Protected Men
GER 2024, 100 min
Germany, shortly before elections – a mysterious disease outbreak afflicting only men strikes. Differences between the sexes long believed to have been overcome re-emerge, shaking society to its core.
The film is in post-production.
Synopsis
Germany, shortly before elections. Anita Martinelli and Sarah Bedford are pursuing grand political goals with their newly founded women’s party FEM. They are campaigning for a new system in which ecology, equality and sustainability have top priority. Yet during the election campaign, a new kind of disease breaks out, infecting only men. Differences between the sexes long believed to have been overcome now shake the very foundations of the society. When the chancellor falls victim to the virus, women take over the government. Anita Martinelli’s husband Ralph, an experienced virologist, is to develop a vaccine against the virus with his team in a remote, well-guarded forest laboratory. While the self-proclaimed chancellor Bedford secretly boycotts the work on the vaccine, Anita Martinelli and a group of other women decide to stop the repressive government’s plans. A counter-movement forms, fueled by a strong utopian desire for a better society. They rescue Ralph Martinelli and the other “protected men” in a spectacular escape from the lab and bring him and the serum to safety. The last surviving men are successfully vaccinated and the man-hating chancellor is toppled. With the remaining men, the women start over, endeavoring to create a better future.
Credits
Directed and written by
Irene von Alberti
With
Britta Hammelstein, Yousef Sweid, Mavie Hörbiger, Johanna Polley, Ruby Commey, Sina Martens, Bibiana Beglau, Julika Jenkins, Michaela Caspar, Godehard Giese, Bastian Reiber, Timo Fakhravar, Roland Bonjour, Mathias Max Herrmann
Casting Director
Ulrike Müller
1st Assistant Director
Inga Köhler
2nd Assistant Director
Leila Knörr
Director of Photography
Constantin Campean
1st Camera Assistant
Kolja Seibold
2nd Camera Assistant
Sarah Alisch
Videooperator
Leoni Faschian
Data Wrangler
Till Beckmann
Scenography
Sylvester Koziolek, Mirko Rachor
Scenography Assistant
Lisa Mary Kracke, Julia Heiser
Prop Buyer
David Eder
Prop Buyer Assistant
Carsten Ahrens
Stand by Props
Marcel Ruben Schoen
Stand by Props Assistant
Carolin Annett Meyer
Costumes
Aino Laberenz
1st Costume Assistant
Coco Hittinger
Wardrobe Mistress
Melissa Roxanne Hebold, Carmen Abele
Chief Make-up Artist
Julia Böhm
Make-up Artists
Anna Evenkamp, Lena Brendle
Gaffer
Holger Ohlhus
Bestboy
Merlin Luong
Electrician
Timon Dangel
Key Grip
Dustin John
Best Boy Grip
Yukon Benner, Matthias Schröter
Sound Operator
Rainer Gerlach
Boom Operator
Henning Krutein, Oskar von Gilgenheimb, Filippo Toso
Production Manager
Gernot Sprenger
Unit Manager
Yurdakul Peksen
Location Manager
Alexandra Koch
Location Assistant
Andreas Reischl
Set Manager
Kai Guballa
Set Manager Assistant
David Schlichter
Producer
Frieder Schlaich
Production Assistant
Anna Bitter
Produced by
Filmgallerie 451
In Coproduction with
ZDF/arte (Martin Gerhard, Alexandra Staib, Claudia Tronnier)
Script founded by
Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (BKM)
Production founded by
CICLIC France, Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (BKM)
