Denkmal-Film Verhaag


Rentner GmbH




Pensioners Inc.

a film by Bertram Verhaag

52 min / 30 min

The average age of employees at the Vita Needle Company - a needle and tubing factory near Boston - is an amazing 74 years. Anyone who can make it up the front steps gets hired.

Employees Mary, Marion, Paul, Tom, Ann and Rosa are all aged between 75 and 95. In their previous lives, they were engineers, nurses, bakers and waiters. Now, they’ve decided against spending their sunset years bored, lonely and inactive. At Vita Needle, they’ve come together and found a new home – and the security of a job for life.

Not only that, but they’re busy confounding stereotypes about retirement and old age. In the space of five years, they’ve secured a 100% increase in profits for the company. It’s unsurprising, then, that boss Frederik Hartmann is delighted with his elderly employees.

In touching and endearing interviews, the workers at the Vita Needle Company reveal their newfound sense of self-confidence. Full of joy and energy, they describe how happy they are in their community, and talk about the dream they all share: to carry on climbing the steps to the production hall for as long as possible!

(Language Versions: German, English, Spanish)


3. Preis: “film ab! 50″-Kurzfilmwettbewerb des Exground-Filmfestivals 2009
   
Buch & Regie Bertram Verhaag Kamera Waldemar Hauschild - Gerardo Milsztein
Schnitt Verena Schönauer Ton Zoltan Ravasz Assistenz Kim Koch - Carolin Neubauer
Mischung Ralph Bienzeisler Farbkorrektur Jürgen Pertack Redaktion Martin Blachmann, WDR

In Co-Produktion mit dem WDR, in Zusammenarbeit mit ARTE
© 2007 DENKmal-Film Verhaag GmbH