''Grimm Love'' (original German title ''Rohtenburg'', a pun on ''roh'' "raw" +

Rotenburg Rotenburg may refer to: *Rotenburg (district), Lower Saxony, Germany *Rotenburg an der Wümme, capital of the district *Rotenburg an der Fulda, near Kassel in Hesse *Rothenburg ob der Tauber, in the Franconia region of Bavaria *Hersfeld-Rotenburg, ...

) is a 2006

psychological horror Psychological horror is a genre, subgenre of horror fiction, horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and Mental state, psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre frequent ...

film inspired by the

Armin Meiwes Armin Meiwes (; born 1 December 1961) is a German former computer repair technician who received international attention for murdering and eating a voluntary victim in 2001, whom he had found via the Internet. After Meiwes and the victim jointly ...

cannibal Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, bo ...

murder case.

Plot

Keri Russell Keri Lynn Russell (born March 23, 1976) is an American actress. She portrayed the titular character on the drama series ''Felicity (TV series), Felicity'' (1998–2002), which won her a Golden Globe Award, and Elizabeth Jennings (The Americans), ...

plays Katie Armstrong, an American student in Germany studying criminal psychology. She chooses a notorious subject for her thesis: the cannibal killer Oliver Hartwin (played by

Thomas Kretschmann Thomas Kretschmann (; born 8 September 1962) is a German actor who has appeared in many European and American films. His notable roles include Lieutenant Hans von Witzland in '' Stalingrad'' (1993), Hauptmann Wilm Hosenfeld in '' The Pianist'' ( ...

). Oliver dreamed of eating a willing victim and, thanks to the internet, he was able to find a volunteer, a young man named Simon Grombeck (played by ). The story is told in flashbacks as Katie researches these men and their pasts. Events culminate in Katie's discovery of a snuff tape that documents the crime.

Cast

Production

The film is directed by music-video specialist Martin Weisz and written by T. S. Faull.

Release

The film had its world premiere at

London FrightFest Film Festival FrightFest, also known as Arrow Video FrightFest is an annual film festival held in London and Glasgow. The festival holds three major events each year: a festival running five days over the UK late August Bank Holiday weekend, a Halloween event ...

on 27 August 2006 under the title ''Grimm Love''. In October 2006, the film won four awards at the

Festival de Cine de Sitges The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy film, fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world ...

: Best Director, Best Actor (Thomas Kretschmann and Thomas Huber), and Best Cinematography. It won the Melies d'Argent at the Luxembourg International Film Festival. In July 2007, the film won Best Director and Best Actor (Thomas Kretschman and Thomas Huber) at the

Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (), or BiFan, is an international film festival held annually in July in Bucheon, South Korea. Prior to 2015, it was known as the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival or PiFan. Inaugurate ...

. ''Rohtenburg'' was scheduled for release in Germany on 9 March 2006. In March 2006, the film was banned by a German court for infringing the personal rights of

, but the film has been sold for international release and will be shown worldwide. In May 2009, the

Federal Court of Justice The Federal Court of Justice (german: Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) is the highest court in the system of ordinary jurisdiction (''ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit'') in Germany, founded in 1950. It has its seat in Karlsruhe with two panels being situat ...

annulled the ban in favor of freedom of arts. The film has also screened at Austin's

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

festival, among others, in advance of its US release. It is part of the 2010 Fangoria FrightFest.

Notes

External links

* * {{Authority control 2006 films 2006 crime drama films English-language German films German LGBT-related films 2000s crime thriller films Crime films based on actual events Films about snuff films Films about cannibalism 2000s exploitation films 2006 LGBT-related films 2006 drama films Films directed by Martin Weisz Film censorship in Germany Film controversies in Germany Obscenity controversies in film 2000s English-language films 2000s German films