Aljoscha Pause is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

, director, TV journalist, writer, and producer. He is a member of the

Deutsche Filmakademie The Deutsche Filmakademie is a German independently run organization with a focus on filmmaking. History The academy was founded in 2003 in Berlin, on the initiative of Helmut Dietl, Bernd Eichinger, and Ulrich Felsberg. It initially compris ...

and the German Academy for Football Culture.

Background

Aljoscha Pause was born on 24 January 1972 in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

, Germany. After he graduated high school, he studied

romance Romance may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings ** Romantic orientation, the classification of the sex or gender with which a pers ...

philology at

Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Will ...

. Pause received

narration Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

training at

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

from 1998 until 2002. Throughout his college years, Pause worked at Pantheon, a cabaret theater founded by his father, Rainer Pause. During this time he also began working as a reporter for a local magazine and a broadcaster at a private radio station (Radio Bonn/Rhein-Sieg). He began his television career at age 24. Pause served as a

sports reporter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism has its roots in coverage of horse racing and boxing in the early 1800s, mainly targeted towards elites, and into t ...

at German Sports Television (now

Sport1 Sport1 is a German free-to-air television channel centred towards sports programming, as well as teleshopping. It was launched on 1 January 1993 as DSF (''Deutsches Sportfernsehen''), replacing the television channel Tele 5 which had become th ...

) from 1996 to 1999. Following that, he worked as a reporter for the main sports desk at Kirch Media Group,

Sat.1 Sat.1 () is a German free-to-air television channel that is a part of the ProSiebenSat.1 Media Group. It is considered the first privately owned television network in Germany, having been launched in January 1984 as ''PKS'' ''(Programmgesell ...

until 2003. Pause also worked as a

presenter Presenter may refer to: People * News presenter, person who presents news during a news program * Sports commentator, an announcer who presents analysis of a sporting event * Radio personality, presenter or announcer on a radio show * Television ...

, commentator, and

field reporter In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present tense. There are two main types of sports broadcast ...

for Premiere (now Sky Germany). Additionally, he held the position of a reporter for

LIGA total! Liga (Spanish and Portuguese: ''League'') or LIGA may refer to: Sports Basketball * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, women's professional basketball league in Spain Football Latin Ameri ...

, the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

broadcaster of

Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG (, ; often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a partially state-owned German telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn and the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. It was formed in 199 ...

, from 2009 until 2011. Today, Pause lives with his wife and two daughters in Bonn.

Cinematic works

In 2003, Pause became an independent filmmaker and producer. He is known for his longer

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

films primarily focusing on the sociopolitical aspects of sports (e.g. homophobia in football, hooliganism in sports,

alcohol consumption Drinks containing alcohol (drug), alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and Distilled beverage, spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered Non-al ...

in football, and the German Football League for the Blind). Pause is also known for his portrait documentaries, whose subjects are usually

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

players, but also include the actor Michael Jäger (an ex-

hooligan Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, often in connection with crowds at sporting events. A hooligan is a person that engages in illicit reckless behaviors and is a public nuisance. Etymology ...

who starred in the early-evening soap opera ''Marienhof''). His first two full-length

feature films A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film ( motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation ...

, '' Tom meets Zizou)'' (2011) and '' Trainer!'' (2013) received acclaim from film critics internationally. In 2010, he received the Grimme Prize for a TV documentary series he produced about homophobia in football.

Trilogy – Homophobia in Football (2008–2011)

Created for

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

and DSF with the support of the German Academy for Football Culture, Pause produced a three-part

TV documentary Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

series on homophobia in football filmed over the course of three years. The trilogy included ''The Great Taboo'' (2008), ''Breaking the Taboo'' (2009), and ''Football is Everything--Even Gay'' (2011). ''The Great Taboo: Homophobia in Football'' (2008) premiered on DSF in 2008. The first investigative TV documentary on the subject to gain traction, it featured the stories of

LGBTQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...

athletes like Tanja Walther and

Anouschka Bernhard Anouschka Bernhard (born 5 October 1970 in Waiblingen) is a retired German footballer who played as a defender. She was a member of the Germany women's national football team, among others at the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup. On club level she p ...

, who are both

lesbians A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homo ...

, and

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

Marie Karsten, who is

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

. ''The Great Taboo'' (2008) won the 2008 Felix Rexhausen Award from the Association of Lesbian and Gay Journalists (Bund Lesbischer und Schwuler Journalistlnnen, or BLSJ, the German affiliate of the NLGJA). The judges described it as an "honest, dispassionate stock-taking" of the LGBTQ+ experience for athletes in Germany "... informative as it is sober...

hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...

subtly reveals how widespread anti-gay feeling is in the world of football--on every level." In 2009, Pause and DSF released the second installment of the three-part series, ''Breaking Taboo: The New Progress of Homosexuality in Football'' (2009). The film picks up one year after the release of its first installment, investigating developments in the

German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...

since the uptick of popular interest following the first film in 2008. In 2010, ''Breaking Taboo'' earned Pause an Alternative Media Prize and the Grimme Prize in the category for "Information & Culture/Special." In March 2011, Pause released the final installment, entitled ''Football is Everything-Even Gay'' (2011). For the third installment, Pause monitored 18 months of developments and explores the difficulty of changing attitudes on the topic.

''Tom meets Zizou'' (2011)

In 2011, Aljoscha Pause released a 135-minute documentary '' Tom meets Zizou'' (2011) after eight years of work. The film follows professional athlete

Thomas Broich Thomas Broich (born 29 January 1981) is a German former professional association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. A SpVgg Unterhaching youth product, Broich went on to play for SV Wacker Burghausen, Wacker Burghausen, ...

's career from its auspicious beginning in the

up until his transfer to

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's football pyramid. When Queensland Lions F.C. were ...

, an Australian club, in 2010. ''Tom meets Zizou'' premiered on March 25, 2011 at the 8th International Football Film Festival ''11mm'' in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. It opened in theaters on July 28, under the

banner A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Also, ...

of ''Mindjazz Pictures'' with support from the DFB Cultural Foundation. The film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

and

Blu-Ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

in late 2011. On August 21, 2012, ''Tom Meets Zizou'' (2011) gained additional popularity when a 90-minute version was broadcast on the German station

WDR WDR may refer to: * Waddell & Reed (stock ticker: WDR), an American asset management and financial planning company * Walt Disney Records, an American record label of the Disney Music Group * WDR neuron, a type of neuron involved in pain signalli ...

. That same year, ''Tom meets Zizou'' (2011) received the VDS Television Prize. At the 11mm Football Film Festival, it received a nomination for "Best Football Film of All Time". ''Tom meets Zizou'' (2011) was screened at the International Young Audience Film Festival ( Poznań, Poland), the Thinking Football Film Festival (

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

), and ClNEfoot Festival (Rio de Janeiro). On February 1, 2014, it was screened at the Flutlicht Film Festival in a

double feature The double feature is a Film, motion picture industry phenomenon in which theaters would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which the presentation of one feature film would be followed by various short subjec ...

on the subject of

failure Failure is the social concept of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and is usually viewed as the opposite of success. The criteria for failure depends on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. On ...

alongside '' Trainer!''. The film has been translated into multiple languages including English, Polish, Spanish, and Portuguese.

''Mesut, 17'' (2013)

Pause's

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

''Mesut, 17'' premiered in March 2013 at the 11mm Film Festival in Berlin. The subject of the nine-and-a-half-minute film is German athlete

Mesut Özil Mesut Özil (, ; born 15 October 1988) is a German former professional association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Known for his ball control, technical skills, creativity, passing skills, and vision, he is widely re ...

, who was 17 years old at the time. The film is composed of footage initially produced by Pause for a broadcast report on a youth soccer

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

in 2006. Some of the footage had not previously aired. In addition to featuring the first-ever TV interview with Özil himself, it airs a statement by football manager

Joachim Löw Joachim "Jogi" Löw (; born 3 February 1960) is a German football coach and former player. He was the manager of the Germany national team from 2006 until 2021. During his tenure as manager, he led Germany to victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup i ...

, former assistant to manager

Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (; born 30 July 1964) is a German professional Association football, football manager and former player. He played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, AS Monaco FC, Monaco, Tottenham Hot ...

. While Pause created the film solely for use at the 10th anniversary of the 11mm Football Film Festival, it became popular after Mesut Özil posted it on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

, where it was seen by his 20 million followers. Due to subsequent widespread reporting in the media, ''Mesut, 17'' received over one million views on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and

RTL RTL may refer to: Media * RTL Group, a European TV, radio, and production company *** List of RTL Group's television stations (including part-owned channels) *** List of RTL Group's radio stations ** RTL Lëtzebuerg, usually referred to simply a ...

Evening News reported on its spread as an

internet phenomenon Internet phenomena are social and cultural phenomena specific to the Internet, such as Internet memes, which include popular catchphrases, images, viral videos, and jokes. When such fads and sensations occur online, they tend to grow rapidly ...

''Trainer!'' (2013)

Following the success of ''Tom meets Zizou'', Pause released '' Trainer!'' in early June 2013. For his second full-length documentary film, Pause follows three young professional

coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

( Frank Schmidt,

André Schubert André Schubert (born 24 July 1971, Kassel, West Germany) is a German football coach. Career Beginning and education Schubert studied sports and German studies at the University of Kassel. He started to work as a youth coach in 1989, and until ...

, Stephan Schmidt) over the course of a

football season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

. The film also takes a look behind the scenes at the teachers' training program of the

(DFB) led by

Frank Wormuth Frank Wormuth (born 13 September 1960) is a German football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word ...

. Established coaches like

Jürgen Klopp Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German football executive and former Manager (association football), manager and Football player, player. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the world. Klopp has been ...

, Hans Meyer,

Armin Veh Armin Veh (; born 1 February 1961) is a German football manager and former player who last managed Eintracht Frankfurt. He won the German championship with Bundesliga team VfB Stuttgart in 2007. Veh and his team also had the chance to win "the d ...

Mirko Slomka Mirko Slomka (; born 12 September 1967) is a German Association football, football manager who last managed Hannover 96. Managerial career Hannover 96 From 1989 to 1999, Slomka was the manager of Hannover 96's U19 squad. Slomka coached several ...

Peter Neururer Peter Neururer (born 26 April 1955) is a German professional football manager, notable for coaching a number of Bundesliga clubs. Managerial career Neururer had a minor playing career in the lower leagues before moving into coaching at TuS Hal ...

Thomas Schaaf Thomas Schaaf (born 30 April 1961) is a German professional football manager, who last managed Werder Bremen and former player who played as a defender. A ' one-club man', Schaaf spent his entire playing career with Bundesliga club Werder Bremen ...

and

Michael Oenning Michael Oenning (born 27 September 1965) is a German football coach and former player. He formerly managed Vasas Budapest, Hamburger SV, 1. FC Nürnberg, 1. FC Magdeburg, and Aris. Playing career Oenning graduated in German and Sports science ...

also provide extensive insight. Pause spent six months on research and one year on

filming Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sensor or light-s ...

and

editing Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written language, written, Image editing, visual, Audio engineer, audible, or Film editing, cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing p ...

. The film is a Pausefilm production commissioned by

and editor Steffen Simon. The WDR television

premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

of the 90-minute cut aired on June 3, 2013. On June 11, the 138-minute director's cut played at the ''Babylon'' cinema in

Berlin-Mitte Mitte (; German for "middle" or "center") is a central section () of Berlin, Germany, in the eponymous Boroughs of Berlin, borough () of Mitte. Until 2001, it was itself an autonomous district. Mitte proper comprises the historic center of Old ...

. The film then toured Germany with the support of the DFB Cultural Foundation and distributor ''Mindjazz Pictures'', garnering praise from the press. On June 28, 2013, ''Trainer!'' was released on DVD and Blu-ray. In early 2014, Pause received the VDS Television Prize after already receiving a nomination for the 2014 Adolf Grimme Prize. ''Trainer!'' was scheduled to be featured at the 2014 ''Flutlicht Film Festival'' in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

and at the ''Joga Bonito! Festival'' in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

''Being Mario Götze'' (2018)

In early June 2018, Pause released the documentary series ''Being Mario Götze - A German Football Story'' for the streaming service

DAZN DAZN (; pronounced "da zone") is a British Over-the-top media service, over-the-top sports Sports broadcasting, streaming and entertainment platform. Founded in 2007 as Perform Group via the merger of Premium TV Limited and Inform Group, it is o ...

. For the series, Pause accompanied

Mario Götze Mario Götze (; born 3 June 1992) is a German professional Association football, footballer who plays for club Eintracht Frankfurt. Although his favoured position is that of an attacking or central midfielder, he has also played as a Winger (f ...

, the German

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who won the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, over the course of seven months as he attempts to return to his old level of performance and make it into the

2018 World Cup squad. The documentary shows Götze's quest for a World Cup ticket, but also provides insights into his private life. For the series, Pause received an Award of Merit from the

Deutsche Film- und Medienbewertung The Deutsche Film- und Medienbewertung (FBW; formerly the ''Filmbewertungsstelle Wiesbaden'') is a German federal authority for evaluating and rating film and media, located at Biebrich Palace in Wiesbaden. History It was founded by resolution on ...

(German Film and Media Rating, or FBW) in 2018 and a nomination for the 2019 AIPS - International Sport Media Award in the category for "Video: Athlete Profile." In 2019, it won the award for the best German-language

sports film A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme. It is a production in which a sport or a sports-related topic is prominently featured or is a focus of the plot. D ...

at the first VDS-SportFilmFest of the Verband Deutscher Sportjournalisten (Association of German Sports Journalists).

