Accept
A girl tries to live an ordinary life with her family by suppressing her true self. When she is being haunted by ominous figures she must face her own fears and accept what makes her special.
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Manuel KlaversDirector
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Manuel KlaversWriter
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Manuel KlaversProducer
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Charlotte LorenzenKey Cast"Girl"Tatort, Partynation, Soko Köln
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Michaela WiebuschKey Cast"Mother"Stauffenberg, Beck is back, Polizeiruf 110, Soko Wismar
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Christopher ReinhardtKey Cast"Brother"Sturm der Liebe, Shed a light music video, Sato, In aller Freundschaft, Genius
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Maximilian StahlDirector of Photography, Editing and Grading
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Paul BickhoffSound Design, Editing and Mixing
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Romana BauerUnit Production Manager
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Martin SchachtlMusic
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Vincent SchäfferVisual Effects
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Manuel KlaversVisual Effects
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Maximilian StahlVisual Effects
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Deggendorf Institute of TechnologyProduced at
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Markeliana KasaFloor Manager
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Lea BlöchingerFloor Manager
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Moritz GrötschFirst Assistant Camera
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Kim HongSecond Assistant Camera
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Florian EckerSecond Assistant Camera
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Felix HallerSecond Assistant Camera
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Maximilian StahlGaffer
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Paul BickhoffLocation Sound & ADR
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David QuanFoley Artist
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Paul BickhoffFoley Artist
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Romana BauerStoryboard
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Romana BauerMake Up Artist
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Alexander SteilSet Photographer
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Christoph KlaversMaking Of Camera
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Florian EckerMaking Of Camera
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Melanie PreißExtras
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Jana KlaversExtras
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Jürgen KlaversExtras
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Anja KlaversExtras
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Tobias MultererExtras
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Inge MultererExtras
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Jens SchanzeMentor/AdvisorLa buena vida, Otzenrath 3° kälter
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Project Type:Short, Student
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Genres:Mystery, Drama, Horror
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Runtime:18 minutes 24 seconds
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Completion Date:January 10, 2020
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Production Budget:5,000 EUR
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Country of Origin:Germany
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Country of Filming:Germany
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Language:German
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Shooting Format:Super35
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Aspect Ratio:2.39:1
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:Yes - Deggendorf Institute of Technology
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New York Lift Off Film FestivalNew York
United States
July 1, 2021
Official Selection -
Fort Lauderdale International Film FestivalFort Lauderdale
United States
November 6, 2020
International Premiere
Official Selection -
54th Hof International Film FestivalHof
Germany
October 24, 2020
World Premiere
Official Selection -
Los Angeles Crime and Horror Film FestivalLos Angeles
United States
November 10, 2020
California Premiere
Best Cinematography -
Milledgeville + Eatonton Film FestivalMilledgeville
United States
November 19, 2021
Nomination Best Horror Short -
International Short Film Week RegensburgRegensburg
Germany
May 21, 2021
Official Selection -
Maine Student Film FestivalMaine
United States
December 20, 2021
Nominations Best Actress, Best Cinematography -
180' Berlin Film FestivalBerlin
Germany
November 2, 2021
Jury Special Award -
Flickers' Rhode Island International Film FestivalProvidence
United States
Semi-Finalist -
Thess International ShortsThessaloniki
Greece
Semi-Finalist -
Short Film Fest Tripoint DE-AT-CZFreyung
Germany
December 1, 2021
Nomination Best Genre Film -
Prisma Rome Independent Film AwardsRome
Italy
February 17, 2021
Italian Premiere
Nominations for Best Leading Actress, Best Sound and Best Costume Design -
African International Horror Film FestivalLagos
Nigeria
October 23, 2021
Official Selection
Manuel Klavers is a young writer, director and producer. He is a graduate of the media program at the DIT Deggendorf Institute of Technology. His most recent film (thesis short), ACCEPT, stars Charlotte Lorenzen (Tatort, Partynation), Michaela Wiebusch (Stauffenberg) and Christopher Reinhardt („Shed a light“ David Guetta music video). It uses Mystery and Drama as genres to examine the difficulties and hardships of accepting oneself.
Manuels’ short films have screened internationally at festivals including International Short Film Week Regensburg, Best Short Fest and Los Angeles Cine Fest. Manuel’s short film „For Emma for Us“ (2017) won the Camgaroo Award in Munich and the Award of Distinction at Canada Shorts Film Festival.
ACCEPT was an important project for me to make because it speaks for all people who struggle to be themselves. Everyone, including me, has the desire to belong and be themselves and at the same time has their own stories about suppressing feelings in order to fit in, get accepted, or protect themselves.
The story evolves around a girl that tries to suppress her true self in order to live a normal life with her family. With the film I wanted to address the difficulties of accepting yourself. As the short film shows, the way to self-acceptance is an enormous and important task which unfortunately does happen with a lot of setbacks and barriers along the way. It can be terrifying. Your own fear of getting rejected or prejudiced by society can be haunting. It holds you back on your journey to authenticity and leaves you alone, confused and sad. In the end the only way to fully accept and discover yourself is to face that fear and figure out which parts are your true self and which parts you created to protect yourself.
The best way for me to portray this feeling was to choose the genres Mystery, Drama and Horror. They allowed me to explore the emotional journey and hardships people have to endure in an unconventional, memorable and thought-provoking way.