Films

Johatsu – Into Thin Air

Documentary, Germany/Japan, 2024, 86 min and 52 min
In co-production with BR, in collaboration with ARTE, in participation with SRF and yesDocu
Directors: Andreas Hartmann and Arata Mori
German Distribution: Real Fiction
International Sales: CAT&Docs

Synopsis:

Every year, thousands of people vanish without a trace in Japan. Known as the Johatsu, or “the evaporated,” they abandon their lives for various reasons, a troublesome relationship, mounting debts or threats from the mafia. Some get support from so-called “night moving” companies, which help people to disappear and start a new life somewhere else.

Festivals:

  • 26th Thessaloniki iDF 2024 “International Competition”
  • 21st CPH:DOX 2024 “Highlights”

Forums, Awards and Grants:

  • Development supported by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW “Gerd Ruge Grant”
  • Selected for the “Masters Pitch” at the DOK.fest Munich 2019
  • Nominated for the “German Composition Funding Award” at the DOK.fest Munich 2019
  • “Sunny Side of the Doc Pitch Prize” at the DOK.fest Munich 2019
  • Selected for the DOK Leipzig Co-Pro Market 2019
  • Production grants by Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (BKM) and Film- und Medienstiftung NRW
  • “D-Facto Motion Works-in-Progress Prize” at DOK Preview Germany – DOK Leipzig 2023

A Million

Documentary, 2021, 65 min
A co-production between Mori Film and Ossa Film (Japan, Germany)
Producer and Director: Arata Mori
Co-producers Germany: Andreas Hartmann, Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese

Synopsis:

Emilione, a million lies – so people nicknamed Marco Polo. They doubted his astonishing journey to the east. “A Million” depicts an imaginary city on the real urban cities along the new silk road – revived by the Chinese initiative’s alternative globalization – through the eyes of a filmmaker from the east. The modern adaptation of Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities” confronts a fabricated, materialistic world in political transformation and wanders over the boundary between truth and fake.

Festivals:

  • 64th DOK Leipzig Official Selection for Camera Lucida section 2021

A Free Man

Documentary, 2017, 75 min and 45 min
In co-production with ZDF/3sat
Director: Andreas Hartmann

Synopsis

22-year-old Kei refuses to conform to the Japanese achievement-oriented society. He is homeless by choice, living on the streets and under the bridges of Kyoto. His love for nature and music keeps him afloat in his dream world. However, when he runs out of money, he is forced to face reality.

Festivals and Awards

  • 22nd BUSAN International Film Festival 2017 – WINNER: Busan Cinephile Award for Best World Documentary
  • 60th DOK Leipzig International Documentary Film Festival 2017
  • 20th ONE WORLD International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival Prague 2018
  • 14th achtung berlin – New Berlin Film Award 2018 – NOMINATION: Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
  • 18th Nippon Connection Japanese Film Festival Frankfurt am Main 2018
  • Concepción Independent Film Award Chile 2018 – WINNER: Best Documentary Feature
  • Spain Moving Images Festival Madrid 2018
  • Santiago del Estero Film Festival Argentina 2018
  • Ciudad de México International Film Festival – WINNER: Best Documentary Feature

TV Version and Release

  • Nominated for the German TV award “Grimme Prize 2017” in the ZDF/3sat series “Ab 18!”
  • Nominated for the european film award “Grosse Klappe” at the doxs! Festival – Duisburger Filmwoche 2016
  • Broadcasted on ZDF/3sat in the documentary series “Ab 18!” on October 17, 2016

My Buddha is Punk

Documentary, 2015, 68 min
Director: Andreas Hartmann

Synopsis

Kyaw Kyaw, a 25-year-old Burmese punk, pursues the dream of seeing the punk scene take off in the former military dictatorship Myanmar. Along with the members of his punk band, he tries to raise the awareness about the persistent violation of human rights and criticizes the ongoing civil war and the persecutions of ethnic minorities. He travels across the country to promote his own philosophy among the young generation: A symbiosis of Buddhism and punk that rejects religious dictates and political doctrine.

Festivals and Awards

  • 56th Festival dei Popoli Florence “Festival Highlights”
  • Visions du Réel Nyon 2015 “Doc Outlook”
  • 8th Millenium Documentary Film Festival Brussels 2016
  • 13th International Ethnographic Film Festival Göttingen 2016
  • 12th achtung berlin – New Berlin Film Award 2016 – NOMINATION: Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
  • 6th Punk Film Festival Berlin – WINNER: Audience Choice Award
  • In-Edit Music Documentary Film Festival São Paulo 2016
  • Ânûû-rû Âboro Festival international du cinéma des peuples New Caledonia 2016
  • German Film Fest Australia Syndey & Melbourne 2016
  • Musée national des arts asiatiques Guimet Paris 2017
  • Bangkok Underground Film Festival 2017 – WINNER: Audience Choice Award
  • Noise Pop Music and Arts Festival San Francisco 2017
  • Cinedelphia Film Festival – PhilaMOCA Philadelphia 2017

Release

  • International Theatrical Release: Thailand, August 2017
  • VoD Releases: Amazon Prime, Vimeo-on-Demand (worldwide), In-Edit TV (Spain), Tricycle Magazine (North America)
  • Broadcasted on CALEDONIA TV in New Caledonia on July 22, 2018

Reviews

  • “A New Wave of Punk Documentaries.” (The New York Times)
  • “A testament to the enduring power of punk and to people power.” (VICE)
  • “Thought provoking, entertaining and engrossing. 4 out of 5.” (La Premiere)

Days of Rain

Documentary, 2010, 72 min
Director: Andreas Hartmann

Synopsis

13-year-old Quynh lives with his family in a simple hut in central Vietnam. It’s rainy season, the time when their village is repeatedly flooded. Now a governmental program relocates their village to a new area. Building the new house will be a chance and challenge for the entire family.

Festivals and Awards

  • Cinéma du Réel Centre Pompidou Paris 2010
  • Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2010
  • Duisburger Filmwoche 2010
  • Vientianale International Film Festival 2011
  • Bergamo Film Meeting 2011
  • Mois du doc “Ruralités” Médiathèque du Grand Cahors 2013
  • Les yeux doc à midi at Centre Pompidou 2021
  • Nominated for the Les yeux doc Audience Award 2023 by the Bibliothèque Centre Pompidou

Release

  • Selected and licensed by the Centre Pompidou Paris “Images en Bibliothèque 2010” and “Les yeux doc 2022” in partnership with ARTE
  • VoD Releases: Doc Alliance Films, Culture Unplugged (worldwide)

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