Ludwig II Set Photos

These were some fantastic 4 month of work in Germany and Austria last year. I shot the Ludwig II set and marketing photos for Warner Bros and Bavaria Film. The movie's release date in Germany is December 26. It was directed by Peter Sehr and Marie-Noelle, DOP: Christian Berger. Sabin Tambrea is Ludwig II. More information and many more images at http://wwws.warnerbros.de/ludwigii/

Tio Papi Movie Poster

Tio Papi, directed by Fro Rojas from the original screenplay by Joey Dedio and Brian Herskowitz, is an upbeat story of life's unexpected surprises and ultimately what matters the most - the love of family. Takes Place In: Washington Heights, NYC.Starring in “TIO PAPI” are Joey Dedio as "Tio Papi" Ray Ray, Elizabeth Rodriguez as his girlfriend "Cheeky," and Kelly McGillis as "Elizabeth Warden". Starring as Tio Papi's newly made family are Gabriella Fanuele ("Vanessa"), David Castro ("Manny"), Fatima Ptacek ("Angela"), Sebastian Martinez ("Angelo"), "Nicolette Pierini ("Lola") and Dax Roy ("Nico"). Also starring are Frankie Faison ("Gilly"), Franky G ("Chizzy"), Jeff Deserano ("Bongo"), Vanessa Aspillaga ("Carmela") and Jene Hernandez ("Lizette"). Rounding out the cast are Tyrone Brown ("Brandon"), Gina Hecht ("Marsha Horowitz"), Jerome Preston Bates ("Wilson"), Carlos Leon ("Raul"), and Jessica Leccia ("Daniella").

Ludwig II film stills

I have been working as the stills photographer for the German movie production "Ludwig II", a new (Luchino Visconti shot one with Helmut Berger in the early 70s) film about the life of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, for about 2 weeks now. We are currently filming in Austria, which is very different from waking up in Brooklyn. It is absolutely beautiful here (so is Brooklyn !!!). We move around a lot, quiet an undertaking with a crew of 80, not counting actors and extras and of course, horses. The directors are Marie Noelle and Peter Sehr ("The Anarchist's Wife"), leading the cast as King Ludwig is the very talented newcomer Sabin Tambrea. He is in good company: Hannah Herzsprung, Justus von Dohnányi, Edgar Selge, Samuel Finzi and many other well known German actors are at his 'royal' side.
The work will continue until late November and I will post pictures here as soon as Bavaria Film and Warner Bros Germany give the ok. Until then, the material I shot so far is: secret.

The picture above shows one of the many many microphones our sound engineer Eckhard Kuchenbecker and his assistant Hannes Ullmann usually plant all over the movie set, which makes shooting pictures during the takes with the noisy D3 and the (a little less noisy) D700 difficult without a blimp. Which I just received from California and I will let you know about my experiences with it soon.

PS; I always wanted to ask this: Nikon, why are your great cameras the noisiest around ? The D3 sounds like it WANTS to be heard ...

The Making of Albert Schweitzer Film

I was just going through 'making of' images I shot during the filming of the German movie ALBERT SCHWEITZER Ein Leben Fuer Afrika in South Africa in 2008. I added lots of them to my website and I remember that job as probably my best ever, I just LOVED working there !!!

More images click here

All images @ NFP/Warner Bros./Stefan Falke

ALBERT SCHWEITZER Ein Leben Fuer Afrika
Directed by: Gavin Millar
DOP: Cinders Forshaw
Camera operator: Stuart Howell
with: Jeroen Krabbé, Barbara Hershey, Judith Godrèche, Samuel West, Jeanette Hain, Patrice Naiambana, Jonathan Firth and Armin Rohde

Hip Hop - A Tale From The Hood

German filmmaker Harald Rumpf shot Hip Hop - A Tale From The Hood in the years 2000 and 2001. The documentary about the two New York rap artists I.G. Off & Hazadus (above) and their struggle from street to studio to fame will be shown (only this Saturday @ 9pm !) as part of the official program of the Harlem Film Festival at MAYSLES CINEMA.

Saturday September 25th 9pm, Maysles Cinema, at
343 Lenox Avenue/Malcolm X Boulevard, NYC.

More information about the film and the Harlem Festival here

(PS: I shot the stills on slide film, Provia 100, some pushed to 400 ! Remember, this was the year 2000 ... )

www.stefanfalke.com

More photos of I.G.Off: http://stefanfalkephotography.blogspot.com/2010/10/rockaways-iii.html
and
http://stefanfalkephotography.blogspot.com/2012/06/igoff-in-memory.html

Interview by Dirk Anschuetz / THE HEAVY LIGHT

Photographer Dirk Anschuetz interviewed me about my work on movie sets.

