Mission Ulja Funk: Children’s film about a young, inquisitive girl who escapes from her small town and ventures on a road trip with a classmate to observe a comet impact.
Plot and background
Twelve-year-old Ulja (Romy Lou Janinhoff) is an enthusiastic up-and-coming scientist, but her beliefs and findings are less well received by her strict religious Russian-German family and the residents of her small German town. When the intelligent, headstrong girl discovers a small asteroid that will fall to earth in Belarus in a few days, her grandmother Olga (Hildegard Schroedter) has had enough. Without further ado, she bans everything that has to do with science from Ulja’s life. But Ulja is far from giving up. But now that she has no way of tracking the asteroid, she makes a deal with her classmate Henk (Jonas Oeßel). The 13-year-old is supposed to drive her to Belarus to see the impact with her own eyes, in return for which Ulja takes over his homework for a while. Together, the unequal duo sets off on a journey across Poland. But Grandma Olga, the rest of the family and half the village community are hot on their heels.
“Mission Ulja Funk” – background, cast, cinema release
Director and screenwriter Barbara Kronenberg created an endearing, humorous children’s and family film with “Mission Ulja Funk”. The production and screenplay were funded as part of the initiative “Der besondere Kinderfilm” (The Special Children’s Film) and were also awarded the MDM’s sponsorship prize. The film will celebrate its world premiere in competition at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival 2023 in the Generation Kplus section. The official theatrical release is on 12 January 2023, the cinema adventure has been given an age rating of 6 years.
Child actress Romy Lou Janinhoff (“Vatersland”) convincingly slips into the leading role of the stubborn, smart Ulja, Jonas Oeßel (“Nachtwald”) supports her as Henk, Ulja’s personal chauffeur, in the great adventure. Hildegard Schroedter (“Unsere Mütter, Unsere Väter”), Luc Feit (“Babylon Berlin”) and Anja Antonowicz (“Lindenstraße”) were in front of the camera in other roles. The audience can also look forward to a few guest appearances, including KIKA star and entertainer Bürger Lars Dietrich (“Dein Song”), drag queen Vanity Trash and “Wissen mach Ah!” presenter Shary Reeves.
