Aljoscha Pause

Aljoscha Pause is a German filmmaker, director, TV journalist, writer and producer. He is a member of the Deutsche Filmakademie and the German Academy for Football Culture.

Aljoscha Pause
Born	(1972-01-24) 24 January 1972 (age 51) Bonn, Germany
Occupation(s)	filmmaker, film director, TV journalist, writer, producer
Website	www.pausefilm.de

Childhood, education and early career

Aljoscha Pause grew up in Bonn. After completing high school he studied Romance philology at Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University in Bonn. He received training as a narrator at Deutsche Welle between 1998 and 2002. Pause, his wife and two daughters live in Bonn. During his school and college years, a worked at the cabaret theater "Pantheon" of his father Rainer Pause, while also working as a reporter for a local city magazine and a private radio broadcaster (Radio Bonn/Rhein-Sieg). At the age of 24 he began a career in television, initially from 1996 to 1999 as a sports reporter at German Sports Television (now called Sport1) and later from 1999 to 2003 at the main sports desk of Kirch Media Group, Sat.1 (with the flagship program "Ran") and Premiere, where he worked as a filmmaker, presenter, commentator and field reporter. From 2009 to 2011 Aljoscha Pause also served as a reporter for the Bundesliga broadcaster of Deutsche Telekom, "LIGA total!"

Cinematic works

Pause has worked as a self-employed producer and filmmaker since 2003, focusing on longer documentary films. His film projects often deal with socio-political aspects of sports (e.g. homophobia in football, hooligans, alcohol consumption and football, the German Football League for the Blind). An additional topic of emphasis is personal portraits, mostly about football players but also about actor Michael Jäger (an ex-hooligan who for ten years played a role on the early-evening soap opera "Marienhof"^[1]). His first full-length cinematic releases were two well-received, long-term documentaries, "Tom meets Zizou" (2011) and "Trainer!" (2013). Pause has received numerous prizes and awards for his work, including the leading television award in Germany, the Grimme Prize (2010, for "Breaking the taboo").

Trilogy – Homophobia in Football (2008–2011)

Produced in 2008 for DSF, "The Great Taboo – Homosexuality and Football" was an "honest, dispassionate stock-taking" of the conditions facing homosexual soccer athletes in Germany. lt was the first extensive TV documentary to deal with the topic, and for this reason was honored by the Association of Lesbian and Gay Journalists (Bund Lesbischer und Schwuler Journalistlnnen, BLSJ) with the 2008 Felix Rexhausen Prize.^[2] (Statement by the panel of judges: "Outstandingly researched and with a broad scope, this is an immensely enlightening report [...] lt shows the entire spectrum – from the fans in the stadiums to lesbian ex-professionals such as Tanja Walther and Anouschka Bernhard and the transsexual referee Marie Karsten. Spectacular is the misguided statement by Cologne coach Christoph Daum, which made national headlines. The 45-minute documentary is as informative as it is sober, and subtly reveals how widespread anti-gay feeling is in the world of football – on every level."

In the second part of the trilogy "Breaking the Taboo – The New Progress of Homosexuality in Football" (2009), Pause devotes another 12 months to the topic and films ongoing developments. According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, "Pause has bequeathed a journalistic exclamation mark to the private broadcasting company DSF. He lives up to the expectations that the big publicly funded broadcasters have as yet failed to fulfill in even the most perfunctory way." One year after his first documentary, he investigates whether there were indeed any actual developments in the German Football Association and league following the "initial spark" and discussion in 2008. For this film, Pause received the 2010 "Alternative Media Prize"^[3] and the Grimme Prize in the category Information & Culture/Special.^[4]

Following the productions of "The Great Taboo – Homosexuality and Football" (2008) and "Breaking the Taboo – The New Progress of Homosexuality in Football" (2009), Pause returned in March 2011 with the third part of his trilogy on the subject of "Homosexuality in Football" with a documentary for Sport 1 called "Football ls Everything - Even Gay" in which he asks just how difficult it really is to make long-term attitude changes about a taboo topic. The filmmaker monitored developments over 18 months to prepare this documentary.^[5]

All three films were created in cooperation with the "German Academy for Football Culture".

Tom Meets Zizou (2011)

Aljoscha Pause spent eight years working on this long-term documentary about former professional Bundesliga athlete Thomas Broich. The film traces Broich's career in the Bundesliga, which began auspiciously but ended following numerous athletic and personal setbacks and disappointments with a transfer to Australian club Brisbane Roar in 2010.

