Sad Jokes

Set in Berlin, this tender, tragicomical second feature from writer-director-actor Fabian Stumm (following Bones and Names, which premiered in the 2023 Berlin Film Festival and travelled to more than 20 festivals around the world) heralds a filmmaker aware of his strengths and his limits. A series of autofictional vignettes, ranging from the touching to the absurd, tells the story of Joseph (Stumm) and Sonya (Haley Louise Jones), close friends co-parenting a young child, Pino (Justus Meyer, whom Stumm parents with actor Susie Meyer in real life). While Joseph is wrestling with the concept of a new film — as well as his own ego — on the heels of a fresh breakup with his boyfriend Marc (Jonas Dassler), Sonya is in a clinic, suffering from deep depression. Alongside Sonya’s mother (Hildegard Schroedter), Joseph steps in as primary parent and moves to juggle his family and personal life — including delightful attempts at dating — with his ravenous artistic ambition.

Stumm, who studied drama at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in New York and has held roles in dozens of films (including Cate Shortland’s Lore, TIFF 2012, and Sebastian Meise’s Great Freedom) has a remarkable aptitude for dialogue, adding tonal touches reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin, Ernst Lubitsch, Robert Altman, Nanni Moretti, and renowned German comedian Vicco von Bülow (known best as Loriot). A portrayer of modern queer life, Stumm emerges as a poignant storyteller with his thumb on the pulse of what it takes to create and uphold a community and to persevere as an artist.

DOROTA LECH