After having taken a long time off work, Lena returns for her first shift in the Jazz Blues Bar: deliveries arrive and musicians, friends and acquaintances stop by, as do the more illustrious regulars. And in the evening, the Danish musician Lief (a.k.a. Poorboy) is going to be playing. A declaration of love to the microcosm that is the 'pub', with its stories and figures filmed from the neighbouring table.

A pub is a special place. After treating herself to some time off work, Lene is once again behind the counter of the Jazz Blues Bar. For this special evening, she has booked the Danish musician Leif (a.k.a. Poorboy), whom she met while on holiday. During the day, suppliers make deliveries and musicians drop in to rehearse; soon the place is populated by friends and acquaintances as well as selected regulars, among them the drummer Bela B. Felsenheimer of the music group Die Ärzte, Tilo Prückner, Jule Böwe, and the forensic biologist and edutainer Dr. Mark Benecke. The absurd bar stories and conversations span from elven pop to invisible mobile phones to maggots eating through corpses – and we are more or less allowed to listen in from the neighbouring table. This declaration of love to smoky cellar bars, wherever they might be, and the stories and people they house, plays out between 11 in the morning and one at night. A pub like this is a "living room" for some people, for others it is a stage on which to make appearances – it is a world all of its own, disconnected from the one outside, a microcosm and universe in one. Thus, it is only logical that this often wonderfully improvised film never leaves its dimly lit filming location, for then the magic would be lost.

Reviews and commentary:
"The stories and lives of the pub's guests and staff, however different, cross paths here thanks to Lene and the music. And each of these minor incidents is a piece of Lene's story: the story of this family that makes this dark, smoky cellar bar the most beautiful place in the world.

But not everything in Lene's life is sweetness and cream. There are decisions and conflicts that she keeps putting off. What road lies ahead of her? And what if the concert cannot even happen, if a small fly in the ointment gets in the way of all her plans?

(…) Everyone here has something to do with the other, even if one is here for the first time and sitting alone in the corner. People show up, meet, interact with each other (or don't), rotate and change, determine or touch the stories of the other. Leif in Concert is a portrait of a music bar and the people therein, and their world issues, desires and longings. And above all, it is the story of a young barwoman who's trying to find her place in life." (Martina Uckermann, Kölner News Journal, 17.6.2019)

"(...) It is Maundy Thursday, and the planned concert looks as if it has to be cancelled due to the day's ban on dancing. Barkeeper Lene has to decide whether she wants to ignore the ban, and with that also set a new course in life. In Leif in Concert, an ode to the local pub, Luise Heyer plays Lene with warmth and energy, and depicts her character's inscrutable moods with all her talent. It is a pleasure to watch how she holds together the place — uh, film — that Christian Klandt has filled to the seams with dialogue and narrative. And in which even Godehard Giese stops by, in the role of a wine merchant, and lets all his dangerous charm hang out." (Alexandra Seitz, Berliner Zeitung, 5.7.2019)

"A pub as a microcosm for an entire society is nothing new in movies. A pub as a microcosm for a casually recounted multicultural society on the far side of demagogic, contrived dystopia is a shot in the arm. By means of unusual financing and an equally unusual cast, producer Martin Lischke has given his director, Christian Klandt, the opportunity to stage – quickly, convincingly and extremely entertainingly – this affectionate and ardent genuflection to the greatness of human individuality and the minor arts. The entire crew seems to have found their place here: the camerawork is conspicuously unobtrusive, the editing is excellent, the music not only important but also delightfully good. Amidst conditions that certainly were not easy, Martin Lischke managed to create the framework for a dyed-in-the-wool ensemble film – in front of, and behind, the camera." (Förderpreis Neues Deutsches Kino, filmportal.de, 8.7.2019)


Frederik Lang

Production Country

Germany (DE)

Production Period

2017-2019

Production Year

2019

color

color

Duration

Feature-Length Film (61+ Min.)

Type

Feature Film

Genre

Musical, Drama, Comedy

Topic

Relationship / Family, Work, Friendship

Scope of Rights

Nichtexklusive nichtkommerzielle öffentliche Aufführung (nonexclusive, noncommercial public screening),Keine TV-Rechte (no TV rights)

Licence Period

26.11.2026

Permanently Restricted Areas

Germany (DE), Austria (AT), Switzerland (CH)

Available Media

DCP, Blu-ray Disc, DVD

Original Version

German (de)

DCP

Subtitles

English (en), Spanish (es), French (fr), Italian (it), Portuguese (Brazil) (pt), Russian (ru), Chinese (zh), Arabic (ar), German (full), Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), Romanian (ro), Czech (cs)

Blu-ray Disc

Subtitles

English (en), Spanish (es), French (fr), Italian (it), Portuguese (Brazil) (pt), Russian (ru), Chinese (zh), Arabic (ar), German (full), Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), Romanian (ro), Czech (cs)

DVD

Subtitles

English (en), Spanish (es), French (fr), Italian (it), Portuguese (Brazil) (pt), Russian (ru), Chinese (zh), Arabic (ar), German (full), Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), Romanian (ro), Czech (cs)

• Leif in Concert
• Christian Klandt