Endzeit / Ever After

Short synopsis

A different kind of zombie film. ENDZEIT - EVER AFTER follows two young women, Vivi and Eva, who are involuntarily forced to join forces. While fighting against the undead, they must also confront the demons of their past. Vivi is desperately trying to find out what happened to her little sister, whereas Eva dreams about starting anew, far away from her role as a killer in the oppressing Weimar they have left behind.

Their adventurous journey takes place in a lush and beautiful apocalypse; now that the humans have gone, nature is taking over. But nature knows no boundaries and soon the two young women have to deal with a new and fantastic reality.

 

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Cast: Gro Swantje Kohlhof, Maja Lehrer, Trine Dyrholm
Writer: Olivia Vieweg
Director: Carolina Hellsgård
Producer: Ingelore König, Claudia Schröter, Grown up Labels
Funded by: MDM, BKM
ZDF, Kleines Fernsehspiel & ARTE

 

Questions & Answers

What interested you about the story?

When I read Olivia's screenplay, I was fascinated by the topic of guilt. As a person, you often feel guilty about certain things. It's about all the bad stuff we did and all the good things we did not do. A horror movie is a great tool to confront the characters with their own lives, and question their own morals, as well as challenge their inner demons. How does one exist as a human being in this world? How do I treat other people? And when I face chaos and difficulties, how do I react? Furthermore the inner demons are externalized and presented as something outwardly – like the zombies in ENDZEIT. I come from Sweden, and grew up with fairy tales about trolls in the forest. There is a direct link from my childhood bedtime stories to ENDZEIT.

The story of ENDZEIT is not only about guilt, but also about emancipation. Two young women leave a oppressing society and venture into an apocalyptic world. In ENDZEIT Vivi and Eva embody the future and a new form of coexistence; this new symbiosis with nature is an exciting possibility for humanity.

How would you describe the style?

The Director of Photography, Leah Striker and I set out to make an exciting and captivating film. ENDZEIT is a mixture of different genres and conventions. It consists of action moments true to the genre, as well as calmer and almost lyrical moments, where we follow the characters as they move through the lush and apocalyptic landscape. We deliberately choose a non-realistic and slightly elevated visual style. Together with the set designer Jenny Roesler and costume designer Theresa Grosser, we've created a baroque, almost romantic, horror film style. The score by composer Franziska Henke also underlines the romantic element in the film. The sound track is melancholic and at the same time captivating, and reflects nature as a powerful and invasive component.

What does it mean that the film was made by women?

I chose my film colleagues because they were the most suitable for the project. Leah Striker is a fantastic and very experienced camerawoman. I had been an admirer of the set designer Jenny Rösler’s work for a long time. The costume designer Teresa Grosser, has her own style, and provided a very strong costume concept, which I loved. In my view however, the film was not made exclusively by women, if you look at the credits, you see a lot of male film workers. Personally, I think a 50% split between women and men is best.

 

Festivals 2018–2019

Edinburgh International Film Festival
Sydney International Film Festival
Achtung Berlin – new Berlin Film Award
Internationales Frauenfilmfestival Dortmund|Köln
German Film Days, Copenhagen
Bilbao Fantasy Film Festival
Oslo Pix
Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival
Roze Filmdagen Amsterdam LGBTQ Film Festival
Carte Blanche: Mariette Rissenbeek on German Women Cinematographers @ MoMA, NY
Kosmorama Trondheim internasjonale filmfestival
Göteborg Filmfestival
Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis

US distribution by Juno Films!
and sells to France, Japan & Mexico

 

German Reviews

"(...) ein Grundkurs in romantischem Sehen"
FAZ, Andreas Platthaus

"Zart und hart"
Süddeutsche Zeitung, Martina Knoben

"In „Endzeit“ schafft Hellsgård eine Stimmung aus Melancholie und Gefahr"
TAZ, Tim Caspar Boehme

"Einen Wurf wie ENDZEIT hat man lange nicht gesehen im deutschen Kino"
EPD Film Rudolf Worschech

"(...) mutige Abzweigung vom audiovisuellen Einheitsbrei in unseren Kinos"
Sophie Rieger, Die Filmlöwin

"(...) wie oft kommt man schon aus einem Zombie Film und fragt sich ob man wirklich auf diese Erde gehört (...)"
Beatrice Behn, Kinozeit.de

"Dieser postapokalyptische Survival Thriller im diesjährigen Wettbewerb um den Max Ophüls Preis ist spannend und furious erzählt und ragt aus dem Programm heraus"
Rüdiger Suchsland, SWR

"ENDZEIT ist (...) der überaus seltenen Fall deutschen Genre-Kino"
Grown Up Films

"ENDZEIT hat alles was ein Zombiefilm braucht, doch ist der ganz anders."
Anne Schubert, SR.de

 

English Reviews

"(...) a fine fable about life, death and female self-determination (plus zombies)."
Manohla Dargis, NY Times

"EVER AFTER is a story about death and rebirth."
Maria Garcia, LA Times

"Carolina Hellsgård on exploring guilt through Zombies"
James Prestridge

"Hellsgård's (Endzeit) is a film with a bite"
Sarah Ward, Goethe Institute Australia

The simple Cinephile

"Carolina Hellsgård’s chilling second feature follows two women fighting for their lives in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies — a future Hellsgård presents as both horrific and hopeful."
TIFF 2018

"An enjoyably grim fairy tale that injects fresh life into the undead genre." Hollywoodreporter

Toronto Hidden Gem: 'Ever After' Is a Feminist Take on a Zombie Apocalypse

"What The World Needs Now Is Endzeit’s Sweet Zombie Apocalypse"
https://www.space.ca/tiff-2018-endzeit-review/

"What if humanity’s apocalypse wasn’t the world’s end?"
https://thefilmstage.com/reviews/tiff-review-endzeit-ever-after-brings-a-unique-touch-to-the-zombie-mythology/
"Carolina Hellsgård, writer Olivia Vieweg and the largely all-women crew help bring forth a zombie film that both George Romero and Agnes Varda would be proud of, and that is incredibly impressive."
http://www.nightmarishconjurings.com/2018/09/07/movie-review-endzeit-2018/

"The film holds at its heart the unseen potential of a feminist utopia and is thus surely one of the most empowering and optimistic zombie films ever made. Endzeit – Ever After speaks through the poetry of horror of discovering alternate ways to survive in desperate, failing systems."
https://awfj.org/blog/2018/09/18/tiff18-review-endzeit-ever-after-alexandra-heller-nicholas/?doing_wp_cron=1537363515.0597980022430419921875

https://cine-vue.com/2018/09/toronto-2018-green-book-wins-peoples-choice-award.html

https://www.wereallylikeher.com/

3 Must-See Female-Driven Films At The Toronto International Film Festival https://girltalkhq.com/feminist-friday-3-must-see-female-driven-films-at-the-toronto-international-film-festival/

"Two TIFF films that won't dissappoint" https://weliveentertainment.com/welivefilm/endzeit-let-me-fall-tiff-2018/

German Sales Agent PICTURE TREE picks up ENDZEIT - EVER AFTER!
https://variety.com/