''Köln 75'' is a 2025 German music-

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Ido Fluk. The film follows the true story of Vera Brandes, teenage patron saint of the 1970s

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

music scene, as she makes plans to organize a

Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd (jazz musician), Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also be ...

concert in Cologne, what eventually became the album ''

The Köln Concert ''The Concert'' (TKC) is a live solo double album by pianist Keith Jarrett recorded at the Cologne Opera#The opera house, Opera House in Cologne, Köln, West Germany, on 24 January 1975 and released on ECM Records later that year. It is the bes ...

''. Mala Emde and

John Magaro John Robert Magaro (born February 16, 1983) is an American actor. He has acted in the films '' Not Fade Away'' (2012), '' The Big Short'' (2015), '' Carol'' (2015), ''Overlord'' (2018), '' First Cow'' (2019), '' Showing Up'' (2022), ''The Mistre ...

star as Brandes and Jarrett, respectively. The film, released on the 50th anniversary of the concert, was selected in the Berlinale Special Gala section at the

75th Berlin International Film Festival The 75th annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, took place between 13 and 23 February 2025 in Berlin, Germany. American filmmaker Todd Haynes was named the Jury President for the main competition. It marked the f ...

, and had its world premiere at the festival on 16 February 2025. Its theatrical release was on March 13, 2025, in German theaters.

Synopsis

The film follows 18-year-old Vera Brandes as she defies her conservative parents to organize a 1975 concert by

in Cologne. Despite near failure, the impromptu performance's recording becomes the iconic Köln Concert, a landmark of 20th-century music.

Cast

* Mala Emde as Vera Brandes, German concert organizer **

Susanne Wolff Susanne Wolff (born 1 May 1973) is a German actress. Her credits include the television series ''Morgen hör ich auf'' and the films ''Styx (film), Styx'' and '. Wolff was born in Bielefeld. She studied at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und ...

as 50-year-old Vera Brandes *

, American jazz pianist *

Michael Chernus Michael Louis Chernus (born August 8, 1977) is an American actor who has acted on film, television, and the stage. He is best known for his role as Cal Chapman on the Netflix original comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019) ...

as Michael "Mick" Watts, American journalist for

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

Alexander Scheer Alexander Scheer (born 1 June 1976 in East Berlin) is a German actor and musician. He has won several national awards for his performances in film and theater, including one German Film Award for "Best Actor in a Leading Role" and one Bavarian F ...

Manfred Eicher Manfred Eicher (born 9 July 1943) is a German record producer and the founder of ECM Records. Life and career Eicher was born in Lindau, Germany. He studied music at the Academy of Music in Berlin. He started as a double-bass player of classi ...

, German record producer and founder of

ECM Records ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) is an independent record label founded by Karl Egger, Manfred Eicher and Manfred Scheffner in Munich in 1969. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a variety of recordings, and ECM's a ...

Ulrich Tukur Ulrich Tukur (born Ulrich Gerhard Scheurlen; 29 July 1957) is a German actor and musician. He is known for his roles in Michael Haneke, Michael Haneke's ''The White Ribbon'', Steven Soderbergh, Steven Soderbergh's ''Solaris (2002 film), Solaris' ...

as Dr. Brandes, Vera's father *

Jördis Triebel Jördis Triebel (born 30 October 1977) is a German film and stage actress. Early life Triebel grew up the second oldest of four sisters in the Prenzlauer Berg locality of Berlin. She was exposed to the world of theatre early on through her mot ...

as Ilse Brandes, Vera's mother

Production

Principal photography began on 5 October 2023 on locations in Germany and Poland. Filming ended on 3 November 2023 in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

Release

The film was released on 13 March 2025 theatrically in Germany by Alamode Filmdistribution, and in Switzerland by Polyfilm. It was later released in more European regions, and is planned to be released theatrically in the United States by Zeitgeist Films.

References

External links

* *
''Köln 75''
at Berlinale

at Alamode Film in German {{DEFAULTSORT:Koln 75 2025 films 2025 drama films 2020s German-language films English-language German films 2020s English-language films Polish drama films Belgian drama films Films shot in North Rhine-Westphalia