Darkroom - Drops of Death
Director: Rosa von Praunheim
D 2019, 89 min., Color, German with English subtitles
In his new film, cult director Rosa von Praunheim treats a true criminal case from a few years ago. The result is one of his most thrilling films. Lars, a male nurse from Saarbrücken, moves with his lover Roland to Berlin. They renovate an apartment with the intention of finally living together. Their happiness seems almost complete. What Roland doesn’t know: while secretly checking out Berlin’s night life, Lars is experimenting with a deadly poison...
Synopsis
Synopsis
In his new film, cult director Rosa von Praunheim treats a true criminal case from a few years ago. The result is one of his most thrilling films. Lars, a male nurse from Saarbrücken, moves with his lover Roland to Berlin. They renovate an apartment with the intention of finally living together. Their happiness seems almost complete. What Roland doesn’t know: while secretly checking out Berlin’s night life, Lars is experimenting with a deadly poison...
Credits
Cast & Crew
Directed by: Rosa von Praunheim
Writing Credits: Ute Eisenhardt - Nico Woche - Rosa von Praunheim
Cinematography by: Lorenz Haarmann
Sound Department: Malte Audick
Costume & Wardrobe Department: Ingrid Buhrmann
Makeup Department: Lilly Albishausen, Laura Burkhardt
Camera & Electrical Department: Werner Bielicke, Sabine Lehmann-Dorn
Music by: Andreas M. Wolter, Heiner Bomhard
Film Editing by: Mike Shephard, Rosa von Praunheim
Produced by: Rosa von Praunheim Filmproduktion in Coproduction with SR, RBB, ARTE
gefördert von BKM
Cast:
Bozidar Kocevski - Heiner Bomhard - Katy Karrenbauer
&
Oliver Sechting, Janina Helkin, Lukas Rennebach, Thomas Linz, Marina Erdmann, Ralf Schlegel u.a.
Press
Press
Biography
Rosa von Praunheim
ROSA VON PRAUNHEIM
was born Holger Mischwitzky in 1942 in Riga, Latvia. He was raised in the GDR just outside of Berlin up until 1953, when he fled with his parents. After a few detours, the family settled in Frankfurt am Main in the district of Praunheim, where Mischwitzky attended a humanistic high school. Leaving school early, he then studied painting at the Offenbacher Werkkunstschule (today: Offenbach University of Art and Design [HfG]). After a year, he transferred to the Berlin University of the Arts. He ended his studies without graduating. At that time, the mid-1960s, he also adopted his artist name, Rosa von Praunheim, which he sees as a reference to the Frankfurt district of Praunheim, where he lived as a child, and the “Rosa Winkle” (“pink triangle”), the symbol used to by the Third Reich to identify homosexuals in the concentration camps.
In 1967, Rosa von Praunheim made his first film, a short entitled VON ROSA VON PRAUNHEIM. His directorial debut was followed by further shorts and experimental films, including GROTESK – BURLESK – PITTORESK [GROTESQUE – BURLESQUE – PICTURESQUE] (1968) and SCHWESTERN DER REVOLUTION [SISTERS OF THE REVOLUTION] (1969). His first feature-length film, THE BED SAUSAGE (1970), quickly became considered a “cult film”. With his follow-up film, the documentary IT’S NOT THE HOMOSEXUAL WHO IS PERVERSE, BUT THE SOCIETY IN WHICH HE LIVES (1970), von Praunheim became, more or less overnight, an icon of the German gay rights movement, which also received a noticeable push by the movie. In the years that have followed, Rosa von Praunheim’s feature and documentary films have been characterised by three core motifs: the life journeys of lively, elderly women (e.g., OUR CORPSES STILL LIVE [1981]), homosexuality and Aids (e.g., A VIRUS KNOWS NO MORALS [1985]), and the city of New York (SURVIVAL IN NEW YORK [1989]).
To date, Rosa von Praunheim has directed over 70 films. More than 20 of them premiered at the Berlinale, making him the record holder. In addition to making films, since the 1960s Rosa von Praunheim has also been active as an author and has published books such as Sex und Karriere [Sex and Career], Armee der Liebenden oder Aufstand der Perversen [Army of Lovers, or Revolt of the Perverts], and Ein Penis stirbt immer zuletzt [A Penis Is Always the Last to Die]). From 2000 to 2006, he taught film direction at the Academy for Film and Television in Potsdam, and in 2009 he became a member of the Berlin Academy of Arts, section Film and Media Art; from 2015 to 2018, he was even the director of that section. In 2015, he added the German Federal Cross of Merit to his long list of awards.SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY:
- 1969: Sisters of the Revolution
- 1970: Die Bettwurst
- 1971: It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives
- 1973: Berliner Bettwurst
- 1973: Axel von Auersperg
- 1977: Tally Brown, New York
- 1979: Army of Lovers or Revolt of the Perverts
- 1980: Rote Liebe
- 1981: Unsere Leichen leben noch
- 1981: Red Love
- 1983: City of Lost Souls
- 1984: Horror vacui
- 1985: A Virus Knows no Morals
- 1987: Anita: Dances of Vice
- 1988: Dolly, Lotte and Maria
- 1989: Survival in New York
- 1990: Silence = Death
- 1990: Positive
- 1991: Affengeil
- 1992: I Am My Own Woman
- 1995: Neurosia: 50 Years of Perversity
- 1999: The Einstein of Sex
- 1999: Can I Be Your Bratwurst, Please?
- 1999: Wunderbares Wrodow
- 2000: Fassbinder's Women
- 2001: Tunten lügen nicht
- 2002: Kühe vom Nebel geschwängert
- 2002: Pfui Rosa!
- 2002: Queens Don't Lie
- 2005: Men Heroes and Gay Nazis
- 2005: Your Heart in My Head
- 2007: Two Mothers
- 2008: Der rosa Riese
- 2009: History of Hell
- 2010: New York Memories
- 2011: Rent Boys
- 2012: King of Comics
- 2013: ROSAS WELT - 70
- 2014: Praunheim Memoires
- 2014: Wie ich lernte, die Zahlen zu lieben (Producer)
- 2015: Tough Love
- 2016: Welcome All Sexes - 30 Years Teddy Awards
- 2017: ACT! Who am I?
- 2017: Survival in Neukölln
- 2018: Men's Friendships
- 2019: DARKROOM
Regiestatement
Regiestatement
Festivals
Festivals
2019 FIRE!! Barcelona LGBT Film Festival (World premiere)
2019 Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival
2019 Filmfest Hamburg (German premiere)
2019 Queerfilm Festival Bremen
2019 Lesbisch Schwule Filmtage Hamburg
2019 Florence Queer Festival
2019 Queer-Streifen Regensburg
2019 Festival Pink Screens Brussels
2019 Chéries-Chéris Paris
2020 Queere Filmwoche Leipzig
2020 Max Ophüls Preis
Pressematerial
Pressematerial