30/09/2025 - The German director's second feature is a road movie travelling through Eastern Europe starring promising young actress Dana Herfurth

Bambi Is Dead is the title of the drama directed by Germany’s Anton von Heiseler, who also wrote the script and is one of the film’s producers alongside Justus Hagemann and Ben-Alexandre Hüttig. Most of the team, including the afore-mentioned trio, are current or former students of the Konrad Wolf Film University in Babelsberg. The film was produced independently and financed solely through crowdfunding and private supporters.

Heiseler’s short films have screened at international festivals and his feature debut, 153 Meter, premiered in 2022 at the Hof International Film Festival, where it was nominated Best Feature Film at Achtung Berlin, before being released in select German cinemas. Bambi Is Dead is Heiseler’s second feature film, on which post-production is ongoing and set to be completed by mid-October.

The film shoot took place in Germany - around Berlin and Brandenburg - as well as in Poland and the Czech Republic in late summer 2023 and summer 2024. At the centre of this road trip is a young woman called Marie. After an excessively fatal day which involves a death, a drug-fuelled trip and an accident, Marie's life changes radically. After spending six months in a psychiatric clinic, she returns to her parents’ home which now feels alien to her. Marie decides to go back to the place where she grew up, namely her late grandmother’s house in Slovakia. She’s accompanied by her ex-boyfriend, Jerome, and, together, they hitchhike from one place to the next. But their initial euphoria gradually turns into unease. Marie loses her grip and increasingly loses control of herself.

On discussing his inspiration, the director explains that, “People’s playful, innocent vision of the world is gradually unlearned, until they’re no longer themselves but rather figures society has imposed on them. The protagonist, Marie, resists this - she breaks free. Erratic, impulsive, ecstatic, she refuses to conform to any norms.”

The female protagonist is played by German actress Dana Herfurth, who received this year’s German New Faces Award as Best Young Actress. She has acted in a wide range of film and television productions, including the ZDF series Love Sucks (2024) and the feature film The Disappearance of Josef Mengele [+see also:
film review
interview: Kirill Serebrennikov
film profile] (2025). At her side appear newcomer Daniel Prussak alongside Michaela Caspar, with whom the director previously worked on his first feature film, 153 Meter.

Behind the cameras, the team is supported by cinematographer Konrad Waldmann (Eternal You [+see also:
film review
interview: Hans Block, Moritz Riesewieck
film profile]), Paula Gschlecht on production design, Benedikt Strick (Only Ghosts in the Waves [+see also:
trailer
film profile], 153 Meter) on editing, Felix Römer (Echo [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) on music and Wenzel Krah on sound design.

Bambi Is Dead is produced by Anton von Heiseler, Justus Hagemann and Ben-Alexandre Hüttig. Funds were raised through crowdfunding and private sponsors. Premieres in festivals and the film’s TV release are planned for 2026. A distribution agreement is yet to be signed.

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