There was Marlene Dietrich, Hildegard Knef, and Nico, the ice-cold sphinx. And there is Mona Mur, Germany’s Queen of Postpunk. Her dazzling career, which brought her together with the likes of En Esch (KMFDM), FM Einheit, Mark Chung and Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten), Nikko Weidemann (“Babylon Berlin”), Dieter Meier (Yello), and J.J. Burnel (The Stranglers), is now being captured in a documentary film — by Grimme Award winners Dietmar Post and Lucía Palacios, who were also behind the sensational film Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback .
Michael Schuh (Laut.de)
The film ‘Mona Mur in Conversation‘ shows Mona Mur as an impressive musician and artist with a thoughtful, humorous character. It reveals how the path of steadfastness is not easy. The concept for the film is perfectly realised. A green chair against a red background and a screen. Pure simplicity, no distractions, and it’s mesmerizing: Mona Mur and her story. Her life and work. The highs and the lows. The beauty. Music runs through her in every fibre, breath, rhythm, and in her voice. Her body and movements. Accented by her smile and sensuality. She’s magnetic.
Elfi Mikesch (Filmmaker)
Mona Mur In Conversation is so fascinating because it is multifaceted: it is about Mona Mur as a fearless woman in the male-dominated music business, but it is also a gallop through recent pop music history.
Monika Treut (Filmmaker)
It shows the many faces of Mona Mur, how she adapted and kept evolving her own creative style.
The Audience Award 2024 goes to the film Mona Mur in Conversation by Dietmar Post. The 86-minute film traces the biography of the Hamburg-born artist’s work to date, the stages of self-determined creativity that began in West Germany’s early 80s post-punk scene.
Unerhört Music Film Festival
A cleverly constructed set-up combines speaking in front of the camera, off-camera questions and illustrative visual and audio material to create a captivating narrative of a life lived according to her own ideas without concessions – presented in a dry, straightforward, self-conscious and eloquent manner by a great artist to be (re)discovered.
The fact that the film, completed only two days before its screening, received an award from the audience in its protagonist’s hometown the day after its world premiere, can only be described as an amazing feat.