The Kleist File

News

• 10/2011 - Screenings of "The Kleist File" in November 2011

  We are very glad that our documentary film “The Kleist File” will be screened on many occasions in November 2011, [...]

  We are very glad that our documentary film "The Kleist File" will be screened on many occasions in November 2011, for example as part of the Kleistfestival in the Maxim Gorki Theatre Berlin and also in the Goethe Institutes in Oslo and Bratislava. On November 18th in the film museum Potsdam as well as on November 21st in the konzepthalle6 in Thun (Switzerland) the directors will be contributing to a Q&A. We are looking forward to see you there. For all screening dates please click here:

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• 11/2011 - "The Kleist File" in Germany, Switzerland and Austria

  On the night before the 200. anniversary of the death of Heinrich von Kleist, November 20th ath 08.15pm, our film [...]

  On the night before the 200. anniversary of the death of Heinrich von Kleist, November 20th ath 08.15pm, our film "The Kleist File" is aired in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In Germany, the film will be shown on the RBB channel.

  The Kleist File - RBB
  

  
  

• 12/2011 - “The Kleist File” at Fipa

  We are very happy that “The Kleist File” is selected at the Fipatel market at the 25th Fipa which will [...]

  We are very happy that “The Kleist File” is selected at the Fipatel market at the 25th Fipa which will be held from January 23rd to 29th 2012.

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Parts

Press Echo

• It is exciting, that Kleist as one of the most performed German dramatists could never see one of his own plays on stage. It is tragic, that his only great success during his life - the popular first tabloid "Berliner Abendblätter" - was censored by the Prussian government. The film's smart selection and its competent composition unveil the political and biographical fate of Kleist: A successful televised start to the Kleist anniversary.

  epd medien, 08 April 2011 (Eva-Maria Lenz)

• It's rare and eye-catching, that a project is so dedicated to beauty. "The Kleist File" is able to do so, because of the reenacted scenes with the excellent actors Becker and Beyer. It's a a final beauty in the end.

  Süddeutsche Zeitung, 28 March 2011

• „The Kleist File“ is an excellent literature-docu-art film, an elucidation of Kleist. And - with this great standard not only of the reenacted scenes – this production is a very welcome jailbreak from the well-behaved genre of semi-fictional documentaries.

  Funkkorrespondenz, 25 March 2011 (Thomas Irmer)

• The directors and authors Simone Dobmeier, Hedwig Schmutte and Torsten Striegnitz try to reenact what might have happenend in the last hours of the suicides. And thanks to the excellent work of the actors Alexander Beyer and Meret Becker this fictional approach is very convincing.

  FAZ, 26 March 2011 (Jochen Hieber)

• The directors-trio Simone Dobmeier, Hedwig Schmutte and Torsten Striegnitz has created a worht-seeing thriller and psychological study out of reenacted scenes, historical archive and current pictures of Kleist's birth place Frankfurt (Oder).

  dpa, 26 March 2011 (Leticia Witte)

• Kleist's death and the police files about it are the window, out of which the film looks back onto the life of this poet, his inner conflicts, his feeling of being hounded, his problem with women and the break with his family. The film connects all these elements to an enthralling story.

  Märkische Oderzeitung, 25 March 2011 (Uwe Stiehler)

Related Films

The Kleist File

The death at Wannsee Lake – a spectacular case that has, to date, continued to disturb and fascinate the ensuing ages. The German poet Kleist was found shot – what is that supposed to mean? What exactly happened at Wannsee Lake that afternoon on November 21st, 1811? Who shot Kleist? What is known about the woman that died with him? Could it be that the bullets were meant for her? Or that he shot her? Or she, him? If yes, why? And why were the couple so cheerful and playful mere moments before their death?

Kleist was born into a Prussian family from Frankfurt/Oder with a long linage of military distinction. As the son of a Prussian officer, he enjoys the privileges of noble origin; born wealthy, he has talent and an education, is a patriot and simultaneously cosmopolitan. Kleist is not only known in the salons of his time, the poet is also close to the Royal Court: Queen Louise of Prussia is moved to tears by the poem that she personally receives from him for her birthday. Kleist does not only write poetry, he is one of the most productive German writers. At the time of his death he had already written, in a span of but a few years, numerous well-known dramas: “The Broken Jug”, “Cathy of Heilbronn or the Ordeal by Fire”, “Penthesilea” and “The Prince of Homburg” belong to the standard repertoire of German-language theatre today. Kleist’s work is well known, but less well known and even far less understood are the exact circumstances of his death. But perhaps it is exactly there that a new key to understanding his work lies.

According to the police report, seconds before the shots fell the couple had ordered coffee to be brought to them on the shore. In the police report, we can also find out when the couple arrived at their inn, what they ate during their last hours, when the woman had herself dressed – we even find out how much the saw cost that broke during the autopsy. But all these details fail to answer the important question: Why did Kleist have to die?

