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Der schöne Tag

A Fine Day
Forum Special Fiktionsbescheinigung 2022
© Pickpocket Filmproduktion
A balcony door. It is open – the only source of light in a darkened room. The sound of birds. A young woman stands there, motionless. Is she watching the sleeping man?
The young woman, Deniz, is an actress. The film will accompany her for a whole day, with natural light and sound recorded on location. We see how she sorts laundry, auditions for a leading role and meets other people. She often takes the U-Bahn. Her movements on foot and by public transport lend the film structure and determine its rhythm. The feel for Berlin’s topography is impressive.
Der schöne Tag completes Thomas Arslan’s Berlin trilogy, following Kardeşler (1997) and Dealer (1999). It is about people of Turkish origin, all of them second-generation, although questions of identity are not even broached – they remain underneath the surface. In one scene, we see Deniz working as a voice artist, dubbing Éric Rohmer’s Conte d’été into German: like the character in the film whose lines she delivers, Deniz finds herself in state of uncertainty too.
by Thomas Arslan
with Serpil Turhan, Bilge Bingül, Florian Stetter, Selda Kaya, Hafize Üner, Hanns Zischler, Elke Schmitter, Benedict Weber Germany 2001 German, Turkish 74’ Colour

With

  • Serpil Turhan
  • Bilge Bingül
  • Florian Stetter
  • Selda Kaya
  • Hafize Üner
  • Hanns Zischler
  • Elke Schmitter
  • Benedict Weber

Crew

Written and Directed by Thomas Arslan
Cinematography Michael Wiesweg
Editing Bettina Blickwede
Music Saul Williams, Selda Kaya & shape:mod, Morton Feldman
Sound Andreas Mücke-Niesytka
Art Director Ulrika Anderson
Costumes Annette Guther
Producers Thomas Arslan, Martin Hagermann
Commissioning Editor Lucas Schmidt
Co-Production ZDF/Das kleine Fernsehspiel Mainz, Deutschland

Produced by

Pickpocket Filmproduktion

zero film

Photos

Thomas Arslan

© Marco Krueger Schramm Film

Born in Braunschweig, Germany in 1962, he lived in Essen until 1967 and then attended primary school in Ankara, Turkey. Returning to Essen in 1971, he completed school in 1982. After serving the community alternative to military service in Hamburg, he spent a year in Munich, studying German and history for two semesters. He then took a number of film internships and, from 1986 to 1992, studied film at the DFFB in Berlin. Starting with his feature-length debut Turn Down the Music, his films have been invited to the Berlinale on several occasions, with films including Dealer, A Fine Day, From Far Away and In the Shadows screening in the Forum, and Gold and Bright Nights premiering in the Competition.

Filmography (selection)

1985 Eine Nacht, ein Morgen; short film 1989 Risse; medium-length film 1990 19 Porträts; short film 1991 Am Rand; short film 1992 Im Sommer; medium-length film 1993 Mach die Musik leiser (Turn Down the Music) 1996 Geschwister (Brothers and Sisters) 1998 Dealer 2001 Der schöne Tag (A Fine Day) 2005 Aus der Ferne (From Far Away) 2007 Ferien (Vacation) 2010 Im Schatten (In the Shadows) 2013 Gold 2017 Helle Nächte (Bright Nights) 2024 Verbrannte Erde (Scorched Earth)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2024