The Frog
and
the Water
The Frog
and
the Water
Synopsis
Buschi’s daily routine in an assisted living facility leaves no room for surprises. Seeking change, he seizes the chance to leave a group outing behind and joins a tour of Japanese tourists travelling through Germany. Having lived his entire life without speaking, on this unusual trip, he forms a wordless friendship with Hideo — a man on a journey of his own — creating a bond that goes beyond words and starts an unexpected adventure.
Director’s
Biography
Filmography:
2023 SPUK UNTERM RIESENRAD
2022 DARK SATELLITES
2018 IN THE AISLES
2015 A HEAVY HEART
2012 OF DOGS AND HORSES (Short)
2008 TEENAGE ANGST (Short)
2006 ES GEHT UNS GUT (Short)
Thomas Stuber was born in 1981 in Leipzig, where he also grew up.
After completing several internships and working in the film industry, he began studying at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in 2004, graduating in 2011 with a diploma in Media/Directing for the Screen.
In 2006, he won the Promotional Award of the Württemberg Film Industry for his short film Es geht uns gut. His 60-minute third-year film Teenage Angst premiered at the Berlinale in 2008. The film received the award for Best German Newcomer Film at the International Student Film Festival Sehsüchte.
His graduation film, the black-and-white short Of Dogs and Horses, was nominated for the First Steps Award, won the German Short Film Award, and received the Silver Student Academy Award (Student Oscar) for Best Foreign Narrative Film. The screenplay was based on a short story by Clemens Meyer. Together with Meyer, he went on to co-write the screenplays for Herbert and In the Aisles.
A Heavy Heart, Stuber’s first full-length feature film, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and won three Lolas at the 2016 German Film Awards, including Best Film: Silver. In the Aisles had its world premiere in the Competition section of the 2018 Berlinale, was shown at numerous international festivals, and won the German Film Award for Best Actor.
Thomas Stuber also works in television. The Tatort episode Verbrannt, which he directed, was shown in numerous cinemas as a pre-premiere before its first broadcast in 2015 and won the German Television Crime Award. His TV film Ein Mann unter Verdacht premiered at the Munich Film Festival in 2016. In 2020, Thomas Stuber directed all episodes of the Sky mystery-horror series Hausen.
Main Cast
Aladdin Detlefsen
as Stefan Busch (Bushi)
Kanji Tsuda
as Hideo Kitamura
Bettina Stucky
Meltem Kaptan
Cornelius Schwalm
Main Crew
Director: Thomas Stuber
Writers: Gotthart Kuppel, Thomas Stuber, Hyoe Yamamoto
Director of Photography: Filip Zumbrunn
Editor: Kaya Inan
Sound: Balthasar Jucker
Art Director: Jenny Roesler
Costumes: Katharina Schnelting, Stephanie Fürst
Hair and Make-up: Miriam Blank
Production Management: Caroline Dyrek
Casting: Anja Dihrberg-Siebler
Producers: Christoph Friedel & Claudia Steffen (Pandora Film Produktion)
Executive Producer: Fee Buck
Co-producers: Christof Neracher (Hugofilm Features), Magdalena Welter & Louis Mataré (Lomotion), Annegret Weitkämper-Krug (Gretchenfilm)
Commissioning Editors: Solveig Cornelisen (ZDF), Julius Windhorst (ZDF/ ARTE), Barbara Häbe (ARTE)
Pandora Film Produktion with Gretchenfilm in co-production with Hugofilm Features (Switzerland) with Lomotion and in co-production with ZDF, ARTE in co-operation with Neopol, Hassaku Labs, Vesuvius Pictures
Technical
Details
Original title: Der Frosch und das Wasser
International title: The frog and the water
Duration: 113 min
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Format: DCP
Sound: 5.1
Year: 2025
Original languages: German, Japanese, English
Countries of production: Germany, Switzerland
Production Companies: Pandora Film Produktion GmbH
Co-production Companies: Hugofilm Productions GmbH, Lomotion AG, Gretchenfilm GmbH
With the support of: Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, Deutscher Filmförderfonds, Hessen Film und Medien, Nordmedia, FFA and BKM, BAK Federal Office of Culture, Bern Film Fund and FISS