NEWS

09/2024 – TREASURE - FAMILIE IST EIN FREMDES LAND by Julia von Heinz starring Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry - jetzt im Kino!

ABOUT US

Elephants can be sad, empathetic, joyful, and angry; they are among the few species which can cry. Elephants live with each other, fight with each other, and play with each other. They are inseparable. That is why they are the eponyms of our company. They symbolize the values we stand for.

We are the directors Julia von Heinz, Erik Schmitt, David Wnendt, and the producer Fabian Gasmia. We are an association of highly ambitious filmmakers, focusing all our energy on creating movies that are artistic, entertaining, and emotional. Our goal is to create sophisticated and intelligent stories that connect with a large audience.

OUR PROJECTS

ATHOS 2643 / ATHOS 2643

Status: in development
Director: David Wnendt
Writers: David Wnendt
Producers: Seven Elephants
Distributor DE: Constantin Film

In the year 2643, a remote monastery on Neptune’s fractured moon Athos becomes the site of a mysterious death. The life-sustaining AI is suspected of murder, and Rüd, an expert in interrogating artificial intelligences, is sent to uncover the truth. Accompanied by his loyal synthetic assistant Zack, he ventures to the edge of the solar system, only to face mounting resistance from the reclusive monks who guard dark secrets of their own. As the cunning AI manipulates events from the shadows, Rüd's investigation spirals into a fight for survival.

TREASURE / TREASURE

Status: completed
Director: Julia von Heinz
Writers: Julia von Heinz, John Quester
Producers: Seven Elephants, Kings&Queens Filmproduktion, Haïku Films, Lava Films
Cast: Lena Dunham, Stephen Fry, Zbigniew Zamachowski
Distributor DE: Alamode Film
World Sales: FilmNation

Poland, 1990 – American music journalist Ruth takes her father Edek, a Holocaust survivor, on a journey to his childhood haunts, hoping to make sense of her family's troubled past. When Edek, reluctant to face his trauma, undermines their trip with his unpredictable and more eccentric than usual demeanor, Ruth is forced to challenge him and the values with which he raised her.

SUN AND CONCRETE / SONNE UND BETON

Status: completed
Director: David Wnendt
Writers: David Wnendt, Felix Lobrecht
Producers: Seven Elephants
Cast: Levy Rico Arcos, Aaron Maldonado Morales, Vincent Wiemer, Rafael Luis Klein-Hessling, Lucio101, Luvre47
Distributor DE: Constantin Film
World Sales: Moonrise Pictures

Seven days in the life of a group of 15-year-old boys in Berlin-Neukölln, as they search for weed, girls, and a way to steal their school's computers.

The film premiered at the Berlinale Special Gala 2023 and received four nominations at the German Film Awards 2023, amongst others Best Film and Best Screenplay. It won the price for the best ensemble at the German Actor Awards, the main price at the Festival of German Film in Ludwigshafen and the Günter Rohrbach Film Award for Best Film. The actor Levy Rico Arcos won the Bunte New Faces Awards for his performance as LUKAS.

1.2 Million people saw SONNE AND BETON in German cinemas and it is now available on DVD, Blu Ray and Amazon Video.

AND TOMORROW THE ENTIRE WORLD / UND MORGEN DIE GANZE WELT

Status: completed
Director: Julia von Heinz
Writers: Julia von Heinz, John Quester
Producers: Seven Elephants, Kings&Queens Filmproduktion, Haïku Films
Cast: Mala Emda, Luisa-Céline Gaffron, Noah Saavedra, Tonio Schneider, Andreas Lust
Distributor DE: Alamode Film
World Sales: Films Boutique

Germany is struck by a series of violent racist terror attacks. Luisa, a 20-year-old, joins a subdivision of Antifa to oppose the rising neo-Nazi movement. With her reckless actions, she not only fights against the extreme right but also tries to impress Alfa, an Antifa activist with whom she is secretly in love. Soon, things escalate, and Luisa and her friends clash over whether violence can ever be a legitimate answer to fascism and hatred.

The film premiered in the Official Competition at the Venice International Film Festival in 2020, and it was nominated as Best Film at the German Film Awards 2021.

THE TEAM

Julia von Heinz

Film Director

Julia is a critically and commercially acclaimed director and screenwriter from Germany. She has showcased her work at numerous festivals, including the Berlin International Film Festival. She won the German Film Award for Best Young Adult Film with her debut feature NOTHING ELSE MATTERS in 2007 and the German Television Award for Best Director with her biopic KATHARINA LUTHER in 2017. Her film AND TOMORROW THE ENTIRE WORLD premiered at the Venice International Film Festival 2020 and was nominated as Best Film at the German Film Awards 2021. Julia earned her PhD at the Film University Konrad Wolf Babelsberg and currently teaches film directing at the University of Film and Television Munich.