''Inside Borussia Dortmund'' (2019)

In December 2018, Pause began working on a documentary about German

club Borussia Dortmund. On August 9, 2019, the four-part documentary series was released on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

under the title ''Inside Borussia Dortmund''. In the series, Pause follows coaches, players and protagonists of

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

throughout the second half of the 2018-2019 Bundesliga season, providing insights into club life and the team. In 2020, the series was nominated for a

Romy Romy is a given name, often a diminutive form of names such as Rosemary or Roman or Romeo. https://nameberry.com/babyname/romy/boy People with the name include: Men * Romy Cachola, nickname of Romeo Munoz Cachola, Philippines-born Hawaiian poli ...

Austrian Film and Television Award in the category for "Best TV Documentary."

''Like a StrangerA German Pop Music Story'' (2020)

On June 5, 2020, Pause released ''Wie ein Fremder - Eine deutsche Popmusik-Geschichte'' (''Like a Stranger-- A German Pop Music Story'') on Blu-Ray and on-demand video. The five-part

documentary series Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

follows the life of musician Roland Meyer de Voltaire, former singer for the band Voltaire, over the course of six years.

''Art is a State of Mind'' (2022)

In 2022, Pause released ''Art is a State of Mind''. The six-part documentary series unfolds over the course of nine years, following Bernhard Zünkeler, an

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

, and former business lawyer. Pause documents Zünkeler's journey establishing the

ESMoA ESMoA, also known as the Experimentally Structured Museum of Art, is a museum located in Lawndale, California, US. It was founded in 2013 in El Segundo, California, by Eva Sweeney, Brian Sweeney and Bernhard Zünkeler, and is run by Artlab21 Fou ...

art lab and various

artist collectives An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

such as Freeters. In the film, the audience watches him develop a global coalition from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. His network includes, among others, Fidel Garcia from

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

graffiti artist Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in Graffito (archaeology), graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple writte ...

Big Sleeps from

South Central Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of Downtown Los Angeles, downtown. It is de ...

, and the artist Jim Reid. The German author

Cornelia Funke Cornelia Maria Funke (; born 10 December 1958) is a German author of children's fiction. Born in Dorsten, North Rhine-Westphalia, she began her career as a social worker before becoming a Book illustration, book illustrator. She began writing no ...

also appears in the documentary. The first broadcast of the complete docuseries aired on the German television channel

3sat 3sat (, ''Dreisat'') is a free-to-air German-language public service television channel. It is a generalist channel with a cultural focus and is jointly operated by public broadcasters from Germany ( ZDF, ARD), Austria ( ORF) and Switzerlan ...

on June 11, 2022.

''Second Move Kills5 Years with Jens Spahn'' (2022)

In 2022, Pause released ''Second Move Kills - 5 Jahre mit Jens Spahn (Second Move Kills - 5 Years with Jens Spahn)''. The nine-part documentary series follows the life and experiences of

Jens Spahn Jens Georg Spahn (born 16 May 1980) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been a member of the lower house of the federal parliament, the Bundestag (, MdB), for Steinfurt I – Borken I since 2002. Since 2025, he ...

(a German politician,

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

member, and former Federal Minister of Health). The series begins in 2017 and unfolds over five years. It offers an inside look at Spahn's appointment as State Secretary and his appointment as

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

. It includes footage of his life during the early course of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic, crisis meetings, trips abroad, and Spahn's private life. In addition to Jens Spahn, the series features other politicians (

Annalena Baerbock Annalena Charlotte Alma Baerbock (; born 15 December 1980) is a German politician and diplomat of the Alliance 90/The Greens party. She served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany), Germany's minister for foreign affairs from 2021 to 2025. I ...

Dietmar Bartsch Dietmar Gerhard Bartsch (born 31 March 1958) is a German politician who has served as co-chair of The Left (Germany), The Left parliamentary group in the Bundestag since 2015. Prior, he served as federal treasurer of The Left from 2006 to 2009 ...

Gerhart Baum Gerhart Rudolf Baum (28 October 1932 – 15 February 2025) was a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (Germany), Free Democratic Party (FDP) and a lawyer. From 1978 to 1982, he served as Federal Ministry of the Interior (Germany), Fede ...

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (; Kramp; born 9 August 1962), sometimes referred to by her initials of AKK, is a retired German politician who served as Federal Ministry of Defence (Germany), Minister of Defence from 2019 to 2021 and as Leader of th ...

