71st Berlinale: "Mission Ulja Funk" in the "Generation Kplus" programme

On February 8, the organisers of the 71st Berlin International Film Festival announced the titles of the  productions which have been invited to screen in the "Generation" and "Retrospective" programmes. The Filmstiftung-backed production "Mission Ulja Funk" by the Bochum-born writer-director Barbara Kronenberg will be shown in the "Generation Kplus" sidebar.

About the film
When Ulja (12) is prevented from pursuing her passion for astronomy, she decides to take matters into her own hands. With a stolen hearse and a 13-year-old classmate as driver, she sets off across Eastern Europe to observe the impact of an asteroid. In the process, she has to shake off both her pursuers as well as her pragmatic view of friendship and family.

The international co-production was made as a collaboration between In Good Company, Sama Film (LU), ShipsBoy (PL) with participation from broadcaster MDR. Farbfilm Verleih has German theatrical distribution, with world sales being handled by Picture Tree International. The screenplay by Kronenberg, who studied at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne (KHM), had already been supported as part of the 'The Outstanding Films for Children' initiative and was awarded the MDM’s Funding Prize. The Film- und Medienstiftung NRW subsequently supported the production with nearly 540,000 Euros. Additional funding came from MDM, BKM and DFFF, among others. Romy Lou Janinhoff, Jonas Oeßel, Hildegardt Schroedter, Luc Feit, Anja Schneider and Ivan Shvedoff were among the cast appearing in front of the camera during shooting which also took place in NRW.