Aljoscha Pause
Aljoscha Pause is a German filmmaker, director, TV journalist, writer, and producer. He is a member of the Deutsche Filmakademie and the German Academy for Football Culture.
Background
Aljoscha Pause was born on 24 January 1972 in Bonn, Germa ...
. 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) is a German football coach and former player.
Career
Schubert studied sports and German studies at the University of Kassel. He started to work as a youth coach in 1989, and until 1995 he played for TSV Roth ...
and Stephan Schmidt. The film also takes a look behind the scenes at the DFB football teachers’ training program led by
Frank Wormuth
Frank Wormuth (born 13 September 1960) is a German football manager who most recently managed Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. T ...
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 ...
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 scienc ...
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 (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. 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'' 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)
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