Published at THE HEAVY LIGHT

stills from new Albert Schweitzer movie

The German film production NFP just released my stills from the movie 'Albert Schweitzer'. The movie was shot in South Africa last year and will open in Germany on December 24th 2009.
Directed by: Gavin Millar
DOP: Cinders Forshaw
Camera operator: Stuart Howell
with: Jeroen Krabbé, Barbara Hershey, Judith Godrèche, Samuel West, Jeanette Hain, Patrice Naiambana, Jonathan Firth and Armin Rohde










see the movie poster here

Short Cut to Hollywood

I share the work on this movie poster with my friend and photographer Joerg Klaus, who shot and photo-shopped the left part at his studio in Berlin, I shot the stills on the right for the movie 'Short Cut to Hollywood' on location in New York and Las Vegas. The road movie was written and directed by Jan Henrik Stahlberg and Marcus Mittermeier, who also star with Christoph Kottenkamp and Marta McGonagle. The movie opens in Germany September 24th, more information on this wild story about 3 guys and their pursue of fame .... at http://www.short-cut-to-hollywood.de/

More of my stills from Short Cut to Hollywood click here

Albert Schweitzer Film

(update 11/01/2009: view Schweitzer movie stills)

I shot the movie stills and marketing pictures for "ALBERT SCHWEITZER: Ein Leben Fuer Afrika"" in South Africa last summer. A website is up with a poster, no movie stills yet, the opening date (in Germany) is set for December 24. It was definitely one of the best jobs I had with a movie company, thanks to the entire crew. Greetings to you all !!

Visit http://www.schweitzer-derfilm.de/ for more information. The movie was produced by German NFP

Regie: Gavin Millar
Kamera: Cinders Forshaw
mit Jeroen Krabbé, Barbara Hershey,
Judith Godrèche, Samuel West, Jeanette Hain,
Patrice Naiambana, Jonathan Firth und Armin Rohde

Off to Germany

I am leaving for Germany this weekend to shoot movie stills for a comedy produced by Constantin Film. DOP and director in one person will be Gernot Roll (above as DOP with Armin Mueller-Stahl on the set of 'Buddenbrooks' in 2007) for whom I had worked on Buddenbrooks, 'Speer und Er' and other films. Camera operator will be Michael Praun (below with actor Mark Waschke on the set of 'Buddenbrooks')

I'll be back in New York at the end of September.

Short Cut to Hollywood

"Short Cut to Hollywood" - all photos © Bavaria Pictures/Stefan Falke

This was another movie stills job that was real fun to shoot. German directors Jan Henrik Stahlberg and Marcus Mittermeier set out to film a road movie in the US in early 2007, and it took until just recently to finish the editing. The film premieres at the 59th Berlinale this month and I truly wish I could be there, but I can't, funny, I will actually be in LA ...

"Short Cut to Hollywood" is a dark comedy about a trio of friends who go to extreme measures to become famous fast. Jan Henrik Stahlberg and Marcus Mittermeier play the main roles themselves, supported by Christoph Kottenkamp. Wih Asli Bayram (2nd pic below) and Marta McGonagle and many others...




to see more "Short Cut to Hollywood" images, click here

Stefan Falke, Photography, movie stills, Short Cut to Hollywood

Buddenbrooks Film Book

I think it is safe to say that there is no comparable film book about one single movie in Germany. Heinrich Breloer's Buddenbrooks has 384 pages, most filled with color photographs of which I shot probably 90% during the making of the movie last year. Additional photography was provided by Detlef Overmann (3 of the cover protraits) and  Hendrik Heiden. The book was published by S. Fischer Verlage.

More Buddenbrooks film stills click here

Stefan Falke, Photography, Buddenbrooks, movies, books, film book, movie stills,

Karoline Herfurth

German Bavaria Film invited me last year as a guest photographer on the set of 'Im Winter Ein Jahr', directed by Oscar winner Caroline Link. The movie has just opened in Germany and it seems to become a big success for shooting star Karoline Herfurth (above), who also had a role in Tom Tykwer's "Parfume'. (With Caroline Link below)

more at www.stefanfalke.com

Stefan Falke, Photography, Karoline Herfurth, acting, movies, movie stills,