Teaser for the Filmproject SOLD CITY - When housing becomes a commodity

Films which question prevailing ideas and cast a wary eye on the fingers of those in power can hardly be made today using traditional financing.  Editors who wish to get such films shown on their TV channels require tremendous courage. We have experienced that this courage grows when they are not left on their own. When the many people who are interested in such a public interest film take on the responsibility and become promoters of the film project. The last couple of films by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz have shown that interested citizens must first create a foundation with their subsidies, and if necessary create the whole edifice.

Sold City is being produced as a “film from below” – financed by those who wish to see it and show it. The makers’ previous films, such as Marketable People, Who’s Saving Whom? and Water Makes Money, have shown how it is possible to influence thinking through education and mobilization.

Which is why we call on you: Help us to make this film happen.

Invest in the film Sold City and help to secure a part of your future.

With a donation you can be a promoter of the film. From us the filmmakers you will not receive anything in return for your money, however:

• from 20 € onwards the association "Common property in citizen's hand" has kindly agreed to send you a copy of the film as a DVD with a license for non-commercial screening.
• From 100 € onwards If  you so wish, your name will be listed in the final credits.
• From 1000 € onwards , you will be invited to the film’s premiere as a guest of honour.

The financial contributions are considered as a donation and are thus not tax exempt. You will not receive a donation receipt. In the case of donations above 1000 €, it is possible to declare the payment as a loan, which would be repayable from the revenue over and above the calculated cost of the film.

160.000 EURO by 31.10.2023

is the foundation of the “film from below“ which the film should achieve.

The calculated costs should and can be reduced by different forms of solidarity. Some ideas that have already saved many tens of thousands for the films Marketable People, Water Makes Money and Who’s Saving Whom?: Supporters can offer accommodation for the film crew, people with knowledge of other languages provide translations, experienced camera persons supply footage of current events in their countries, etc. We look forward to your suggestions!

As mentioned above, the many hundred funders will only have to establish the foundations of the finances for the film. When this has been achieved, there is hope that trusts, TV channels or public film funding institutions will also get involved.

Just like with our other projects, we believe in the following guidelines: we try to give a fair remuneration for all work, but also have to rely on voluntary support. We are therefore glad if some waive their fees. Helpers short of finances and with no other income are prioritised as regards payment. We also decide according to finances what examples from which countries can be included in the film.

 The first signatories of the appeal include: Rob Quirk, Homi Kutar, Thomas Eischer,FLOR DIEZ HURTADO, Medienpädagogik-Zentrum Hamburg e.V., Brenda Kamleiter, RAIMUND THUM, Dr. Percy Adrian Vogel, ALLMENDE STETTEN E.V., Egbert und Baerbel Gloeser, BERND TRETE UND GUNDULA ANN ETT TRETE, DOROTHEA SEITZ, BERLINER MIETERGEMEINSCHAFT, Dr. Herbert Schneider, Christa Scholtissek, Wolfgang Lederer-Kanawin und Michaela Kanawin, Hofmann, Tobias, Lea Rosenbusch, Andrea Roscher-Muruchi,Lukas Kriegler, Monika Sonntag, SIGRID BABENDREIER, Diakonisches Werk Bremen e.V.  - Aktionsbundnis Menschrecht auf Wohnen, JÜRGEN SEEGER, WALTER  LAFORSCH, Barbara Allame, Blanca Murillo, Detlev und Regine von Larcher, Frank Hoppe, Gerhold Reitmeier, Gudrun Arndt, Hans-Jürgen Brandt, Heide Janicki, Klaus Freudenberg, Kurt Hildebrand, Michael Hilgers, Peter Rossmann, Schulzebeer, Andreas Bieber, Andreas Rohrmann, Anja Henke, Beate Tyron, Bernd Dieter van Look, Buchholz, Hans-Joachim, Carina Madeleine Lorenz, Carsten Vocke, charlotte bindewald, Christoph Lorenz, Dennis Raschke, Dennis Raschke, Donatus Karl Heinz Maria Nohr, Doris Winkeler, Dr. Christian Schnabel, Dr. Hans Ulrich Fischer, Dr. Johannes Fiala, Eberhard Sprenger, Engelbert Michel, Gerhard Juettner, Hans Markus Gehring, Inge Höger, Jochen keller, Johann Hauber, Jörg Karl Borchardt, Michaela Mogler, Peter Biebricher, Peter Jattke, Peter und Christine Klemm, Peter Weißenfeld und Wiltrud Brächter, Phillip Liedke, Sander Fuchs, Sonja Tesch, Stephan Berger, Stephan Sautter, Susanne Greiner, Tilmann Bulling, Tyron, Beate, William Beittel, Wolfgang und Anneliese Weidtmann, Andreas Springer-Kiess, ANNE KRISTINA SCHULZE-ALLEN, Christel Spenn, Corina Schmidt, Curt Schmidt, Daniela Jakob, DARIJUSCH WIRTH, David Kiesl, DIRK SCHRÖDER, Dr. Folkhard Cremer, Efstathios Karasarlidis, Friederike Rued, Hans Hinrich Norden, HEBEL LISELOTTE, Hubenthal, Heidrun, Irene Trenkel, Julius Verrel, Kira von Bernuth, Klevenhusen, Nina o. Arne, Margarethe-Barbara Fidorra, Mittermayr  Heinz und Verena, Reinhold Brunner od. Maria Kalantzi, Sonja Alphonso, THOMAS DIETZEL, Thomas Gerlesberger, THOMAS NUBER, Wolfgang Meyer, Joachim Kappl, Stephan Abel, Christiane Baier, Pascal Güßmann

