Awards

"An intriguing setting, isolated from the outside world and caught between places and conflicts, serves as a microcosm where the protagonist confronts toughness, intimacy and identity. With striking visual storytelling and physical immediacy, this film portrays masculinity – raw, authentic and deeply human."

"All hatches closed. Between escape and refuge, Fire Drill tells a story that is as fragile as it is moving, about the trials of growing up and the search for hope. Director and writer Maximilian Villwock has deeply immersed himself in the world from which he draws his stories. In the apparent lightness of his precise observations, we sense the months of intensive research into the milieu of life at sea. Over 156 days, a profoundly human narrative unfolds, where fiction becomes truth and the life stories of the people on board are transformed into a distilled reality. The visual language of Marco Müller and the extraordinary score turn the raw impressions of everyday life on a container ship into impressionistic inner images that deeply move their audience. Fire Drill is not a radical film, but a quiet, lyrical work full of hope. It draws from reality the poetic power of cinema."