''Trainer!'' is a 2013

documentary film 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 ...

that was directed by Aljoscha Pause. It observes three young professional soccer coaches over the course of an entire playing season. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 28 June 2013.

Background and story

''Trainer!'' takes a look at three young German professional soccer coaches, 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 ...

and Stephan Schmidt. The film also takes a look behind the scenes at the

DFB DFB may refer to: Music * Dem Franchize Boyz, an Atlanta hip hop group * Dysfunctional Family BBQ, a New York festival Sport * DFB-Pokal, a football cup competition in Germany Organisations * Furka Steam Railway (), Switzerland * German Footbal ...

football teachers’ training program 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 insights. Altogether, Pause spent six months researching and one year filming and editing. The film is a Pausefilm production commissioned by

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 ...

(staff writer Steffen Simon). The television premiere of the 90-minute cut was broadcast on WDR on 3 June 2013, and the theater premiere of the 138-minute "director’s cut" premiered on 11 June 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 enthusiastic praise from the press. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 28, 2013. ''Trainer!'' will be featured at the 2014 ''Flutlicht Film Festival'' in Basel, at the ''Joga Bonito! Festival'' in Vienna and at the ''Football Film Festival 2017'' in Yokohama and Kobe. ''Trainer!'' is available on Netflix (in English, German, Dutch, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic and Japanese) since 2016.

Reception

NDR2 gave ''Trainer!'' a positive review, writing that "Aljoscha Pause is to soccer documentaries as Ronald Reng is to soccer literature. It’s impossible to present football in a more forceful, genuine and fascinating way than is done in this film." ''

Spiegel Online ' () is a German news website. It was established in 1994 as ''Spiegel Online'' as a content mirror of the magazine ''Der Spiegel''. In 1995, the site began producing original stories and it introduced ''Spiegel Online International'' for artic ...

'' also praised ''Trainer'', praising Pause for his depiction of the three coaches.

Reviews

Awards

* The best Soccer Title on Netflix (''Paste Magazine'', 2017) * VDS Television Prize (2014) *

Adolf Grimme Prize The Grimme-Preis (Grimme Award), formerly known as the Adolf-Grimme-Preis, is one of the most prestigious German television awards. It is named after the first general director of Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, Adolf Grimme. The Grimme Institute ...

(2014, nominated)

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title, 2915896 2013 television films 2013 films Documentary films about association football Documentary films about sportspeople German documentary television films 2010s German films 2010s German-language films