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Chronos – Fluss der Zeit

Chronos – Flow of Time
Forum 2026
© Salzgeber & Co. Medien
“Sarmatische Zeit” (Sarmatian Time) is the name of a poetry collection by Johannes Bobrowski, which becomes a personal, lyrical leitmotif for Volker Koepp in this visually striking, far-reaching exploration of the region between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, along the Memel, Dnister and Pruth rivers. It is a place of different origins, longings and crimes: a melting pot for myriad cultures and affiliations, a point of reference and refuge for over half a century in the work of the great chronicler and the setting of repeated cruelties and destruction. Returning to his own oeuvre with companions old and new becomes a simultaneous process of looking back and bringing things up to date. Like the arms of a delta, connections to German history and the entire European context are created, between past and present. And for a long while, time seems to stand terribly still within this flow, for since the start of the Russian war against Ukraine in 2022, the echo of the experience of violence inscribed into this region becomes impossible to ignore. What originates in poems about the Memel region develops into a monumental contemplation about people in time and space.
by Volker Koepp (Director, Screenplay)
with Tanja Kloubert, Ana-Felicia Scutelnicu, Anetta Kahane, Volha Hapeyeva Germany 2026 German, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Belarusian, Russian, Romanian 200' Colour & Black/White World premiere | Documentary form

With

  • Tanja Kloubert
  • Ana-Felicia Scutelnicu
  • Anetta Kahane
  • Volha Hapeyeva

Crew

Director Volker Koepp
Screenplay Volker Koepp
Cinematography Uwe Mann, Christian Lehmann, Thomas Plenert
Editing Christoph Krüger
Sound Design Urs Hauck
Producer Volker Koepp
Executive Producer Volker Koepp

Produced by

Vineta Film

Berlin, Germany

Co-produced by

Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg

Berlin / Potsdam, Germany

Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk

Leipzig, Germany

Photos

Volker Koepp

Born in 1944 in Stettin and raised in Berlin, after training as a machinist, Volker Koepp studied at the Technische Universität, Dresden, and the Film University Babelsberg. From 1970 to 1991, he was employed as a documentary director by DEFA Studio. He has since worked as a freelance director, writer, producer and teacher, and has been a guest at the Berlinale Forum multiple times. In addition to various awards for his film work, he received the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class in 2014 and became an honorary member of the German Film Academy in 2021.

Filmography (selection)

1972 Grüße aus Sarmatien; short documentary 1973 Gustav J.; short documentary 1974 Mädchen in Wittstock; short documentary, Berlinale Forum 1977 1976 Wieder in Wittstock; short documentary, Berlinale Forum 1977 1979 Tag für Tag; documentary 1980 Haus und Hof; documentary 1984 Leben in Wittstock; documentary, Berlinale Forum 1985 1985 Afghanistan 1362; documentary 1992 Neues in Wittstock; documentary 1995 Kalte Heimat; documentary, Berlinale Forum 1995 1999 Herr Zwilling und Frau Zuckermann (Mr. Zwilling and Mrs. Zuckermann); documentary, Berlinale Forum 1999 2002 Uckermark; documentary, Berlinale Forum 2002 2004 Dieses Jahr in Czernowitz (This Year in Czernowitz); documentary, Berlinale Forum 2004 2016 Landstück (Piece of Land); documentary, Berlinale Forum 2016 2023 Gehen und Bleiben (Leaving and Staying); documentary, Berlinale Forum 2023 2026 Chronos – Fluss der Zeit (Chronos – Flow of Time); documentary

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2026