Pingpong

The 16-year-old Paul (Sebastian Urzendowsky) turns up unannounced at his uncle’s family. Following his father’s suicide, he is looking for security, but he is unable to find it in the seemingly perfect world of the small bourgeois family, as his mere presence makes the pretty façade begin to crumble. A chamber drama staged with a firm grasp of style with table tennis, piano, swimming pool and an unhappy ending. PINGPONG, the debut film by director Matthias Luthardt, celebrated its world premiere in 2006 at the Cannes Film Festival as part of the Semaine de la Critique and received three prizes: the SACD Screenwriter Award for Meike Hauck and Matthias Luthardt, the Young Critics Award Best Feature and the Palm Dog – Special Mention for Schumann, the dog in the film. (Anke Hahn)