Frauenzimmer

Frauenzimmer

Eva Maschke (DoP)

Christel, Paula and Karolina work in the oldest trade in the world and are considered to be »ready for the scrap-heap«. Frauenzimmer tells of three Berlin women of advanced age who make a living in the sex trade. They are not interested in justifying themselves or in showing off. Their widely varied personalities reveal the very different ways that they look on prostitution and why they decided to take up this career. With pride, self-confidence, sometimes with no words, sometimes very verbally and humorously, they show what this work means to them and how much love they have that is not for sale. The documentary gives an insight into three extraordinary life stories, and into in part surprisingly bourgeois everyday lives.

Jury statement: Three women in negligées in their Berlin apartments. They are all over 45 and work as prostitutes. Without being voyeuristic or making judgments, the camera portrays their everyday lives with a self-assured gaze. It subtlety captures an otherwise hidden moment of waiting. Eva Maschke manages to show the banality of everyday life in a way that is anything but banal. She displays a talent in making use of the available light, and in the interview sequences she sets the light to create some very atmospheric images. We can sense a good and trusting cooperation between the director of photography and the film director, who maintain the dignity and beauty of the protagonists at all times.

Director

Saara Aila Waasner

Cinematography

Eva Maschke

Editing

Elisabeth Rassbach

Sound

Martin Jabs, Patrick Protz, Patrick Veigel

Music

Sebastian Pille

Production

Royal Pony Film in Koproduktion mit dem ZDF – Das kleine Fernsehspiel, in Zusammenarbeit mit der Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg

Contact

Royal Pony Film

Portrait of DoP Eva Maschke

Eva Maschke (DoP)

Eva Maschke was born in 1976 in Cologne. After training to be a physiotherapist, she did various internships in the field of film, and worked for SWR Baden-Baden as a material and camera assistant. From 2002 to 2007, she studied camera/cinematography at the Baden-Württemberg, Film Academy, graduating with the film Ohne Halt. For the documentary Roaming Around (directed by Brigitte Bertele) she was awarded the German Directors of Photography Award in 2007. She works as a freelance camerawoman and filmmaker.


Films by Eva Maschke (Selection)
24h-Berlin 2009 | Menschenkinder 2008 | No es fácil – Hijos de Che 2008 | Ohne Halt 2007 | Roaming Around 2006