Home for the Weekend
by Hans-Christian Schmid

Marko is in his mid-thirties, has just published his first book, and
has been living in Berlin since his university days – far enough
away from his parents Gitte and Günter with their bourgeois lifestyle
that he could never quite get used to. He visits them once
or twice a year, mainly to give them a chance to spend a few days
with their grandson.
His hopes of spending a quiet weekend with his family fall short
when Gitte, who has been mentally unstable since Marko was
a child, after a homeopathic treatment feels so healthy for the
first time in a long time that she stops taking her medication.
She asks to be treated from now on as a full member of this
family and, now that her husband Günther is finally selling his
publishing company, is looking forward to their retirement days
together.
Gitte’s announcement triggers reserved reactions. Fearing for
his mother’s health, Marko’s younger brother Jakob insists she
continue her medication treatment, whilst Gitte’s unexpected
recovery evidently seems to be foiling Günther’s retirement
plans. Marko is the only one who stands behind Gitte’s decision,
seeing in it a chance for her and the family.
When Jakob can no longer hide his financial troubles due to setting
up his doctor’s practice and building a house, Marko is the
only one who respects his mother’s wishes and doesn’t hide this
bitter failure away from her and, in so doing, tips his family’s
seemingly well-established structure out of balance.
Hans-Christian Schmid was born in Altötting in 1965
and lives in Berlin today. Following his studies at
film school in Munich, he graduated in scriptwriting
from USC in Los Angeles. Schmid’s films include 23,
CRAZY, DISTANT LIGHTS, REQUIEM and the international
co-production STORM. In 2004, he founded
the production company 23/5, which has produced
five films so far: his own REQUIEM, THE WONDROUS
WORLD OF LAUNDRY, and STORM as well as AND
ALONG COME TOURISTS by Robert Thalheim and
THE EDGE by Géraldine Bajard. Schmid’s films have
all been invited to various national and international
festivals and have received several awards.
Selected Filmography:
2009 STORM (director, co-writer, producer)
2008 THE WONDROUS WORLD OF LAUNDRY
(feature documentary; director, producer)
2006 REQUIEM (director, producer)
2003 DISTANT LIGHTS (director, co-writer)
2000 CRAZY (director, co-writer)
1998 23 (director, co-writer)
Lars Eidinger - Marko Heidtmann
Corinna Harfouch - Gitte Heidtmann (Mother)
Sebastian Zimmler - Jakob Heidtmann
Ernst Stötzner - Günter Heidtmann (Father)
Picco von Groote - Ella Staudt
Egon Merten - Zowie Heidtmann
Birge Schade - Susanne Graefe
Eva Meckbach - Tine Gronau
Director: Hans-Christian Schmid
Screenplay: Bernd Lange
Producers: Britta Knöller, Hans-Christian Schmid
Director of Photography: Bogumił Godfrejów
Production Design: Christian M. Godlbeck (SFK)
Editor: Hansjörg Weißbrich BFS
Music: The Notwist
Casting: Suse Marquardt (BVC)
Costume Design: Lisy Christl
Sound Design: Dirk Jakob
Commissioning Editors: Ulrich Herrmann (SWR), Georg Steinert (ARTE), Götz Schmedes (WDR)
Funded by: Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Filmföderungsanstallt FFA, DFFF, BKM
A production of : 23/5 Filmproduktion
Format: 35 mm / 1:1.85 / Color / Dolby Digital
Lenght: 88 min.
Original language: German

