Film: Kreuzweg (Stations of the Cross) 

(in German with English subtitles) and discussion with director Dietrich Brüggemann and Stefan Kriekhaus

The observation of the “return of religious longing” was the reason Dietrich Brüggemann co-wrote, with his sister Anna, the award-winning screenplay for the movie Kreuzweg (Stations of the Cross). In 14 stations, the film traces the ordeal of Mary (Lea van Acken), a young girl who suffers from her parents’ rigid religious dogmatism. Following the screening, Brüggemann and Stefan Kriekhaus—who dealt intensively with American expressions of Christianity during his stay at Villa Aurora—discuss cinematic approaches to the subject.

Dietrich Brüggemann (born in Munich, 1976) is a German film director and screenwriter. He studied film directing at the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf from 2000 to 2006 and currently lives and works in Berlin. His film debut, Neun Szenen, was screened at the 2006 Berlinale and Perspektive Deutsches Kino and was awarded the Studio Hamburg Newcomer Award. In the same section he presented his second movie, Renn, wenn du kannst, in 2010. For Kreuzweg, written with his sister Anna, Brüggemann received the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the Berlinale 2014.

Stefan Kriekhaus (born in Haan am Rhein, 1968) is a director, screenwriter, and producer. He has worked as a freelance writer since 1998, among others he has co-authered Henner Winckler`s films Klassenfahrt (2002) and Lucy (2006). In 2005 Kriekhaus made the short film Baden, his directorial debut. Kriekhaus worked on several television productions, including Verliebt in Berlin (2006, as dialogue author), and Königinnen (2009, as dramaturgic consultant). His short film Die Ruhe bleibt (2012) won the Silver Bear at the Berlinale from the International Short Film Jury.