„Running against the Wind“: Premiere in Munich
Enormous crowds and a rapt audience: To enthusiastic applause, "Running against the Wind" celebrated its premiere at the Rio Filmpalast in Munich on July 12. Presenter Maximiliana Schürrle, Honorary Consul of the Democratic Federal Republic of Ethiopia in Bavaria, welcomed director Jan Philipp Weyl on stage as a "brilliant storyteller". He welcomed the Ethiopian community in Amharic and addressed emotional words of thanks to the audience as well as the film team present.
In the film discussion, Jan Philipp Weyl spoke movingly about his life-changing encounter as a young student with Karlheinz Böhm, who inspired him to become involved in humanitarian work for Ethiopia through his foundation Menschen für Menschen: But the road from the waffle stand in 8th grade to the realization of his cinema debut was long and rocky! For a time, he even lived on the streets of Addis Ababa himself in order to gather important experience for making his film as authentic as possible.
Today, director Jan Philipp Weyl is embarking on a nationwide cinema tour, including dates in Nuremberg, Augsburg, Frankfurt am Main, Cologne, Berlin and Leipzig.
Content
Two twelve-year-old boys grow up together in a remote village in Ethiopia - until a single photograph awakens big dreams in both of them and changes their lives forever: Solomon secretly leaves the village and goes to the urban jungle of Addis Ababa to become a photographer. Abdi, on the other hand, stays and trains. He wants to become a famous long-distance runner like Haile Gebrselassie once was. Both, who grew up like brothers, mature separately into men. Years later, when Abdi is nominated for the Ethiopian national running team and moves to Addis Ababa, he hardly believes that Solomon is still alive. But an inner voice tells him to look for his old friend ...