The Night of the Hungry Turtles | Germany

The Night of the Hungry Turtles leads us through the outbreak of a classical Zombie Apocalypse by using three story lines: Bullet and Lilly are busy with their last gas station heist just minutes before the first incidents. Their plan, to quit their criminal career and to escape to the Caribbean Sea, has just been smashed up. Also the life of the injured cashier-lady turns into a nightmare: She mutates to a zombie and therefore allows the viewer to experience the perspective of an undead. The third narrative is taken by the radio host Linda and leads the audience through the crisis. The innovation that accompanies this classic scenario is the absence of male roles. As explained in this interview the series is using queer identities and features an all-female cast which offered the actresses the opportunity to quit stereotype female roles and become strong female heroines. The dominating viewing habits are changed not only by just using female actors in usually male narratives or a lesbian couple as main characters, but especially by not focusing on this circumstance. At the Seriale in 2019, the series was directly selected to Webfest Berlin, where Shamila Lengsfeld received the What’s Next: Writer award.

Text: Enrico Schierer
Film team: Micaela Masetto, Valerija Levin
Music: Jonathan Barbir
Editor: Beate Bambauer

The Night of the Hungry Turtles (OT: Die Nacht der hungrigen Schildkröten) (2019)
Country: Germany
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 7 minutes
Director: Shamila Lengsfeld
Writer: Shamila Lengsfeld
Producer: Shamila Lengsfeld
Cast: Palesa Moloto, Lina Zaraket