“How to tell Gunshots from Fireworks” By Philipp Groth
This intimate portrait tells the story of German runner Melat Kejeta through exclusive footage of her preparations for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. A restless woman of Ethiopian descent who has become a world-class athlete, Melat must defy adversity at a training camp in Kenya, just a stone's throw from the country she was forced to flee nine years ago.
“"How to Tell Gunshots from Fireworks" tells the story of German runner Melat Kejeta through exclusive footage of
her preparations for the 2021 Olympics in this experimental portrait documentary about a restless woman of
Ethiopian descent who has become a world-class athlete. To achieve her goal of a place on the podium in the most
important race of her life, Melat must defy both physical and mental adversity at a training camp in Kenya, just a
stone's throw from the country she was forced to flee nine years ago.
We first became aware of Melat in 2016 when we saw her success run at the German Championships. Since Tsellot
herself has Ethiopian roots, the runner immediately caught our eye and we followed Melat's path with interest.
When we learned that she was to be stripped of her title due to a new rule of the German Athletics Association, we
began to question the often hypocritical treatment of refugees in our home country.
Among those affected are women, who often face not only political problems but also gender discrimination. Melat
is one of them, and so we contacted her to learn more about her experiences. From the conversations, which lasted
over a year, a friendship developed between the protagonist and the team, and the idea was born to make a short
documentary that would shed light on her incredible success story in a very personal way, while at the same time
talking about the underlying problems and meeting the aesthetic and dramaturgical requirements of modern
cinema.
To achieve this in the most unrestricted, authentic and uncompromising way possible, we decided to start the
production independently and without external funding. In the end, however, we made it to the training camp in the
Ngong Hills (Kenya) with minimal equipment - an ARRI Alexa Mini, a few old lenses and an Easy Rig (because we
knew the ongoing sessions would demand a lot from DOP Anton Beliaev) - and were once again blown away by
something that at first glance looks like a fairy tale crumbling in a second when you look closer. Underneath then
becomes visible something ugly, far from the glitter that can inspire a cultural debate, especially in Germany.
I think the film visually encapsulates a range of cultural, literary, and cinematic references—all connected to concepts and
ideas about desire, dreams, power, and pain. Overall, the vision was to create a microcosm of memory, something that
soaks you in quite fast. The tonality, sound design, and choice of having no direct dialogue, only voice over, is built on that
premise. I also imagined the film to feel like a glimpse into something that is usually hidden – so we shot a lot in the darkness.
Through Melat’s journey HTTGFF shows the constant question of belonging and identity diasporas are facing in western society today.
Nine years after Melat's escape, and 80 years after the Berlin Olympics under the Nazi regime, Germany's hope for
the Olympics is that woman, Kejeta, who has grown into a proud representative of a new diverse, multicultural
generation of German athletes.”
-Phillipp Groth
FROM THE DIRECTOR
“The production of this film started from a curiosity of learning more about how Lowriding in Dallas, Texas got started.
Once I was connected with Mark Mata (leader of the Dallas Lowriders car club), he told me about how his family had been lowriding since the early 1970s and he graciously shared one the biggest moments of his life - where he was incarcerated for over ten years. That was a decade of being away from his kids, his wife and lowriding.
This is where the true heart of the film spawned. It became the driving force for a story about redemption, a father rekindling his relationship with his youngest daughter and his greater family; through a shared love and legacy of lowriding.”
—German Torres
Credits
Based on the true story of Melat Kejeta
Directed by Philipp Groth
Co-Directed by Tsellot Melesse
Producer // Philipp Groth, Tsellot Melesse
Director of photography // Anton Beliaev
Editor // Philipp Groth
Composer // Mosche, Gabe Postle
Main cast // Melat Kejeta
Cast // ALBERT, TIMY, VENICA
Colorist // Dima Litvinov
Agency // Jojo Agency
Score/ Music // Mosche
Final sound mix // Gabe Postle
Archive Footage // RTVA, BBC
Additional Material // Veronica Lyn, Florian Reichelt, Martin Sadoux, Angelique Perdikes
Title design // ABC Dinamo
Special thanks // UAL, ARRI, Jojo Agency, 27 Kilometer, Mira Um, Jeremy Williams, Zadoc Nava, Melika Bass
This story is based on actual events. In certain cases incidents, characters and timelines have been changed for
dramatic purposes. Certain characters may be composites or entirely fictitious.
Bio Director:
Philipp Groth is an artist and filmmaker born at the Franco-German boarder. His films often address the conditions under which larger economic, cultural, and sexual relationships have tangible effects on the fortunes of individuals.
He received his M.A. from the University of the Arts London where he was trained in the traditional craft of narrative and documentary film and has since expanded his interdisciplinary practice, with focus on moving image and installation at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His works have been shown at insitutions such as the Tribeca Film Center New York, Koenig Gallery Tokyo, Tate Modern London and the Goethe Institute. Collaborators include the David Lynch Foundation, Louis Vuittons Artistic Director Virgil Abloh and Flash Art Magazine among others. He currently resides in Chicago and Berlin, where he took on a lecturer position at SRH Berlin University of Applied Sciences.
Bio Co-Director:
Tsellot Melesse began her career in casting and film production before working her way up to directing. Drawing on her own experiences as a child of Ethiopian migrants growing up in Germany, she is passionate about researching the stories of overlooked groups in our society and telling them on screen. Melesse also works as a moderator discussing cultural and contemporary issues online, and recently founded an ethnic delivery service with her family, available in her hometown of Berlin.
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