Erik Schmitt

Film Director

Erik's films have been selected at 300 festivals, including the Berlinale, Sao Paulo, Melbourne, Shanghai, Hamptons, BFI, and more, winning over 100 awards at venues such as Seattle, Newport, RiverRun, Chicago, Emden, and others.

His feature film debut, CLEO opened the Generation KPLUS section at Berlinale 2019 and was showcased at festivals worldwide. In 2020, Schmitt was part of the international jury for the Berlinale Generation KPLUS.

David Wnendt

Film Director

David's powerful debut film COMBAT GIRLS won him three German Film Awards and the Prix Genève-Europe for Best Screenplay. His second film, WETLANDS, an adaptation of Charlotte Roche’s bestselling novel, premiered at Sundance 2014 and was well received by the international press. Over two million people flocked to cinemas to see David’s third film LOOK WHO'S BACK which was nominated for Best Comedy at the European Film Awards. David returned to Sundance in 2019 with his film THE SUNLIT NIGHT, starring Jenny Slate, Gillian Anderson, and Zach Galifianakis. SUN AND CONCRETE his adaptation of the bestselling novel by Felix Lobrecht, premiered at Berlinale Special 2023.

Fabian Gasmia

Producer / Managing Director

Fabian is an alumnus of Filmuniversität Babelsberg, Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris, and ACE. He entered the international co-production arena with DETAiLFILM, co-producing numerous award-winning films that played at festivals worldwide and were sold globally. These include PERSONAL SHOPPER – which won Olivier Assayas the Best Director award in Cannes –, L’AVENIR – which won Mia Hansen-Løve a Silver Bear as Best Director in Berlinale competition –, and Léos Carax's ANNETTE, which opened the Cannes 2021 in Official Competition. To further strengthen his reach throughout Europe, he initiated a joint venture with Lars von Trier’s Zentropa Entertainments in 2015 before starting the artist-led production house, Seven Elephants, in 2018.

Fabian serves as the president of the Franco-German Film Academy and as a board member of Berlin's film school dffb. He regularly teaches at film schools and is a frequent guest speaker at international panels.

Anna Werner

Producer

Anna is a German and American producer based in Berlin. Most recently she produced the German-Greek co-production IN HEAT (director: Leonie Krippendorff) for kineo Filmproduktion and Studio Bauhaus. Prior, Anna produced the novel adaptation WHEN WILL THINGS FINALLY BE AGAIN LIKE THEY NEVER WERE BEFORE for Komplizen Film and Warner Bros. (director: Sonja Heiss). The film premiered at the Berlin Intl. Film Festival in February 2023 and was nominated for the German Film Prize in the Best Feature category. Anna holds a Bachelor Degree from Haverford College, PA. She is an Alumna of the German Film and Television Academy dffb, the Drehbuchwerkstatt Munich and of Berlinale Talents.

Katja Lebedjewa

Finance & Administration

Katja obtained a master's degree in Business Communication Management before attending the post-graduate program at Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris. She gained extensive experience in the production department before specializing in financial and accounting aspects. In this role, she executed and supervised project accounting and controlling for various national and international productions.

At Seven Elephants, Katja manages finances, day-to-day operations, and oversees physical production.

Kathleen Wnendt

Associate Producer

During her media studies in Halle an der Saale, Kathleen tripped over a microphone, launching her unexpectedly into radio journalism. This quirky beginning led her to cover everything from theater festivals to rabbit shows, sparking a passion for sound and video. Her adventurous spirit propelled her into film, where she thrived as 1st AD on projects like David Wnendt's WETLANDS and LOOK WHO’S BACK, as well as serial formats like DRUCK alongside Pola Beck and the innovative vertical film noir SANTA MARIA by Erik Schmitt. Now at Seven Elephants, she dedicates herself to the practical fulfillment of creative dreams and champions young talent. Her streetcasting for SUN AND CONCRETE earned her the 2023 German Acting Award for Best Ensemble.

Jana Früh

Assistant to Line Producer

Jana discovered her love for film at around 10 years old through her father's old video camera and by making self-made music videos with friends, featuring dance routines to Britney Spears songs, of course. She studied journalism in Bremen and, after earning a Master’s Degree in Producing Film and Television from Royal Holloway University of London, she went on to work as a production manager in the documentary sector, primarily producing films for the German Public Broadcaster ARD. In search of new challenges, she decided to pursue her fascination for cinema and transitioned to feature film production at the beginning of 2021.

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