News – Mastlicht Studio

Exclusive cinema screening: “Das Lernen der Eigenständigkeit” in Büdingen

2025-02-07T00:00:00.000Z

We are of course very happy about this! On 19 February 2025 at 5:30 pm, “Das Lernen der Eigenständigkeit” will be shown in a special screening at the NOVUM cinema in Büdingen (Hesse), followed by a panel discussion! With the protagonists and the film crew present, the audience will have the opportunity after the screening to ask them questions about the film and its content directly in an interactive panel discussion. This special screening came about because Büdingen is also home to the place of learning of the protagonists around the team of Lars Prignitz. Here, where the film was made, we would like to offer the chance, in addition to the premiere, to watch and discuss the film with the entire team. The young people will also be present to answer questions directly and to talk about their everyday school life. One thing we can promise you: it will be inspiring.

We look forward to the screening together with the protagonists and you. Get your ticket via the link to the NOVUM cinema in Büdingen!

Studio BRAIN: a new chapter

2024-01-06T00:00:00.000Z

What might be taking shape on this construction site? For us as (creative) filmmakers, our studio is not just a place for productive work on the post-production of our projects. Rather, it is at the same time a place of exchange, a workshop for ideas and an environment in which ideas can be developed further and realised together. Because working on projects together is more than just an informal exchange that could be moved to the home office these days, as the COVID period has lastingly proven. For us, the most important aspect of being and working together “physically” in the studio is the creative process. Over the last three years we (like many others) have been able to gather a lot of experience of how collaboration works and has to work in different industries. The most valuable experience this time allowed us to gain relates less to the work on set (which, of course, can only take place in “physical” collaboration) than to everyday work. By building our new compact studio, the BRAIN, at Frankfurter Landstraße 35 in the north-western part of Hanau, we can make optimal use of the advantages of our hybrid model, which has proven to be the model that works best for the different areas of responsibility and realities of life of the team. Both the transport and infrastructure connections (which turned out to be, well, a solid hurdle in our “old” studio: keyword public transport in the countryside) and the reduction in floor space that this made possible are a good step into the future for us from an economic and sustainable point of view. As a company we have made it our task to bundle the resources (electricity, water, space, travel distances, budgets (!) etc.) for our everyday work in the best possible way. On reflection, the result for us is higher quality of work and results with a lower use of resources and thus a lower impact on the environment, without restrictions. But there is another aspect we are looking forward to at the new location: we are moving in together with the plan-d akademie, with which we have been cooperating from the very beginning. The plan-d akademie specialises in innovative digital education and realises a wide variety of multimedia projects in Hesse. In addition, the plan-d akademie offers high-quality and inclusive programmes for job seekers that are geared to the realities of the participants' lives, not the other way round as is the case with conventional education providers. With a similar philosophy, we are working together to use our skills to make the world a little bit better for different target groups: through knowledge, through entertainment or through both together. With the BRAIN we want to create a place that is optimally tailored to the needs of creative film and media production for our companies (both in terms of infrastructure and creativity) and that offers everyone who realises projects together with us a place to go when it is needed. We are looking forward to this new phase, to the work still to be done (which is expected to continue until mid-March), to all the successes (and failures too) and to all the projects, joint work and humorous moments that will follow. The chapter 2024 can begin!

“Eine Partie Ungelegenheiten” and a short story of how it was made

2023-05-13T00:00:00.000Z

The plot of Eine Partie Ungelegenheiten:

1871: In the course of the founding of the German Empire, the young sovereign Grand Duchess Henriette Luise already has to deal with all kinds of bureaucracy and tiring negotiations. To make matters worse, she falls in love against her will with the boastful bon vivant Prince Phillip Josef. In the turmoil of political events, this “inconvenient and fatal distraction” is not welcome to her at all.

Well, let's put it this way: certain circumstances gave me the necessary inspiration for Henriette's emotional chaos at the time. Because the plot and the character of Henriette were in fact already clear to me before I even decided on the year 1871.

What followed was a long period of planning and of trying to get the financing off the ground. And without a team, no film! And I may say: we had a truly terrific team and an outstanding cast.

Nine months after the screenplay was completed, the production of “Eine Partie Ungelegenheiten” officially started in early summer 2022. This means that rehearsals began with the concept rehearsal and the costumes were made or sourced. The costume stock of the Staatstheater Mainz helped out here, which, after long research and the study of historical clothing, resulted in a real “battle of costumes”. Since I set myself the standard of working in a truly “historically correct” way, the costumes were accordingly elaborate. I felt enormous respect for Luise (HR), who delivered a brilliant acting performance for a week in a hot August wearing four petticoats, a bustle and a tightly laced corset! Mind you, she already had to endure two hours of make-up every day. To this day I am sorry that I sometimes “burnt” her ear with the curling iron.

After the exhausting but very fulfilling shoot at Schloss Birstein, which felt like a journey through time, everyone was completely worn out at first.

Three months later, the last scenes were shot in the old town of Gelnhausen. The team, above all our terrific cinematographer Ole Schreiter, initially had serious doubts as to how a crew of twenty was supposed to fit into a tiny old wine cellar, and the hazer (a kind of fog machine) did not exactly improve visibility in the dark. So everyone was very glad that the cellar was located directly in one of the most picturesque streets of Gelnhausen, which we more or less besieged over the course of the weekend. The shoot was concluded by the unbelievably loud shots of a black powder hussar carbine in the town park above Gelnhausen on a Sunday afternoon. Getting the permit for this was not exactly easy either. From then on, at least for that weekend, the whole of Gelnhausen was probably not on the best of terms with this production. We could be glad that all this happened in the capable and, of course, authorised hands of Jörg Hartmann and Oliver Zeuner of the Légion de Mayence e.V.

A lot of time then passed in the editing suite at Mastlicht. Cinematographer Ole Schreiter was also intensively occupied with the colour grading from then on, just as sound engineer Sebastian Göldenitz took care of the sound recordings, which turned out to be somewhat problematic.

One of the last steps was the recording of the film score. With the enchanting sound of the violin and the violoncello, the film got its very own music.

After two years of intensive work by many busy hands, the film finally celebrated its premiere on 7 May 2023 at the charming Kino Gelnhausen.

It was a great pleasure and honour for me to work with everyone who made this project possible. Thank you very much!

The short film “Eine Partie Ungelegenheiten” is funded by the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, the Lions Club Gelnhausen and the Masonic lodge of Gelnhausen. The film was supported by the Offener Kanal Offenbach and the film production company Mastlicht.

A documentary record of the Montessori Farm Aulendiebach

2023-04-27T00:00:00.000Z

Currently in production: a documentary record of the Montessori Farm Aulendiebach

What is the Montessori Farm Aulendiebach?

The Montessori Farm in Aulendiebach is a learning environment for the third plane of development according to Maria Montessori. It is provided by the Center of Work and Study Aulendiebach in cooperation with the BMS Ingelheim, which uses the site as a place of learning for one of its learning groups… more on this in the upcoming production.

What is the film meant to achieve?

The film focuses on Maria Montessori's educational concept for the age group 12 to 18 and shows how it is put into practice at the Montessori Farm Aulendiebach. The film is intended to give everyone access to this type of school and deals with the effects of the school on society.

What is the current status of the film production?

The production of the documentary is already in post-production, which means that shooting has been completed. We are now working at full speed on the post-production, which includes everything from the concept and the viewing of the footage to the edit, the colour design and the sound design.

When will the film be released in cinemas?

Q4 2023. More information about the premiere will be announced in the course of the production.