Hans-Christian Schmid Movies

A prosecutor at a tribunal in the Hague attempts to convince a potential witness to testify in a crucial case against the man accused of deporting and killing Bosnian-Muslim civilians in a small town now known as the Republika Srpska in this tense courtroom drama from director Hans-Christian Schmid. Hannah Maynard is determined to make Goran Duric pay for his crimes against humanity. Her case is complicated, however, when a key witness in the trial becomes ensnared by the contradictions of his own testimony. In order to gain a better understanding of the facts of the case, the court sends a delegation to Bosnia, where the suspicions regarding the reliability of the witness are quickly confirmed. When the witness commits suicide, it begins to appear as if Duric will walk free. Now, Hannah's last hope of keeping the case alive is to travel to the witnesses' funeral in Sarajevo. There, Hannah comes into contact with the witnesses' sister Mira, who seems to know more about the defendant than she readily admits. Hannah works hard to gain Mira's trust, eventually convincing the girl to face her fears of the past and testify in the Hague. When Duric's defense team attempts to have Mira's testimony disallowed and finds their efforts unexpectedly supported by the members of the judiciary, Hannah realizes that her greatest adversaries aren't necessarily at the docks, but standing right beside her in the courtroom every day. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Director Hans-Christian Schmid helms this award winning account of a first-year university student whose bout with epilepsy leads to a tragic exorcism. Inspired by the same events that were previously dramatized in The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Requiem follows college freshman and devoted Catholic Michaela Klinger (Sandra Hueller) as she attempts to adjust to dormitory life while struggling to meet the growing pressures and academic expectations of school. Though a tentative friendship with temperamental classmate Hanna (Anna Blomeier) and a blossoming romance with easygoing chemistry student Stefan (Nicholas Reinke) at first find the shy student developing a pair of healthy bonds, an ill-advised abandonment of her medication regimen sets into motion a chilling series of events. Warned by a series of apparitions and disembodied voices that she should stay away from rosaries and crucifixes, Michaela seeks out the help of both her parents and amiable priest Father Landauer (Walter Schmidinger) to no avail. When Michaela becomes convinced that she is being made to suffer in the same manner of a well-known saint, well-intending pastor Borchert (Jens Harzer) hastily assembles an in-home exorcism that is doomed to end in tragedy. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

German filmmaker Michael Gutmann directs the romantic drama Herz über Kopf (Heart Over Head), his second teen movie collaboration with writer/director Hans-Christian Schmid. After his mother's death, 18-year-old Jakob (Tom Schilling) quit school and went to Berlin to live with his father. The next year, he travels to Frankfurt to stay with his older sister, Petra (Anna von Berg), with the intention of looking for a job. He ends up helping Petra out, since she's pregnant and her boyfriend has left her and her school-age son alone with little money. Jakob meets Wanda (Alicja Bachleda-Curus), an au pair from Poland, and they fall in love. He wants to stay in Frankfurt and be with her, but her friends and host family don't like him. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Hans Christian Schmid directed this fact-based German thriller about computer hackers who find inspiration in The Illuminatus! Trilogy, the popular Robert Shea/Robert Anton Wilson cult novel series probing Atlantis, conspiracies, Discordianism, dolphins, drugs, and the mystical meaning of the number 23. Interest in the Shea-Wilson book can be found on numerous websites throughout the Internet. Two members of the Shea-Wilson cult are young Karl Koch (August Diehl) and his buddy David (Fabian Busch). They find countless references to the book everywhere they look. Sitting at computer keyboards, they relate the theories to current events, and through their pal Pepe (Dieter Landuris) they sell their research to Russians in East Berlin. However, the Russians want military data. To elude authorities, Karl and David work from hotel rooms, and one day they accidentally access a United States government database. The pressures take a toll on Karl, who suffers a mental collapse. Shown at 1998 film fests (Locarno, Munich, Toronto). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide