On the afternoon of April 16th, the Press Conference of the 9th BJIFF Tiantan Award Official Selection The Keeper was held. The director Marcus H. Rosenmüller, supporting actor John Henshaw, German producer Robert Marciniak, British producer Steve Milne and art director Doerthe Komnick attended the conference.

　　Based on the real experience of Bert Trautmann, The Keeper tells a story that Bert Trautmann, a German Nazi soldier in World War II, is brought back to Britain as a prisoner of war. A football manager finds his talent and lets him join in Manchester City. Facing strong protests from people, Bert finally wins everyone's respect with his outstanding performance.

　　This story is very impressive and legendary. At the conference, Marcus also mentioned the experience of making this film. He is a crazy football fan. 12 years ago, the producer Robert Marciniak told him the story, but he did not believe it. After investigation, he found the story was real.

　　In order to make it into a film, Marcus personally found the prototype of the character and collected a lot of inspiring information upon a-week interview. Meanwhile, he also studied the background of that time in the Prisoners Camp Site Museum in the UK. Therefore, 70% of the film is sourced from reality, which makes it more appealing.

　　John Henshaw also told us his thoughts about the film and it’s an honor for him to play a role in it. When he first read the script, he was totally drawn to the story. The protagonist is very great for his romance, misery and perseverance and deserves more films about him. Moreover, thanks to this film, he had the opportunity to visit a lot of beautiful places in the UK and work with the German team in a happy atmosphere. “This is a very, very wonderful experience.

　　Doerthe Komnick talked about the art creation of biography films at the conference. It took her a long time to make preparations and investigations, such as finding those old photos. Meanwhile, she spent a lot of time in the archives to study the living environment of the protagonist and daily lives of the people in the UK at that time.

　　Robert Marciniak told us the difficulties in making this film. He said that his studio is small, but the film costs a lot. Insufficient fund was the greatest difficulty for them, and they had to raise funds by all means.

　　Steve Milne shared his experience in making this film. He said that, there is a large stadium scene that required the shooting field to be brought back to the stage in 1950s, which was a tough challenge. He kept worrying before the restoration was done. Of course, the result was satisfactory.

　　The Keeper integrates various elements like sports, introspections of World War II and biography and depicts how people from different nations and culture abandon hostility and prejudice and set up profound friendship by playing football.

　　The lineup mainly consists of sophisticated actors from the UK and Germany, such as the leading actor David Kross, a star worth our expectation. He was once nominated for the European Film Award for Best Actor in 2009 for The Reader. He also put a lot into his performance in Into the White and War Horse.

　　The Keeper was already shown in Germany and the UK and gained high popularity among the audience. We believe this appealing film based on real story can be widely recognized at the 9th BJIFF.