NDR documentary: Grimme Institute withdraws “Lovemobil” the nomination

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The nomination committee of the Grimme Institute has withdrawn the nomination of the documentary “Lovemobil”, which was co-produced by the NDR.

As the institute announced on Tuesday on the social network Twitter, the management supports this decision.

The Norddeutsche Rundfunk (NDR) had distanced itself from the documentary on Monday and announced that it was showing "in large areas scenes that are not authentic".

At the beginning of March, the Grimme Institute announced that the film had received a nomination for this year's 57th Grimme Prize in the Information & Culture category.

The film produced for the cinema, which shows the life of prostitutes, was also awarded the German Documentary Film Prize by Südwestrundfunk (SWR) last year.

The SWR announced on Tuesday that it would review the award and, if necessary, withdraw the price.

Elke Lehrenkrauss is the director of the documentary "Lovemobil"

Source: picture alliance / dpa

According to the broadcaster, research by the NDR editorial team, STRG_F, led to inquiries from the author Elke Margarete Lehrenkrauss.

The film is said to have been made on the basis of many years of research by the author, but central people in the film did not describe their personal experiences, but played a role, said the NDR.

Numerous situations are simulated or staged.

In an interview with STRG_F, Lehrenkrauss admitted that she had failed to inform the NDR about the staging.

You regret that, but claim that the NDR has not asked either.

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The film shows the life of prostitutes who work under degrading circumstances in mobile homes on the edge of federal highways in Lower Saxony.

It has been shown at festivals around the world and also briefly ran in cinemas last year.

It was financed, among other things, from funds from Nordmedia Filmförderung, and the NDR documentary editorial team was involved as a co-producer.

The film was initially removed from the ARD media library and blocked for repetitions.

The SWR announced that until the issue has been clarified, the jury for this year's German Documentary Film Award 2021 will also be suspended for the author Lehrenkrauss. The winners are usually represented in the main jury of the following year.

"Incorrectly labeled"

Filmmaker Lehrenkrauss had already apologized at the beginning of the week if people felt cheated by the film or if they had hurt the sensitive feelings of viewers.

"That wasn't my intention," she said.

At individual points, she recounted the incidents researched with real prostitutes with actresses in order to protect the women or because a film was not possible in the end.

“Nothing is thought up in the film that doesn't exist.

We only retold it with actresses. ”Her aim was to create truthfulness as well as an emotional and tangible authenticity.

"What was of course a mistake, this film could not be labeled," said Lehrenkrauss.

She asked the NDR to label the film as an artistic film, but that did not happen.

“The right labeling was simply missing.” There were difficulties with communication.

The filmmaker advocated better labeling the film afterwards, for example with a text field at the beginning or end that indicates that parts of the film were made with actresses.