Porsche Awards 2014 Winners: Martina Plura
As proud partners of the student filmmaking competition, we talk to the winners of the event. Taken from shots 155.
Martina Plura
Special Prize
Hinz & Kunzt Readers See More
German, aged 29
Hamburg Media School, 2014
Representation Plura Film/unsigned
Six trophies were presented at this year’s Porsche Awards ceremony in Ludwigsburg but the winner in attendance to collect the Special Prize came as a double package.
Director Martina Plura and twin sister DP Monika started shooting horror films at the age of 11 and were so passionate about movies growing up that they started their own film clubs. Working together ever since, their professional relationship has been a natural development, which comes through in their winning film for Hamburg homeless magazine, Hinz & Kunzt.
“My sister put a lot of herself and her thoughts into the movie,” assures Martina Plura. “It is just a pleasure to work with her. We understand each other blindly and are complementary in a team. This definitely is a joint win and we shared it.”
Hinged on the title, Readers See More, their commercial pays a lively visit to the streets of Hamburg to introduce a Hinz & Kunzt reader as he buries his nose in the publication. As he walks down the Reeperbahn, one of the city’s busiest roads, he manages to intercept a mugging, put out a fire and help an elderly lady across the road as well as a host of other good deeds for the benefit of the community.
“I was very happy that we could come up with ideas for something real for a real client and for something good,” explains the director.
“It was the school’s idea to make a film for a social institution instead of a ‘fake spot’ and although there was no money involved from the magazine, they got the spot for free.”
The brief was set in one of Plura’s directing workshops at the Hamburg Media School and the budget was pretty much non-existent. There was only enough for the equipment and some coffee and sandwiches on set and Plura’s fellow students pitched in to make the production possible.
“As the preparation time was so short, we didn’t even have shooting permission. We were just doing it in the hope that if the police came they’d understand as we are doing something social,” adds Plura. “The magazine is a household name in Hamburg. There is a really good concept behind it; the homeless people sell the magazine for €1,90. While 0,90 goes to the magazine, the euro goes to the seller.”
Plura reveals that shortly before shooting the piece, she and her sister had worked on a documentary about the homeless in Hamburg and so were already touched by the topic. From horror to the homeless, the pair has certainly proved themselves as a filmmaking force and the Porsche prize is a fitting reward for such a positive project.
