Rosa von Praunheim was inspired to make this film by his own radio play “Die Nachtigall” (The Nightingale) from 1986, when he improvised together with the street singer Friedrich Steinhauer, who called himself “die Nachtigall vom Ramersdorf” (The Nightingale of Ramersdorf), and Luzi Kryn, who became famous through his film THE BED SAUSAGE. The director found the subject through a text in The New Yorker about a son tying his mother to a chair for over a year in order to take revenge on her.
Now, more than 30 years later, Rosa von Praunheim filmed his material with the singer and actor Hubert Wild and the eccentric former student councillor Ellen Reichardt, who has appeared in several films of his.
The film was shot during the Corona crisis, mainly in Rosa von Praunheim’s Berlin living room and in her neighbor's elegant apartment. The film is independently produced and an example of how imagination can sometimes replace money.
Die Nachtigall - Der grausame Sohn
Rosa von Praunheim
Born in 1942 in Riga/Latvia as Holger Mischwitzky. Studied at the Offenbach University of Art and Design and at the Berlin University of the Arts. Instructor at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF. Active as writer, screenwriter, journalist, painter, producer and director.
1970 DIE BETTWURST, Spielfilm
1971 NICHT DER HOMOSEXUELLE IST PERVERS, SONDERN DIE SITUATION, IN DER ER LEBT, Dokumentarfilm
1983 STADT DER VERLORENEN SEELEN, Spielfilm
1985 EIN VIRUS KENNT KEINE MORAL, Spielfilm
1987 ANITA – TÄNZERIN DES LASTERS, Spielfilm
1989 ÜBERLEBEN IN NEW YORK, Dokumentarfilm HOF 1989
1992 ICH BIN MEINE EIGNE FRAU, Dokumentarfilm HOF 1992
1995 NEUROSIA – FÜNFZIG JAHRE PERVERS, Mockumentery HOF 1995
1999 DER EINSTEIN DES SEX, Spielfilm HOF 1999
2007 MEINE MÜTTER – SPURENSUCHE IN RIGA, Dokumentarfilm HOF 2007
2010 NEW YORK MEMORIES, Dokumentarfilm
2014 PRAUNHEIM MEMOIRES, Dokumentarfilm
2015 HÄRTE, Spieldokumentation
2017 ÜBERLEBEN IN NEUKÖLLN, Dokumentarfilm
2019 DARKROOM – TÖDLICHE TROPFEN, Spielfilm