Sad Jokes [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Fabian Stumm
scheda film], the second feature by German actor-director Fabian Stumm, is set to world-premiere at this year’s Filmfest München (28 June-7 July). The film will be part of the New German Films section ahead of its release in Germany, courtesy of Salzgeber, on 12 September. Stumm’s feature debut, Bones and Names [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film], premiered at the 2023 Berlinale in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino section and won the Heiner Carow Prize.

The film focuses on close friends Joseph (Stumm) and Sonya (Haley Louise Jones), who are also co-parenting their young son Pino (Justus Meyer). Sad Jokes presents them at a crossroads: Joseph is working on his next film and dealing with a breakup, while Sonya spirals into depression. When she’s institutionalised, Joseph realises that things will have to change. As in Bones and Names, Stumm directs and stars in a tragicomical reflection of reality, but his sophomore feature will emphasise the hope nascent in absurdity.

“I wanted to build on the lightness of Bones and Names, turn up the dials and let deeply sad scenes and slapstick moments collide,” Stumm notes. He adds: “I’m interested in the fractures that result from this. It was great fun to explore cinematic humour. The comedies of Loriot, Charlie Chaplin, Ernst Lubitsch, Nanni Moretti and François Truffaut have influenced me since I was young. Sincerity and silliness often lie close together in them, which I find very beautiful and worth telling.”

Describing Sad Jokes, the director calls it “a film about persevering […]. It’s about ways to care for the people you love, even when you’re apart. And about the ability to forgive. About how life can be cruel, funny, hopeful and sometimes everything at the same time.”

Sad Jokes was produced by Nicola Heim, Lucie Tamborini and Fabian Stumm, of Stumm’s Berlin-based company Postofilm. The sales rights are being handled by Salzgeber & Co Medien GmbH, which will also distribute the film in Germany.

Check out our exclusive trailer below: