4 Days in May

by Achim von Borries

4 Days in May

Synopsis

The world is holding its breath. Four days before the end of the Second World War in Germany. A Soviet Captain and his patrol have occupied an orphanage by the sea; a German army unit is camped on the beach; a secret love affair blooms against all odds. Everyone is weary of fighting; except for the 13-year-old orphan Peter who wants to prove he's a hero and tries with all his cunning and power to instigate trouble between the opposing troops. Until he has to learn that the real opponent is lurking elsewhere and in this supposed enemy he has found a fatherly friend. This time the boundary lines don't run between friend and foe, this time they only run between good and evil.

Director

Achim von Borries, born 1968 in Munich, studied History, Political Science and Philosophy from 1989 to 1993 at the Freie Universität Berlin. In 1992 he continued his studies at the German Film and Television Academy (dffb). Borries was highly praised for his impressive screen debut ENGLAND! (2000), which was also his graduating film at the dffb. ENGLAND! ran successfully at several festivals and won 15 international awards including two from the German Film Critics Award in 2002 (Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography for Jutta Pohlmann). It was followed by his second directorial feature film LOVE IN THOUGHTS starring August Diehl, Daniel Brühl and Anna Maria Mühe in the main roles, which celebrated its premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in the USA in 2004.
Together with his sister Bettine he wrote the screen adaptations of the classic children’s books THE THREE ROBBERS, MULLEWAPP and LILLI THE WITCH. Achim von Borries has directed episodes of well-known German television series such as "Unter Verdacht" with Senta Berger. In 2010 for the 40th anniversary of the “Tatort” crime series, he directed the anniversary episode “Wie einst Lilly”, which also marked Ulrich Tukur’s debut as a “Tatort” police inspector.


Filmography:

2011 Four Days in May (writer/director)
2010 Tatort: Wie ein Lilly (TV / director)
2010 Unter Verdacht: Der Schmale Grat (TV/director)
2009 Mullewapp (writer)
2008 Karl May – Phantast (writer)
2008 Unter Verdacht: Das Geld anderer Leute (TV/director)
2007 Lili the witch – The Journey to Mandolan (writer)
2007 Waiting for the Sea (co-writer)
2007 The three robbers (writer)
2006 Blond: Eva Blond! - Epsteins Erbe (TV)
2006 Der Elefant - Mord verjährt nie: Hundsheim (TV)
2006 Der Elefant - Mord verjährt nie: Der lange Weg zurück (TV)
2004 Love in toughts (writer/director)
2000 England! (writer/director)
1998 Halberstadt (short / director)

Cast

Pavel Wenzel - Boy 
Aleksei Guskov - Commanding Officer
Ivan Shvedoff, Andrey Merzlikin, Sergey Legostaev, Maksim Kovalevski, Jevgenij Sitochin, Vladimir Svirskiy, Grigory Dobrygin - Soldiers
Angelina Häntsch - Girl
Gertrud Roll - Baroness
Petra Kelling - Cook
Merab Ninidze - Major
Alexander Held - Lieutenant Colonel
Martin Brambach - First Lieutenant 
Veit Stübner - Captain
Sylke Langenbeck - Nanny 
Julius Nitschkoff and others - Young Soldiers

Crew

Written and directed by: Achim von Borries
Cinematographer: Bernd Fischer
Editor: Antje Zynga
Commissioning Editors: Jörg Himstedt (HR), Birgit Kämper (ARTE), Jeanette Würl (NDR)
Producer: Stefan Arndt
Art Director: Agi Dawaachu
Costume Designer: Nicole Fischnaller
Co-Producers: Aleksei Guskov, Evgeni Chanin, Oleg Stepanenko, Achim von Borries
Casting: Suse Marquardt 

A Production of X Filme Creative Pool
In Co-Production with: ZAO Studio F.A.F., LLC Aurora Production and HR, ARTE and NDR

Technical Data

Format: 35mm / 1:2.35 / Dolby Digital
Length: 97 min.
Original Language: German, Russian

Original Title: 4 Tage im Mai

 

Artwork

Click here for the »4 Days in May« artwork

Downloads

4 Days in May
4 Days in May

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