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Janine zieht aufs Land

Janine Moves to the Country
Forum 2025
© Eilhardt Productions
“In order to withstand the contempt of those days, I often imagined that the village was a glittering stage. And now I want to return to the village.” Janine has made up her mind. Together with her asthmatic partner, she’s turning her back on Berlin. Yet in the lifeless village streets, her queer appearance doesn’t just awaken positive associations. Processing his own provincial past, Jan Eilhardt weaves a selection of private videoclips and photos into his film which reveal that Janine has been accompanying him for many years. They also show his memories of his mother Brigitte, who realised that growing up in a village formed an important test: rural stigmatisation as a sort of German Little Rock. It’s a path that still lies in front of neighbour Peter, who lives with his overwhelmed mother and his brother Enrico. Janine’s arrival stokes his yearnings, but also implies coming out and all the fears that entails. Eilhardt translates the encounter into a campy, eroticising and often dramatic 360-degree view of a hostile milieu. Confronting old wounds, Janine subverts this milieu with lasciviousness, music and the confidence of someone who’s never had anything to prove to themselves.
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by Jan Eilhardt (Director, Screenplay)
with Janine Lear, Maximilian Brauer, Adrian Wenzel, Kathrin Angerer, Pierre Emö, Susanne Bredehöft, Daniel Zillmann, Beatrice Cordula Germany 2025 German 74' Colour World premiere

With

  • Janine Lear
  • Maximilian Brauer
  • Adrian Wenzel
  • Kathrin Angerer
  • Pierre Emö
  • Susanne Bredehöft
  • Daniel Zillmann
  • Beatrice Cordula

Crew

Director Jan Eilhardt
Screenplay Jan Eilhardt
Cinematography Irene Cruz
Editing Verena Neumann, Jan Eilhardt
Music Ulf Wrede, Peter Uehling, Sanaa Schlaeger
Sound Design Harald Ansorge, Michael Gabelmann, Cedric Hommel
Production Design Johanna Meyer, Shel Yan, Katharina Zerr
Animation Maria Zbarskaya
Producer Jan Eilhardt
Executive Producer Santiago Gómez Rojas

Produced by

Eilhardt Productions

Photos

Jan Eilhardt

© Johanna Meyer

Jan Eilhardt studied Film and Performance at the HFBK Hamburg (including classes with Marina Abramović) and was an assistant to Heiner Müller at the Berliner Ensemble. His films and experimental projects have screened in international film festivals, cinemas, and museums. His feature debut Scherbengericht premiered in 2013 at the Slamdance Film Festival. Fremdenverführerin (2022), a queer-activist Super 8 short film, was shown in international festivals and won many awards. It is being followed in 2025 by his autobiographically inspired feature Janine zieht aufs Land, supported by mediatalents (nordmedia).

Filmography ( selection)

2002 Straße der Revolution (Streets of the Revolution); short film 2003 Dance; short film 2004 Tertiär; short film 2005 Quasar; short film 2006 CDF 1; short film 2007 CDF 2; short film 2012 Moby Dick Piece; short film · Scherbengericht (The Court of Shards) 2013 The Last Night of Baby Gun; short film 2014 Gun Street Girl Sings Tom Waits 2021 The Real Court of Shards 2022 Fremdenverführerin (Sanaa, Seductress of Strangers); short film 2025 Die Bienenverweigerin (Beer Refusic); short film · Bad Luck; short film · Janine zieht aufs Land (Janine Moves to the Country)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2025