Thomas Bahmann Movies

A confident teen rowing team faces an unexpected challenge -- both in and out of the water -- in this coming-of-age comedy drama. Summer Storm primarily concerns the angsty Tobi (Robert Stadlober), a high-school oarsman whose finds his intimate friendship with charismatic teammate Achim (Kostja Ullmann) threatened as Achim gets more serious with his girlfriend. Tobi's situation is complicated when he and the boys leave for rowing camp for the summer: there, the headstrong team is introduced to The Queerstrokes, a champion team of out-and-proud gay teen athletes. Some of the boys are fine with their new opponents, some are blatantly homophobic, and others -- Tobi included -- find their already shaky notions of heterosexuality threatened. Tensions rise in the days building up to the big competition, and Tobi struggles to come to terms with what his true desires are. Summer Storm had its North American premiere at the 2004 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

In this satire on office intrigue and middle-class status seeking, Albert (Herbert Knaup) is a ordinary middle-aged finance executive with a wife, Sabine (Andrea Sawitzki), a teenage daughter, Sandra (Alexandra Maria Lara), and a fine home in an upscale suburb of Munich. Just before Albert is about to take his family on a vacation in the South Pacific, his company is put under investigation for fraud, and suddenly a hold is put on his credit card, leaving him stranded at home. However, neither Albert nor his family want the neighbors to know what happened, so they leave their house as if going to the airport anyway, and then sneak back home to hide in the basement for the next two weeks. Able to sneak out only under cover of darkness, Albert discovers his neighbor, Helmut (Ben Becker), is after his job, which will give him plenty to think about when he's not busy trying to drain out the basement after it floods. Suedsee, Eigene Insel was the first theatrical feature from director Thomas Bahmann, who was previously noted for his televsion work. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi