15/10/2025 - The helmer’s latest endeavour, playing in the Estonian festival’s main competition, is about finding companionship in the most unlikely places

Kanji Tsuda (left) and Aladdin Detlefsen in The Frog and the Water (© Pandora Film Produktion)

German director Thomas Stuber, best known internationally for In the Aisles [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Franz Rogowski
interview: Thomas Stuber
film profile] (2018), is back with The Frog and the Water, a quietly affecting tale of connection and transformation that will celebrate its world premiere at the upcoming Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (7-23 November), in the Official Selection Competition (see the news).

Set in Germany, The Frog and the Water follows Buschi (played by Aladdin Detlefsen), whose routine life in an assisted living facility leaves little room for surprises. When an opportunity arises to slip away from a group outing and join a tour of Japanese visitors, Buschi takes a leap into the unknown. On this unusual journey, he encounters Hideo (portrayed by Kanji Tsuda), a man travelling for reasons of his own. Without exchanging a single word, the two forge a profound friendship, forming a bond that transcends language and leads them into an unexpected adventure.

The story is a testament to Stuber’s continued interest in characters on the margins, exploring human connection in moments of stillness and quiet intimacy. Stuber co-wrote the screenplay with Gotthart Kuppel and Hyoe Yamamoto, blending German, Japanese and English dialogue to underscore the film’s cross-cultural themes.

Supporting roles are filled by Bettina Stucky, Meltem Kaptan, Yuki Iwamoto and Cornelius Schwalm.

“The film is about finding companionship in the most unlikely places,” Stuber notes. “Buschi and Hideo don’t need words to understand each other; it’s a journey about listening, observing and responding to another person’s presence.”

Stuber, born in 1981, has built a reputation for crafting deeply empathetic narratives. His graduation film, Of Dogs and Horses (2012), earned the German Short Film Award and a Silver Student Academy Award for Best Foreign Narrative Film. His feature debut, A Heavy Heart [+see also:
trailer
interview: Thomas Stuber
film profile] (2015), premiered at Toronto and won three Lolas, including Silver for Best Film. With In the Aisles (2018), starring Sandra Hüller and Franz Rogowski, Stuber explored human vulnerability amid the aisles of a supermarket; the film premiered in competition at the Berlinale and earned Rogowski the German Film Award for Best Actor.

Produced by Christoph Friedel and Claudia Steffen for Pandora Film (Germany), The Frog and the Water is co-produced by Annegret Weitkämper-Krug for Gretchenfilm (Germany), Christof Neracher for Hugofilm Features (Switzerland), and Magdalena Welter and Louis Mataré for Lomotion (Switzerland), alongside ZDF and ARTE, in collaboration with Neopol (Germany), Hassaku Labs (Japan), Vesuvius Pictures (Japan) and Pandora Filmverleih (Germany). The project is backed by an array of funding bodies, including Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, Deutscher Filmförderfonds, Hessen Film und Medien, Nordmedia, the FFA, BKM, the BAK Federal Office of Culture, Bern Film Fund and FISS. The Match Factory is in charge of the feature’s world sales.