A film by Benjamin Heisenberg. "Superegos" celebrated its premiere at The 64th International Film Festival Berlin 2014, in the Panorama Special Section

Year  2014

Length: 94 min

Format:   1:1.85

Country of production  GER

Intro | Synopsis

Owing the wrong people money can get ugly pretty quick. Nick Gutlicht, a rogue with proletarian roots and an opportunistic handler in valuable books, must go into hiding. Chance leads him to the house of the aged star psychologist Curt Ledig, who despite his failing memory, a pathological fear of kitchens and an eye twitch, is fighting tooth and nail against moving in with his daughter. Nick is promptly hired as his chaperone - a lifesaver for Nick as Ledig’s posh bungalow in Feldafing am Ammersee is a brilliant hideout, and a chance for Curt to be free of his meddlesome family so he can work on an upcoming symposium lecture no one thinks he can pull off. Curt is determined to take a stand regarding his early scholarly career during the Third Reich.
The unexpected marriage of convenience between the two stubborn individualists quickly develops into a dynamic constellation with substantial centrifugal force. Curt finds a highly interesting research subject in his volatile flat mate, submitting him to unsolicited and unconventional therapy, while Nick sees Curt’s valuable library as his only chance to consolidate his finances. But meanwhile: Nick’s casual lover, the pretty bookseller Norah, is fed up with his commitment issues. Nick’s creditors are working their way toward Ammerssee led by a dubious underworld matriarch simply known as "Mother". Curt’s family has popped in for a visit - and Nick is beginning to have some astounding side-effects from his involuntary blitz-therapy. The fates of the two antithetical heroes become inescapably intertwined until a dramatic therapy showdown in the solitude of a mountain night leaves no more room for excuses.
SUPEREGOS is its own kind of double-trouble buddy movie: dark, cryptic, with surprising wit and two magnificent leading actors.

Production

Komplizen Film (Germany) in co-production with Vega Film (Switzerland), Novotny & Novotny Filmproduktion (Austria) and Peter Heilrath Filmproduktion (Germany); in collaboration with WDR, BR, Arte, SRF/SRG SSR; Funded by German Federal Film Fund, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Minister of State for Culture and Media, Federal Department of Culture BAK, Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA, Eurimages, Zurich Film Foundation, Austrian Film Institute, Film Location Austria, Vienna Film Fund, Cine Tirol, Media.

Cast

Curt Ledig

André Wilms

Nick Gutlicht

Georg Friedrich

Rosa

Bettina Stucky

Norah

Susanne Wolff

Frau Tischmann

Elisabeth Orth

Mutter

Maria Hofstätter

Fanny

Margarita Broich

Jasper

Markus Schleinzer

Moderator

Michael Wittenborn

Team

Directed by

Benjamin Heisenberg

Screenplay

Benjamin Heisenberg

Josef Lechner

Director of Photography

Reinhold Vorschneider

Editing

Stefan Kälin

Andreas Wodraschke

Production Designer

Renate Schmaderer

Costume Designer

Stephanie Rieß

Make Up

Wiltrud Derschmidt

Dörte Dobkowitz

Casting

Ulrike Müller

Original Music

Lorenz Dangel

Original Sound

Laurent Barbey

Commissioning Editors

Andrea Hanke (WDR)

Cornelia Ackers (BR)

Georg Steinert (ARTE)

Esther Rutschmann (Line Producer SRF)

Urs Fitze (Coproductions SRF)

Sven Wälti (National Coordination SRG SSR)

Co-producers

Ruth Waldburger (VEGA Film)

Franz Novotny

Alexander Glehr (Novotny & Novotny Filmproduktion)

Peter Heilrath (Peter Heilrath Filmproduktion)

Producers

Janine Jackowski, Jonas Dornbach und Maren Ade (Komplizen Film)

Festivals

Berlinale 2014

Panorama Special

CPH:PIX

2 Riversides Film Festival

Kamera Ostrava

Chicago International Film Festival

Comedy Cluj Film Festival

St Petersburg Cool Connections

La Paz Muestra de Cine Europeo

Festival des Deutschen Films

Chennai International Film Festival

Distribution

Distribution

World Distribution