Kevin Kühnert Kevin Kühnert (born 1 July 1989) is a German politician of Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as member of the Bundestag from 2021 to 2025, representing Berlin-Tempelhof-Schöneberg. He was General Secretary of the SPD from December 2021 ...

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), journalists (

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, Eva Quadbeck,

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, Hajo Schumacher,

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) and comedians (Max Giermann and

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). ''Second Move Kills'' (2022) first aired on November 2, 2022 on German television channel

RTL+ RTL may refer to: Media * RTL Group, a European TV, radio, and production company *** List of RTL Group's television stations (including part-owned channels) *** List of RTL Group's radio stations ** RTL Lëtzebuerg, usually referred to simply a ...

Film productions (excerpts)

* 2001: The Borussia Legend – The Way Home (about the rise of Borussia Mönchengladbach) (German title: ''Mythos Borussia – Der Weg nach Hause (über Borussia Mönchengladbach und deren Aufstieg''). * 2005: The Prince from Bergheim – The Podolski Phenomenon (German title: ''Der Prinz aus Bergheim – Das Phänomen Podolski''). * 2005: Udo Lattek's 70th Birthday – A Trip Back (German title: ''70 Jahre Udo Lattek – Eine Zeitreise''). * 2008: Not Seeing, Hearing – Blind soccer players meet Bundesliga professionals (German title: ''Hören statt Sehen – Blindenfußballer treffen auf Bundesliga-Profis''). * 2008: The Michael Jäger Story – From a Hooligan to a TV Star (German title: ''Die Michael Jäger Story – Vom Hooligan zum Serienstar''). * 2008: The Great Taboo – Homosexuality and Football (German title: ''Das große Tabu – Homosexualität und Fußball''). * 2009: Breaking the Taboo – The New Progress of Homosexuality in Football (German title: ''Tabubruch – Der neue Weg von Homosexualität im Fußball''). * 2009: Athlete Drinkers – Alcohol in Football (German title: ''Der Promille-Profi – Alkohol im Fußball''). * 2011: Football is Everything – Even Gay (German title: ''Fußball ist alles – auch schwul''). * 2011: Tom meets Zizou – Not a Midsummer Night's Drea (German title: ''Tom meets Zizou – Kein Sommermärchen''). * 2013: Mesut, 17. * 2013: Trainer! * 2018: Being

. * 2018: Inside

. * 2020: Like a Stranger - A German Pop Music Story (German title: ''Wie ein Fremder – Eine deutsche Popmusik-Geschichte''). *2022: Art is a State of Mind *2022: Second Move Kills – 5 years with

(German title: ''Second Move Kills – 5 Jahre mit Jens Spahn''). *2025: Fritz Litzmann: A Family Story (German title: ''Fritz Litzmann, mein Vater und ich'')

Awards

* 2008: Felix Rexhausen Prize for ''The great taboo'' * 2010: Adolf Grimme Prize for ''Tabubruch – Breaking the taboo'' * 2010: Alternative Media Prize for ''Tabubruch – Breaking the taboo'' * 2011: FBW: Rated "especially worthwhile" for ''Tom meets Zizou'' * 2012: VDS Television Prize for ''Tom meets Zizou'' * 2013: Best Football Film of all time: Nomination for ''Tom meets Zizou'' * 2013: VDS Television Prize for ''Trainer!'' * 2014: Adolf Grimme Prize: Nomination for ''Trainer!'' * 2018: FBW: Rated "worthwhile" for ''Being Mario Götze'' * 2019: AIPS – International Sport Media Award: Nomination for ''Being Mario Götze'' *2019: Best German Sport Film for ''Being Mario Götze'' *2020: ROMY: Nomination for ''Inside Borussia Dortmund'' *2023:

German Television Award The Deutscher Fernsehpreis (''German Television Award'') is an annual German award for television programming, created in 1999, by German television channels Das Erste, ZDF, RTL and Sat.1. It was created to be an equivalent to the Emmy Awards, th ...

: Nomination for ''Second Move Kills'' *2025: DOK.fest München, VFF-Award: Nomination for ''Fritz Litzmann: A Family Story'' *2025: FBW: Rated “especially worthwhile” for ''Fritz Litzmann: A'' ''Family Story''

Other engagements

* Member of the ''

''. * Member of the ''German Academy for Football Culture''. * Cooperation with DFB - Committees fighting discrimination and racism in soccer. * Co-author of the DFB brochure about Football and Homosexuality. * Co-author of the book ''My First Trip to the Stadium''.

References

External links

*
Website pausefilm

Website Tom meets Zizou

Website Trainer!
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pause, Aljoscha Living people Mass media people from Bonn 1972 births German documentary filmmakers