40 Quadratmeter Deutschland


40 qm Deutschland is a 1986 West German film directed by Tevfik Başer, who helped both with the script and the production. The film won several awards making it one of the most significant German movies of 1986.

Production

40 qm Deutschland was first released on 31 July 1986.
The shooting of the movie took 21 days, but the following editing seven weeks. With only 450,000 DM spent on its output, it was a low-budget production. The only setting is a 40 m2 apartment in an old building in Hamburg.
Başer, who was chasing a vision he had been fostering for some time, procured the production, the script, the direction, the crew and the stage almost all by himself. The church musician Claus Banzer ended up being in charge of the music, Izzet Akay was trusted with the camera and the lead actress Özay Fecht was already known as a jazz singer.
Six months prior to the premiere, Baser explained his reasons for the project to the Frankfurter Rundschau: