Happy 30th Birthday, Jella Haase!

27 October

This past January, Harper’s Bazaar called Jella Haase the "most exciting actress in Germany": she's certainly one of the most successful. Born in Berlin-Kreuzberg in 1992, she gained her initial stage experience as a child. In 2009, she appeared for the first time in a feature-length television production, Mama kommt ("Mama's Coming"), and made her cinema debut in the 2011 youth drama Lollipop Monster. That same year, she could also be seen in Kriegerin (Combat Girls) – David Wnendt's study of the neo-Nazi milieu – as young Svenja, who slowly descends into the radical right-wing scene. Jella Haase was presented with the Bavarian Film Award as best up-and-coming young actress in 2011 for these two roles. Her big breakthrough came in 2014 with the huge hit Fack ju Göhte (Suck Me Shakespeer), when her character Chantal conquered the audience's hearts – and the reproach "Chantal! Cry quietly!" by teacher Zeki Müller (alias Elyas M’Barek) became a well-known expression. She also played Chantal in the sequels Fack ju Göhte 2 (2015) and Fack ju Göhte 3 (2017). Between these blockbusters, she appeared in serious roles in films including prizewinning feature Vier Könige (4 Kings), as one of four teenagers who must spend Christmas in a psychiatric clinic. At the 2016 Berlinale, Jella Haase was honoured as a German Shooting Star, an award presented by international network European Film Promotion (EFP) to the most promising up-and-coming actors from the 37 EFP member states. More commercially successful cinema films followed, including the comedies Vielmachglas (A Jar Full of Life, 2018), Die Goldfische (The Goldfish, 2019) and Das perfekte Geheimnis ("The Perfect Secret," 2019); she also played the title role in the thriller Kidnapping Stella (2018). Jella Haase could be seen in two films at the 2020 Berlinale: Burhan Qurbani's contemporary remake of Berlin Alexanderplatz and Leonie Krippendorff's coming-of-age drama Kokon (Cocoon). The following year, she appeared in Swiss director Oliver Rihs' drama Bis wir tot sind oder frei (Caged Birds) as a rebellious left-wing radical, and in 2021, she played the lover of the title character in Lieber Thomas (Dear Thomas), a portrait of author-activist Thomas Brasch. Jella Haase is currently filming the Netflix series Kleo, in which she plays a GDR spy during the time of German reunification.

4 Kings (2015), D: Theresa von Eltz

Four teenagers have to spend the Christmas holidays in a psychiatric clinic due to escalating conflicts with their families. Under the care of an unconventional psychiatrist, they begin to confront themselves and to cautiously approach one another, which allows them to slowly gain new perspectives.

Theresa von Eltz‘s directorial debut is a quiet film, minimalistic and intense.  It lives largely from the magnificent performances of its young team of actors – and despite its lack of a happy ending, it manages to convey a glimmer of hope. 

Image © Sandra Müller, C-Films