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A modern TV horror mini-series – based on the saga:
»The Pied Piper of Hamelin«

In Hameln, a peaceful town in medieval Germany, the insidious Pied Piper abducted 130 children and youths. Eight centuries later, he has returned to the town to once again bring horror and death to the city. Only the blind Finja (22), the deaf Jannik (18) and the monoplegic Ruben (20) can stop him and his eerie army of dead children’s souls.

At a cinema in modern-day Hameln, Jannik meets Finja, and instantly recognises her from a nightmare he has had – Finja, a boy with walking difficulties and himself were back in the medieval era, running through the forests of Hameln away from something insidious lurking through trees. After Jannik tells Finja about his dream, she dismisses the strange story, wrongly assuming it was an attempt at flirting. But it’s not long till she realises that within Jannik’s dream lies an unfathomable truth.

Meanwhile, Finja’s father, Peter Roth (52), a child and youth therapist, is at his wits end as sinister murders begin taking place in Hameln. Young people, including some of his patients, are killing their parents in a frenzy, and Peter has no explanation for the children’s murderous violence.

As it dawns on his daughter Finja that her fate and that of Jannik and Ruben are ominously linked to the abduction of the 130 children by the Pied Piper of Hamelin in 1284 AD, she realises the cause of the brutality in Hameln – the souls of the children who were killed have returned and are taking possession of the young people of today. They are full of hate for the adults, whom they blame for their deaths. The children’s rage towards Finja, Jannik and Ruben in particular has an even more remarkable reason.

But the actions of the murderous children and the secretive adults are just the prelude to something even more terrifying: the return of the Pied Piper.





Cast

  • Caroline Hartig

    The sensitive & combative leader

    Finja lost her eyesight shortly after the age of 13, with only 5% vision remaining. The physiotherapy student bears her fate with a mixture of nonchalance and sovereignty.Her visual impairment led her to concentrate on the essentials and sharpened her other senses; she dislikes anything superficial. But Finja’s calm and sensitive nature is deceptive: when the return of the Pied Piper is announced in Hameln, she evolves into a militant leader against evil within the group.

  • Riccardo Campione

    The self-confident lone fighter

    Ruben, who is crippled on his right leg, is the first to connect the eerie events in Hameln with the Pied Piper. Abandoned by his father, he lives alone with his mother Melanie in a shabby little apartment in the outskirts of Hameln. He takes loving care of her, even though she crippled him in an accident because of her alcohol addiction. His ambition sometimes borders on doggedness and leads to risky actions.

  • Constantin Keller

    The smart & humorous hothead

    Jannik may be deaf, but he discusses and communicates more than some people with a voice. Jannik’s dream is to be a star lawyer one day. As this is an almost impossible undertaking for a deaf person, he uses every legal instrument at his disposal to achieve his goal. Jannik is humorous but also a hothead, but in the face of the sinister events in Hameln he matures quickly and earns the respect of his friends through his courage.

  • Jonathan Elias Weiske

    The emphatic & thoughtful haven of peace

    As a mid-twenty-year-old, the university dropout is still looking for his way. Sam learned early on how to hide his pain: As a teenager, he was forced to watch his father Bruno suffer a stroke and his brother Jannik fall seriously ill. Bruno has been in a foster care home since then, and Jannik became deaf as a result of his illness. As his mother Regina spends a lot of time in other countries for work, he cares more for his brother than for himself.

  • Pia Amofa-Antwi

    The resolute & strong-nerved ally

    The excellent German Air Force helicopter pilot and native of Hameln is the daughter of a German helicopter pilot and a doctor from Tanzania. After some initial skepticism, Romy joins the team. Her steely nerves and natural authority make her a valuable ally.

  • Florence Kasumba

    The selfless & wise mentor

    Jamila’s father was a respected witch doctor in Tanzania. She soon followed in his footsteps, but when she was 15 years old, she witnessed the death of her father and had to flee from her home. She became a doctor and is currently working in Hameln as a senior physician for internal medicine. With her background, Jamila quickly suspects that evil forces are at work. But after fleeing Tanzania, she had sworn off the old arts.

  • Veronica Ferres

    Jannik and Sam’s mother

    As an architect, Regina is often abroad and doesn’t see her sons very often. Since her husband’s stroke, she doesn’t feel comfortable in Hameln anymore and returns to the city more out of a sense of duty. She hates seeing Bruno in this apathetic state on the one hand. On the other side, she would like to feel like a woman again. Outwardly a successful, modern woman, her façade of feigned cordiality and proud moneyed nobility is shattered when the past returns.

  • Christian Erdmann

    Ruben’s father, the inspector with the dark secret

    The detective inspector is Ruben’s father. He has left his drinking wife and son and started a new family with Paula. This relationship gave him a daughter, Alina (14), who is possessed by a ghost child. Erik is very worried about the terrible series of murders that children are committing against their parents. He wants to understand why these terrible things are happening.

  • André Röhner

    The not always virtuous psychologist

    Finja’s father is a recognized child and adolescent psychologist who does not believe in hauntings and obsessions. He is instead looking for psychological explanations. He feels responsible for the loss of Finja’s sight and the breakdown of the marriage with her mother. This leads him to overcompensate by spending a lot of time with his daughter. What is behind all this hectic actionism?

  • Marie-Christine Friedrich

    Ruben’s stepmother

    Paula had sworn never to have an affair with a married man, but then she met Erik at a witness interview and the two became a couple. She quickly wanted to end the affair, but a positive pregnancy test changed the situation. Paula longs for a well-ordered life, but there is one thing she still can’t forgive herself …

  • Emilia Maier

    The possessed girl

    She is the daughter of detective Erik Zastrow and his second wife Paula. As with all the other children being treated by Peter Roth, her change in character is misinterpreted until it is too late.

  • Götz Otto

    The pied piper

    As he was robbed of his wages by the citizens of Hameln in 1284 A.D., the Pied Piper decided to take revenge on the town of Hameln. But the courageous intervention of the beadle Christian had unexpected consequences. Now he has found a way back and finally wants revenge!

Crew

  • Sandro Lang

    By the age of sixteen, SANDRO LANG was already working as a set runner during the vacations, later as an assistant editor, script/supervisor and assistant director, then he studied at the Filmakademie Baden- Württemberg (2003-2008).

    After graduating, he wrote and directed the feature film JONGR (2009) in collaboration with the punk band NoRMAhl. Following various short films, commercials and image films (2011-2017), he initially worked as a docent for AV media and advertising in audiovisual media at the Macromedia University of Applied Sciences Stuttgart.

    He is currently working as an author on the following TV series projects:

    HAMELN (Author & Co-Director / ZDF Neo, Don’t Panic Films & Realfilm Berlin), QUAZI (Palatin Media & Monumental Pictures), INS REICH (Don’t Panic Films & Red Sun Films), NASTRO DI SANGUE (Don’t Panic Films & Red Sun Films).

  • Rainer Matsutani

    Rainer Matsutani is one of Germany’s most versatile film and TV directors, known for his work in fantasy, thrillers, and crime series.

    His debut feature, Over My Dead Body (1995), achieved cult status. Other notable works include the sci-fi series LEXX (1996), TV hits like Tricked (2000) and The Voices Trilogy (2003-2005), as well as event films like Raging Inferno (2007) and Faktor 8 (2009). He has directed popular series such as SOKO Stuttgart and Dr. Klein (ZDF) and served as creator/showrunner for the international sci-fi series Spides (2020).

    Matsutani often contributes as a writer or co-writer on his projects.

  • Henning Kamm

    Henning Kamm is a Peabody winning, and primetime Emmy and BAFTA nominated producer who co-founded DETAiLFILM in 2007 and Zentropa Hamburg with Danish power house Zentropa in 2014.

    In December 2016 Henning joined REAL FILM Berlin as managing director where his productions include Anna Winger’s „Unorthodox“ and „Sleeping Dogs“ for Netflix, the ARD event feature „Three and a half hours“ directed by Ed Herzog and most recently Luzie Loose’s/John Karsten’s teen drama„Everyone is f*cking crazy“ for ARD, the comedy show „Viktor bringt’s“ for Amazon, the medical drama „KRANK Berlin“ for Apple TV+/ ZDFneo and the horror-mystrea show HAMELN for ZDFneo, amongst others.

    Henning was Germany’s „Producer on the Move“ 2014 and one of Variety’s „10 Producer’s to watch“ in 2017. He is an EAVE and Inside Pictures alumni and has served on the board of the European Film Academy from 2016-2020.

Credits

Format
6×45’

Produced by
Don’t Panic / Realfilm Berlin / Red Sun Films

Year of Production
2023

Original Language
German

Broadcaster
ZDF Neo

Writer
Rainer Matsutani & Sandro Lang

Director
Rainer Matsutani & Sandro Lang (Co-Director)

Wordwide Distribution
ZDF Studios



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