The KHM at the 2018 Berlin International Film Festival

The 2018 Berlin International Film Festival (February 15 to 25) has invited the full-length feature film “Luz” by Tilman Singer to be shown in its “Perspektive Deutsches Kino” section. “Luz” (2018, 70 min.) is the final diploma project at the KHM Cologne Academy of Media Arts for both Tilman Singer (director and script) and Dario Méndez Acosta (production design).

Tilman Singer describes “Luz” as a sensuous thriller with a highly distinctive way of playing with the viewer’s sensory perception. According to Prof. Didi Danquart, one of his three diploma supervisors, “Tilman Singer redefines the genre and has developed a very unique and visionary cinematic language for this film. By means of a complex montage structure, the past and the present blur in the viewer’s perception.” Tilman Singer wrote and developed the screenplay for his film with a clear grasp of the available production budget as well as the creative potential of his team. He has already realised several short films with what he calls his “film family”: Dario Méndez Acosta (production design), Paul Faltz (image composition), Simon Waskow (music) and Henning Hein (sound design). In addition, Tilman Singer was able to score some outstanding actors for his film in Luana Velis (Luz), Jan Bluthardt (Dr. Rossini) and Julia Riedler (Nora). As executive producers, the KHM students Mario von Grumbkow and Luisa Stricker were also part of the team for this film, which was part funded by Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and produced at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne.

A rainy night. Luz, a young taxi driver, drags herself, dazed and confused, into the brightly lit entrance of a run-down police station. In a late-night bar, Nora seductively engages police psychiatrist Dr. Rossini in conversation. Over the course of the evening she tells him about her time at a Chilean school for girls and her rebellious schoolmate Luz. Unbeknown to him, Nora is possessed by a demon, a being that longs for its one true love: Luz.

„Luz“ (2018, 70 min) Written and directed by: Tilman Singer; Production Design: Dario Méndez Acosta; Cast: Luana Velis, Jan Bluthardt, Julia Riedler, Nadja Stübiger, Johannes Benecke, Lilli Lorenz; DOP: Paul Faltz; Music: Simon Waskow; Sound Design: Henning Hein; Editing: Tilman Singer, Fabian Podeszwa; Executive Producers: Mario von Grumbkow, Luisa Stricker; Producers: Dario Méndez Acosta, Tilman Singer; Spanish Translation: Silvia Juliana Tovar Quintero; Assistent Director: Adrian Witzel; Set Design: Nathan Schönewolf; Costume Design: Stanislava Milenkova; Project Supervision: Prof. Didi Danquart, Prof. Frank Döhmann, Prof. Johannes Wohnseifer, Prof. Thomas Bauermeister, Konstantin Butz, Wiebke Elzel; Production: Academy of Media Arts Cologne; Funding: Film- und Medienstiftung NRW; Subtitles: Subs Hamburg; Subtitles Support: German Films; Premiere: Berlin International Film Festival, 2018

Screening Dates:
Tuesday, Feb 20th, 22:30 h, CinemaxX 1 (Premiere)
Wednesday, Feb 21st, 12:30 h, Colosseum

Press Screening:
Tuesday, Feb 20th, 15 h, CinemaxX 1 (Press accreditation only)

European Film Market Screening:
Thursday, Feb 22nd, CinemaxX 2 (EFM accreditation only)