Vivian Naefe

Directing

Vivian Naefe

Born

1956-07-21 (70)

Place of birth

Hamburg, Germany

Known for

Directing

Credits

42 titles

Vivian Naefe is a German film director and screenwriter known for her work in television and film. She studied at the University of Television and Film Munich and began her career directing television films and series. Naefe gained recognition for directing the Wild Chicks film series, based on Cornelia Funke's novels, which were successful in Germany. Her work often explores themes of adolescence and family dynamics, contributing significantly to contemporary German cinema.

Known for

Series credits

Behind the camera

The Wild Chicks poster
6.2

Twelve-year-old Sprotte has a 'gang' with her three friends Frieda, Melanie, and Trude. Together, the girls care for Sprotte's grandmother's chickens. The new girl in school, Wilma, wishes to join the group, which Melanie is very unhappy about, and on top of all of that they have an ongoing revalisasion with a group of boys.

The Wild Chicks

2006

Pizza Express poster
8.5

No synopsis available yet.

Pizza Express

1988

The Taste of Apple Seeds poster
6.0

When Bertha dies, her granddaughter Iris inherits her house and finds herself back in the home where she and her cousin used to play dressing-up in the summer holidays. While she wanders from room to room, she gropes her way through memories and things she had forgotten: What did her grandfather really do before he went to war? Which men were Bertha’s daughters in love with? Who ate his apple with the seeds?

The Taste of Apple Seeds

2013

Im Schatten das Licht poster
7.0

Eight months ago, Natasha experienced a difficult breakup and suddenly found herself faced with the ruins of her marriage. Just as she's returning to her normal routine, fate deals her a new hand. Her ex-husband, Mac, suddenly appears on her doorstep, and Sarah, a 14-year-old horse lover struggling with her grandfather's stroke, unexpectedly enters her life...

Im Schatten das Licht

2020

Balanceakt poster
4.2

For the first time in her life, Marie has no control over her body. Multiple sclerosis makes everyday life a challenge and puts the relationship with her family to the test.

Balanceakt

2018

Wild Chicks in Love poster
6.5

Five teenage girls navigate the twists and turns of their complicated emotional lives, and learn the secrets of the heart through their friendship.

Wild Chicks in Love

2007

Wild Chicks in Love poster
6.5

Five teenage girls navigate the twists and turns of their complicated emotional lives, and learn the secrets of the heart through their friendship.

Wild Chicks in Love

2007

The Wild Chicks and Life poster
6.0

The Wild Chicks are slowly growing out of their youthful gang years and have to face the worries of growing up on the sidelines of a big class trip before graduation.

The Wild Chicks and Life

2009

The Wild Chicks and Life poster
6.0

The Wild Chicks are slowly growing out of their youthful gang years and have to face the worries of growing up on the sidelines of a big class trip before graduation.

The Wild Chicks and Life

2009

Bobby poster
4.3

Bobby Kustermann is a young man with Down syndrome who lives in a loving family until his mother dies unexpectedly, leaving a hefty heritage. There is a dispute between Bobby's two siblings, Nanni and Johannes, as to whom could give Bobby a better home. Nanni and her husband Klaus would offer a “normal” family environment, but Klaus is only after the money. Johannes really wants to take care of Bobby and give him a home for the future. The problem is he is gay and lives with his partner Marc. The responsible offices don't like that at all. Only when the matter goes to court, do the parties to the dispute realize that this is mainly about Bobby's will and that he can actually best decide who he would like to live with in the future.

Bobby

2002

Der Doc und die Hexe: Katastrophenalarm poster
NR

In the fourth part of the story about Dr. Sophie Schöner and Dr. Wu, the two work together again in their old clinic after their "joint practice" project ended sooner than expected. Dr. Wu is standing in for the seriously ill clinic director Professor Fritz, which opens up unimagined career opportunities for him, but he is now also under constant pressure and extreme tension. On top of this, Sophie is pregnant, which further exacerbates the strained relationship between the two. In order to provide a little compensation for the completely overworked staff, Hans feverishly tries to make financial savings that he could credit to his employees as a pay rise. But then everything turns out quite differently.

Der Doc und die Hexe: Katastrophenalarm

2012

Der Doc und die Hexe: Nebenwirkungen poster
NR

In the third part of the story about Dr. Sophie Schöner and Dr. Wu, Professor Fritz collapses during an operation - the staff puzzles over the cause. The clinic management seizes the opportunity to get rid of the 60-year-old. Dr. Wu takes over the post, even though he was seeking to work with Sophie in his own practice. And that causes trouble...

