About movie

Losera and Winners – Work is yust a part of life

Original title Losera and Winners – Arbeit gehört zum Leben

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For one and a half years, filmmakers Ulrike Franke and Michael Loeken watch as a gigantic industrial site is dismantled, documenting the stories accompa nying its disappearance: how the coke workes in the industrial Ruhr Region experience the arrival and working methods of the Chinese, their feelings upon seeing their pride in their work vanish along what was the most modern coke factory in the world, but also the strain and conflicts the Chinese work
ers are subjected to during their 60-hours work week far away from home and family, caught between euphoria and doubts about their future.
The worlds collide. But who is ultimately the winner and who the loser when jobs and the “economic miracle” that made them possible leave the country of their origin and a whole region of Germany experiences first-hand the impact of the phenomenon of globalization, while in the Middle Empire new visions come and go with each passing day?

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Author/s Ulrike Franke and Michael Loeken

Ulrike Franke, born 1970 in Dortmund. Studied theatre, film and television, romance literature and art history in Cologne. Received educational grant from the Filmstiftung NRW in 1992 in the field of film directing. Continuous work on various television and feature films. Has worked since 1996 as author, director and producer. Lecturer on documentary film at the isf – International Film School Cologne, member of AG DOK and from 2001 to 2005 on the board of the Filmbüro NW.
Michael Loeken, born 1954 in Neviges. Studied theatre, film and television in Cologne. Wrote screenplay and directed documentary “Ich hatte schon begonnen, die Freiheit zu vergessen” in 1981. From 1982 to 1996 worked as sound mixer on several documentaries and fiction films for TV and cinema. Has worked since 1996 as author, director and producer. Member of AG DOK and the award committee for film funding of the Filmbüro NW (2002) as well as in the Production II award committee for the Filmstiftung NW (2003).

Photography Michael Loeken, Rüdiger Spott
Sound Ulrike Franke, Csaba Kulcsar
Editing Guido Krajewski