Online screening of Natalia Sinelnikova’s award-winning debut feature

The German Film Office presents an online screening of Natalia Sinelnikova’s award-winning debut feature We Might as Well Be Dead.

The film will be available for free streaming in the United States and Canada.
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Germany (2022) 93 min. DCP Projection.  German with English Subtitles
Director: Natalia Sinelnikova, Screenplay: Natalia Sinelnikova & Viktor Gallandi, Cinematography: Jan Mayntz, Cast: Ioana Iacob, Pola Geiger, Jörg Schüttauf, Producers: Julia Wagner, Production Company: HEARTWAKE films In Coproduction with Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF
 
In Natalia Sinelnikova’s feature film debut, the microcosm of the high-rise provides the setting for an eerie, nuanced, and satirical portrait of a timeless dystopian experiment. Anna (Iacob) and her teenage daughter Iris (Geiger) live in an exclusive apartment building near the edge of an unnamed forest. Secluded, secure, and self-contained, the complex is famous for its curated list of residents. To live here, shielded from a dangerous environment, is the goal. As head of security, Anna holds one of the most critical positions within the community. Life within the idyllic complex seems perfect until caretaker Gerti‘s (Schüttauf) dog mysteriously disappears, sparking panic among the residents. What follows is an unsettling, slow burning series of events that send the already paranoid tenants spiraling towards mass hysteria. Award-winning cinematographer Jan Mayntz artfully captures the bleak reality of Sinelkova and Gallandi’s screenplay that resonates with current social and political issues. 

“An ace feature debut from the director Natalia Sinelnikova, the deadpan comedy feels like a cousin to works by Yorgos Lanthimos, an absurdist equally attentive to how confinement breeds fear and fear breeds barbarity.” (The New York Times)

A Hope Runs High release.

FESTIVALS, AWARDS & NOMINATIONS
German Currents Film Festival 2022: Opening Film
Berlinale 2022: Opening Film at Perspective Deutsches Kino
Tribeca Film Festival 2022: International Narrative Competition, Best Cinematography
Bolzano Film Festival Bozen 2021: Cine Chromatix - Postproduktions-Preis
Berlin Film Week: Winner Best Director and Best Screenplay