About the Production

FREE AT HEART (formerly working title "Blackbird"/"Free") is the debut feature film by writer and director Max Hegewald. Max is already known for his work as an actor, and he has spent many years developing the screenplay for FREE AT HEART – the film was shot in Lower Saxony in the fall of 2023. The production company behind FREE AT HEART is JUNIFILM GmbH, based in Hanover. 

Our production was created in collaboration with Saarländischer Rundfunk and Bremedia Produktion GmbH and was funded by nordmedia Film- und Mediengesellschaft Niedersachsen/Bremen mbH. 

FREE AT HEART will be distributed to cinemas by Salzgeber, with a planned release in autumn 2026, and will also be broadcast on SR and ARD. World Sales: Outplay Films; U.S. Distributor: Altered Innocence.

Crew

Writer & Director: Max Hegewald
Director of Photography: Marius von Felbert, BVK
Sound: Swantje Alter, Marcel Beloqui Evardone
Production Design: Cristina Todorova
Costume Design: Thora Geissler
Make-up & Hair Design: Simone Simeone
Production Management: Robert Knoerk
Music: Sebastian Schmidt, Vanessa Donelly
Sounddesign: Roman Pogorzelski
Edited by: Brigitte Maria Schmidle, BFS
Editor SR: Christian Bauer
Co-Producer Bremedia: Heidi Bruns
Producer: Jan Philip Lange 

Cast

Sebastian: Linus Moog
Kolja: Aurel Klug
Lilli: Marlena Strawe
Linus: Leon Ndiaye
Bernd: Oli Bigalke
Vanessa: Annika Kuhl
Sarah: Marie Becker
Stolze: Karen Dahmen
Natascha: Yvonne Werner-Mees
Albrecht: Matthieu Svetchine
Tess: Ferdinand Lehmann
Ranft: Bernd Panzer
Franca: Leonie Weber
Moritz: Denis Lenz
Nico: Elias Ulnyrow
and many others