Storkow Kalifornia

When you drive out of Storkow in Brandenburg you head north via Neu-Boston; to the west lies Philadephia. All landmark names, monuments to aspirations that proverbially go to ground here. Sunny (30) and his mother Nena (60) are both from Storkow. When the going’s good, their life is one long colourful trip that takes place mostly at night in the only bar for miles around. One night – unusually for her - Nena decides to take off with an old flame. Sunny leaps into his car and roars off into the dark. To him traffic lights are just red lights on long poles. Liv, a woman of his age, is of a different opinion - for professional reasons. She’s a traffic cop and soon pulls Sunny over. While she’s checking his credentials something clicks between them. Things could be so wonderful, but Sunny finds himself falling between two stools, or rather two women: Liv and his mother Nena. He also finds himself caught between the desire for a future (or shall we say a life of his own) and the unavoidable pain that comes with every emancipation.
by Kolja Malik
with Daniel Roth, Lana Cooper, Franziska Ponitz, Christoph Schmidt, Tammo Winkler
Germany 2018 German 29’ Colour

With

  • Daniel Roth (Sunny)
  • Lana Cooper (Liv)
  • Franziska Ponitz (Nena)
  • Christoph Schmidt (Werner)
  • Tammo Winkler (Gernot)

Crew

Written and Directed by Kolja Malik
Cinematography Jieun Yi
Editing Kolja Malik
Music Daniel Roth
Sound Design Johannes Schelle
Sound Johannes Schelle
Production Design Justine Kiesewetter
Costumes Nina Kroschinske, Angela Queins
Make-Up Carmen Gante
Assistant Director Theresa Krehn
Production Manager Lena Plaß
Producer Esther Busch, Gabriel Waldvogel

Produced by

Kolja Malik

Born in 1990, he grew up between the sticks and the city and wrote his first script at 11. As a teenager he won several young talent awards for various shorts and at 21 began work on his debut feature film Und am Ende sind alle allein. The film premiered at the 2015 Festival des deutschen Films in Ludwigshafen and was released in cinemas in 2016. He has worked on building sites, as a doctor’s assistant in rural India, assistant theatre director, (unpaid) student at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and (well-paid) cashier and cleaner in a porn cinema. His hobbies are perfumeries, railway pubs and DIY stores.

Filmography

2008 Beduinen des Westens; short film 2011 Burn It Down; medium-length film 2013 Ans Meer; short film 2015 Und am Ende sind alle allein 2016 Marrakech; short film 2018 Storkow Kalifornia; medium-length film

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2018