Inside the bear

A day in the life of an Italian girl who has just moved to Berlin. Antonia, forced to do a series of grotesque flat share ‘castings’ to find a home, is looking for a room but also for herself.

  • Lilian Sassanelli
    Director
  • Lilian Sassanelli
    Writer
  • Lilian Sassanelli
    Producer
  • Angelo Calculli
    Producer
  • Julie Murphy
    Producer
  • Ondina Quadri
    Key Cast
    "Antonia"
  • Matteo Carpi
    Key Cast
    "Matteo"
  • Marit Nissen
    Key Cast
    "Robi"
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Im Bären
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes 59 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 22, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    15,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Italy
  • Country of Filming:
    Germany, Italy
  • Language:
    English, German
  • Shooting Format:
    2K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.66 euro
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Alice nella città
    Rome
    Italy
    18/10/2018
    World premiere
    official selection
  • David di Donatello

    Italy
    Selection
  • Nastri d'Argento
    Rome
    Italy
    June 10, 2019
    Selection
  • Asti Film Festival
    Asti
    Italy
    Best director
  • Festival del Cinema Europeo
    Lecce
    Italy
    Selection
  • Carta Bianca Dams
    Rome
    Italy
    Best film
  • Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Mumbai
    Mumbai
    India
    Selection
  • Olhares do Mediterraneo
    Lisboa
    Portugal
    Selection
  • Corti da Sogni - Antonio Ricci
    Ravenna
    Italy
    Selection
  • Longless Film Festival
    Figari
    Italy
    Selection
Distribution Information
  • Gargantua
    Distributor
    Country: Italy
    Rights: Video on Demand
Director Biography - Lilian Sassanelli

Born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1993. Lilian grew up in Rome, she came in contact with cinema at the age of 3 as an actress in the films: "Fuori di me" by Gianni Zanasi and "Matrimoni" by Cristina Comencini. In 2006 she starred in the short film "Il parco dei mostri" with Rocco Papaleo, in 2010 in the series "Distretto di Polizia" and "La scelta di Laura". In 2013 she decided to rediscover her German roots by moving to Berlin. In Germany she did a 6-month internship as a production assistant in the production company Wüste Film Ost, then she worked on the filming of some short films, both as assistant director and as an actress. In 2014 she started studying German literature and European ethnology at Humboldt - Universität zu Berlin. In 2017 she worked as assistant director and dialogue coach on the film "Due piccoli italiani" by Paolo Sassanelli.

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Director Statement

Im Bären is the story of a girl who, having moved to Berlin to make a change in her life, has to deal with a whole new reality and is therefore forced to face isolation.
I decided to tell this story because it is my story but at the same time it is also the story of many other people who, like me, have lived the experience of living abroad in a big city like Berlin. A city in which extravagance is the norm and isolation a common condition, a city where it is easy to lose contact with oneself and others. The Berlin metro has a very important role in this short film, because the aesthetics, the colors but above all because the travellers as individual people have always fascinated me a lot. On the metro we are all on the same level, we are all headed somewhere, waiting to arrive, absorbed in our thoughts, in our mobile phones or in whatever we’re reading, we travel alone even if we are surrounded by many people. We are lonely in a crowd.