Private Project

Just Keep Breathing

When a routine surgery turns into a nightmare, now-retired teacher Georgie Brown wakes from a two-week coma, unable to breathe or speak on her own. Stripped of her voice and her independence, she must fight her way back to life, one fragile breath at a time.

  • Lars Smekal
    Director
  • Lars Smekal
    Writer
  • Julia Müller-Runjaić
    Producer
  • Martin Weichsler
    Producer
  • Carl Philipp Jung
    Director of Photography
  • Daniel Spieker
    Production Sound Mixer
  • Georgie Brown
    Key Cast
  • Carl Caspar Gies
    Editor
  • Finn Mahler
    Editor
  • Andreas Lucas
    Composer
  • Andreas P. Frank
    Sound Design & Mixing
  • Oskar Stelling
    Sound Design & Mixing
  • Dunja Abbas
    Graphic Design Titles
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes 19 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 1, 2025
  • Country of Origin:
    Germany
  • Country of Filming:
    Germany
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Lars Smekal

Born in Regensburg, Lars Smekal lives in Mainz and works as a director and author. In terms of content, his works deal particularly with social issues, in the past for example with addiction in the parental home, loneliness in old age and human trafficking. He is particularly interested in people who are underrepresented or discriminated against in public perception and the question of how we want to live together as a society. Smekal has appeared in various radio and television programs, including ARD's Morgenmagazin, SWR and HR.

In 2012, he published his first book, "The Notes of a Young Poet. In 2015 he completed a directing internship at the Münchner Kammerspiele. He also participated in four international exchange projects in Clermont-Ferrand (FR), Hasselt (BEL), Łódź (POL) and Kiev (UKR). Smekal sees himself as a European and has been able to build a good network through his festival participations across Europe. Smekal feels especially connected to Poland, as family members had roots in Silesia as late expellees. He has a language level of A2 in Polish.

He completed his bachelor's degree in art history, German language and literature, and comparative cultural studies at the University of Regensburg in 2017 with his bachelor's thesis "The World of Yesterday. Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) as a cinematic panorama of European exile." In 2018, he was awarded the Deutschlandstipendium for his top academic grades and special social commitment and was nominated at the Bavarian Youth Film Festival with his film Die versteckten und stillen Schätze des Lebens. In 2020, he was the protagonist of the Instagram campaign ,,Zusammen/Wspolnie" for the German Embassy in Warsaw. In 2021 he received the Film + Medien Nachwuchsförderung Rheinland-Pfalz and the "IM FOKUS - 6 points for culture" project scholarship.

In 2022, he completed his master's degree at the Mainz University of Applied Sciences in the "Time-Based Media" program. His graduation film Memories of a Forgotten Childhood on the subject of addiction in the parental home from the perspective of a child was funded by the state film funding agency HessenFilm und Medien. The film celebrated its world premiere in San Diego (USA) and won the "Best Drama Short Film" award.

His short documentary film Zeitschenkerin (Time Giver) on the subject of end-of-life care was shown at the renowned Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) in Estonia in 2024. In 2025, he collaborated with Katarzyna Karpinska on the ARD documentary Die Zeitschenkerin (The Time Giver) for the format Echtes Leben (SWR).

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Director Statement

I have always been drawn to stories that reveal the fragile miracle of being alive — moments we barely notice in the rush of everyday life, yet which hold the deepest truths. "Just Keep Breathing" is one of those stories.

When I met Georgie Brown, I saw not only a medical survivor but a woman whose identity had been stripped away in an instant — a teacher without a classroom, a voice reduced to silence, a life interrupted without warning.

For me, filmmaking is about empathy. I want the audience to feel the weight of each laboured breath, the disorientation of waking into a body that no longer feels like home, and the small, stubborn victories that mean survival. Georgie’s journey is tragic, yes, but it is also fiercely alive.

"Just Keep Breathing" is a film about the quiet, relentless work of reclaiming yourself — the success of a single step, the triumph of a single word spoken, the beauty of a single breath drawn. Every breath we take is extraordinary — a constant, second-by-second reminder that we are alive.

This film would not have been possible without the dedicated collaboration of FORMATFABRIK and the producers Julia Müller-Runjaić and Martin Weichsler, whose vision and support helped bring Georgie’s story to life.