Matthias van Baaren
Directing
Known For

Several young actresses, mostly fresh from theatre school, follow the casting call for a role tailored to their lives: that of an actress auditioning for the role of an actress… An intriguing mix of documentary and fiction that examines the complexities of womanhood as role play and acting as social practice.
Casting Tapes

A man who shot at people for no apparent reason, has been sentenced to prison. A young woman, a lab assistant, who is appointed as a juror in the case meets a sociologist who is working on a study of the penal system.
Licht, kein Licht

Under a cloudless sky, Hansi Hinterseer hosts a communal mountain fair in the alpine idyll of Kitzbühel. Observing – without judgment – the camera follows along amidst the throng of fans, waiting patiently for the revered skiing and entertainment legend to appear. Eventually, Hansi does emerge and proceeds to sing, pray, and bring people together. This is a film about a movement of both the body and the mind.
Hands Up To Heaven

A documentary about simultaneous interpreters. Two interpreters sit in a booth. Using headsets, they listen to prerecorded English interview passages (these "originals" are inaudible to the viewer), which they simultaneously translate into German. The source interviews are conversations with translators, translation scholars, interpreters, politicians, philosophers of language, neurolinguists, and others. Approaching the process of translation from a great variety of perspectives, the film also allows the viewer to become part of that process.