15-year-old Charleen is a typical teen who hates being a typical teen. Kurt Cobain’s biggest fan, she also shares some of his fatalism and rebellion. After a brush with near death, Charleen starts to shed some of her nihilism for a quirky spice for life that she never knew existed. This upbeat, feel-good coming-of-age dramedy stars sensational breakout star Jasna Fritzi Bauer in a spot-on depiction of a teen who revises her view on life.
Director Biography
MARK MONHEIM
Mark Monheim was born in 1977 in Bonn, where he spent his childhood. Early in his youth he discovered his passion for photography, story writing and rock music. In addition he became involved as a teenager with Greenpeace, BUND, the student newspaper and student council. In 1995 his mother died an early death. He believes this is where his interest in “serious” topics with humor and a hopeful tone comes from. After graduation in 1997, followed by community service at a children’s hospital in Munich, he began studying Documentary Film Direction at the University of Television and Film in Munich, where he graduated in 2008. During his studies, he worked as a stills photographer, assistant director, set manager, lighting technician, and driver for numerous major film productions. Since 2008 he works as a freelance writer. Mark now lives in Berlin, is married and has two children.
Cast Biographies
JASNA FRITZI BAUER
Jasna Fritzi Bauer was born on 20 February 1989 in Wiesbaden, Germany. From 2006 to 2008 she was a member of the youth theatre ensemble at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden. She then went on to study acting at the renowned Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin, where she graduated in 2012.
During her studies Jasna appeared at a variety of theatres in Berlin, including the Schaubühne, where she performed in Leo Tolstoy's The Power of Darkness, directed by Michael Thalheimer. The production of Helden by Ewald Palmetshofer at bat-Studiotheater, directed by Roscha A. Säidow, received the Vontobel Prize at the 22nd Theatertreffen theatre festival for German-speaking drama students. Following appearances in several smaller student productions, Jasna Fritzi Bauer took to the stage at the Hans-Otto-Theater in Potsdam in the spring of 2012, where she performed in the comedy The Game of Love and Chance, directed by Jutta Hoffmann. Since July 2012 she has been a member of the ensemble at the Burgtheater in Vienna. While still a student, she made her movie debut in Andi Rogenhagen's 2010 film Alive and Ticking, in which she played the role of Eva, a young girl with Tourette syndrome. Her performance earned her the Best Newcomer Award at the FilmArtFestival Mecklenburg-Pomerania in 2011 and the New Faces Award in 2012. In 2010, she played the lead in Wolfgang Dinslage's film For Elise. In 2011, Jasna Fritzi Bauer landed major roles in two more films. In Christian Petzold's award-winning drama based in the former East Germany, Barbara, she acted alongside Nina Hoss and Ronald Zehrfeld. She also played the main character in Bettina Blümner's Scherbenpark, based on the novel of the same name by Alina Bronsky.
In 2012, she began filming her first role for television. In Kai Wessel's miniseries A Time of Heroes, which won the Grimme Award in 2014, Jasna Fritzi Bauer played one of the lead roles in an ensemble cast including Inka Friedrich, Oliver Stokowski and Julia Jäger. She divides her time between Berlin and Vienna.
HEIKE MAKATSCH
Born on 13 August 1971 in Düsseldorf, Germany, as the daughter of former German national ice hockey keeper Rainer Makatsch. After studying politics and sociology at the University of Düsseldorf for two years and an apprenticeship as dressmaker, she was hired by newborn TV music channel VIVA in 1993 and hosted popular shows such as Interaktiv (1993). Also presenting the charts show Bravo TV (1993), the media considered her the prototype of a "girlie girl.” Her first appearance in a movie, Jailbirds by Detlev Buck (1996), surprised the critics and slowly changed her image. In the following years, she played leading characters in successful projects such as Am I Beautiful? (1998) and Gripsholm (2000). Living in London from 1999 to 2005, she also appeared in English language movies, most prominently in the international Christmas Box Office Hit Love, Actually (2003), alongside with Hugh Grant. After another compelling performance in Margarete Steiff (2005), she solidified her status as a respected actress. In 2009 she played the main role in Hilde, the bio pic about the famous German actress/singer Hildegard Knef.
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