The Hirsch Effekt, 28min., Germany
Directed by Florian Glock
Alone in a dusty rehearsal room, Nils Wittrock writes the most personal album of The Hirsch Effekt—caught between parenthood, post-pandemic pressure and self-doubt, he searches for air, meaning, and a way back to the band.

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

I have been working with The Hirsch Effekt for several years and have always been fascinated by the way they create music. With Der Brauch, I wanted to get closer to that process and show the people behind the music – not by explaining everything, but by observing them while the album was taking shape.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

The film was shot and edited throughout 2025 and was completed in January 2026, shortly before the release of the album Der Brauch. In total, I had seven shooting days and around 15 hours of material, followed by roughly ten full days of editing.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?

Intimate. Observational.

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

Finding the film in the material. I work mostly as a one-man crew, so I was responsible for camera, sound and editing. The biggest challenge was turning many hours of observations, conversations and musical moments into a 29-minute film without losing the natural rhythm and character of the band.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

It was interesting – and also a little strange – to hear people I had never met discussing the film in detail. As a filmmaker, you spend so much time very close to your material that it is valuable to see what remains with an audience that approaches it without that background.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?

I came to filmmaking indirectly. I originally studied medicine, but after leaving university and walking the Camino de Santiago in 2001, I knew I wanted to take a different path. Over time, working with cameras and moving images became my way of telling stories, and documentary filmmaking increasingly became the form that felt most natural to me.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

Probably Apocalypse Now and Fight Club.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?

For me, the most valuable part of a festival is real exchange: physical screenings, meeting other filmmakers and talking directly with an audience. Personal communication and opportunities to build genuine connections within the documentary and film community are probably more useful to me than additional promotional services.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experience been working on the festival platform site?

FilmFreeway itself is straightforward and makes it easy to discover and submit to festivals internationally. The more difficult part is evaluating which festivals are genuinely relevant for a particular film, because the quality, focus and actual festival experience can vary considerably.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Pasta.

11. What is next for you? A new film?

I definitely want to continue working on music documentaries and artist portraits. There is an idea for a larger follow-up project connected to The Hirsch Effekt that would look beyond the making of one album and explore what it means to make independent music today. It is still at an early stage, though, and I am also working on other documentary projects.