Private Project

Sweet Summer

Single mother Leyla gets through life with tricks to give her daughters Karina and Naomi a good childhood despite constant money worries.
On a hot and boring summer day, the two girls get a craving for ice cream and when Ilse, a bottle collector, breaks a bottle, they immediately have an idea how the broken pieces can be used profitably.
But when the little family tries to get three free sundaes at a fancy new ice cream parlor, Leyla realizes that her kids are overdoing it with the scams. When they are suddenly exposed, the situation quickly escalates...

  • Sabrina Mertens
    Director
    Fellwechselzeit, Zarte Momente
  • Milena Aboyan
    Writer
  • Paulina Toenne
    Producer
  • Nesligül Satir
    Producer
  • Julia Dorothee Brunsch
    Key Cast
    "Leyla"
  • Alma Marie Brunsch
    Key Cast
    "Naomi"
  • Rosa Magdalena Brunsch
    Key Cast
    "Karina"
  • Jan Fabi
    Camera
    Fellwechselzeit
  • Elias Engelhardt
    Editor
  • Tim Hennig
    Music
  • Larissa Helwig
    Maske
  • Algis Juknevicius
    Sound Design and Audio Mix
  • Lovis Töpke
    Original Sound
  • Simon Kubiena
    Assistant Director
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Süßer Sommer
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    8 minutes 15 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 11, 2021
  • Country of Origin:
    Germany
  • Country of Filming:
    Germany
  • Language:
    German
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
  • Heilbronner Kinderfilmfest
    Heilbronn
    Germany
    September 17, 2022
  • Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis
    Saarbrücken
    Germany
    January 18, 2021
    World Premiere
  • Return International Art Festival
    Weimar
    Germany
    November 27, 2021
  • AKUT Kurzfilmwettbewerb Amberg
    Amberg
    Germany
    October 14, 2022
  • Landshuter Kurzfilmfestival
    Landshut
    Germany
    April 28, 2022
  • Bali International Short Film Festival
    Bali
    Indonesia
    September 15, 2023
    Asia Premiere
Director Biography - Sabrina Mertens

Sabrina Mertens was born in Hamburg (Germany) in 1985. She studied Audiovisual Media Design in Berlin and Brandenburg and worked for a German television broadcaster (DW-TV) in Berlin. Mertens started making short films in 2011.
Since 2015 she has been enrolled in the study course Directing at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg. Mertens writes screenplays and develops concepts for innovative film forms. Her work ranges between experimental, documentary, comedy and feature film and has been shown at numerous film festivals. Fellwechselzeit (Time of Moulting) is her feature debut and had it's national and international premiere in 2020 at Film Festival Max Ophüls Prize and the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

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