Richard the Stork

Überflieger – Kleine Vögel, großes Geklapper
‘What kind of a sparrow are you?’ · ‘I…I am a stork.’

When Richard awakes one fall morning to find himself alone in his stork nest, he's aghast. How could the others have left him behind? Undaunted, Richard sets out alone for Africa to prove to his stork family that he's one of them. Unfortunately, there's one inconvenient truth: Richard is in fact a sparrow and not at all equipped with what it takes to complete such a long-distance flight. On his voyage across Europe, he encounters a whole cast of winged oddballs, including Mafiosi crows and high voltage pigeons, as well as the helpful owl Olga and karaoke-loving parakeet Kiki, who are both blessed with brilliant ideas. Through his many adventures, Richard finally learns that it's actually not so bad being a sparrow amongst the most colourful birds.
by Toby Genkel
with Tilman Döbler, Christian Gaul, Nicolette Krebitz, Marco Eßer, Marcus Off, Maud Ackermann, James Carter Cathcart
Germany / Belgium / Luxembourg / Norway 2016 German 84’ Colour Rating R0

With

  • Tilman Döbler (Richard)
  • Christian Gaul (Kiki)
  • Nicolette Krebitz (Olga)
  • Marco Eßer (Max)
  • Marcus Off (Claudius)
  • Maud Ackermann (Aurora)
  • James Carter Cathcart (Gesang Kiki)

Crew

Director Toby Genkel
Co-director Reza Memari
Screenplay Reza Memari
Editing Reza Memari
Animation Director Kenneth Vandel
Music Eric Neveux
Sound Design Bent Holm
Animation Supervisor Javier Perez Rodenas, Gilles Rudziak
Sound Mixing Bent Holm, Espen Rønning
Production Design Stéphane LeCocq
Set Design Bernd Kissel
Character Design Christian Puille
Line Producer Ciara Breslin
Producers Kristine M.I. Knudsen, Emely Christians, Eric Goossens, Anton Roebben, Stephan Roelants
Executive Producers Marc Gabizon, Dr. Thomas Weymar
Co-Producers Tania Reichert-Facilides, David Claikens, Alex Verbaere, Lars Leegaard Marøy, Tom Streuber
Co-Production Walking the Dog Brüssel
Mélusine Productions Contern
Den siste skilling AS Bergen
Senator Film Produktion GmbH Berlin
BNP Paribas Fortis Film Finance Brüssel
Mediefondet Zefyr Bergen
Norddeutscher Rundfunk Hamburg

Toby Genkel

Born in Hamburg, Germany in 1970, he studied graphic design in Hamburg from 1992 to 1994. He first became acquainted with film working at the TFC Trickompany where he was co-director of the feature film Kommando Störtebeker in 1998. He works as a writer, layout artist and designer as well as a director and co-director on commercials, animated films and animated TV series including Werner – Das muß kesseln!!! and Karlsson vom Dach. He is currently co-writer and co-director on the 3D feature film Tabaluga – Der Film, on a TV series and theatrical feature for 'Olchis' and Yakari, another 3D feature.

Filmography (selection)

1998 Kommando Störtebecker; Co-director 2007 Das doppelte Lottchen 2011 Thor – Ein hammermäßiges Abeneuer (Thor – Legends of Walhalla); Co-director 2015 Ooops! Noah is Gone ... (Ooops! Die Arche ist weg ...) 2016 Richard the Stork (Überflieger – kleine Vögel, großes Geklapper)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2018