Producer & Director: Sven J. Matten
Production: Paradigma Entertainment
Screenplay: Tina Schulte & Renatus Töpke
Director of Photography: Michael Sigloch
Cutter: Anna Vogel
Production Manager: Udo Alter
Cast: Dennis Prinz, Veit Messerschmidt, David Langer,
Jennifer Schmid, Dunja Bengsch
Music: Michael Bauer, Florian Moser,
Benedikt Brachtel, Hans-Peter Ströer
Genre: Coming of Age
Year of Completion: 2005
Log line:
Following a string of dramatic events, the gay, 16-year-old Tom realizes that things are often quite different from how they seem and that being gay isn’t as unusual as he once thought.
Synopsis:
Tom (16) lives in a small winter sports resort town in Germany. He’s gay, chatting on the Internet with other gay guys, although he would never admit to this. At school he is teased and bullied, while at home he feels misunderstood by his parents. But then his life is suddenly turned upside down: Gradually, Tom finds out that Nikias, one of the cool classmates who all despise him, also makes out with boys rather than girls – to be more precise: he catches him making out on the couch with someone else from his clique. And then there’s that very nice party store salesman. Will Tom finally be able to recognize himself and his feelings?
Director’s Note:
OUT NOW was a successful venture. Although the public continues to point out how self-evident homosexuality is today, the issue remains a major problem for those affected and for their environment, such as friends and family. That’s why films like OUT NOW are important – for awakening, enlightening and as a plea for tolerance and compassion instead of looking the other way and excluding people.
Marketing and Sales:
Due to the special nature of the project – OUT NOW offers the sensitive and yet concrete treatment of a socially explosive topic, especially tailored to screening in schools and other educational institutions and yet also with a feature film folder, e.g. for TV or festivals, instead of the educational television character of conventional school films (which often have a negative connotation) – OUT NOW also creates a special situation. In the case of OUT NOW, the close proximity to the audience for such a project and the associated identification potential of the film, which is guaranteed by the movie character and the young, fresh faces of the actors as well as the professionalism of the production, is coupled with comprehensive reviews of OUT NOW in the German-speaking countries. In addition to its wide diffusion, the film achieves a high recognition value, identification and discussion among its young target group as a result of the concentrated processing of the film in class. OUT NOW is the first official short film with worksheets on the use of teaching in Germany on the subject of same-sex orientation.
Distribution:
Matthias Film gGmbH
Österreichischer Filmservice
Heinz&Horst Media
Wolfe Release
LOGOnetwork MTV
Triangle TV
Bayerischer Rundfunk
Hessischer Rundfunk
Length & format: 20 minutes, 35mm, ratio 1 : 1,85, 1 reel
Sound: Dolby SR
FSK rated: 12 years and older
FBW Prädikat: wertvoll
(This film is officially honoured in Germany as “valuable”)
Nominated for German Short Film Award 2005
Formats available:
– 35mm (with english subtitles) Ratio 1:1,85, 1 Reel
– HD Cam (without english subtitles) 16:9
– HD Cam (with english subtitles) 16:9
– DigiBeta (without english subtitles) 16:9
– DigiBeta (with english subtitles) 16:9
– DigiBeta + 6 minutes interviews 4:3 (German language)
– VHS (with & without english subtitles) + 6 min. interviews
– DVD (english subtitles to be selected) + 6 min. interviews
International Film Festival Screening History
1. 50th Cork Film Festival (Ireland) 2005
2. Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (USA) 2005
3. Filmgipfel Oberstdorf (Germany) 2005
4. Mardy Gras Film Festival Sydney (Australia) 2006
5. 16th Melbourne Queer Film Festival (Australia) 2006
6. Cinechico Short Film Night Auckland (New Zealand) 2006
7. Aarhus Festival Of Independent Arts (AFIA, Denmark) 2006
8. Schwule Filmwoche Freiburg (Germany) 2006
9. Pink Apple Filmfestival Zürich (Switzerland) 2006
10. Inside Out Toronto Film Festival (Canada) 2006
11. NewFest – The 18th New York LGBT Film Festival (USA) 2006
12. Frameline30 San Francisco Intern. LGBT Film Festival (USA) 2006
13. Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (USA) 2006
14. 10th Lisbon Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (Portugal) 2006
15. Reel Affirmations 16 Washington DC (USA) 2006
16. 14th Festival Mix Brasil, Sao Paolo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia 2006
17. Festival del Sol – Int. Festival of Canary Islands (Spain) 2007
18. Festival del Mar – Ibiza & Mallorca International Film Festival (Spain) 2007
19. Festiwal Filmowy Pryzmat Warsaw (Poland) 2007
PR:
Ulrich Group GmbH, Waldtruderinger Straße 29, 81827 München
Phone: +49 89 / 439 84 00 Fax: +49 89 / 439 84 023 E-Mail: info@ulrichgroup.de