FEMALE FIGHT CLUB BERLIN

Documentary about Anna Konda & the Female Fight Club Berlin

The visual concept was to show the dynamic of fighting and celebrate the bodies of the fighters. At the same time we wanted to show the friendship between Anna Konda and her trainings partner Red Devil (especially during a fight) and of course the philosophy of the Female Fight Club. Roughness vs. elegance. I decided to shoot on ARRI Amira with a Ultraprime 14mm lens. The ARRI Amira is the perfect camera for moments when you have to do everything by yourself. The decision for a 14mm lens was pretty clear for me from the very beginning. The director Till Gerstenberg and me wanted to shoot for a wide screen in 1:2.39 and the bodies of the athletes, especially of Annaconda, are not the usually size. For movements during fighting scenes the wide angle creates a fantastic dynamic. But my biggest concern was how to get close ups. In a documentary first rule is not to distract the protagonists. I talked to Anna Konda and told her that the camera might come very close in certain moments. When there was such a moment, she was not reacting to the camera at all, even if the camera was only 20 centimetres away. To make the image a bit softer I used an 1/2 Black Pro Mist filter the whole time.

The first meeting with Anna Konda took place in her training facility in Marzahn, Berlin. It is located in an industrial building complex from the early 80s. I immediately fell in love with that place. Low ceilings, the old nicotine covered yellowish color from the wall goes well with the wine red of the floor. I just had to add a little bit of green to the neon tubes, switch out a couple of them here and there and that's it. The patina of the building is incredible. Anna Konda was wearing a yellow neon shirt that fitted perfectly in that space. When I saw these fluorescent tubes I decided to bring more neons to all the other locations.

At another location, where Anna Konda and Red Devil should have a fight, I wanted to rig a bunch of neon tubes at the ceiling. We wanted to shoot at night, when there was no light coming though the huge windows. But spontaneous we had to shoot it in the early morning. That could be a critical situation I thought- but that was the biggest surprise. Fortunately it was the perfect timing and the perfect weather. The sun was shining that day and the beams were coming through the very wide diffused windows. I added a bit of atmosphere and the light was just brilliant!

Thx to Till Gerstenberger (director), Malte Siepen (Gaffer), Lydia Richter (rigging)