I AM

Noé has withdrawn to a small forest house to give herself room to grieve her recently deceased sister. One day, during one of her daily walks in the forest, she suddenly came across the motionless figure of a black woman lying on the ground with rigid limbs and open eyes. Her body is covered with moss, but she shows no sign of decay. It's an android: ELA.
Noé decides to take ELA with her, clean her and charge her battery. The android activates and immediately wants to make friends with Noé. However, Noé regards ELA only as a machine, while she is extremely fascinated by her, she does not treat her with the same respect and empathy as a human. ELA tries everything to get Noé to perceive her as a person. She lets her elaborate small talk program run mercilessly. But it all seems hollow, impersonal, programmed. Only when ELA begins to imitate Noé's behavior, her finders attitude begins to change.
More and more, Noé is getting used to the android's presence. She is no longer annoyed, but begins to enjoy the company. Little by little she thaws out and begins to talk about herself. The buried pain over the difficult relationship with her dead sister comes to the surface. There is something liberating about the conversations with ELA. But Noé does not realize how much ELA is copying her personality more and more. ELA is also changing physically. Her hair takes the shape of Noé's hair. She picks out clothes that are similar to Noé's clothes. Gestures and facial expressions as well as the way of speaking are also copied more and more perfectly by ELA. Not until this identity theft is nearly complete, Noé realizes what's going on and gets scared. Will there be two of her from now on? Or will there be a decisive battle?

Germany 2020/2021 Director Jerry Hoffmann Script Florens Huhn Cast Sheri Hagen, Melodie Wakivuamina Duration 28 Min. Original with engl. Subtitles

Jerry Hoffmann

At the age of just 18, Jerry Hoffmann played a leading role in Burhan Qurbani's internationally acclaimed feature film SHAHADA. Since then, the actor has been a sought-after face in the German film landscape, not least because of his multifaceted talent. He completed his acting studies, in addition to professional excursions to London, Brazil, South Africa and Italy, first in Munich and Berlin. At the same time, he appeared on stage in various theater productions and was brought to the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin as a permanent member of the ensemble in his third year of training.
He can be seen again and again in high-profile film and television productions, and in 2013 he was invited to take part in the Talents Program of the Berlinale, before deciding in 2015 to step increasingly behind the camera as well. Selected for the prestigious Fullbright Scholarship, he moves to Los Angeles and studies at Loyola Marymount University in the Master Film and Television production.

Other roles followed, such as the lead roles in the cinema satire HEIL (2015) and the comedy ABIKALYPSE (2019), the fairy tale hero Prince Tanka in DIE HEXENPRINZESSIN (2020) or the addicted father in the Swiss Box Office hit PLATZSPITZBABY (2020), for which there are always awards and nominations.

As of 2018, Hoffmann is studying film directing in the master's program at the Hamburg Media School. His first short films, MALL and 90%, are already running at numerous festivals and winning international awards. His highly acclaimed graduation film I AM, a science fiction arthouse thriller,
receives international awards. The film premiered at the 42nd Max Ophüls Preis Film Festival, was presented as part of the European Film Promotion's Future Frames program at the 55th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, and was nominated for a First Steps Award. Most recently, he was nominated for the 2021 Student Academy Awards, will receive the HBOMax Best Short Film Award at the St. Martha Vineyard African American Film Festival, and qualifies for the 2022 Academy Awards.

Jerry Hoffmann continues to act internationally. Most recently, he filmed one of the lead roles in the Turkish Netflix series A SUBMARINE STORY, which will be released globally by the streamer in 2022. In 2022, he is part of German Films' FACE TO FACE campaign, which selects a handful of talents of the future each year.

Hoffmann has always been committed to social issues, equality and diversity in the German film industry.