incl. 1st competition film, followed by a discussion with Camilla Guttner (director), live music with Crucchi Gang and presentation of the jury and the competition films, moderation: Anne Stadtfeld
The opening evening of the 18th Ahrenshoop Film Nights at THE GRAND Ahrenshoop hotel has an extensive repertoire in store for you from 5.00 pm. THE GRAND finger food and lounge music will kick off the evening, which will feature celebrities from film and television in the audience and on the jury. This year's jury members are the most successful director Aelrun Goette, the actress Elisa Schlott and the actor Alexander Beyer.
The 1st competition entry DIE AKADEMIE by Camilla Guttner (D 2024, 104 min) sets the mood for many exciting films from young German cinema.
To round off the evening, the CHRUCCI GANG will catapult the evening's guests back to childhood vacations in Italy with catchy songs from 10 pm. The band's first debut album was released in 2020, initiated by music manager Charlotte Goltermann, Element of Crime singer Sven Regener and Francesco Wilking (DIE HÖCHSTE EISENBAHN, TELE). The derogatory term for the Germans, "CRUCCHI", became the namesake from which the CRUCCHI GANG band project was invented.
The German gang members Sven Regener, Sophie Hunger and Clueso now sang their songs in Italian, with Francesco Wilking, as a German-Italian, being responsible for the translation. Their idea was a great success because it "doesn't chum up anywhere, doesn't come across as stiff or even pregnant with meaning."
THE ACADEMY by Camilla Guttner (D 2024, 104 min)
When 20-year-old student Jojo (Maja Bons) is accepted into the painting class of world-famous Professor Robert Copley (Jean-Marc Barr) at the Academy of Fine Arts, her greatest dream seems to come true. Highly philosophical class discussions, flashy parties and extravagant fellow students accompany her on her way to a great art career. But Jojo and her newfound friends soon experience the dark side of the academy. They are exposed to the resentment and psychological terror of some fellow students as well as the humiliation and abuse of some teachers. Rejection, self-doubt and the pressure to succeed increasingly threaten to destroy Jojo's dream.
CAMILLA GUTTNER
Camilla Guttner, born in 1982, was a master student of Sean Scully at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. She then studied feature film directing at the Munich University of Television and Film. Her first full-length feature film BLAUHIMMEL won 12 international film awards. For her feature film DIE AKADEMIE, she wrote the screenplay, directed, co-produced and was able to win over cinematographer Luca Bigazzi, known for his work with Paolo Sorrentino, for the visual design. In addition to her film work, she fronts the band THE LAST EXIT and works as a visual artist.
Music act: CRUCCHI GANG (DUO-SHOW)
No, nobody really expected the CRUCCHI GANG to be so successful. The debut album, released in mid-2020, was based on a spontaneous idea by music manager Charlotte Goltermann, Element of Crime singer and author Sven Regener and Francesco Wilking (DIE HÖCHSTE EISENBAHN, TELE).
A cozy evening after a concert. The three of them thought back to Leander Haußmann's film WHY MEN CAN'T LISTEN AND WOMEN CAN'T PARK WELL, for which Charlotte was the music consultant. When Haußmann wanted an Italian song, she thought of Wilking. He thought the idea was great and it felt like five minutes after the request, the song was on the table.
So they came up with the band project, which was soon to be called CRUCCHI GANG, Crucchi, a rather derogatory Italian term for the Germans. The gang's debut album featured Sven Regener, Sophie Hunger and Clueso, among others. All of them sang material from their repertoire in Italian. Francesco Wilking was responsible for translating the lyrics.
The idea was a great success. MUSIKEXPRESS awarded it five and a half stars out of six, PLATTENTESTS wrote that the album worked "because it doesn't pander to anyone, doesn't come across as stiff or even meaningless."
Above all, however, CRUCCHI GANG struck a chord with the audience, perhaps because the songs allowed for little escapes from everyday life during the pandemic, perhaps also because they were so catchy and immediately transported you back to your own past: to childhood vacations in Italy with "awkward" teenage dates in small-town pizzerias.
