We at zeitgebilde are three writers, filmmakers and producers with very different styles and backgrounds. Our passion are artistically ambitious documentaries which present their own unusual persepective of the world. With our films we want to transcend known genre boundaries and create worlds of images that open up deeper insights into our reality for us and our audience. We are united by the vision that film has the power to give people a unique experience in the cinema. This philosophy shapes our artistic, undogmatic and open approach to new projects.
We are a member of the AG DOK and the Filmverband Sachsen.
Benjamin Schindler
Benjamin discovered the world of visual storytelling for himself as a program cinema operator, projectionist, photographer and draftsman. In 2005/06 he directed the student cinema Kino im Kasten and founded the ensemble shortfilmlivemusic, with which he performs documentary film concerts worldwide. Afterwards Benjamin studied at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne from 2006 to 2012: media art, film and hybrid forms. He works as a cinematographer and director and has realized numerous short films and documentaries since 2010; shooting in India, Gambia, Spain, the UK, Taiwan and the US. In his documentaries he deals with real and (self-)constructed worlds, with societies' search for identity and the influence of virtual realities on our reality. The films were made for the cinema, but were also shown at festivals, on TV and as installation adaptations in exhibitions.
Jan Wilde
Jan studied theater, film and media studies in London and Vienna and graduated in 2011 in screenwriting and feature film directing at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. In 2017, he founded zeitgebilde Filmproduktion with Benjamin Schindler and co-developed the feature-length documentary PLAYLAND USA, which was released in 2019. Jan also develops and produces image films, short feature films and music videos. He has been a participant in the TP2 Talent Pool and the ISFF Program for Producers and Production Managers, as well as the Cannes Producers Network.
Silke Abendschein
Silke studied costume design at the HfBK Dresden and initially worked as a costume designer for dance, theater, opera and film before turning to filmmaking herself. She makes short and feartures length films focussing on experimental and biographical documentaries. A passionate traveler, her films have been made in India, Spain and the UK, among other places and have been released in German arthouse cinemas. Silke's main focus is on script development and conception. Silke earned her Master's degree in Biographical/Creative Writing at the Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin and is a guest lecturer at HAW Hamburg, among others.