FIRE DRILL

Improvisational fiction short, 20′, 2024

LOGLINE

A young Ukrainian fulfils his dream of working on board a container ship, but the war at home and the dangers on board turn his coming of age into a crucial test.

DIRECTORS NOTE

Fire Drill tells a raw story about growing up and finding hope. 

The film is improvisational fiction, shot amidst the ongoing operations of a container ship. It features real seafarers as first-time actors alongside a professional cast.
During preproduction, I travelled on container ships for several months, engaging with daily routines and interviewing crew members.

The aim was to capture the broad experiences of seafarers. Having worked as a shipping operator myself, I was driven to showcase this often-overlooked but vital part of the global supply chain.

During my last research trip aboard a ship, the Russian invasion of Ukraine occurred. I was among sailors directly affected by the conflict – a brutal war being waged against people, who just want to live like we do. Their struggles profoundly impacted me and significantly influenced the narrative of this film.

In Fire Drill, we see the ship through the eyes of a young Ukrainian man on his first voyage, determined to persevere and shape his life despite the war’s devastating impacts back home.

MAIN CAST

CADET
Arthur Aliiev

ABLE SEAMAN
John Ramon Bayoneta Duropan

ABLE SEAMAN
Robert Gil Loresto Gemora

ABLE SEAMAN
Edmark Dela Pena Estuya

BOSUN
Nelson Gonzaga Nayre

COOK
John Ezekiel Horneja Tan

MASTER
Artem Rybkin

CHIEF OFFICER
Sergei Savchenko

2ND OFFICER
Britan Viacheslav

CHIEF ENGINEER
Sergiy Kuznetsov

2ND ENGINEER
Petro Danchuk

ORDINARY SEAMAN
Robinson Matias Montes

OILER
Ernesto Dimaano Ramirez

AND FEATURING
Halyna Dzhun

CREW

DIRECTOR & SCREENWRITER
Maximilian Villwock

PRODUCER
Cléo Laetitia Campe

CINEMATOGRAPHER
Marco Müller

GAFFER & 1ST AC
Marek Lück

EDITOR
Anna-Lena Engelhardt

COMPOSER
Lukas Meinardus
Oscar Valentin Zöllner
Richard Meyer

SOUND DESIGN SUPERVISOR
Oscar Valentin Zöllner

SOUND DESIGNER
Eva Perhacova

SOUND MIXING
Till Aldinger

SOUND RECORDIST
Simon Ferber

FOLEY ARTIST
Joh Weisgerber

FOLEY ENGINEER
Anna Von Hammerstein

FOLEY PRODUCTION
Schaltgeraete Studios Gmbh

COLORIST
Jonny Thorpe

PRODUCERS GLASSWORKS
Bella Baillie
Andrew Patrick

POST PRODUCTION STUDIO
Glassworks Vfx

GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Johnny Lee

CULTURAL ADVISOR & TRANSLATOR
Kristina Karabelesch

TRANSLATOR
Valeria Lukianets
Tara Illenberger

DRIVER
Borislav Salatino
Houssam Ibrahim

A PASSAGE

360° Experience, 15′, 2022

The film was shot in 360 degrees and can also be viewed in VR in its original version. This 2D file is for preview purposes only.

‘Thetis’; A Cypriot flagged German owned container ship, sails the oceans carrying seafarers from Ukraine, Poland and the Philippines. This is where “A Passage” takes place, a digitally recorded 360 / VR installation telling the story of a life at sea in a physical, tangible way. The immersive experience incorporates the wind of the ocean and the vibrations of the ship‘s engine.

CREDITS

WITH
Edsel Bangga
Oleksandr Kandyba
John Ladaga
Danny Muyong

NARRATED by __ Bob Bavnani

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED by __ Maximilian Villwock

COPRODUCER __ Invr.space GmbH
DOP __ Cedric Retzmann
PRODUCER __ Cléo Campe
⁣⁣EDITING __ Martin Herold ⁣⁣
⁣⁣COLOR GRADING __ Juan Galva
ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK __ Syndrone Music
SOUND DESIGN __ Simon Ferber

CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIST __ Phil Clausen 

FUNDED by __ Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg

DATING IS IN CHINA

Modeselektor feat. Catnapp “Dating is in China” – official music video, 3′, 2021

DIRECTORS NOTE

„Dating is in China“ aims to create a futuristic utopian mood through distant and
magical visuals.
Our main protagonists are a team of Acrobatic Gymnasts wearing beautifully
sequinned and sparkling uniforms who perform on a rooftop illuminating a distant
world.

Acrobatic Gymnastics is regarded as a highly competitive sport which combines
the movements of gymnastics and dance. The team is comprised of men and a
boy who carry out particularly daring throws and jumps. Their movements seem
light and detached from reality. At the same time their faces reflect a focus and
effort necessary to perform such acts.

I was very curious about the aesthetic fractures. Men elegantly moving, showing a
very different image of masculinity, broken with shots of iconographic soldierlike
poses on the building top. These poses are borrowed from socialist propaganda
and soviet photography.

The center of each acrobatics team is the lightest and most likely the youngest. In
our video, the boy is our hero performing and singing along to Catnapps beautiful
lyrics.

CREDITS

ACROBATIC GYMNASTS
Yuriy Savka
Stanislav Kukurudz
Yurii Push
Taras Yarush

DIRECTOR __ Maximilian Villwock
DOP __ Moritz Matlik
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER __ Leonel Dietsche, Ruben Meier
PRODUCER __ Oleksii Zolotariov
EDITOR __ Emma Backman
ADDITIONAL EDITING __ Vigdís Erla / S EC Studio
COLOR GRADING __ Jonny Thorpe / Glassworks London
POST PRODUCTION COORDINATOR __ Gwen Teichmann 
CREDITS DESIGN __ Annegret von Feiertag
COMMISSIONED by __ Matthias Klein C/O Magick 
GOODHOUSE FILMS PRODUCTION

Modeselektor “Dating is in China“ is based on the track „Disc“ from the „Extended“-mixtape

Special thanks to S EC Studio & Glassworks VFX London

PENTHESILEA

shortfilm, 30′, 2019

LOGLINE 

In the concrete setting of a big city, transgender woman Penthesilea begins a passionate love affair with Latif. When suspicions of betrayal arise, their relationship spirals into a complex web of love and deception.

ABOUT

In the drama Penthesilea, Heinrich von Kleist revisits the ancient myth of the Amazons, telling the tragic love story between Penthesilea and Achilles. The story of a couple whose love defies social norms is brought into the modern world in the short film Penthesilea. In collaboration with 3sat, Maximilian Villwock adapts the classic story into a dark and brutal tale.

CREDITS

⁣PENTHESILEA __ Charlotte L. Velilla Núñez
LATIF __ Souleymane Sylla

DIRECTED by __ Maximilian Villwock
SCREENPLAY __ Maximilian Villwock & ⁣⁣Isabella Oliveira Kröger
DOP __ Cedric Retzmann
PRODUCER __ Fridolin Lehmann
⁣⁣COLOR GRADING __ Juan Galva
⁣⁣EDITING __ Martin Herold ⁣⁣
ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK __ Syndrone Music

PANDA III

shortfilm, 15′, 2016

CREDITS

DJIBRIL __ Souleymane Sylla
ISAK __ Steven Sowah

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED by __ Maximilian Villwock
DOP __ Cedric Retzmann
PRODUCER __ Karla Stöhr
⁣⁣EDITING __ Martin Herold ⁣⁣
⁣⁣COLOR GRADING __ Juan Galva
ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK __ Syndrone Music & Midori