Katrin Rothe

Filmmaker, animator, documentary filmmaker.

Also this year we would like to send you the best wishes and seasons greetings by pointing out a contribution from the field of art and culture that is close to our hearts.

Katrin Rothe, photographed by Andreas Domma

The multiple award-winning director Katrin Rothe dedicates her documentary animated feature films to social and political issues, and does so in a personal way, with an unmistakable artistic signature. We will first take you on a journey into Katrin's animation technique and then introduce you to some of her films.

Stephanie Stremler shares a creative collaboration with Katrin, through the film “Johnny & Me - a journey through time with John Heartfield", which will have its world premiere at Annecy Film Festival in 2023.

Katrin Rothe at her desk and John Heartfield on the monitor, photographed by Andreas Domma

Every film project begins with extensive research. In the case of John Heartfield, Katrin Rothe found information in archives that had not been published in this form before. In connection with the many ideas and inspirations, how to find a cinematic form for the collage art, the political art of John Heartfield of the 30s, also in connection with today's social media, in a documentary animation feature film, a dramaturgy is created step by step, in drawings and notes typical for Katrin.

Research notes and first drawings / documents and photos from John Heartfield's life, © H&U Filmproduktion

In her animations Katrin Rothe combines her analog technique with digital editing. The animations are shot using stop motion, the figures and backgrounds are completely handmade. The parts lie under a camera, single frames are moved and photographed. Of course, there is a lot of digital technology involved. In real time, the shots are controlled, post-processed and cut. 8 seconds of animation are recorded per day.

Stop motion shots of the characters and animated art works in the film "Burnout with John Heartfield," © H&U Filmproduktion

In her new film, “Johnny & Me - a journey through time with John Heartfield”, puppets are additionally used, the figure of John Heartfield (at any age, in various postures) is partly animated into a real environment, partly artwork environment. Since filming together with an actress and with animated characters is quite unusual, dialogues are tried out in advance through improvisation, which gradually depicts the life of John Heartfield in a conversation, and gives form to the tension between the past and the here and now.

Shooting "Johnny & Me” in Vienna, setting up the picture with Heartfield puppet and consultation with actress, © H&U Filmproduktion

BIOGRAPHY Katrin Rothe

Born 1970 in Gera, Thuringia

1992-1998 Studied 'Experimental Film Design' at the UdK-Berlin and at the

Central St. Martins London.

since 2003 mainly feature-length documentaries with animated sequences.

The Katrin Rothe Filmproduktion emerged from Karotoons, a creative start-up from

2001 in the legendary “Haus des Lehrers” in Berlin.

2007 + 2014 Adolf Grimme Award

What is the movie “Johnny & Me” about?

John Heartfield is one of the eminent graphic artists of the German interwar period. His posters and book covers made him known to a wide audience in a short time, his satirical collages soon made him a politically undesirable figure. Heartfield's life story resembles an odyssey through the political turmoil of the last century. In “Burnout with John Heartfield”, Katrin Rothe, whose film language fuses documentary with animation, confronts the perspective of a graphic artist from today with an animated Heartfield figure to reflect on the relationship between art and political stance.

Learn more in the interview Katrin Rothe with Karin Schiefer from the Austrian Film Institute:

Stephanie Stremler and a John Heartfield character on the set of "Johnny & Me," © H&U Filmproduktion

With her last film, "1917 - The Real October, Artists in Revolutionary Times," Katrin Rothe was invited as far away as South Korea, to an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, and to lecture at the renowned Berkeley University.

What is this film about?

“1917 - The Real October” illuminates for the first time the history of the Russian October Revolution by means of corresponding artists' biographies - and thus at the same time negotiates superordinate, timelessly relevant aspects of cultural history and theory: What role do art and artists play, what role can they play in upheavals of existing social systems? Where and how do they drive events forward with their designs, ideas, visions, but also by explaining, propagating, doubting? Do they stand up for the preservation of cultural and artistic heritage? Or for renewal processes by breaking up the old? What is their scope in this? What about art when bare life is in danger? In what relationships were and are artists to political structures, to state and financial powers? In the film, the actions and thoughts of the protagonists answer these questions differently. Each of the artists perceives what is happening differently, processes it individually in his reflections and works, in everyday life and political commitment, and thus returns it to his environment, where it continues to have an effect.

Film stills from "1917 - The Real October

The film "Betongold - Wie die Finanzkrise in mein Wohnzimmer kam" (“Concrete Gold - How the Financial Crisis Came to My Living Room”) is Katrin Rothe's most personal film.

Berlin 2013. In Europe, unsettled investors no longer invest in stock funds, but in houses and apartments, in so-called concrete gold. Concrete is considered crisis-proof. Demand is huge, especially in the big cities, and prices per square meter for housing have exploded. The losers of the boom are the tenants. They are being systematically pushed out of the inner cities. Katrin Rothe's film tells the story of how a community of tenants suddenly finds itself caught up in the maelstrom of the global real estate hype. She captured their months-long struggle on camera. What she didn't film, she shows in cartoon scenes. For example, the viewing appointments.

Filmstills “Concrete Gold - How the Financial Crisis Came to My Living Room”

If you want to learn more about Katrin Rothe: on her website you can find information about other and current projects

We wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and successful New Year 2023! We thank you for your trust and are looking forward to go further steps together in the new year.

With best regards

The STREMLER team and Katrin Rothe