''Sad Jokes'' is a 2024 German comedy-drama film, directed by Fabian Stumm. The film stars Stumm as Joseph, a gay film director who is co-parent to Pino (Justus Meyer) with his friend Sonya (Haley Louise Jones), and is forced to adapt to the demands of being the boy's primary caregiver after Sonya is hospitalized for depression. The cast also includes Ulrica Flach,

Jonas Dassler Jonas Dassler (born March 22, 1996) is a German stage and film actor. Life Dassler was born on March 22, 1996, in Remscheid, Germany. Beginning in the eighth grade he participated in the theatre club at the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt high school. After ...

Godehard Giese Godehard Giese (born 1972) is a German actor, known for his roles in ''Deutschland 83''. and ''Babylon Berlin''. Life Giese attended Sankt-Ansgar-Schule in Hamburg in his childhood. He studied at Berlin University of the Arts from 1997 to 200 ...

, Marie-Lou Sellem, Anne Haug, Knut Berger, Hildegard Schroedter, Nicola Heim, Tina Pfurr,

Anneke Kim Sarnau Anneke Kim Sarnau (born 1972) is a German theater and movie actress living in Berlin. Life Anneke Kim Sarnau, who comes from Klein Offenseth-Sparrieshoop, graduated from the Bismarckschule in Elmshorn and then began studying philosophy and Engl ...

, Susie Meyer, Romina Küper, Friedrich Pinckens, Doreen Fietz, Marco Alexandro Ippoliti, Rahel Maria Savoldelli,

Sebastian Schipper Sebastian Schipper (born 8 May 1968) is a German actor and filmmaker. Life and career Sebastian Schipper studied acting at the Otto Falckenberg Schule in Munich from 1992 to 1995. He got his first film role in Sönke Wortmann's '' Little Sharks' ...

, Max Krumm, Wiky Kogiou, Sven Kriesten, Brunhilde Stumm, Henri Stumm, Simon Stumm and Leo Heim in supporting roles. The film premiered at the 2024

Filmfest München The Munich International Film Festival () is the largest summer film festival in Germany and second only in size and importance to the Berlinale. It has been held annually since 1983 and takes place in late June or early July. It presents fe ...

, where Stumm won the award for Best Director in the German Cinema New Talent program. It had its North American premiere in the Discovery program at the

2024 Toronto International Film Festival The 49th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 5–15, 2024. The festival opened with David Gordon Green's film ''Nutcrackers (film), Nutcrackers'', and closed with Rebel Wilson's directorial debut film ''The Deb (fil ...

Critical reception

The film received generally positive reviews. In ''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'', Jonathan Romney wrote: "Cool but not austere execution – with cinematographer Michael Bennett shooting the action against flat, neutrally bright backgrounds – gives the film a contemporary German art-cinema feel. It makes a distinctive stylistic signature for this intelligent, quizzical disquisition on acting, fiction, emotion and that staple of moral comedy, the perennial danger of being misunderstood." Chris Cassingham of ''In Review Online'' wrote: "Stumm’s aesthetic sensibilities may lean toward the cool and distant... Thankfully, his actors counterbalance these tendencies, and come to represent that intangible thing in the film we might call soul."

References

External links

* 2024 films 2024 comedy-drama films 2024 LGBTQ-related films German comedy-drama films German LGBTQ-related films LGBTQ-related comedy-drama films 2020s German-language films Films shot in Germany Films set in Germany 2020s German films {{LGBT-film-stub