German Trailer
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Running on Empty
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Info
Director Bülent Akinci's debut feature length film “Running on Empty” (“Der Lebensversicherer”) tells the neo-romantic story of an inexhaustible and restless search for love and redemption.
Status: completed
Festivals and Awards (selection):
Winner of the Dialogue en Perspective Award, Berlinale 2006
Winner of the Silver St. George for Best Actor Jens Harzer, Moscow International Film Festival 2006
Winner of the Diploma of the Russian Guild of Film Review, Moscow IFF 2006
Nominated for the First Steps Award for Best Feature Film, Berlin 2006
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2006
World Film Festival Montreal 2006
Copenhagen International Film Festival 2006
Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival 2006
Warsaw International Film Festival 2006
Valladolid International Film Festival (Competition) 2006
Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2006
Cairo International Film Festival 2006
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2006
Trieste Film Festival 2007
Sofia International Film Festival 2007
AFI, Dallas 2007
Seattle International Film Festival 2007
Ankara International Film Festival 2008
Festival of the German Film Ludwigshafen (competition) 2006
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Synopsis
Insurance agent Burkhard Wagner has left his family with the promise of building a better life for them. All he needs to do is sell enough insurance policies. But the years pass by and Burkhard Wagner travels the German autobahns like a modern day Flying Dutchman forever sailing the seven seas but unable to come to port. The only contact he has with his family is through the answering machine. Although determined to realize his plan, it dawns on Burkhard that he is running on empty, and just as he is about to close his last deals, Burkhard literally stops altogether. Only Caroline, who barely makes ends meet running a roadside motel, can help him to find his way back to life.
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Director
Biography Bülent Akinci
Bülent Akinci was born in Ankara in 1968. He has been living in Berlin since 1970 and is a German citizen. After working as a musician, security guard and insurance salesman, he began to study Philosophy, Art, Theatre, Film, and Music Studies at the Free University in Berlin. In 1996 he enrolled at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (dffb). He has won many prizes with his short films. “Running on Empty” (Der Lebensversicherer) is his first feature length film.
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Crew
Cast:
Jens Harzer, Marina Galic, Anna Maria Mühe, Christian Blümel, Tom Jahn and Hussi Kutlucan
Team:
Scriptwriter & Director: Bülent Akinci
Director of Photography: Henner Besuch
Editors: Inge Schneider, Tina Baz
Music: Wim Mertens
Production:
Razor Film,
ZDF Das kleine Fernsehspiel (editor: Claudia Tronnier)
Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin
Funded by: FFA, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg
World Sales: Razor Film
Distribution Germany: Zorro Film (www.zorrofilm.de)