decided to meet other tall girls and women out there to find out what this universe of tall is all about. I realized quickly: life above 6’ really is different. Other rules apply up here. Tiiu and Michelle are successful models, but too tall for their jobs. Arianne’s mother doesn’t like her daughter’s height. Sarah is undergoing surgery to prevent her from becoming an estimated 6’3“. Lea is taking hormones which are prohibited for children to stop her from growing. Lisa is 16 and 6’6“ and could become a professional basketball player if she tried hard enough, but she would rather be a proper girl.

Through my encounters with many tall girls and women, it became increasingly clear to me that the core issue is self-determination, which we, especially, have to struggle with, since we are confronted so early with so many expectations. As a mother I needed to know: would my daughter have to go through the same struggles? How could I guide her in the right direction?

“TALL GIRLS – A Story Of Giants” chronicles my journey into the heart of tall.

PRESS

In einem Artikel in der Fachzeitschrift “Betrifft Mädchen” schreibt TALL GIRLS-Regisseurin Edda über ihr Leben als große Frau und die Arbeit am Film.

Artikel als PDF

Es könnte so schön sein: Die Prinzessin streift durch den Zauberwald auf der Suche nach dem Prinzen. Da kommt er auch schon angeritten, lächelt sie an – und seine Augen wandern nach oben. Die Prinzessin ist viel größer als er, er kann sie nicht mal aufs Pferd heben! So stand das nicht im Märchen. Aber dies ist auch kein Märchen, sondern ein Zeichentrickfilm, der eine für große Mädchen sehr reale Geschichte erzählt. Edda Baumann-von Broen, selbst 1,86 Meter, eröffnet mit der kurzen Animation ihren Film „Tall Girls“, der am Donnerstag in die Kinos kommt. …

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Tall Girls the DVD

Run Time: 79 min.
Format: 16:9
Ton: Stereo
Language: Deutsch, Englisch, Holländisch
Subtitles: Deutsch
not suitable for children under 6

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Cuba on the move

Produced by: Edda Baumann-von Broen
Directed by: Hasko Baumann
Released: 2016
Runtime: 5 x 26 Minutes

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Cuba on the move. The opening to the West holds both opportunities and risks in equal measure for the socialist holiday paradise with its eventful history. For “Cuba On The Go” the Cuban actor Fernando Spengler, who lives for ten years in Germany, embarks on a journey through his home country.

The documentary series shows the change and the spirit of optimism on site. It shows life designs that recently wouldn’t have been possible in Cuba. In an entertaining way Fernando Spenglers’ road trip through his home becomes a detailed evaluation of the country’s’ situation: Here everybody longs for the opening to a new world but at the same time doesn’t lose sight of the well-being of Cuba. Every development, every idea has a holistic approach. And as one of Fernando’s companions says: “No matter where we go, we’ll always remain Cubans.”


Into the Night Thurston Moore und Phil Collins

Produced by: Edda Baumann-von Broen
Directed by: Hasko Baumann
Released: 2016
Runtime: 52 Minuten

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The indie rock icon Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) and the British video artist Phil Collins spent on the occasion of the “Pop Culture Festival” one night together in Berlin. On the way they meet the former RAF member Astrid Proll and the artist Scott King. A lively exchange with beer and cigarettes about art, music and the love for the German capital.

The Pop Culture Festival in Berlin brings together various artists to the stages of Neukölln and stimulates a interdisciplinary exchange. Entirely in the spirit of “Into the Night With…” that connects two of the most exciting artists of the festival.

The New Yorker musician Thurston Moore, who’s always in the top 20 lists of the best guitarists in the world, contributed decisive impulses to indie rock. The British video artist and photographer Phil Collins inspires with his political interactive artworks that gained him a Turner Prize nomination in 2006.

Collins, who teaches at the Cologne school of arts for media, lives in Berlin and there he welcomes the Londoner-by-choice Moore. Both have the greatest respect for each others’ work so that a lively exchange between them arises quickly.

Together they visit the popular video installation “Manifesto” in Hamburger Bahnhof by Julian Rosefeldt which Cate Blanchett performs in a dozen roles for. At least equally impressed the both are by meeting the photographer and former RAF member Astrid Proll. Later that evening the artist Scott King shows them his collection of rock memorabilia. But Collins and Moore have their doubts: Is that really Kurt Cobains’ lighter or does King fib a little?

The last stop of the night is the bar “Das Gift” in Neukölln which Collins runs together with a member of the band Mogwai. Here Thurston Moores partner, the publisher of Eva Prinz, accompanies the Bristish-American duo. In an exuberant atmosphere the amusing and very entertaining interdisciplinary night finds its ending.


