Feature Film, 83 min.
Lost in the German countryside, five teenagers - Katja, Sascha, Benni, Laila and Schöller - form a tight-knit gang and live by their own rules. They search for meaning, run away, kiss, fight and love, navigating a world where intimacy and pain are intertwined. As graduation approaches, they know their paths will soon diverge. NAKED ANIMALS captures that fleeting time when you feel invincible, facing life’s challenges with resilience because you have friends to catch you. It also explores the pain of saying goodbye, without knowing what’s next.
Director
Melanie Waelde
Writer
Melanie Waelde
Cinematographer
Fion Mutert
Editor
Jessica Schneller
Executive Producers
Thorne Mutert
Jan Fincke
Producers
Anja Wedell
Cast
Marie Tragousti
Sammy Scheuritzel
Michelangelo Fortuzzi
Luna Schaller
Paul Michael Stiehler
A Czar Film Production
Berlin International Film Festival (World Premiere / Encounters Competition); IFFF Dortmund (Feature Competition), Giffoni IFF (Competition Generator 16+), Viennale, Sao Paulo (First Feature Competition, New Horizons IFF, Seville European FF, Scanorama IFF and many others
Special Mention GWFF Best First Feature Award (Berlinale); Best First Feature 2020 (German Film Critics Association)
Feature Film, 83 min.
Lost in the German countryside, five teenagers - Katja, Sascha, Benni, Laila and Schöller - form a tight-knit gang and live by their own rules. They search for meaning, run away, kiss, fight and love, navigating a world where intimacy and pain are intertwined. As graduation approaches, they know their paths will soon diverge. NAKED ANIMALS captures that fleeting time when you feel invincible, facing life’s challenges with resilience because you have friends to catch you. It also explores the pain of saying goodbye, without knowing what’s next.
Director
Melanie Waelde
Writer
Melanie Waelde
Cinematographer
Fion Mutert
Editor
Jessica Schneller
Executive Producers
Thorne Mutert
Jan Fincke
Producers
Anja Wedell
Cast
Marie Tragousti
Sammy Scheuritzel
Michelangelo Fortuzzi
Luna Schaller
Paul Michael Stiehler
A Czar Film Production
Berlin International Film Festival (World Premiere / Encounters Competition); IFFF Dortmund (Feature Competition), Giffoni IFF (Competition Generator 16+), Viennale, Sao Paulo (First Feature Competition, New Horizons IFF, Seville European FF, Scanorama IFF and many others
Special Mention GWFF Best First Feature Award (Berlinale); Best First Feature 2020 (German Film Critics Association)