Banner Films
Directors Frauke Sandig and Eric Black

Frauke Sandig and Eric Black, of Berlin and San Francisco, have worked together as co-directors, co-writers and co-producers since 1998. Their collaboration includes the theatrical feature documentaries:

AWARE – GLIMPSES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Poster Aware

(102 min., with ZDF/3sat, ITVS), theatrical release in Germany (Piffl Medien) and in the US (Area23a). Winner Illuminate Film Festival 2021, Online Audience Award Millenium Docs Against Gravity FF, Shortlisted for the German Film Award (LOLA), Academy Award qualification. Melbourne Documentary FF, Maui Film Festival, Byron Bay International Film Festival, Hof International FF a.o.

“… the most moving and beautiful depiction of deep understanding of consciousness and of who we are that I have seen depicted through film.” – Jack Kornfield, author and Buddhist teacher

“…stirs feelings of awe and wonder, humility and connection... the film creates a contemplative openness that words alone might find hard to describe. It’s a remarkable film.” – Valerie Kalfrin, Alliance of Women Film Journalists

What is consciousness? Is it in all living beings? What happens when we die? AWARE follows six brilliant researchers, approaching the mystery from radically different perspectives: through high-tech brain research and Eastern meditation, by scientifically exploring inner space through psychedelic substances and by investigating the consciousness of plants. With Richard Boothby, Monica Gagliano, Roland Griffiths, Josefa Kirvin Kulix, Christof Koch, Matthieu Ricard and Mingyur Rinpoche AWARE is the second film in the Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth Trilogy.

With Richard Boothby, Monica Gagliano, Roland Griffiths, Josefa Kirvin Kulix, Christof Koch, Matthieu Ricard and Mingyur Rinpoche

AWARE is the second film in the Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth Trilogy.

HEART OF SKY, HEART OF EARTH

Poster HEART OF SKY, HEART OF EARTH

(98 min., 2011, with ZDF/3SAT, ITVS) “It is quite possible our great corporations will succeed in finishing Nature off … and expel the Indigenous from their lands. On the other hand, resistance is growing. Many young Maya say the world will not go under. It will start anew, but we all have to fight for it, here and now. If one is searching for impressive evidence of this tenacious determination, Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth is it“ (Thomas Assheuer, DIE ZEIT). Theatrical release in Germany and Japan. Screened at 115 international film festivals, including IDFA Masters Section, DokLeipzig, Vancouver IFF, Thessaloniki Int. Doc FF, Margaret Mead FF. Winner of 15 awards including: First Prize Toronto’s Planet in Focus, 3 top awards in Montréal’s First Peoples Festival (Co-Presentation with RIDM). Opening Film at the Muestra de Cine International, Guatemala. First Prize, Pukañawi Award, in Bolivia.

FROZEN ANGELS

Poster FROZEN ANGELS

(93min., 2005, with ZDF and ITVS/PBS), premiered at Sundance FF, “a mesmerizing work that is not so much a science film as a startling conduit into the future of the American Dream, where "perfect children" can be added to the shopping list. In their visually enthralling documentary, Eric Black and Frauke Sandig brilliantly evoke an atmosphere of familiar otherworldliness as they survey the field of assisted human-reproductive technologies." (Shari Frilot, SFF). Other festivals and awards include Prix du Public at Visions de Réel, Nyon, Prix de Cinephage, Creteil, Special Jury Mention at FICCO, Mexico, German Competition at DokLeipzig, International Competition at HotDocs Toronto, Mill Valley IFF, Sheffield Doc. Festival, Vancouver IFF. Nominated for the World TV Award Banff, chosen by the IDA for Academy Award qualification. Theatrical Release in Germany.

AFTER THE FALL

Poster AFTER THE FALL

(86min., 2000, with ITVS, SFB, SR) documented the mysterious, disturbing and almost complete disappearance of the Berlin Wall after its fall. The film was awarded a Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco IFF: “We award this film for its stunning cinematography in conjunction with its combination of profound and absurdist meditations on the meaning of the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall. Through its careful structuring of personal interviews, it provides a stunning example of the documentary film as intellectual history.” The film was selected for more than 40 international film festivals, including the Berlinale, IDFA Amsterdam, Karlovy Vary, DOCAVIV and shown at the MOMA New York. Translated into thirteen languages, it was broadcast on public television worldwide including PBS.