Der Doc und die Hexe: Nebenwirkungen

2012

Fünf-Sterne-Kerle inklusive poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Fünf-Sterne-Kerle inklusive

2006

Rache für mein totes Kind poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Rache für mein totes Kind

1998

No artwork available
9.0

A comedy directed by Vivian Naefe.

Mauritius-Los

1991

Tief durchatmen, die Familie kommt poster
7.2

Like every year, Gerald and Gundula celebrate Christmas with the whole family. But Christmas Eve turns into a disaster in which Gundula loses his nerve. It was not to be expected that her mother and mother-in-law would warm up the old stories and that her husband Gerald would not even be able to put up the Christmas tree. Gerald didn't want to have Christmas with the family from the start. Gundula's religious brother Hadi and wife Rose are notoriously annoying.

Tief durchatmen, die Familie kommt

2015

No artwork available
10.0

The day after his abduction, a nine-year-old boy is found seemingly unharmed, but he has suffered severe trauma as a result of his time in the hands of his abductor. He distances himself from his mother and refuses to give any information about the perpetrator.

Julian H. entführt – Qualen einer Mutter

1994

No artwork available
7.5

No synopsis available yet.

Getting a Life

2003

Mama geht nicht mehr poster
4.5

Doctor affected by cancer tries to reconcile with her daughter in view of her imminent death.

Mama geht nicht mehr

2016

Flesh and Blood poster
2.5

Franziska had to release her newborn son for adoption on pressure from her parents as she was a teenager. Now 25 years later she has a successful career as a businesswoman. When her friends Bogdan and Mimi adopt a Ukrainian child, she remembers her own child. As the relationship with her partner Robert breaks up, she decides to search for him. She finally finds Oliver, her son in Munich. He grew up in various homes and foster care. He is a drug addict and now has a child himself with his girlfriend Sandy. She persuades him to withdraw and supports him.

Flesh and Blood

2011

Seitenwechsel poster
5.4

The relationship of Alex and Teresa has hit hard times. After 15 years of marriage, the passionate football coach and the sensitive psychoanalyst do not respect each other's needs anymore, and thus they are arguing constantly. Even a divorce seems possible, but then something unbelievable happens: After another ugly fight during a big thunderstorm, they switch bodies. Trapped, they have to play each other's roles, and chaos is bound to follow.

Seitenwechsel

2016

Obendrüber, da schneit es poster
6.4

Christmas! Every year, expectations are high again. And that's why a little dissatisfaction quickly becomes the deepest despair. "Over there, it's snowing" tells of the joy and sorrow of December 23rd and 24th, as experienced by the residents of a Munich townhouse. The focus is on the freshly separated Miriam, her daughter Julchen and the awkward pastor Gregor.

Obendrüber, da schneit es

2012

Man in Search of Woman poster
3.7

A group of men, addicted to pornography, have a chance to live out their fantasies but find that the reality is far different from what they expect.

Man in Search of Woman

1995

Two Women, Two Men poster
5.7

Nick and Charlotte are a married couple. As both are more than busy earning money, there is no time for love or sex - only Tuesdays. Soon, Charlotte finds a lover, Luis, who is an unsuccessful, married artist. He and his wife Eva also have no time for sex, as Eva has to support her artist and the couple's 3 and 6 year old kids by working in a restaurant. The secret affair of Luis and Charlotte lasts quite a while, they decide to spend a romantic week in Venice, Italy. But by accident, Eva finds out about the couple and their destination. She forces Nick, Charlotte's husband, to join her on a trip to Venice in order to restore her marriage as well as his.

Two Women, Two Men

1998

Two Women, Two Men poster
5.7

Nick and Charlotte are a married couple. As both are more than busy earning money, there is no time for love or sex - only Tuesdays. Soon, Charlotte finds a lover, Luis, who is an unsuccessful, married artist. He and his wife Eva also have no time for sex, as Eva has to support her artist and the couple's 3 and 6 year old kids by working in a restaurant. The secret affair of Luis and Charlotte lasts quite a while, they decide to spend a romantic week in Venice, Italy. But by accident, Eva finds out about the couple and their destination. She forces Nick, Charlotte's husband, to join her on a trip to Venice in order to restore her marriage as well as his.

