FYNN KLIEMANN – ICH HOFFE, IHR VERMISST MICH

CRUNCH – TRAILER

YOUTUBE CHANGED MY LIFE – TRAILER

PUMPING BEAUTY – TRAILER

ZDF x DIE SPUR – TeaseR

BETTER THAN HUMAN - TEASER

GERMANIA – TRAILER

UNTER MÄNNERN – RESEARCH

Bangkok Noir – Stay Eager

MFM – CAMPAIGN TRAILER

FYNN KLIEMANN - ICH HOFFE, IHR VERMISST MICH

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Fynn Kliemann… was has happened? For our film, we followed Fynn K. with the camera for almost a year. In his attempt to redefine himself. To finally be allowed to make a comeback. The „mask scandal“ sticks, that’s clear. Because someone who is incredibly successful as a „sense influencer“ cannot afford such missteps. But what remains after one of the biggest shitstorms the German media landscape has ever seen?

***Documentary, 61min, GER/FRA 2025, 4K***

Director: Mariska Lief
DOP & Visual Concept: Benjamin Kahlmeyer
Sound Recordist: Oliver Winkler
Editor: Iris Litzenberg
Screen Design: Johannes Helm
Producer: David Gern & Simon Broll

a production of HESSISCHER RUNDFUNK for ARD

CRUNCH - ALBTRAUM GAMING INDUSTRY

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Billions of people play video games – but behind the scenes, working conditions are extreme: systematic exploitation, mass burnout, and sexual assault are part of everyday life. The documentary Crunch reveals the dark side of the gaming industry and tells the story of people who gave everything for their dream job – and were burnt by it.

***Documentary, 77min, GER/FRA/CA 2024, 4K***

Director: Mariska Lief
DoP: Benjamin Kahlmeyer
Script: Mariska Lief, Khesrau Behroz, Patrick Stegemann
Editor: Leonardo Franke
Sound: Oli Winkler
Additional DoP: Luise Schröder
Gaffer: Malte Siepen
Producers: Chiara Noack, Jonatan Geller-Hartung, Marlen Klaws
Redaktion SWR: Olga Galicka, Anna Jäger, Laura Krzikalla
Music: Benjamin Drees
Sounddesign & Mix: Jannik Werner
Research: Franz Paul Helm, Benedict Dietsch
Executive Producer: Khesrau Behroz & Patrick Stegemann

a production of SWR for ARD

YOUTUBE CHANGED MY LIFE

CINEMATOGRAPHY

From video platform to hyped youth culture: 20 years after the first YouTube video was uploaded, the stars of the early days take us back to a time when the rules of the media world were being rewritten. Content creators such as Y-Titty, Ischtar Isik, Coldmirror, Die Außenseiter, Liont, and Dagi Bee rose to fame from their bedrooms and shaped an entire generation with their DIY videos. Years after their initial success, they talk about growing up in the public eye — between fan frenzy, burnout, self-fulfillment and identity crises.

***Documentary series, 93min, GER 2025, 4K***

Directors: Franka Schönwald & Johannes Middelbeck
DoP: Benjamin Kahlmeyer
Set Design: Charlotte Luneau
Art Direction & Animation: Nicolas de Leval Jezierski
Sound: Oli Winkler, Tristan Monscheuer, Marina Funck, Niklas Olscha
Gaffer: Malte Siepen
Executive Producers: Johannes Middelbeck & Hannes Jakobsen

A co-production of DRIVE beta with NDR for ARD Mediathek

PUMPING BEAUTY

A unique journey into the heart of female bodybuilding. From southern Germany all the way to the biggest stages in Las Vegas, Nevada.

GER/USA/PT/ESP 2023

***Documentary Series, 4x 20min.***

Director: Vera Weber
Co-Director: Benjamin Kahlmeyer
Cinematography: Benjamin Kahlmeyer
Editor: Robin Fischer, BFS
Sound Recordist: Niklas Olscha
Writer: Vera Weber
Producer: Florian Fimpel
Televison Editors (MDR): Hannes Beßler & Roman Twork

A co-production of DRIVE beta with MDR for ARD Mediathek

DIE SPUR - TEASER

CINEMATOGRAPHY

The team sets off on a search for clues in Silicon Valley to understand who the people behind ChatGPT & Co. are. In the process, they come across a parallel world of millionaires who want to change the world with artificial intelligence. Can they be trusted?