The result of some 40 meetings and interviews over eight years, the 135-minute cinema documentary entitled "Tom meets Zizou – Not a Midsummer Night's Dream" debuted as the opening film of the 8th International Football Film Festival 11mm in Berlin on 25 March 2011.^[6] The state-run rating authority German Film and Media Evaluation (Deutsche Film- und Medienbewertung, formerly FiImbewertungssteIIe Wiesbaden rated the film as "especially worthwhile".^[7] lt was distributed nationwide by mindjazz pictures with an opening date of 28 July 2011. The project enjoyed the support of the DFB Cultural Foundation.

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in late 2011 and was screened at international festivals including the International Young Audience Film Festival ^[8] in Posen, the Thinking Football Film Festival ^[9] in Bilbao, The ClNEfoot Festival in Rio de Janeiro and the Flutlicht Film Festival in Basel (on 1 February 2014 in a double feature with "TRAINER!" on the topic of Failure). "Tom meets Zizou" has been translated into English, Polish, Spanish and Portuguese. German broadcaster WDR showed a 90-minute TV version on 21 August 2012, and the film was awarded the 2012 VDS Television Prize.^[10] ln addition, it was nominated by the 11mm Football Film Festival for the award "Best Football Film of All Time".^[11]

Mesut, 17 (2013)

The short film "Mesut, 17" was premiered at the 11mm Film Festival in Berlin in March, 2013. The nine-and-a-half-minute film about Mesut Özil, who was 17 at the time, was made from footage (some of it never before used) recorded for a broadcast report about a youth soccer tournament that Pause produced in early 2006. ln addition to Özil himself, who gave his first-ever TV interview, the film also features a statement by Joachim Löw, who at the time was assistant to Jürgen Klinsmann.

Originally intended solely for use at the 10th anniversary of the 11mm Football Film Festival, the film made such a good impression on Mesut Özil that he posted it to his Facebook page which now boasts more than 20 million fans. Due to the subsequent widespread reporting^[12][13][14] in the media and the more than one million hits it received on YouTube^[15] alone, the film became an Internet phenomenon that was reported on in the main evening news on RTL.

Trainer! (2013)

Released in early June 2013, "Trainer!" is Pause's second full-length documentary film, for which the filmmaker observed three young professional coaches (Frank Schmidt, André Schubert, Stephan Schmidt) over the course of a football season.

The film also takes a look behind the scenes at the football teachers' training program of the German Football Association (DFB) led by Frank Wormuth. Established coaches like Jürgen Klopp, Hans Meyer, Armin Veh, Mirko Slomka, Peter Neururer, Thomas Schaaf and Michael Oenning also provide extensive insights.

Altogether, Pause spent six months researching and one year filming and editing. The film is a Pausefilm production commissioned by WDR (editor WDR: Steffen Simon). The television premiere of the 90-minute cut was broadcast on WDR on 3 June 2013, and the theater premiere of the 138-minute "director's cut" premiered on 11 June at the Babylon cinema in Berlin-Mitte. The film then toured Germany with the support of the DFB Cultural Foundation and distributor mindjazz pictures, garnering enthusiastic praise from the press.^[16]

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 28, 2013. ln early 2014 Pause received the VDS Television Prize,^[17] having already-been nominated for the 2014 Adolf Grimme Prize.^[18] "Trainer!" will be featured at the 2014 Flutlicht Film Festival in Basel and at the Joga Bonito! Festival in Vienna.

Being Mario Götze (2018)

In early June 2018, Aljoscha Pause released the documentary series "Being Mario Götze - A German Football Story" for the streaming service DAZN. For the series, Pause accompanied the German professional footballer Mario Götze, the 2014 World Cup winner, over seven months as he attempted to return to his old level of performance and once again make it into the German 2018 World Cup squad. The documentary not only shows Götze's everyday sporting life and his fight for a World Cup ticket, but also provides insights into his private life.

For the series, Pause received an Award of Merit from the Deutsche Film- und Medienbewertung (German Film and Media Rating) (FBW) in 2018^[19] as well as a nomination for the AIPS - International Sport Media Award 2019 in the category "Video - Athlete Profile". In 2019, the series received the award for the best German-language sports film^[20] at the 1st VDS-SportFilmFest of the Verband Deutscher Sportjournalisten (Association of German Sports Journalists).