Two Women, Two Men

1998

Was im Leben zählt poster
NR

In Munich's apartment building No. 23, one still shares in the joy and suffering of the neighbors. The single mother Miriam fell in love with the pastor Gregor. But his community is outraged. A pastor who is married to a woman who is still married is out of the question for her. Meanwhile, Miriam's ex-husband tries to regain Miriam. Daughter Jule is in need: she wants her dad back, but she also likes mom's new friend Gregor.

Was im Leben zählt

2016

Harry and Harriet poster
4.7

A quiet, offbeat German dramedy about self-reinvention and the messy ways we try to escape ourselves. When a middle-aged woman decides to shed her old life and adopt the name “Harry,” her transformation unsettles family, friends, and lovers who can’t quite keep up. Blurring gender identity, midlife crisis, and dark humour, the film plays like a bittersweet character study — deadpan, gently absurd, and tinged with melancholy.

Harry and Harriet

1990

Leo poster
9.0

A murderous community of heirs is looking forward to big money too soon. After a long time, the Dargatz family meets again for the grandmother's funeral on her farm. Leo, the local priest, is entrusted with the regulation of family affairs and the opening of the will. What begins as a harmonious family gathering is slowly becoming a drama about hidden passion, greed and lust for murder. And the devout Leo must learn that not everything that is meant well ends well.

Leo

2006

Von Erholung war nie die Rede poster
6.2

Gundula Bundschuh longs for a peaceful vacation under the sun of Mallorca. However, her mother-in-law's decision to invite the entire whimsical family thwarts her plans.

Von Erholung war nie die Rede

2017

Der Doc und die Hexe poster
NR

Dr. Sophie Schöner is to treat patients in a hospital in Berlin as a trial with traditional Chinese medicine. It quickly comes to a conflict with the local chief physician. The unequal balance of power provides professionally for plenty of controversy. The fact that the two are attractive does not make things easier.

Der Doc und die Hexe

2010

Vater Undercover - Im Auftrag der Familie poster
6.5

In anticipation of his promotion, Carlo Lehmann and his family move into a house in an exquisite residential area. But instead of professional advancement, the sudden termination follows! Carlo doesn't dare to tell his family the truth and gets more and more entangled in white lies. When his children find out about him, they secretly try to avert the financial catastrophe with their own means..

Vater Undercover - Im Auftrag der Familie

2006

No artwork available
4.0

No synopsis available yet.

I Love My Daughter's Husband

1995

My Daughter Belongs to Me poster
8.0

A Greek father, estranged from his German wife, kidnaps his daughter from her busy career mother in Berlin, and brings her home to live with his family. An international custody battle follows.

My Daughter Belongs to Me

1992

My Daughter Belongs to Me poster
8.0

A Greek father, estranged from his German wife, kidnaps his daughter from her busy career mother in Berlin, and brings her home to live with his family. An international custody battle follows.

My Daughter Belongs to Me

1992

No artwork available
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Sugar Loaf

1983

No artwork available
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Sugar Loaf

1983

No artwork available
6.0

In the middle of the South African bush, Emma decides that things can't go on like this. After 25 years of good marriage, she leaves her husband Ferdinand and moves into the unknown with her trolley case. On the ostrich farm of the solitary John, she finds the freedom she is looking for - and the challenge of her life.

Einmal so wie ich will

2005

No artwork available
3.7

No synopsis available yet.

The Boss from the West

1988

Chaos-Queens - Die Braut sagt leider nein poster
6.0

No synopsis available yet.

Chaos-Queens - Die Braut sagt leider nein

2017

Zeit der Zimmerbrände poster
4.0

After 15 years as coach of a middle-class ice hockey team in Canada, Harry Zoppke has served his purpose. Without a job and without a family, he returns to his hometown of Freiburg. While looking for work at his old club, the EHC Freiburg, he meets Benny, whom he once coached. Benny has come a long way as a joke item manufacturer. But Benny is always plagued by the uncertainty about the identity of his father. When Benny discovers that Harry is left-handed like him and has the same allergies, he is convinced that Harry must be the long-awaited biological father. Benny, in turn, is completely taken aback and ultimately misses the right moment to explain the misunderstanding to Benny. Instead, Harry soon enjoys having a son and no longer being alone. Benny now finally has the father he always wanted.

Zeit der Zimmerbrände

2014