Sad Jokes
A filmmaker’s life unravels in a tragicomic dance of absurdity, art, and challenging parenthood.
Joseph, a filmmaker and co-parent to his young son, Pino, juggles the demands of his next film with the challenges of supporting his close friend Sonya, who is battling depression after a premature release from a mental health clinic. As Sonya returns home, Joseph's world is put to the test in a series of absurd, humorous moments, as well as emotionally charged situations and unexpected hardships.
Blending comedy and melancholy, and anchored by Fabian Stumm’s skilfully vulnerable performance, this bittersweet, self-reflective fiction muses on the emotional complexities of love, art, and family in contemporary life, capturing what we find comic about the anguish of human condition, and revealing what makes us awkwardly fallible and yet emotionally recognised and accepted.
Massimo Iannetti
Fabian Stumm (1981) is a German actor, writer and director. He studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in New York and is now based in Berlin. He has appeared on stage in Germany, New York, London, Shanghai, Seoul, etc. In 2020, he gave his directorial debut with the short film “Bruxelles”. 2021 followed his second film “Daniel” that was awarded best medium-length film at the Achtung Berlin Festival. His feature film debut “Bones and Names” (2023) premiered at the Berlinale and won the Heiner Carow Prize.
Knochen und Namen (Bones and Names, 2023), Sad Jokes (2024)