The filmmakers

Leslie Franke

Born in Berlin

Herdolor Lorenz

Filmography(Selection) www.kernfilm.de

2020 Marketable People, A film that concerns us all: "When people become commodities" their human dignity is lost. Just 20 years ago, almost two-thirds of employees in Germany were in a full-time job with compulsory social insurance. Only 38% are in one today.  The filmmakers go to the workplaces of the new models of capitalism like the gig economy, like work on demand. They meet people in work structures previously believed to be secure at universities or in long-standing employment in middle and upper management positions. And observe how the intensification of competition is shifting more and more towards the individual, making it very difficult to maintain solidarity-based social relationships.  Depression and burnout make life hell for people who break under this burden and uncertainty. Even then, many still believe that they are to blame for their fate and that they are an isolated case.  

99 minutes, BKM film funding, film funding "from below", film theate release

www.der-marktgerechte-mensch.org

2015/20 Who saves whom? - Reloaded A "FILM FROM BELOW" by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz, 82 min.

Once again, there is a hail of rescue packages and trillions are being used to save. But hardly anyone today wants to ask the question of who was saved with the vast sums of money during the financial crisis - and what can be expected from these experiences this time around. "Those who do not know their history are condemned to suffer it again as a tragedy". Following this guiding principle, Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz have reprocessed their film "Who is saving whom?" from the time of the financial crisis and combined it with contributions, info and questions about the current crisis.

www.wer-rettet-wen.org

 2018 The marketable patient, There are already countless reports about scandalous conditions in German hospitals. Surprisingly, however, there is almost always no reference to the basic cause of these conditions: the obligatory remuneration of hospitals on a so-called flat rates per-case basis since 2003 (every diagnosed disease has a fixed rate - whoever processes the patient most quickly with the lowest possible personnel, material and organizational costs makes a profit - whoever gets involved with the patients and pays tariff wages makes a loss). The introduction of the so-called DRGs (Diagnosis Related Groups) was the radical step towards the uncompromising commercialization of an area which until then had been based on the idea of empathy and care. Since then, people have been subordinated to the merciless principles of profit and loss when they are most vulnerable, namely as patients in need of help. 82 minutes, film funding "from below", theatrical release

www.der-marktgerechte-patient.org

2015   Who is saving whom?“ is not just another bank rescue and Euro rescue film. It reveals much more what it is that all the “rescues” hide, right up to the present day tragedy of Greece: The radical alteration of societies. The transformation of private debt into public debt which has been papered over and presented as a “rescue” has not only driven democracy to absurdity.The rescue policies practiced throughout the EU, not just in Greece, are proven in the film to be a milestone  in neo-liberal development which makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. Both private and state budgets are being fleeced in favour of the financial world. Social rights are being replaced by the right to debt.  “Who is saving Whom?” shows the beginnings of this development when after 70 years of relative stability the financial world was deregulated. New financial products were invented as derivatives which today dominate the economy. The film demonstrates the usage of and the enormous danger from derivatives. But it also shows the possibilities of defence, as in Iceland, where international capital was not saved, but rather a redistribution from the top to the bottom took place. http://www.whos-saving-whom.org