Documentary Series, 29min, GER/USA 2023, 4K

Moderation: Greta Buschhaus
DOP: Benjamin Kahlmeyer
Sound Recordist: Niklas Olscha
Film Editor: Philipp Müller

A Production of Florida Factual for ZDF 2023

BETTER THAN HUMAN - TEASER

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Chat GPT has been launched with a bang in 2022 – and humanity is faced with it’s massive impact ever since. Have your master thesis written? Replace actors in a movie? Program a website? No problem anymore. But can AI also replace our emotional caregivers and human interaction? This is the central question addressed by the documentary „Better than Human?“ by MDR and WDR.

***Documentary, 45min, GER 2023, 4K***

Writer: Franka Schönwandt
DOP & Visual Concept: Benjamin Kahlmeyer
Sound Recordist: Oliver Winkler
Editor: Michael M. Goder
2nd Unit Camera: Max v. Matthiessen
Moderation: Ciani-Sophia Hoeder
Producer: Florian Fimpel

a production of DRIVE beta, MDR & WDR for ARD

Germania – Teaser

The popular webseries GERMANIA presents a different narrative of Germany – through the eyes of people with so called ‚immigration background.‘ Hear artists, creatives and everyday people talk about their sense of identity, german quirks and stereotypes.

Awards & Nominations:
GERMANIA won the GRIMME PREIS 2018
GERMANIA won GOLDENE KAMERA 2018
GERMANIA has been nominated for the GRIMME ONLINE AWARD 2017

Conception: Bastian Asdonk
Director: Benjamin Kahlmeyer
DoP: Benjamin Kahlmeyer, Susanne Erler
Editor: Benjamin Kahlmeyer, Oliver Winkler, Suraj Chandran
Producers: Sara Mohaupt, Nadja Brandt
Client: funk
Production Company: Hyperbole Media

UNTER MÄNNERN – RESEARCH

CINEMATOGRAPHY

UNTER MÄNNERN examines the phenomenon of wounded masculinity where it is more visible than almost anywhere else: in a „men’s camp“ in the middle of a German forest. With unexpected intimacy and urgency, the film shows that the crisis of masculinity concerns us all.

A film project in development by Benjamin Kahlmeyer & Vera Weber

Produced by DRIVE beta

Directors: Benjamin Kahlmeyer & Vera Weber
DoP: Benjamin Kahlmeyer

Bangkok Noir – Stay Eager

While traveling South East Asia in 2016, GETAWAY magazine asked me to do a hands-on review of the new Sony Alpha A7s II – focusing on it’s performance in low light situations. Inspired by the rich impressions of Bangkok night life, I decided to come up with a short essay on photography, interweaving passages of Susan Sontag’s famous quote: Stay eager!

Director, Editor & DoP: Benjamin Kahlmeyer
Composer: John Gürtler
Voice: Terry Burns

Help for Help – Campaign Trailer

Everyone can help – with compassionate advice & useful tips all across continents. The NGO MENSCHEN FÜR MENSCHEN uses this basic principle for an unique fundraising campaign, conceived and implemented by BBDO Berlin. Together with LOVESTONE FILM and director Benjamin Kahlmeyer, MFM has realized 30 „Helptorials“: authentic short films by people from rural Ethiopia who give us their advice via social media. Just really relevant stuff: From cooking to running to relationship tips, everything is there. Check out the helptorials and support their projects with a few euros in return:

menschenfuermenschen.de/helptorials-unsere-videos/

Awards & Nominations:
Shortlisted at Cannes Lions (Sustainable Development)
Silver at Die Klappe
Bronze at ADC Germany
Silver and bronze at Lovie Awards
Bronze at Eurobest
Wood pencil at D&AD

Director, DoP & Editing: Benjamin Kahlmeyer
Sound Mixer: Niklas Olscha
Composer: John Gürtler / Paradox Paradise
Client: Menschen für Menschen
Agency: BBDO Berlin
Production Company: Lovestone Film