Into the Night with Jim Rose and Joe Coleman

Produced by: Edda Baumann-von Broen
Directed by: Hasko Baumann
Released: 2016
Runtime: 52 Minuten

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Welcome to the circus ring! The freak show master Jim Rose made a million dollar business with the dark side of the circus – his “Jim Rose Circus”. In his adopted country of Nantes he meets his favourite artist, the legendary New Yorker painter Joe Coleman. An evening full of sensations with two true masters of the unusual and saturnine.

A journey back to the roots of circus when the spectacle was based on curiosity. The American Jim Rose revived the classical freak show in the 90s with his “Jim Rose Circus” and made a million dollar business with it. He even had guest appearances in “The X-Files” and “The Simpsons”. In his adopted country Nantes he meets his favourite artist , the legendary painter and provocateur Joe Coleman. Coleman is fascinated by the dark side of the circus since his childhood days. His paintings show the shadowy of American culture, stars like Johnny Depp belong to his admirers.

Nantes proves to be the perfect setting for the two fans of the fantastic. They marvel at the giant mechanic elephant at the “Island of Machines”, meet the hologram artist Pierrick Sorin and explore the Jules Verne Museum. Together they visit the circus school “Chapidock” where Rose tries to reconnect with the good old times as juggler and Coleman shoots flames into the night sky together with a fire-artist. The circus community “Quai des Chaps” inspired Jim Rose to some shenanigans with painful outcome for his victims.

Coleman and Rose — two men who look back on an extreme life full of drugs and excesses: One a freak show master enjoying tricks and fraud, the other an artist with a tendency for reckless self-experiments. The affection between those both extraordinary storytellers couldn’t be stronger. As a result Jim Rose bursts out the ultimate declaration of love while dining: “Joe, you are really crazy.”


The Donald Duck Principle

Produced by: Edda Baumann-von Broen
Directed by: Edda Baumann-von Broen | Hasko Baumann
Released: 2014
Runtime: 90 Minuten

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Are the comics about the drake Donald Duck just for kids? Certainly not! This film gives prominent fans a chance to tell how the small duck in its sailor suit changed their lives and shows why we’re all sometimes a bit like him. The documentary tells why Donald Duck hit Europe like a bomb after the Second World War, creates a loving psychogram of the drake who’d love to be successful and eventually examines the question how our on self-optimization focused society deals with failure.

For Americans the meaning of the Donald Duck comics in Europe is hardly conceivable. For a whole generation the stories by the outstanding comic illustrator Carl Barks were the first contact with comics, with the USA and with a daring idea: It doesn’t matter how often you fall – essential is that you stand up again. In Donald Duck we recognize our fears, our insecurities and failures, our vanities and our grief, but also our persistence that helps us standing up after every defeat to start over again.

„Donald Duck saved my life“, says the Austrian painter Gottfried Helnwein. The French cartoonist Jean-Pierre Dionnet explains that even the inventors of the legendary comic »Métal Hurlant« admired the small duck. “Donald was my access to the world” realizes the Norwegian poet Oyvind Holen.

Hardly any comic figure has such passionate fans in Europe like Donald Duck. Lots of them are famous artists themselves. Some of them dealt so seriously with the inner life of Donald Duck as if he was a real character. Who thought that uncle Dagobert is a cheapskate is proved wrong in this movie: Even the eager capitalist would like to be a bit more like his nephew.

But does Donald Duck still fit into our time? What is the role of jinx’ and losers in contemporary culture in which more and more people are concerned with optimizing their productivity and attractiveness? The film seeks answers with the help of sociologists, school losers, the founder of the French website “Vie de Merde”, in the Silicon Valley – where a loser with a crazy idea might become the winner of tomorrow and in Hollywood – where losers as are currently very present characters.

Donald Duck shows us like no other what it means to be human. Failure is over and over part of it.


Boys and Bows

Coproduction: avanti media plus & Mijin Lee
Direction: Donghan Lee
Year: 2017
Duration: 52 Minuten (TV) / 60 Minuten (Kino)

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Boys and Bows is the coming-of-age story of seven teenage archers in the South Korean rural province. Director Donghan Lee accompanied them for one year in their search for the perfect hits and created an intimate portrait.

Two hours away from Seoul, surrounded by paddy fields, the Byoungcheon Highschool is situated which trains an archer team with a long history. The school is a so-called third class school with a bad reputation. Equally unpopular is the archery, although South Koreans record considerable successes in the precision sport.

Even if the seven archers don’t get a lot of professional support, they are happy to draw their bow every school day from 9 am til 9 pm and to shoot up to 1000 arrows a day. Different to most teenagers in South Korea those boys don’t fulfil the dreams of their parents by attending a good college, but their own: to hit the perfect goal.

The film focuses on two protagonists: The 17-year-old rebel Kookhyun likes to irritate and is disciplined by the coach every day. Having a difficult family background he worked his way up from the bottom of the team. The 18-year-old Jeayup, who has always the same facial expression, is the ace of the Byoungcheon team, but he remains number two in his age class. Will he be able to overcome his sorrows and his rival with the help of his bow?