Inside Borussia Dortmund (2019)

Starting in December 2018, Pause worked on a documentary about German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund.^[21] On 9 August 2019, the four-part documentary series was released on Amazon Prime Video under the title "Inside Borussia Dortmund".^[22] In the series, Pause follows coaches, players and protagonists of German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund during the second half of the 2018/19 Bundesliga season, providing insights into club life and the team. In 2020, the series was nominated for Best TV Documentary of the Austrian Film and Television Award ROMY.^[23]

Like a Stranger – A German Pop Music Story (2020)

On 5 June 2020, Pause released the five-part documentary series "Wie ein Fremder - Eine deutsche Popmusik-Geschichte" (Like a Stranger - A German Pop Music Story) on Blu-ray and VOD.^[24] In this long-term study spanning over six years, he accompanies the musician Roland Meyer de Voltaire (known under the name SCHWARZ and as the singer of the former German band Voltaire).

Art is a State of Mind (2022)

In 2022, Pause released the six-part documentary series "Art is a State of Mind". In this long-term documentary, he follows the artist, curator and former business lawyer Bernhard Zünkeler over a period of nine years.

He accompanies him as he builds up the ESMoA art lab and various artist collectives such as Freeters, as well as establishing a global network between Los Angeles, Havana and Berlin with, among others, Cuban dissidents such as Fidel Garcia, the former gang member and graffiti artist Big Sleeps from South Central Los Angeles and the print artist Jim Reid. The German author Cornelia Funke also appears in the documentary.

The first broadcast of the complete docu-series was on 11 June 2022 on German television channel 3sat.

Second Move Kills – 5 Years with Jens Spahn (2022)

In 2022, the nine-part long-term documentary "Second Move Kills - 5 Jahre mit Jens Spahn" (Second Move Kills - 5 Years with Jens Spahn) was released.^[25] Pause follows the German politician, member of the Bundestag and former Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn from 2017 over a period of 5 years as State Secretary, when he was appointed Minister, through the Corona pandemic, behind the scenes, in crisis meetings, on trips abroad and in his private life.

In addition to Jens Spahn, politicians including Annalena Baerbock, Dietmar Bartsch, Gerhart Baum, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Kevin Kühnert, Armin Laschet, Karl Lauterbach, Christian Lindner, Friedrich Merz, Claudia Roth, Wolfgang Schäuble, Edmund Stoiber, journalists Bettina Gaus, Eva Quadbeck, Robin Alexander, Markus Feldenkirchen, Hajo Schumacher, science journalist and TV presenter Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim and comedians Max Giermann and Oliver Welke have their say.

The programme was broadcast on German television channel RTL+ starting 2 November 2022.

Film productions (excerpts)

• 2001: The Borussia Legend – The Way Home (about the rise of Borussia Mönchengladbach) (German title: Mythos Borussia – Der Weg nach Hause (über Borussia Mönchengladbach und deren Aufstieg)
• 2005: The Prince from Bergheim – The Podolski Phenomenon (German title: Der Prinz aus Bergheim – Das Phänomen Podolski)
• 2005: Udo Lattek's 70th Birthday – A Trip Back (German title: 70 Jahre Udo Lattek – Eine Zeitreise)
• 2008: Not Seeing, Hearing – Blind soccer players meet Bundesliga professionals (German title: Hören statt Sehen – Blindenfußballer treffen auf Bundesliga-Profis)
• 2008: The Michael Jäger Story – From a Hooligan to a TV Star (German title: Die Michael Jäger Story – Vom Hooligan zum Serienstar)
• 2008: The Great Taboo – Homosexuality and Football (German title: Das große Tabu – Homosexualität und Fußball)
• 2009: Breaking the Taboo – The New Progress of Homosexuality in Football (German title: Tabubruch – Der neue Weg von Homosexualität im Fußball)
• 2009: Athlete Drinkers – Alcohol in Football (German title: Der Promille-Profi – Alkohol im Fußball)
• 2011: Football is Everything – Even Gay (German title: Fußball ist alles – auch schwul)
• 2011: Tom meets Zizou – Not a Midsummer Night's Drea (German title: Tom meets Zizou – Kein Sommermärchen)
• 2013: Mesut, 17
• 2013: Trainer!
• 2018: Being Mario Götze
• 2018: Inside Borussia Dortmund
• 2020: Like a Stranger - A German Pop Music Story (German title: Wie ein Fremder – Eine deutsche Popmusik-Geschichte)
• 2022: Art is a State of Mind
• 2022: Second Move Kills – 5 years with Jens Spahn (German title: Second Move Kills – 5 Jahre mit Jens Spahn)

