Pia Frankenberg

“I don’t want to tell a story. No complete identification with the people on the screen. Recognition, yes. But one where I still know that it’s me who recognizes something, that it’s me whose curiosity is aroused about something with an uncertain outcome, about people and conditions, situations, episodes.“

Photo: Pia Frankenberg during the shooting of “Never sleep again”, © P.Groenewold

Pia Frankenberg’s films aren’t interested in capturing clichés. They don’t make simple conclusions about our world, but show the world as as chaotic and unpredictable as it is. After two short films and two feature-length films, “Never Sleep Again” (1992) was the last film she made as a director. Her films tell the stories without elevating themselves above the events and situations, the experiences of their protagonists. They are revealing documentations, that don’t hesitate to confront the conflicts of their time and prove themselves to be both personally and politically. “The Assualt” (1984) is a reaction on new guidelines for film funding, which in 1984 were committed to commerce instead of art. In her film, Pia Frankenberg turns a statement by the former spokesperson of the Federal Minister of the Interior against itself and counters with a twist into the absurd. In “Noisy Martha” (1985), she appears on screen in the role of a director. The scenes of a filmmaker’s everyday life are interrupted by interview situations in which the director expresses her thoughts on questions of female aesthetics in the cinema.
In “Never Sleep Again”, three friends begin a chaotic odyssey through post-reunification Berlin. For one of them a camcorder becomes a handy tool with which she relates herself to the present ruins of old systems. As reflections with open ends that do not hide themselves as such, Pia Frankenberg’s films remain important and unique in German cinema. They are as radical, rebellious and provocative as they are light-footed and crazy and are therefore almost unrivaled to this day.

All films by Pia Frankenberg can be rediscovered on DVD and on demand at Filmgalerie 451.

Biography

Pia Frankenberg studied acting at the "Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst" in Hamburg from 1976-1977. After one year, she dropped out and began to work in film. In 1979 she was co-producer of Luc Bondy's film DIE ORTLIEBSCHEN FRAUEN, in the course of which she also founded "Pia Frankenberg Musik- und Filmproduktion". In 1980, the film premiered at the Berlinale and the producers receive the Bundesfilmpreis. In 1981, Pia Frankenberg co-produced Ulrike Ottinger's feature film "Freak Orlando". From the very beginning on and until its dissolution in 1995, Pia Frankenberg is a member of the "Hamburger Filmbüro", a collective body for independent filmmakers and the first self-governing film funding organization in Germany. Encounters and friendships with Klaus Wyborny, Heinz Emigholz, Thomas Struck, Vlado Kristl, Helmut Herbst, Hermine Huntgegurth, Detlev Buck, Tom Tykwer, Monika Treut and many others. She made her first short film as a director in 1981, SEHNSUCHT NACH DEM GANZ ANDEREN. On a night train, a woman (played by Peter Zadek actress Elisabeth Stepanek) searches through the luggage of the sleeping passengers. In her second short film THE ASSUALT (1984), Pia Frankenberg appears in front of the camera for the first time alongside Klaus Bueb. Her first feature film, NOISY MARTHA, followed in 1985 and was awarded the Max Ophüls Prize. In this film, Pia Frankenberg once again takes on the leading role alongside Klaus Bueb, and works for the first time with cinematographer Thomas Mauch, who is known for his work on films by Alexander Kluge, Werner Herzog, Werner Schroeter and others. In 1988, she shot her second feature film BURNING BEDS with the English punk musician and singer Ian Dury in the leading role and long-time Godard collaborator Raoul Coutard as cinematographer. Pia Frankenberg is responsible for writing and producing the film. She also plays the leading role alongside Dury and performs the film music together with him. The film won the Audience Award at the International Funny Film Festival in Vevey in 1988. In 1991, the feature film NIE WIEDER SCHLAFEN (with former Mauch assistant Judith Kaufmann as camerawoman and Lisa Kreuzer as one of the female protagonists) was made in Berlin in no man's land along the former border of the Berlin Wall.

