Under the direction of Frieder Wittich, a promising, award-winning group of young German stars—including Max Riemelt (Before the Fall, The Red Cockatoo, The Wave), Alexander Fehling (And Along Come Tourists, Buddenbrooks), and Robert Gwisdek (NVA)—will appear before the camera. The student comedy 13 Semesters, a feature film about student life in all its intense joys and frustrations, will be shot entirely in Darmstadt and Frankfurt.
From the provinces to freedom: a place on a business-informatics degree takes friends Momo, played by Max Riemelt, and Dirk, played by Robert Gwisdek, away from their parents’ country restaurant in Brandenburg to the Technical University in Darmstadt—and straight into student life.
For Momo, that life includes lectures that are far too difficult, his annoying flatmate Bernd, played by Alexander Fehling, his dream woman Kerstin, a shortage of money, and what seems to be a brilliant business idea born from it. The initial orientation phase quickly gives way to complete disorientation. While Dirk thrives on lectures, assignments, and tutorials, Momo begins a search spanning several semesters for his place in life and a few other small things.
13 Semesters is a film about Momo’s studies that tells five minutes in ninety minutes—and those five minutes tell six and a half years.
Frieder Wittich is bringing 13 Semesters to the screen as his debut feature with considerable commitment and authenticity. A graduate of the University of Television and Film Munich, Wittich has already won numerous awards for his short films and commercials, including the 2004 First Steps Award for his McDonald’s commercials Keine Gegenfrage. The screenplay was written jointly by Oliver Ziegenbalg and Frieder Wittich.
13 Semesters is a co-production of Claussen+Wöbke+Putz Filmproduktion, Hessischer Rundfunk, and Arte. The project is supported by Hessen Invest Film, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, and the German Federal Film Board in Berlin.
Twentieth Century Fox of Germany will release 13 Semesters in German cinemas.