2012 "The Children from St. Georg - The teenage years": Is there a bigger adventure than seeing kids grow up? Tamina, Mitchel, Freya, Klara and Nevena are 13-to-14-years-old kids in Hamburg, Germany. "5 kids" - not their parents - tell us about their lives and dreams. Mitchels Father is from spain.The documentary follows them for the next 6 years through adolescence. These kids' lives in Hamburg's "problematic" quarter St. Georg, reflects the typical, colourful mixture of nations and religions of this district, the misery of the drug addicts, but also the openness for a new way of life and the atmosphere of tolerance and creativity. We see them grow up and develop. The film shows the kids' experience in this important span of life from their own perspective.To watch kids and grown-ups from an ethnically mixed background, open up and tell us their inner secrets is a fascinating and emotionally attaching experience. www.kindervonstgeorg.de

2011: "Water Makes Money- How private corporations make money with water": 10 to 15 years ago a wave of privatisations of our water supply started, which has been propagating since all over the world. Meanwhile the enduring consequences - such as slums cut off from the access to clean water and dry faucets in London - are sufficiently known. For nowadays no one talks about privatisation, but about business concepts such as private public partnership. The only thing that counts here is the capital which 'creates' the infrastructure through loans. However, in these days of limited public finances, budgeting competence is at least as important as the technical mastering of water management. Many communities however are risking to be cheated by superior corporate groups. The movie „Water Makes Money" is a documentary about the biggest water companies and the resistance against them. It shows how 'money printing machines' of the companies work, especially in France and in German cities like Berlin or Braunschweig. However, „Water Makes Money" also encourages and shows the lessons the affected municipalities have learned from the dominance of Veolia & Co.: Water in public hands is necessary and possible! www.watermakesmoney.org

2007: "David vs. Goliath" 22 min. German independent documentary on Felton's efforts to acquire it's water system from German multinational RWE and it's US Subsidiary American Water. Narrated by Paul Glaser.

2007: "Rail up for sale" A grass roots film about the privatization of the german railway with examples of England - financed by those who want to see it, want to show it, and those who need this tool for clarification. 72 min. www.bahnuntermhammer.de

2005: "H2O for sale" The privatization of a human necessity 58 min. The film shows against the background of English experiences what are the results of the privatization of the blue gold in Europe. NDR supported by MSH. http://h20upforsale.com

2000 - 2004: "Children of St. Georg - Part 1" 93 min. A logterm documentary by Herdolor Lorenz. Filmförderung Hamburg, Kuratorium Junger Deutscher Film, ARTE/NDR. Award „Exceptionally valuable" by FBW

2003: "The blue gold in the Garden of Eden" 58 min. A film by Leslie Franke. Festivals: Ekotop Bratislava, Filmfest Florenz, Oekomedia Freiburg, ECOmove Berlin, Film21, Filmfestival für Nachhaltigkeit, Zürich, Green International Film Festival Taipei in Taiwan, Umweltfilmtage Bremen, festival.cinefeuille, Festival Slowakia. „Europäischer Fernsehpreis 2003" of the 20. ÖKOMEDIA in Freiburg, " Prize of Zavody Slovenskeho Narodneho povstania,Inc." des 30. Int. Festivals EKOTOPFILM Bratislava, Slovakia, "Laudable Mention", ECOmove, Festival of Internat.Enviromental Films, Berlin 2003, http://blauesgoldimgarteneden.de

2000: "The better you are, the higher you get", Julian, 6 years old. 30 min. documentary by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz

1995-1999: "It breaks my heart" Two Bosnian refugee families are looking for a new home 81/60 min. long term documentary by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz 1995-99. MunichDocumentary filmfestival 2000, Grand Prix of the VI. Krakow Ethnographic Filmfestival 09/2000, International Program of Moscow Human Rights Film Festivals "Stalker" 12/2000. International Filmfestival Istanbul 11/2001

1998: "For us school is like the beginning of a new day" 50 min. documentary about Roma- and Sinti-children in German and Netherland schools by Leslie Franke

1997: "Deportation: Bosnian refugees out!" 30 min. report by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz

1994: "Stories from Mastrosowo" 5 min. documentary by Leslie Franke and Oleg Morosow

1994: "Trakehnen German again?" 45 min. report by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz

1993: "The taboo of freedom - Jews and nazis in Lithuania" 30 min. documentary by Herdolor Lorenz

1992: "Open outlook" 10 min. short documentary by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz

1991: "Inter times" 60 min. documentary by Leslie Franke and Sabine von Kessel

1991: "Departure to the holy land - Jewish people on their way to Israel" 45 min. documentary  by Leslie Franke, Herdolor Lorenz and J.Heppekausen

