Skip to main content
Measures of Men film image

Measures of Men

Der vermessene Mensch

This event has passed

International Premiere

Lars Kraume reaches into Germany’s past in this compelling historical drama. Long before Naziism, racist pseudoscience held sway in the nation: Kraume uses the fictional story of Alexander Hoffmann (Leonard Scheicher) to shine a light on German bigotry against Africans, and the way it served to legitimize mass slaughter. The film begins in Berlin, near the turn of the century; Hoffmann is an idealistic young ethnologist who questions the racism of his discipline. When members of the Herero and Nama peoples are brought to his city for study, Hoffmann bonds with Kezia (Girley Charlene Jazama), a proud woman whose intelligence puts the lie to the racist orthodoxies of the time. Soon, Hoffmann will have his courage tested when he travels to Africa and is witness to what has been called the 20th century’s first genocide: the German violence against the Herero and Nama. Throughout the film, Kraume’s focus remains unwavering, and his portrayal of racial oppression is piercing and all too convincing.

 

Special Screening, Berlin 2023

Director
Cast

Leonard Scheicher, Girley Charlene Jazama, Peter Simonischek, Corinna Kirchhoff, Anton Paulus

Credits
Country of Origin

Germany

Year

2022

Series

Panorama

Language

In German and Otjiherero with English subtitles

Film Contact
Content Warning

Depictions of Racism

18+
116 min
Drama Human Rights & Social Justice

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits

Executive Producer

Thomas Kufus

Producer

Thomas Kufus

Screenwriter

Lars Kraume

Cinematography

Jens Harant

Editor

Peter R. Adam

Production Design

Sebastian Soukup

Original Music

Christoph M. Kaiser, Julian Maas

Director

Lars Kraume headshot

Lars Kraume

Lars Kraume graduated from the DFFB film school in 1997 and went on to work as a director, producer and screenwriter on more than 30 feature films and television productions. Lars had his international breakthrough with The People Vs. Fritz Bauer (2015), which received seven German Film Awards. His television series Bauhaus – A New Era (2019) had its world premiere at the Cannes International Series Festival. He returned to feature film directing with The Silent Revolution (2018), which premiered as a Berlinale Special Gala and achieved success beyond Germany.

Filmography: The People Vs. Fritz Bauer (2015); The Silent Revolution (2018)

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Super Happy Forever

Dir. Kohei Igarashi
94 min

This beguiling film depicts a man’s return to the Japanese seaside town where he met his now-deceased wife five years earlier. He tries to relive the past, and in the film's final section -- a flashback to 2018 -- the audience is afforded that privilege.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Inedia

Dir. Liz Cairns
107 min

Liz Cairns makes a mesmerizing feature debut that sees a young woman suffering from mysterious food allergies join a remote island community practicing alternative healing methods. She soon realizes that not everything is as it seems.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
Drop Dead City
Drop Dead City film image; someone holding a newspaper up in front of a brick wall

Drop Dead City

Dir. Michael Rohatyn & Peter Yost
108 min

New York, 1975. The city is minutes away from bankruptcy and President Gerald Ford wants no part of it. Sanitation workers are on strike and cops are telling tourists it's not safe to visit. The town is going up in flames and they can't pay the firemen.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Hustler

Dir. Robert Rossen
135 min

Prime Paul Newman as Fast Eddie Felson, a hungry pool shark who knows he's the sharpest guy in the room. Jackie Gleason and George C Scott have other ideas.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Boxcutter

Dir. Reza Dahya
88 min

The first feature from former Toronto Flow OTA Live host and producer Reza Dahya is a boisterous, sometimes bruising day-in-the-life of wannabe rapper Rome (Ashton James), set on meeting megastar Richie Hill (Rich Kidd).

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Hud

Dir. Martin Ritt
112 min

Landmark modern western with Brandon de Wilde from Shane worshipping the wrong hero, Paul Newman’s eponymous heel. According to Paul Schrader, this movie marks the birth of the cynical (anti-)hero in American cinema.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre