Otomo - DaaVeeDee

Otomo (DVD) (*)

~~$30.99~~ $24.97

Screened, competed or awarded at:
Rotterdam International Film Festival
Vancouver International Film Festival
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Subtitles )
German ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Spanish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Germany ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
82 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.85:1)

Special Features:
Documentary
Interactive Menu
Short Film
Trailer(s)

Movie filmed in 1999 and produced in:
Germany ( Germany, Central Europe )

Directed By:
Frieder Schlaich

Written By:
Frieder Schlaich
Klaus Pohl

Actors:
Isaach De Bankolé ..... Otomo
Eva Mattes ..... Gisela
Hanno Friedrich ..... Heinz
Barnaby Metschurat ..... Rolf
Lara Kugler ..... Simone
Siegrid Burkholder
Gottfried Breitfuss
Traute Höss
Stefan Moos
Katja Schmidt-Oehm
Hansjuergen Gerth

Synopsis:

This German social melodrama follows the story of Frederic Otomo, a Cameroon immigrant living in Stuttgart. He's played by Isaach de Bankolé, whose fine bone structure and faraway gaze make him seem even further apart from the pale, suspicious Germans he lives among. The film, directed by Frieder Schlaich, is based on the true story of Otomo's flight after committing a violent crime and offers dramatic conjecture about the hours before his final encounter with the Stuttgart police. "Otomo" is a bleak and powerful work, one we probably need more than ever these days.

The true story of Otomo, a Black man seeking work and asylum in the German city of Stuttgart. However, all he finds is racism, police trouble and his final destiny. His one-day journey leads him to a run-down temporary employment agency where he is being rejected because he doesn't own an ID and proper shoes. Downcast he continues his purposeless trip. In a streetcar he encounters a racist trolley controller who wrongfully accuses him of having an invalid ticket. As the situation escalates, Otomo head-butts the controller and flees. With the police on his heels, Otomo decides to leave the country. He runs into a truck driver who is inclined to take Otomo to the Netherlands if he pays him 400 Deutsche Mark in advance - a load of money he doesn't have. His need of money leads to desperate measures, but also to a new love. However, Otomo's bloody final encounter with the police is not too far away.

This product was added to our catalog on Wednesday 09 August, 2006.