1990: "Forward to the past- Will Kaliningrad be Königsberg again?" 45 min. documentary by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz

1989: "Get out of the USSR - Lithuania in departure" 35 min. report by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz

1988: "Perestroika in the factory" 45 min. documentary by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz

1988: "Tanja, A Russian woman from Lipezk" 45 min. documentary by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz

1986: "Don't ask, don't beg - but fight! Unemployed defend themselves." 35 min. documentary by Leslie Franke, Herdolor Lorenz & Ch. Schubert

Herdolor Lorenz

Filmography(Selection) www.kernfilm.de

2020 Marketable People, A film that concerns us all: "When people become commodities" their human dignity is lost. Just 20 years ago, almost two-thirds of employees in Germany were in a full-time job with compulsory social insurance. Only 38% are in one today.  The filmmakers go to the workplaces of the new models of capitalism like the gig economy, like work on demand. They meet people in work structures previously believed to be secure at universities or in long-standing employment in middle and upper management positions. And observe how the intensification of competition is shifting more and more towards the individual, making it very difficult to maintain solidarity-based social relationships.  Depression and burnout make life hell for people who break under this burden and uncertainty. Even then, many still believe that they are to blame for their fate and that they are an isolated case.  

99 minutes, BKM film funding, film funding "from below", film theate release

www.der-marktgerechte-mensch.org

2015/20 Who saves whom? - Reloaded A "FILM FROM BELOW" by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz, 82 min.

Once again, there is a hail of rescue packages and trillions are being used to save. But hardly anyone today wants to ask the question of who was saved with the vast sums of money during the financial crisis - and what can be expected from these experiences this time around. "Those who do not know their history are condemned to suffer it again as a tragedy". Following this guiding principle, Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz have reprocessed their film "Who is saving whom?" from the time of the financial crisis and combined it with contributions, info and questions about the current crisis.

www.wer-rettet-wen.org

 2018 The marketable patient, There are already countless reports about scandalous conditions in German hospitals. Surprisingly, however, there is almost always no reference to the basic cause of these conditions: the obligatory remuneration of hospitals on a so-called flat rates per-case basis since 2003 (every diagnosed disease has a fixed rate - whoever processes the patient most quickly with the lowest possible personnel, material and organizational costs makes a profit - whoever gets involved with the patients and pays tariff wages makes a loss). The introduction of the so-called DRGs (Diagnosis Related Groups) was the radical step towards the uncompromising commercialization of an area which until then had been based on the idea of empathy and care. Since then, people have been subordinated to the merciless principles of profit and loss when they are most vulnerable, namely as patients in need of help. 82 minutes, film funding "from below", theatrical release

www.der-marktgerechte-patient.org

2015   Who is saving whom?“ is not just another bank rescue and Euro rescue film. It reveals much more what it is that all the “rescues” hide, right up to the present day tragedy of Greece: The radical alteration of societies. The transformation of private debt into public debt which has been papered over and presented as a “rescue” has not only driven democracy to absurdity.The rescue policies practiced throughout the EU, not just in Greece, are proven in the film to be a milestone  in neo-liberal development which makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. Both private and state budgets are being fleeced in favour of the financial world. Social rights are being replaced by the right to debt.  “Who is saving Whom?” shows the beginnings of this development when after 70 years of relative stability the financial world was deregulated. New financial products were invented as derivatives which today dominate the economy. The film demonstrates the usage of and the enormous danger from derivatives. But it also shows the possibilities of defence, as in Iceland, where international capital was not saved, but rather a redistribution from the top to the bottom took place. http://www.whos-saving-whom.org

2012 "The Children from St. Georg - The teenage years": Is there a bigger adventure than seeing kids grow up? Tamina, Mitchel, Freya, Klara and Nevena are 13-to-14-years-old kids in Hamburg, Germany. "5 kids" - not their parents - tell us about their lives and dreams. Mitchels Father is from spain.The documentary follows them for the next 6 years through adolescence. These kids' lives in Hamburg's "problematic" quarter St. Georg, reflects the typical, colourful mixture of nations and religions of this district, the misery of the drug addicts, but also the openness for a new way of life and the atmosphere of tolerance and creativity. We see them grow up and develop. The film shows the kids' experience in this important span of life from their own perspective.To watch kids and grown-ups from an ethnically mixed background, open up and tell us their inner secrets is a fascinating and emotionally attaching experience. www.kindervonstgeorg.de

2011: "Water Makes Money- How private corporations make money with water": 10 to 15 years ago a wave of privatisations of our water supply started, which has been propagating since all over the world. Meanwhile the enduring consequences - such as slums cut off from the access to clean water and dry faucets in London - are sufficiently known. For nowadays no one talks about privatisation, but about business concepts such as private public partnership. The only thing that counts here is the capital which 'creates' the infrastructure through loans. However, in these days of limited public finances, budgeting competence is at least as important as the technical mastering of water management. Many communities however are risking to be cheated by superior corporate groups. The movie „Water Makes Money" is a documentary about the biggest water companies and the resistance against them. It shows how 'money printing machines' of the companies work, especially in France and in German cities like Berlin or Braunschweig. However, „Water Makes Money" also encourages and shows the lessons the affected municipalities have learned from the dominance of Veolia & Co.: Water in public hands is necessary and possible! www.watermakesmoney.org

2007: "David vs. Goliath" 22 min. German independent documentary on Felton's efforts to acquire it's water system from German multinational RWE and it's US Subsidiary American Water. Narrated by Paul Glaser.

2007: "Rail up for sale" A grass roots film about the privatization of the german railway with examples of England - financed by those who want to see it, want to show it, and those who need this tool for clarification. 72 min. www.bahnuntermhammer.de

2005: "H2O for sale" The privatization of a human necessity 58 min. The film shows against the background of English experiences what are the results of the privatization of the blue gold in Europe. NDR supported by MSH. http://h20upforsale.com

2000 - 2004: "Children of St. Georg - Part 1" 93 min. A logterm documentary by Herdolor Lorenz. Filmförderung Hamburg, Kuratorium Junger Deutscher Film, ARTE/NDR. Award „Exceptionally valuable" by FBW

2003: "The blue gold in the Garden of Eden" 58 min. A film by Leslie Franke. Festivals: Ekotop Bratislava, Filmfest Florenz, Oekomedia Freiburg, ECOmove Berlin, Film21, Filmfestival für Nachhaltigkeit, Zürich, Green International Film Festival Taipei in Taiwan, Umweltfilmtage Bremen, festival.cinefeuille, Festival Slowakia. „Europäischer Fernsehpreis 2003" of the 20. ÖKOMEDIA in Freiburg, " Prize of Zavody Slovenskeho Narodneho povstania,Inc." des 30. Int. Festivals EKOTOPFILM Bratislava, Slovakia, "Laudable Mention", ECOmove, Festival of Internat.Enviromental Films, Berlin 2003, http://blauesgoldimgarteneden.de

2000: "The better you are, the higher you get", Julian, 6 years old. 30 min. documentary by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz

1995-1999: "It breaks my heart" Two Bosnian refugee families are looking for a new home 81/60 min. long term documentary by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz 1995-99. MunichDocumentary filmfestival 2000, Grand Prix of the VI. Krakow Ethnographic Filmfestival 09/2000, International Program of Moscow Human Rights Film Festivals "Stalker" 12/2000. International Filmfestival Istanbul 11/2001

1998: "For us school is like the beginning of a new day" 50 min. documentary about Roma- and Sinti-children in German and Netherland schools by Leslie Franke

1997: "Deportation: Bosnian refugees out!" 30 min. report by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz

1994: "Stories from Mastrosowo" 5 min. documentary by Leslie Franke and Oleg Morosow

1994: "Trakehnen German again?" 45 min. report by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz

1993: "The taboo of freedom - Jews and nazis in Lithuania" 30 min. documentary by Herdolor Lorenz

1992: "Open outlook" 10 min. short documentary by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz

1991: "Inter times" 60 min. documentary by Leslie Franke and Sabine von Kessel

1991: "Departure to the holy land - Jewish people on their way to Israel" 45 min. documentary  by Leslie Franke, Herdolor Lorenz and J.Heppekausen

1990: "Forward to the past- Will Kaliningrad be Königsberg again?" 45 min. documentary by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz

1989: "Get out of the USSR - Lithuania in departure" 35 min. report by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz

1988: "Perestroika in the factory" 45 min. documentary by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz

1988: "Tanja, A Russian woman from Lipezk" 45 min. documentary by Leslie Franke and Herdolor Lorenz

1986: "Don't ask, don't beg - but fight! Unemployed defend themselves." 35 min. documentary by Leslie Franke, Herdolor Lorenz & Ch. Schubert