
AUFERSTANDEN AUS RUINEN
RISEN FROM RUINS
SHORTFILM - FICTION // 20:00 min. [2025]
“The 1990s: In the chaos following the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, two friends set out to rebuild their lives -
by smuggling German cars into the wreckage of post-Soviet Russia.”
“Risen from the Ruins” is the new short fiction film by director Harry Besel.
The 1990s: Amid the chaos of the post-socialist East, Andreas, an East German car mechanic, and Alexei, a border-crosser from the former Soviet Union, team up to smuggle German cars into Russia. Among the ruins of their former homeland, they try to build a new future — but the rules of the new capitalist game are ruthless: West German investors are buying up the former GDR, while corrupt border officials and merciless gangsters control the smuggling routes. Andreas and Alexei are brutally shaken out of their naïveté and forced to realize that they never stood a chance in this new world.
Funded by "Hessen Film & Medien" and "HAB - Hessen Abschlussförderung", Risen from Ruins was successfully completed in July 2025 an is now in its festival distribution phase.
“Risen from Ruins” is a stand-alone short fiction film but also serves as a proof-of-concept for a feature-length film. With Risen from Ruins, Harry Besel wants to showcase that the underlying material and themes of the film are perfect suited for a feature-length movie or a series concept.

THE CREW
DIRECTOR I WRITER I PRODUCER
Harry Besel
EDITOR
Bela Johann Vienken
1st AD
Janis Schmidt
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Ferdinand Kowalke
1st AC
Till Krüger
SOUND ENGINEER
Friedrich Haustein
GAFFER
Daniel Hellwig
GRIP
Max Muselmann
Hannes Döring
COSTUME I MAKE-UP
Julia Gens
Michelle Haupt
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Victoria Koberstein
STAGE DESIGN I ART DIRECTION
Charlotte Ella Bouchon
Linnea Kuht
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
Alisa Siebert
Car Rig Operator
Philipp Knopf
SETRUNNER
Zenon Kristen
SET PHOTOGRAPHER
Michelle Haupt
Max Muselmann
THE CAST
Johann-Christof Laubisch
as Andreas Diehlmann
Nikita Petrosian
as Alexey Danilenko
Andrej Agranovski
as Oleg the Car Dealer
Alexander Waigel
as Eugen - Border Official
Alexej Boris
as Nikolai - Border Official
Wolfgang Preussger
as Bundeswehr Officer
Lukas Umlauft
as West German Businessman
Lilli Sommerhage
as Bundeswehr Soldier
PRODUCED BY

FUNDED BY
SUPPORTED BY
