DEADWEIGHT

Feature film (88 min)
Germany/Finland, 2016
1.85:1/color, 7.1 Dolby SR

English, Tagalog, Dutch,
Finnish

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“Audacious debutant steers his vessel into challenging waters.”

— Neil Young, The Hollywood Reporter

Ahti Ikonen is a reliable captain at the height of his career. He is in command of the 35,000-ton container vessel Brugge, which enters the port of Savanna (U.S.A.) behind schedule. The loading of the ship commences in haste as the crew, led by the ambitious Romanian officer Katia, works under pressure so that they can sail in time. The Filipino seaman James has an accident during an illegal lashing procedure. Ahti has to face the consequences of his orders: in the port of Rotterdam (Netherlands) unionized dockworkers exploit the incident and refuse to unload the ship. Standstill. The captain is caught between the frontlines. Ahti is keen to resolve the conflict, but the situation becomes more and more contradictory.

“Axel Koenzen’s Deadweight is about the exploitation of the working class at sea. With its emphatic documentary approach the film speaks about factual constraints, which are representative of an age in which instructions are conveyed through emails and messages. It reflects the global syndrome of a management distancing itself through technology, where responsibility is often shifted to the lowest level of execution. Deadweight adapts to the rhythm of the ship, yet the author refuses to romanticise the brutal working conditions of the crew.” 
— Jury, 9th Subversive Film Festival Zagreb

Festival premiere: International Film Festival Berlin (Forum). Awards: 1st price at the 9th Subversive Film Festival Zagreb. Aired by ARTE France/Germany, WDR, YLE Finland. Produced by Rohfilm and BUFO/Finland in co- production with ARTE/WDR. Funded by MBB, MDM, FFHSH, FNDN, BKM and SES.