Tom Tykwer & Ilker Catak Launch German Own Dogma Movement

A German leg of the refreshed Dogma filmmaking movement has been established by Tom Tykwer, Ilker Catak, Nora Fingscheidt, Helene Hegemann, and Kurdwin Ayub. 

The five filmmakers announced their intention to produce feature projects under the new Dogma rules during a press conference this afternoon at the Cannes Film Festival. The group is backed by the German-language distributor X Verleih and TrustNordisk, which has boarded as their international sales agent. ZDF and ARTE are set to enter as the broadcasting partners, while MOIN Film Fund has been confirmed as the first regional funding body.

The films produced by the filmmakers will be made as co-productions between X Filme Creative Pool and Zentropa Germany. Producing for X Filme are Jorgo Narjes, Uwe Schott, and Tom Tykwer. At Zentropa Germany, the producers are Solmaz Azizi, Louise Vesth, and Tine Mikkelsen. Ingo Fliess will produce on İlker Çatak’s forthcoming feature film. That film will be a co-production between if…Productions, X Filme, and Zentropa Germany.

The Dogma manifesto contains 10 new dogmas. You can read the full list of dogmas below. A group of Danish filmmakers, including Isabella Eklöf, relaunched the Dogma movement last year at Cannes.

THE VOW OF CHASTITY:
I vow to submit to the following set of rules drawn up and confirmed by DOGMA 25 :

1. The script must be original and handwritten by the director.
We compel ourselves to write the script by hand in order to nurture the kind of intuition that
flows most freely from the dream, channelled through the hand onto the paper.

2. At least half the film must be without dialogue.
We insist on a cinematic approach to filmmaking, because we believe in visual storytelling and have faith in the audience.

3. The internet is off limits in all creative processes.
We commit to produce the films relying on real people within our physical reality – rather than in a digital one infused with algorithms.

4. We’ll only accept funding with no content altering conditions attached.
We assume responsibility for keeping budgets down so the team retains final say in all artistic decisions.

5. No more than 10 people behind the camera.
We commit to working in close collaborations to build trust and strengthen our shared vision.

6. The film must be shot where the narrative takes place.
Film as an art form becomes artificial and generic when we portray a location in a false light.

7. We’re not allowed to use make-up or manipulate faces and bodies unless it’s part of the narrative.
Just as we strive to maintain the authenticity of the location, we also want to portray the human body without a filter. We celebrate it – warts and all.

8. Everything relating to the film’s production must be rented, borrowed, found, or used.
We commit to making films using objects that already exist and renounce the ahistorical and self-destructive culture of consumerism.

9. The film must be made in no more than one year.
We abstain from any lengthy processes that stand in the way of creative flow.

10. Create the film as if it were your last