Alva Schäfer

The Queen's Gambit

In a 1950s orphanage, a young girl reveals an astonishing talent for chess and begins an unlikely journey to stardom while grappling with addiction.

Neben der Spur

Hamburg thriller with great depth

The Light

A portrait of a modern family between collapse and new beginnings dealing with the big issues of our times, in a world that is reeling. Tim, Milena, their almost grown-up twins Frieda and Jon and their illegitimate son Dio - this is the Engels family, who seemingly have nothing left to hold them together when housekeeper Farrah enters their lives. The mysterious Syrian woman puts the Engels' emotional world to an unexpectedly wild test.

Free Country

Former East Germany, 1992. Patrick Stein and Markus Bach, two very different police officers, are commissioned to investigate the disappearance of two female teenagers in a remote area of the country. Did they run away from home or did something more terrible happen to them?

Beck is back!

Skill Issue

The project is inspired by the director’s own youth during his time at a boarding school in southern Germany. Presents the dilemmas of adolescence between cravings to belong to the group and thirst for freedom.

Phoenix