Director Donghan Lee, former social worker, accompanied the young athletes for one year to competitions and in everyday life. He creates a very personal portrait of the teenagers, their successes and failures and the impact of archery on their search for identity.


Into the Night Igudesman & Joo

Produced by: avanti media plus
Directed by: Edda Baumann-von Broen und Aljoscha Hofmann
Released: 2017
Runtime: 52 Minutes

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Without a doubt the Salzburg Festival is a Mecca for many classical music lovers because of large-scale productions and big names of the world of classical music, nevertheless some perceived the festival as too dignified and ostentatious in the past.

The violinist Aleksey Igudesman and the pianist Hyung-ki Joo take a look behind the scenes a few days before the first premieres and meet old friend and new acquaintances. Lots of musicians of the younger generation appreciate the rather unusual combination of classical music and humour and the virtuous musical sketches of Igudesman and Joo.

At first the both meet her friend Sarah Wedl-Wilson, the vice chancellor of the University Mozarteum Salzburg. Afterwards they meet the good-humoured president of the Salzburg Festival in the Great Festival Hall. Helga Rabl-Stadler gives them a look behind the scenes of the Rock Riding School while they joke together. At the end they even get a vague invitation to participate next year.

Next they pick up Vladimir Jurowski who conducts Alban Bergs “Wozzeck” this year and enquire about the rehearsals. At the spectacular roof terrace of the Festival Hall they talk with Jurowski about Frank Zappa and how it feels to be a conductor’s son. Afterwards they make music with her friend, the soprano singer Asmik Grigorian who sings in “Wozzeck”, in a rehearsal room of the Festival Hall.

In the gourmet restaurant Ikaraus Igudesman & Joo meet their friend, the performance artist and grand child of Charlie Chaplin, Aurelia Thierrée. The French star cook Daniel Bouloud, who’s a super star in the US, cooks Scottish food for the trio. They philosophize about the difficulties of easiness, about timing and humour and the challenge to classify their work.

Well-nourished they walk through the heavy summer rain to the cathedral square where they want to meet their friend Michael Sturminger. This year he directs Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s “Jedermann” and wants to test the lighting a few days before the premiere. But as the cathedral square is under water Sturminger invites them to the unofficial Festival canteen “Resch&Lieblich”. Even at midnight the restaurant bursts from all seams. There they also meet Peter Lohmeyer, who plays the death in “Jedermann” for the fifth time already.

Zur späten Stunde empfängt sie noch Teodor Currentzis in seinem Salzburger Domizil. Der Dirigent, der als Klassikrebell gilt, hat wenig Muße für Oberflächlichkeit. Stattdessen diskutiert er mit den beiden über Mozarts Leben und die Frage, ob Dirigenten notwendig sind. Als der Regen endlich nachlässt, machen sich Igudesman und Joo müde, aber beeindruckt von den vielen Begegnungen, auf den Weg zurück nach Wien.

Late at night Teodor Currentzis welcomes them on his Salzburg domicile. The conductor, who’s known as rebel in the classical music scene, doesn’t have any interest in superficiality. Instead he talks about Mozarts life and the question whether conductor’s are necessary. When the rain finally lessens, Igudesman & Joo head back to Vienna — tired but impressed by all the encounters.


Into the Night with Oskar Roehler and Lars Eidinger

Production: avanti media plus
Directors: Hasko Baumann and Edda Baumann-von Broen
Year: 2018
Duration: 52 minutes

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Two enfants terribles, fearless in their work, spent a night marked by admiration and irritation in Berlin together and challenge the boundaries of political correctness. Between the acclaimed star of “Schaubühne” and film actor Lars Eidinger and the controversial director and writer Oskar Roehler a lively exchange about political responsibility and the creation of one’s own artistic identity unfolds.

They met two years ago when the director invited the actor for a casting for his planned Fassbinder film. According to Eidinger, “it was love at first sight”. Roehler, the intellectual lone wolf, Eidinger, the instinctive emotional person, who has been a member of the Berlin “Schaubühne” ensemble since 1999, both restless in their creativity and multi-talented – an evening among equally talented, like-minded people. One thinks. But the evening becomes a challenge. There is a rift in German society that also has its impact on the German cultural landscape. He’s rather right-wing, says the ingenious filmmaker and author early that night. Eidinger appears to be irritated, but gets deeper into the topic.

On the way to the “Diener Tattersall”, once Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s favourite pub, the political discussion intensifies. Eidinger wants to share his wealth, Roehler counters: “As an artist you already share enough.” While eating sausages and aspic, the two get closer together again. You should always ask where one comes from, Roehler warns, “not just the Syrian refugee.”

In the studio of video artist John Bock they talk about artistic influences and directors they admire. Roehler and Bock discover their mutual love for the dark and decide to produce a remake of “American Psycho” before the evening heats up in a billiard pub: Here the former “Burgtheater” actor Oliver Masucci, who played Adolf Hitler in the movie “Er ist wieder da” (“He’s back”), awaits them and challenges Eidinger – not only politically.


Real Men

Director: Hasko Baumann
Production: Edda Baumann-Von Broen
Year: 2018
Duration 52/74/90 Min.
World Sales: Rise And Shine Cinema

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“Real Men” investigates the myth screen hero and its importance for men in the Western world. The movie deals with professional image building in Hollywood as well as with the search by men for their own identity and the comparison of the self with screen role models.

Cinema has guided many boys’ transition into manhood – or at least influenced their self-discovery. “Film images have an enormous influence on real life,” says actor Robert Forster. His colleague Thomas Jane looks back on his school days when Clint Eastwood was the greatest. Dale Dye, now military adviser for Hollywood movies, wanted to join the Marines after seeing Sands of Iwo Jima with John Wayne. Steve McQueen, Bruce Lee, Bruce Willis – there have always been men who were more than just actors.

REAL MEN investigates the myth of the screen hero made in Hollywood and its importance for men all over the world.  The documentary is a visually stunning declaration of love for the tough men, yet  a critical look behind the scenes of image building in cinema in general. It traces the development of the Tough Guy from the beginnings of Bogart to the ultimate machos like Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Van Damme to a look into the future.

True role models of classic male icons such as cowboys and policemen have their say, as do Hollywood producers, celebrity personal trainers and former action stars such as Michael Dudikoff and Fred Williamson or the legendary one-time 007 George Lazenby. They discuss their image and a man’s search for his own identity.

Strength, assertiveness, self-confidence – many of the attributes of what is defined as manly traces back to cinema. However, in times of #metoo this machismo made in Hollywood seems outdated and nor even mainstream anymore.

The film looks into the future of cinema: big box office hits like Wonder Women and Black Panther just recently opened the door for more diversity. Female Kung Fu star Zara Phythian and Asian action hero Jean-Paul Ly discuss how tough the action film world used to be if you were not white and male while action star Scott Adkins insists: the old-school macho still is an intriguing role.


Into the Night with Pamela Anderson and Srećko Horvat

Production: avanti media plus
Director: Edda Baumann-von Broen
Year: 2019
Duration: 52 Minuten

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Pamela Anderson, actress and fourteen times Playboy’s cover-girl, who has been an animal rights activist for a long time and whose socio-political commitment has attracted attention in recent years, meets Srećko Horvat, the young Croatian philosopher and co-founder of the DiEM25 movement, which is now competing in the European elections. On the occasion of the interdisciplinary Elevate Festival in Graz, they talk about climate protection, animal welfare and love. In the course of the evening, a very entertaining and enlightening discussion about political and private issues and a convincing plea for more commitment develops between the allegedly unequal couple.

Srećko Horvat picks up Pamela Anderson from the hotel. The first autograph hunter stalks himself on the way to the Graz Schlossberg. Anderson complains about the innumerable ugly photos that exist of her and ponders about bringing out a book with her worst photos herself.

The night begins with a gruesomely beautiful ride on the Grazer Märchenbahn deep into the mountain, which is particularly popular with Brothers Grimm fan Pamela Anderson. On the way across the architecturally spectacular Murinsel at sunset, they talk about Hugh Hefner and sex in the digital age. Both agree: monogamy is the real revolution.

The limo is already waiting to drive them to the opening event of the Elevate Festival in Orpheum Graz, where preparations are still in full swing. Here they meet the Nigerian environmentalist Nnimmo Bassey and winner of the alternative Nobel Prize “Right Livelihood Award” and talk to him about environmental activism in Africa. Anderson speaks very specifically and well-informed with Bassey about the problems of reforestation in Africa, while Horvat deals with the bigger picture.

“Only together are we strong and can shape the future we want,” Bassey said later during his appearance. As the star guest of the evening, Pamela Anderson then enters the stage, who speaks openly about her path from pin-up girl to activist in front of a crowded and tense hall. Srećko Horvat then agrees and together they explain the need to take action.

Afterwards, enjoy a late dinner at the vegan restaurant Gingko Greenhouse, which is only open to you. To Anderson’s great surprise, Horvat is now also becoming an autograph hunter: All of his sisters and his brother-in-law would like autographs from the ex-Baywatch star.

The last location of the evening is the Graz double spiral staircase, built around 1500. On this evening it seems to be a symbol of the discrepancy between thinking and acting in the area of ​​environmental and human rights and an appeal to reconcile the two. Pamela Anderson and Srećko Horvat run towards each other on the twin spiral staircase, only to move away from each other and finally to say goodbye, exhausted and inspired.