Leading German production company Constantin Film has launched an investigation into allegations of abuse and bullying by Til Schweiger, one of the country’s biggest actor-directors, during the shoot of Constantin’s hit feature Manta Manta 2.
The company has contracted an independent law film to conduct an external compliance analysis following a report by German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel that, among other things, Schweiger had been intoxicated on set on several occasions, had assaulted a staff member of Constantin Film, and forced a female extra to play a nude scene which had not been in the original screenplay.
Schweiger’s lawyers told Der Spiegel he denied all of the allegations.
Constantin CEO Martin Moszkowicz told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper he took “very seriously” what he described as “very regrettable incidents”.
Moszkowicz confirmed to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that on July 21, 2022, an “apparently heavily intoxicated” Schweiger had been prevented by a Constantin Film employee from starting work on that day’s shoot of Manta Manta 2, adding “the ensuing confrontation led to an assault [on the Constantin staffer].”
“As an employer, we have a duty of care towards all employees, including Til Schweiger,” he noted. “We do not allow alcohol consumption during working hours, at the workplace or during filming. That is contractually stipulated. As an employer, we must and want to offer a safe workplace where respect is shown.”
Manta Manta 2 is an action comedy and the sequel to the 1991 film Manta Manta which was the launchpad for Schweiger’s film career following a long stint on German weekly soap opera Lindenstraße.
Manta Manta 2 is the most successful German film at the German box office so far this year. It opened top of the German charts in March 2023 for Constantin, and had grossed €11.3m and been seen by more than 1.1m cinemagoers as of May 7.
It is one of two productions directed and starring Til Schweiger which were produced with Constantin Film in 2022. The other, Das Beste Kommt Noch, is an adaptation of the 2019 French film The Best Is Yet To Come (La Meilleur Reste A Venir) by Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte. It was produced by Constantin subsidiary Olga Film as a co-production with Constantin Film and is scheduled to be released in German cinemas at the beginning of December 2023.
Action plan
The allegations against Schweiger provided unexpected topicality to the culture minister Claudia Roth’s announcement of an action plan to establish a nationwide code of conduct for “working respectfully in art, culture and the media” late last week.
“We must look at the structures in the culture and media sector with particularly alert eyes and work towards a culture in which everyone can develop artistically and work without fear of sexualised violence and harassment.” Roth said at a meeting attended by Olaf Zimmermann, managing director of the German Arts Council, Ferda Ataman, Federal Independent Anti-Discrimination commissioner, and Eva Hubert, CEO of Themis, the independent trust centre established in 2018 to combat sexual harassment and violence in the film, TV and theatre industres in Germany.
“The more concretely such a code is formulated and the clearer the consequences for violations are, so much the better,” said Ataman.
The findings of the action plan’s consultation with all sectors of the arts and media sectors will be presented in summer 2024.
Roth suggested adherence to a code of conduct could become a prerequisite for receiving public funding for film production in future if the industry cannot commit to self-regulation.
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