Sophie Linnenbaum: Last News

Alissa Simon Film CriticDo you ever think about the narrative that governs your everyday life? You certainly will after watching the idiosyncratic German tragicomedy “The Ordinaries,” which fizzes with remake potential. For her debut feature, premiering in the main competition at Karlovy Vary, German director-writer Sophie Linnenbaum and her co-scripter Michael Fetter Nathansky create a high-concept, meta-cinema world that uses the process of filmmaking to deconstruct the power of the narratives and how they determine our thoughts and actions.The basic idea for this world came early on to Linnenbaum, with the short “[Out of Fra]me” (2016), made while she attended Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf.

As the 56th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) is about to kick off on Friday, there will be plenty to discuss at this year’s event in the picturesque Czech spa town. The prominent Central European festival, which is returning to its usual early July slot after last year’s edition was delayed to August because of the pandemic, will see 33 films from five continents screen across its three sections – the Crystal Globe Competition, the Special Screenings section and its new competition, Proxima, which replaces the former East of the West section.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorLeading arthouse sales company The Match Factory has acquired Sophie Linnenbaum’s graduation feature “The Ordinaries,” which will have its international premiere in Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s Crystal Globe Competition, following its world premiere at Munich Film Festival. In her first foray into feature-length fiction filmmaking, Linnenbaum “playfully explores the process of identity construction within rigid power structures in a filmic meta-world,” The Match Factory said. The film follows her acclaimed documentary “Stories of Dads,” which won the FFF Talent Award at Dokfest Munich last year, and was nominated for the German Documentary Award.“The Ordinaries” depicts a repressive three class-society in which Paula, a simple Supporting Character, is about to face the most important test of her life: she has to prove she deserves to be a Lead.