Ulrike Landfester – literary scholar
Claus Peymann – theater director
Christopher Clark – historian
Alexander Weigel – Kleist biographer
Heinrich von Kleist: Alexander Beyer
Henriette: Meret Becker
Narrato:  Nina Hoss
Book, Directors, Editors: Simone Dobmeier, Hedwig Schmutte, Torsten Striegnitz
Cinematography: Axel Schneppat
2nd Camera: Marc Hennicke
Camera assistant: Ralf Hahmann
Sound, camera assistant: Michael Fiedler
Sound assistant: Felix Landbeck, Daniel Piechotka
First gaffer: Frank Semerau
Gaffer: Werner Bielicke, Werner Debert
Best Boy: Falk Hellwig, Jörn Radig
Set designer:  Ingrid Jebram
Grip: Marc Hennicke
Property master: Marko Kaiser
Costume designer: Elke von Sivers
Set dresser: Katarina Schremmer
Make up artist: Katja Hamburger
Catering: BlackFatCat, Mirko Andreas
Driver: Randolf Wangemann, Paul Krauskopf
Technical supervisor: Philipp Weigold
Assistant editor: Agnetha Lang
Colour grading: Vera Jeske
Animation: Konrad Weise, Daniel Zinner
3-D-Grafic: Martin Ehleben
Compositing, title: Ilka Berghoff
Sound design: Jürgen Funk
Music: Andreas Bick, Andreas Koslik
Sound mixer: Matthias Ludwig
Dubbing voice: Oliver Brod
Editorial assistance: Susanne Klopfstock
Producer: Georg Tschurtschenthaler
Production manager: Kathrin Isberner, Rainer Baumert (rbb)
Production assistant: Nick Pastucha
Production supervisor: Daniela Schöne
Executive Producer: Christian Beetz
Idea/Dramaturgy: Christian Beetz
Commissioning editors: Dagmar Mielke, Jens Stubenrauch

Coproduction

Cooperation

Sponsors

• The Kleist File

  Heinrich-von-Kleist-Forum - Hamm, Germany
  08 November 2011 at 7.00 pm

• The Kleist File

  Goethe Institute - Bratislava, Slovakia
  22 November 2011

• The Kleist File

  Kirche Gulben - Frankfurt (Oder), Germany
  13 November 2011 at 5.00 pm

• The Kleist File

  Goethe Institute - Bratislava, Slovakia
  18 May 2011 at 5.00 and 7.00 pm

• The Kleist File

  Heinrich-Heine-Haus - Paris, France
  16 March 2011

• The Kleist File

  University of Alberta, Kleist Symposium - Alberta, Canada
  03 December 2011

• The Kleist File

  Die Märkischen Höfe - Netzeband, Germany
  25 August 2011

• The Kleist File

  Goethe Institute - Oslo, Norway
  28 November 2011

• The Kleist File

  Nikolaikirche/Stadtmuseum - Berlin
  22 March 2011 at 8.00 pm

• The Kleist File

  Literaturzentrum Vorpommern - Greifswald, Germany
  04 May 2011

• The Kleist File

  arte
  17 April 2011 at 05.00 am

• The Kleist File

  arte
  28 March 2011 at 9.55 pm

• The Kleist File

  book fair Leipzig - Leipzig, Germany
  20 March 2011 at 17 pm

• The Kleist File

  SF
  20 November 2011 at 12.00 pm

• The Kleist File

  Literatur.Lana - Lana, Italy
  21 November 2011 at 9.00 pm

• The Kleist File

  Filmmuseum - Potsdam, Germany
  18 November 2011 at 8.00 pm

• The Kleist File

  Ephraim-Palais - Stadtmuseum Berlin, Germany
  31 August 2011 at 7.00 pm

• The Kleist File

  Kleistforum - Frankfurt/Oder, Germany
  24 March 2011

• The Kleist File

  ORF2
  20 November 2011 at 9.40 am

• The Kleist File

  Maxim Gorki Theater, Kleistfestival - Berlin, Germany
  17 November 2011 at 3.15 pm

• The Kleist File

  Goethe Institute, Filmfestival Sehenswert - Budapest, Hungary
  25 September 2011 at 6.30 pm

• The Kleist File

  RBB
  20 November 2011 at 08.15 pm

• The Kleist File

  Ephraim-Palais - Stadtmuseum Berlin, Germany
  24 August 2011 at 7.00 pm

• The Kleist File

  Ephraim-Palais - Stadtmuseum Berlin, Germany
  17 August 2011 at 7.00 pm

• The Kleist File

  Ephraim-Palais - Stadtmuseum Berlin, Germany
  10 August 2011 at 7.00 pm

• The Kleist File

  Goethe Institute - Tokyo, Japan
  15 September 2011

• The Kleist File

  Ephraim-Palais - Stadtmuseum Berlin, Germany
  03 August 2011 at 7.00 pm

• The Kleist File

  arte
  13 April 2011 at 05.00 am

• The Kleist File

  Halle 6 - Thun, Switzerland
  21 November 2011 at 8.00 pm