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Jeden Monat nähern sich unsere Kolumnisten, die Berliner Filmemacher Dominik und Benjamin Reding, dem jeweiligen Heftthema
auf ihre ganz eigene Art und Weise. Geboren wurden die Zwillinge am 3. Ja nuar 1969 in Dortmund. Während Dominik Architektur
in Aachen und Film in Hamburg studierte, absolvierte Benjamin ein Schauspielstudium in Stuttgart. 1997 begann die Arbeit an ihrem
ersten gemeinsamen Kinofilm „Oi! Warning“. Seitdem arbeiten sie für Fernseh- und Kinofilmprojekte zusammen.

Each month our columnists, Berlin-based filmmakers Dominik and Benjamin Reding, approach the respective issue-specific theme
in their very personal way. The twins were born on January 3, 1969 in Dortmund. Whilst Dominik studied architecture in Aachen
and film in Hamburg, Benjamin graduated in acting studies in Stuttgart. They started working on their first joint motion picture “Oi!
Warning“ in 1997. Since then they have tightly collaborated for TV and cinema film projects.

O ne thousand years ago, it is said to have been on a windy autumn day, a crow an elegantly dressed police inspector who solves the most complex cases on Scottish
that was frightened by the roar of a hungry bear dropped an acorn from its beak
castles; a fearless private detective chewing on a cigarillo and always muttering some
at the edge of a small village with wooden houses which was called Berlin. The acorn disrespectful comment or the other who saves all the wrongly accused from the clut-
fell all the way into the humid ground since the last ice age had left plenty of lakes be- ches of those who are actually the guilty ones. Yes, Joachim von Vietinghoff could in-
hind in this whole area. Winter came, cold and clear, and spring, wet and grey and deed be a film actor and if so, he would certainly be a well-known one. But he isn’t
then, finally, sun and warmth. A seedling not much bigger than a blade of grass pushed that, he is a film producer. This is a profession which is difficult to describe and of
up from out of the humus. Now there were many dangers lurking: birds picking up which film viewers are unaware and are neither supposed to know. Film producers
food, cows grazing indiscriminately and ants carrying presumed food away. But as the are: courageous, daring, smart gamblers who raise the money so that directors may
summer drew to an end, the trembling seedling had already become a plant, a minia- dream. Nightmares, sensuous dreams, daydreams! For one film, Vietinghoff had an air-
ture oak tree. For many autumns and winters, it bravely fought against storms, hale, ship constructed and made it fly, a real one, with aluminium rings, fabric covering and
frost and draught, snow and ice and even a herd of hungry deer, a greedy swarm of lo- filled with helium, 30 metres long; for another film, he had the monumental painting
custs. It escaped falling victim to slashing and burning peasants who left just it alone by Barnett Newman entitled “Who´s afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue?” copied. So excel-
standing and dressed it up to serve as a scarecrow. The small tree became a large tree lently that the National Gallery was thinking of exhibiting it instead of the original for
with a trunk into which hearts could be carved and a crown which was so big that one insurance reasons. “Yes, we’ll meet at my place”, he said on the phone. But it was not
could doze in its shade. 623 additional sum- an address on Kurfürstendamm, and neither a
mers came and went and then, once again “workspace” at Alexander- or Potsdamer Platz.
there was a new king, a carriage stopped at the We drove far out of the city to where formerly
edge of the field. A servant opened the door there had been the death strip, barbed wire
and out stepped the new king in all his glory and border zones, concreted roads and search-
and his architect. Plans were unrolled, sketches lights circling every night. His home was quite
made, lines drawn in the soil with velvet shoes. modest but this was not where we would
And thus the field became a park, full of box eventually have our talk; he took us into an
hedges, aviaries, fountains and strict baroque even smaller building in the garden, to a Bau-
symmetries; in order to, just a lifetime later, haus desk surrounded by award statues and
and under the next king and the next architect, film posters. We explained our project, nerv-
become a landscape park in the English man- ously, with clammy hands; we talked about
ner. And whereas the oak tree had stood in the the calculation, financing, provisions, our own
way of the baroque architect and his axes and resources, contributions from TV stations, re-
had already been facing its death, the new ar- payable loans, sums, balances, debit and cre-
chitect loved it just because of this and left it dit, about money, money, money. Suddenly
standing, now surrounded by a lattice. As a de- Vietinghoff stood up. “Those wild roses, you
coration, as a destination, as the king’s oak. can smell them even in here,” he said and
It happens under pale neon lights, in cramped went outside. “The last ice age and two kings
back rooms with gypsum-plaster walls, felt car- Grafische Bearbeitung: Benjamin Reding have created my garden. The ice age, which
pets and sound-absorbing ceiling panels; at had left a pond behind, and the two Prussian
best, in some hotel grillroom, in a plushy bar, kings Frederick William III and Frederick Wil-
a fake rustic restaurant with cowbells as deco- liam IV who, together with the garden architect
ration and waitresses in national costumes. These are the locations where the big Peter Joseph Lenné, wanted to turn every field in Potsdam into a park. But the venture
“deals” are made, the purchase acts worth 100,000 euros. None of these places looks ended up becoming too expensive. Frederick William’s successors sold and divided the
anything like the glittering chambers of wonders, the aesthetic revelations and archi- lands. Houses came instead of the parks, streets, boundaries. All the park oak trees
tectural delicatessen which AIT shows twice a year on the subject of “retail”. And such disappeared. All except one: this one here!” Joachim von Vietinghoff sat down at a gar-
a place, pragmatic and bleak, was what we also expected on the occasion of our most den table under the softly rustling crown. “The courage for making the first film. The
major “deal”. Let’s tell it right away, it was about a million euros. A children’s film pro- naivety when one doesn’t know which dangers are lurking behind the next corner, this
ject with the actress Sibel Kekilli as the protagonist and based on an award-winning has always fascinated me.” And then he told us about his beginnings, when he met
children’s book written by Ingrid Bachér. As the inscrutable laws of film funding and John Lennon on Lüneburg Heath and took a famous photograph of him; about his love
TV stations requires, we had to find a co-producer who would come on board with this in Cannes and a morning stroll with here along the Croisette; and that he liked garde-
million for our project. And so we went to Joachim von Vietinghoff – in this regard as ners “because they do not wage wars.” He even talked about death, suggested that,
well, it would not make sense to keep it a secret since everybody in the business knows after he passed away, one should sit under the oak tree, this is where he would still be
him. He collects a variety of important awards for his films like other people might col- present. Only at the car did we notice: “Man, we talked about so much but no longer
lect teaspoons. If he were a film actor, he would always be on the side of the good ones. about the money. We have done something wrong.” – “No”, my brother said, “we did
A suntanned secret agent, who prevents evil wrongdoers from usurping global power; the right thing!” And got into the car.

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