Synopsis

„Gottfried Böhm is widely regarded as Germany’s preeminent architect. The son of a master builder of churches, he is the patriarch of a modern architecture dynasty to which his three sons Stephan, Peter und Paul now belong. By realizing outstanding prominent buildings of their own, the Böhm fils have managed to step out of the shadow of their famous father. But the ongoing crisis in the German construction industry, among other things, has stoked the fires of competition between the brothers.

Gottfried, now 94, still contributes daily to the work on current planning and construction projects. With the death of his wife Elisabeth, also an architect and a key source of inspiration for all four Böhms, the family loses its emotional lodestone. Can the fragile architecture of the family business a viable model for the future? The film paints an intimate and pointed portrait of the complexity and inseparability of life, love, faith, art and architecture.“

Statement by the director

„A connection between my relatives in Cologne and the Böhms meant that I already had a long-standing friendship with the Böhm family. I saw in Gottfried Böhm a formidable artist full of youthful curiosity – a contemporary in spirit despite the great disparity in our ages. From the very beginning I was interested in the way the Böhms meld family with work life almost seamlessly. For a span of over two years I lived with the Böhms in Cologne while I shot the film. I wanted to explore the personal aspects that lie behind the façades of the buildings and to show that these mighty constructions also express emotions.”
Maurizius Staerkle Drux

Crew

Director & Sound: Maurizius Staerkle Drux
DoP: Raphael Beinder
Editor: Anika Simon (BFS)
Music: Jonas Bühler
Producer: Carl-Ludwig Rettinger (Lichtblickfilm Köln)
Co-Producers: Lisa Blatter, Jan Gassmann (2:1 Film Zürich)
Commissioning Editors: Jutta Krug (WDR), Claudia Gladziejewski (BR)

Production Management: Yvonne Gottschalk
Production Assistent: Gesa Hollerbach, Bernhard Rand, Anna Stüdeli
Grip/Camera Assistents: Felix Tonnat, Nikolas Jürgens, Myron Kritenko,
Julian Hanschke, Jan Peter, Frische Brise Film

 Foley: Remie Blaser
Assistents: Riccardo Passani, Flurin Devonas
Music Premix: Andi Pupato
Re-Recording Mixer: Manu Gerber

Assistents to the Editor: Norbert Kottmann, Martin Mertz,
Raúl Zropf, Jan Pfitzner ,Antonia Klein

Transcripts: Rieke Weber, Kai Richarz

 Grading: Dany Schelby

 Skript Consultant: Lenz Baumann