Director Lennart RUFF c/o GoSee Member DBC's graduate film ‘Nocebo’ (as reported by GoSee) is currently in the run for the Student Oscar as we discovered as a practical tip-off at the ADC from Lennart himself. He has been nominated for the ‘best foreign feature film category’. Now we need to wait until 7 June in Los Angeles to see if it will be Gold, Silver or Bronze. Lennart Ruff was born 1986 in Mannheim, Germany, and grew up in Frankfurt, Rome and Hamburg. He began working as an intern for several commercial production companies in Hamburg and Los Angeles, and later as a location manager and production assistant for German TV and theatrical films. In 2007 he started studying feature film at the University of Television & Film Munich, and took part in the Masterclass Commercials in 2011. We caught up with the young director for a GoSee Quest and are rooting for him to win.
When did you submit your entry? Tell us a bit about how it works?
Every single film school in the world can nominate a film for the academy and I was lucky enough and very grateful to have my film selected by HFF Munich for this year’s entry.
Who is in the jury?
There is an academy committee, which nominates 10 films. Academy members can then vote for films at various screenings. Three winners are announced at the end.
Your category must have been foreign film. When did you find out that you might make it?
10 days ago I found out that we had been nominated. Then this week I got the call in the early evening: “this is the academy”. My heart was racing.
What do you hope to gain from winning?
Film production is of course always a team effort. From SüdArt film production company and MenelaosFilm (my producers), to my cameraman Jan-Marcello Kahl, to my cutter Ann-Carolin Biesenbach and to all the other countless people involved: I hope that this will open up new doors for all of us. In fact it has already proved to be a game changer.
Will you be attending the awards ceremony?
The Academy will be hosting us for one week in L.A. accompanied by a programme of ‘industry activities’. The awards ceremony will then take place on 7 June at Directors Guild of America. Several team members, as well as my Professor Andreas Gruber will be attending. Then we will find out who will be winning Gold, Silver and Bronze. But no matter what the actual outcome: to have come this far is already a victory in itself.
Where can we watch the winning films?
We will keep having screenings in the next weeks and months. As you know we are currently in the Saatchi&Saatchi New German Directors Showcase. So you will be able to watch it at various events. ARTE and BR will be screening the film as coproduction partners. In addition HFF is planning a screening at college cinemas for May/June. Until then you will have to make do with the trailer, which has already been screened on GoSee. To find out more about the other films I recommend visiting the Oscar site.
What is your next project?
There are two Munich film production projects I would like to work on. There are of course also some options with the existing Nocebo team. I am pretty much open to almost anything. I do not write myself, I always work with writers and am looking forward to new inspiration. I also work as a commercial director and am represented in the industry by DBC Munich.
Who – other than us- has been sending you congratulations?
I have been receiving tons of lovely congratulations. Lots of friends, fellow students, people from the industry. Everyone who has contributed to the film is of course very proud – the award goes to everyone involved.
Nocebo /nəˈseːbə/ the Nocebo effect (lat. nocebo = I shall harm) is a harmless substance that creates harmful effects in a patient who takes it. The nocebo effect is the negative reaction (as opposed to the positive reaction of a placebo) experienced by a patient who receives a nocebo.
About - Nocebo. Christian Lukas, 22, is on the run. He took part in a drug study and together with his girlfriend Anna discovered the death of a fellow participant. However instead of investigating, the doctors covered up the incident. When Anna also starts showing signs of the deadly side effects Christian breaks out of the test centre to get help. But neither police nor doctors believe his story since Christian suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. Only his sister Alice stands by him despite her also having serious doubts - until suddenly unknown pursuers show up. But what is the real story behind Christian‘s escape? Does the girl in danger really exist at all? Where is the line between psychosis and reality? Nocebo - a perception thriller. nocebo-film.com
NOCEBO CREDITS
FORMAT 2K, 2,35:1, Dolby Digital 5.1
DURATION 37 Min. 51 Sek.
PRODUCTION Südart Filmproduktion, Menelaos Film
COPRODUCTION HFF München, Bayerischer Rundfunk, arte
EDITING Natalie Lambsdorff, Martin Kowalczyk, Monika Lobkowicz
FINANCIAL SUPPORT FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Förderverein der HFF München, Bernd Burgemeister Fonds, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
Vincent Redetzki as CHRISTIAN LUKAS
Picco von Groote as ALICE LUKAS
Odine Johne as ANNA
Daniel Friedrich as DR. GELEITNER
Torben Liebrecht as JAN
Almut Kapp as DR. REICH
Tristan Seith as PFLEGER
Steven Scharf as PSYCHIATRIST
Jannis Spengler as POLICE MAN
Thomas Meinhardt as KARL
Moritz Fischer as FIRST CHASER
Manfred Niedermeier as SECOND CHASER
Ercan Öksüz as INTERNETCAFÉ ATTENDANT
Luis Abler as BOY
DIRECTION Lennart RUFF c/o DBC - DRIVEN BY CREATIVES
SCRIPT Maggie Peren
PRODUCER Boris Jendreyko, Thomas Klimmer, Severin Höhne, Tobias M. Huber
PICTURE DESIGN Jan-Marcello Kahl
MONTAGE Ann-Carolin Biesenbach
SOUND Peter Kautzsch
POSTPRO SUPERVISOR Thomas Herget
SOUNDDESIGN Giesing Team
VFX Sunday Digital
MUSIC Superstrings
MAKE-UP Christina Baier
SET DESIGN Carina Cavegn
COSTUME Diana Dietrich
CASTING Karima El-Giamal
