Life is not a competition, but I’m winning

DOCUMENTARY WITH FICTIONAL ELEMENTS – 79 MIN – 2023

The documentary film form has a preference for showing their protagonists while suffering. Despite all the good intentions, such narratives tend to exploit the protagonists‘ experiences, as they are used for the dramaturgical centre of a film. Conflict drives the story. But by restricting a film to the description of pain, the cinematic stage is often given to the forces causing these painful circumstances in the first place.

In »Life is not a competition, but I’m winning« it was crucial for us to not use the protagonists’ suffering to build a suspenseful narrative. Instead, utopian moments of collective togetherness slowly weave themselves into the lives of the protagonists as well as into the visual composition of our images. Suffering and pain merge into a vision of queer community that builds a powerful counterpart to the violence that was committed.

The crew of this project was made up of women and queer people only – not only for reasons of representation, but also because the incorporation of all participants’ experiences was essential for our project.

Synopsis

If history is written by the victors, where does that leave those who were never allowed to be part of the game? A collective of queer athletes enters the Olympic Stadium in Athens and sets out to honor those who were excluded from standing on the winners’ podium. They meet Amanda Reiter, a trans marathon runner who has to struggle with the prejudices of sports organizers and Annet Negesa, a 800m runner who was urged by the international sports federations to undergo hormone-altering surgery. Together they create a radical utopia far from the rigid gender rules in competitive sports.

Crew & Cast

directed by Julia Fuhr Mann  cinematography Caroline Spreitzenbart  sound design Cornelia Böhm  gaffer Janne Ebel  1st AC Nadja Krüger  on-set sound Rhys Anderson  costume design Angela Queins  set design Sonja Schreiber, Mireia Vila Soriano  make-up artist Mai Strathmann  editing Merit Giesen, Melanie Jilg  vfx artists Isabelle Kramer, Fabian Peitzsch  graphic design Anna Lind Haugaard  dramaturgical advice Lena Hatebur, Susanne Bieger  3sat/ZDF Katya Mader  producer Melissa Byrne  production Sophie Ahrens, Fabian Altenried, Kristof Gerega 

with Annet Negesa, Amanda Reiter, Caitlin Fisher, Daniel Marin Medina, Chun Mei Tan, Eva Maria Jost, Jakob Levi Stahlberg, Oumou Aidara, Greta Graf

a production of Schuldenberg Films in cooperation with University of Television and Film Munich and ZDF/3sat  funded by FFF Bayern  winner of ARRI postproduction award  winner of British Pathé Archive Award  part of Locarno First Look  part of Into the Wild Mentoring

© Schuldenberg Films / University of Television and Film Munich / ZDF / 2023

Media

Filmkritik: Filmdienst, Online-Portal für Filmkultur

Filmkritik: epd, Filmzeitschrift

Filmkritik: Süddeutsche Zeitung, Tageszeitung

Filmkritik: Kino-Zeit, Magazin für Filmkritik

Filmkritik: Filmstarts, Filmmagazin

Filmkritik: Filmlöwin, Feministisches Filmmagazin

Filmkritik: Missy Magazin, Feministisches Magazin

Film Review: The Pop Break, Digital pop culture magazine

Film Review: Business Doc Europe, Magazine for the European documentary trade

Film Review: The Hollywood Reporter, Digital and print magazine

Film Review: Screen Daily, Independent film trade publication

Film Review: The Guardian, British Newspaper

Interview: Deutschlandfunk Corso, Radiomagazin für Kunst und Pop

Interview: Fred Film Radio, Radio station

Podcast: Framing, Filmpodcast von critic.de

Podcast: Eine Stunde Liebe, Kulturpodcast von Deutschlandfunk Nova

Portrait: Tagesspiegel, Berliner Tageszeitung

Jugendbildung: Vision Kino, Netzwerk für Film- und Medienkompetenz

For news and upcoming screenings follow us on –––

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Video on Demand International ––– via MUBI

Festivals 

2023, Venice International Film Festival, Settimana della Critica — World Premiere

2023, Filmfest Hamburg — German Premiere

2023, First Steps Awards — Award for Best Cinematography

2023, Filmfest Osnabrück

2023, Queer Film Festival Munich 

2023, Hamburg International Queer Film Festival

2023, MIX Copenhagen

2023, DocLisboa

2023, Queerfilm Festival Bremen

2023, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival

2023, Braunschweig International Film Festival

2023, PinkPanorama Filmfestival Luzern 

2023, Europa Cinema al Femminile Naples

2023, Around the World in 14 Films

2024, Festival del Cinema Tedesco Rom

2024, Festival International de Films de Femmes de Créteil 

2024, BFI Flare London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival 

2024, Sunny Bunny Film Festival Kyiv 

2024, One World International Human Rights Film Festival 

2024, Crossing Europe Linz

2024, Internationales Frauen Film Fest Dortmund + Köln — Award for Best Cinematography

2024, LGBT+ Film Festival Poland

2024, Zinegoak Bilbao

2024, Dokka Dokumentarfilmfestival Karlsruhe

2024, Freiburger Lesbenfilmtage

2024, Frameline San Francisco – US Premiere

2024, Queer Frames Wien

2024, Starter Filmpreis der Stadt München — Award for Best Production

2024, In the Palace ISFF

2024, Rhodope International Film Festival

2024, Queer Rhapsody Film Series, L.A.

2024, Some Prefer Cake Bologna

2024, Vancouver Queer Film Festival

2024, NewFest, New York City

2024, Luststreifen – Queer Film Festival Basel

2024, Pink Screens Brussels

2024, Peloponnisos International Documentary Festival

2024, LGBT Film Festival Ljubljana

2024, Sports and Olympic Film Festival SOFF

2024, Chéries Chéris Paris Film Festival

2024, Goethe-Institut Indonesien (Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand)

2024, Melbourne Queer Film Festival

2024, Festival Ecran Mixtes Lyon