Filmography

- SEHNSUCHT NACH DEM GANZ ANDEREN, 1981, Shortfilm, 13 Min.; 35mm; b/w; Screenplay, Director, Actress, Producer
- THE ASSUALT (Der Anschlag), 1984, Shortfilm, 9 Min.; 35mm; b/w; Screenplay, Regie, Director, Producer
- NOISY MARTHA (Nicht nichts ohne Dich), 1985, Feature, 88 Min.; 35mm; b/w; Screenplay, Director, Actress, Producer
- BURNING BEDS (Brennende Betten), 1988, Feature, 83 Min.; 35mm; Color; Screenplay, Director, Actress, Producer
- NEVER SLEEP AGAIN (Nie wieder schlafen), 1992, Feature, 92 Min.; 35mm; Color; Screenplay, Director, Producer
- DAS SYMBOL, 1995, Documentary on Christo’ Reichstagsverhüllung; 10 Min.; Beta, Color; Screenplay, Director
- STREUNER, 1995, Documentary, 31 Min.; Beta, Color; Screenplay, Director, Sound
- ELLIOTT ERWITT – UNTER HUNDEN, 1995, Documentary on the photographer Elliott Erwitt; 17 Min.; Beta, Color; Screenplay, Director

Films in the program

Never sleep again Pia Frankenberg GER 1992, 92 min After a wedding party three friends from Hamburg strand in newly reunited Berlin. A restless odyssey through the wastelands of a big city...	Burning Beds Pia Frankenberg GER 1988, 83 min Harry (Ian Dury), a drummer and pyromaniac who likes to play with fire, and German car mechanic Gina (Pia Frankenberg) are forced to share...
Noisy Martha Pia Frankenberg GER 1985, 88 min “Destiny put her on the wrong side. She is rich, but wants to be poor. She’s well on her way, she’s making movies.“ A revealing (social)...	The Assualt Pia Frankenberg GER 1984, 9 min A city (Hamburg) is afflicted by a series of slaps in the face. Pia Frankenberg’s short film proves that cinema can strike back!
Pia Frankenberg – Films Pia Frankenberg GER 1981 - 1992, 259 min 3 DVDs in a slipcase – 3 feature films and 2 short films HD remastered + booklet + 82 min extras	Sehnsucht nach dem ganz Anderen Pia Frankenberg GER 1981, 13 min A young woman strolls through the night, then

-filmliste-teaser-mobil">Films in the program

Never sleep again

Pia Frankenberg
GER 1992, 92 min
After a wedding party three friends from Hamburg strand in newly reunited Berlin. A restless odyssey through the wastelands of a big city pending between an unpredictable future and a still... more
Burning Beds
Pia Frankenberg
GER 1988, 83 min
Harry (Ian Dury), a drummer and pyromaniac who likes to play with fire, and German car mechanic Gina (Pia Frankenberg) are forced to share an apartment due to Hamburg’s housing shortage. Pia... more
Noisy Martha
Pia Frankenberg
GER 1985, 88 min
“Destiny put her on the wrong side. She is rich, but wants to be poor. She’s well on her way, she’s making movies.“ A revealing (social) portrait — sparked by the present and filmed in exciting... more
The Assualt
Pia Frankenberg
GER 1984, 9 min
A city (Hamburg) is afflicted by a series of slaps in the face. Pia Frankenberg’s short film proves that cinema can strike back!

boards a train. Seeking closeness to others she chooses an unusual method by searching...

Pia Frankenberg – Films

Pia Frankenberg

GER 1981 - 1992, 259 min

3 DVDs in a slipcase – 3 feature films and 2 short films HD remastered + booklet + 82 min extras

Sehnsucht nach dem ganz Anderen

Pia Frankenberg

GER 1981, 13 min

A young woman strolls through the night, then boards a train. Seeking closeness to others she chooses an unusual method by searching through people’s luggage. Pia Frankenberg’s first film as a... more