Awards

• 2008: Felix Rexhausen Prize for The great taboo
• 2010: Adolf Grimme Prize for Tabubruch – Breaking the taboo
• 2010: Alternative Media Prize for Tabubruch – Breaking the taboo
• 2011: Rated "especially worthwhile" for Tom meets Zizou
• 2012: VDS Television Prize for Tom meets Zizou
• 2013: Best Football Film of all time: Nomination for Tom meets Zizou
• 2013: VDS Television Prize for Trainer!
• 2014: Adolf Grimme Prize: Nomination for Trainer!
• 2018: Rated "worthwhile" for Being Mario Götze
• 2019: AIPS – International Sport Media Award: Nomination for Being Mario Götze
• 2019: Best German Sport Film (Being Mario Götze)^[26]
• 2020: ROMY – Nomination for Inside Borussia Dortmund

Other Engagements

• Member of the Deutsche Filmakademie.
• Member of the German Academy for Football Culture.^[27]
• Cooperation with DFB - Committees fighting discrimination and racism in soccer.
• Co-author of the DFB brochure about Football and Homosexuality.
• Co-author of the book My First Trip to the Stadium.

References

1. "Hooligan-Reihe: Pause junior dreht mit Marienhof-Star" 2013-06-11 at the Wayback Machine, express.de, 9 May 2008, Retrieved 20 August 2014
2. "Rütteln am Tabu" – Interview with Aljoscha Pause, stern.de, 7. November 2008, Retrieved 20 August 2014
3. Press release – Alternative Media Prize 2010 2013-12-16 at the Wayback Machine (PDF)
4. Grimme Prize 2010 for "Breaking the taboo" - Statement by the panel of judges 2014-10-28 at the Wayback Machine
5. German Academy for Football Culture about Football ls Everything - Even Gay 2014-10-28 at the Wayback Machine
6. "Zu Besuch bei Filmemacher Aljoscha Pause: Tom meets Zizou – Kein Sommermärchen", 11freunde.de, 25 March 2011, Retrieved 20 August 2014
7. "Especially worthwhile" for Tom Meets Zizou – Press release of the German Film and Media Evaluation (PDF)
8. "Tom Meets Zizou" at 29th International Young Audience Film Festival Ale Kino
9. "Tom meets Zizou" at Thinking Football Filmfestival 2013 2014-06-23 at the Wayback Machine
10. . Archived from the original on 2014-06-05. Retrieved 2014-10-27.
11. "Die Nominierungen zum Besten Fußballfilm aller Zeiten stehen fest", 11mm.de, 20 Dezember 2012, Retrieved 20 August 2014
12. "Mesut, 17 – der Film über Özils Kick-Start', sportbild.de, Retrieved 20 August 2014
13. "Mesut, 17: Ein filmisches Porträt des jungen Mesut Özil", spiegel.de, 31 March 2013, Retrieved 20 August 2014
14. "Kurzfilm zum Sonntag: Mesut, 17 mit Mesut Özil"', filmstars.de, 19 May 2013, Retrieved 20 August 2014
15. "Mesut, 17" on youtube.com
16. "Wir rennen um unser Leben – Die Fußball-Doku Trainer!", faz.de, 3 March 2013, Retrieved 20 August 2014
17. "Aljoscha Pause gewinnt den VDS-Fernsehpreis" 2014-05-12 at the Wayback Machine auf www.fussball-kultur.org, Retrieved 20 August 2014
18. Grimme Prize – Nominations 2014 2014-08-09 at the Wayback Machine grimme-institut.de
19. "Being Mario Götze - Eine deutsche Fußballgeschichte". Deutsche Filmbewertung und Medienbewertung FBW (in German). Retrieved 2023-06-12.
20. "1. VDS-SportFilmFest | Verband Deutscher Sportjournalisten". Verband Deutscher Sportjournalisten e.V. (in German). Retrieved 2023-06-12.
21. "Vorbild "All or nothing: Manchester City": Aljoscha Pause produziert Doku über Borussia Dortmund". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). ISSN 1865-2263. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
22. KGaA, Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co (2023-06-12). "BVB und Amazon Prime Video präsentieren Dokumentation". www.bvb.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-06-12.
23. Redaktion. "Kurier Romy: Die Nominierten stehen fest". medianet.at. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
24. "Über Ruhm und Scheitern: Neue Doku-Serie „Wie ein Fremder" erscheint im Juni". Musikexpress (in German). 2020-04-27. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
25. Online, R. T. L. (2022-09-30). "RTL+Doku über fünf Jahre Jens Spahn: „Second Move Kills"". RTL Online (in German). Retrieved 2023-06-12.
26. "VDS-Nachrichten | Meldungen | VDS - Verband Deutscher Sportjournalisten". www.sportjournalist.de. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
27. . Archived from the original on 2014-10-07. Retrieved 2014-10-27.

External links

• Aljoscha Pause at IMDb
• Website pausefilm
• Website Tom meets Zizou
• Website Trainer!