Learn German with Films of Karoline Herfurth

Since her big film debut in the 2000 film Crazy (which also starred prior German-language film recommendation Robert Stadlober in the lead role), Berlin actress Karoline Herfurth has been awful busy. In addition to several theater productions and made for television movies, she has got quite a list of film credits to her name. Not to mention that Herfurth made her directorial debut with a short film in 2012

This month’s German film recommendations for German language learners include three more recent films with Herfurth all of which are rather different: Fack Ju Göhte, Beat, and SMS für Dich!

About Karoline Herfurth

Karoline Herfurth was born on May 22, 1984, in East Berlin. Her parents divorced when she was two years old. She and an older brother grew up in the German capital with five additional half-siblings.

She pursued the performing arts early, graduating from the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts before attending Humboldt University to study sociology, political science, and Russian.

Herfurth got involved in acting and performing at a young age. Through her involvement in a children’s dance theater group, she gained her first on-screen role was a 1995 made-for-television film called Ferien jenseits des Mondes. But it wasn’t until 2000 when her acting career started to take off with roles in Crazy and Küss mich, Frosch.

Fack Ju Göhte

Fack ju Göhte (or Suck Me Shakespeer in English) is a comedy written, directed and produced by Bora Dağtekin.

After bank robber Zeki Müller (Elyas M’Barek) is released from prison, his first task is to retrieve the money he hid in order to repay a debt. But the money was hidden in a construction site that has since become a new school, the Goethe Gesamtschule. Determined to get his money back, Zeki gets a job as a substitute teacher at the school where he befriends teacher Lisi (Herfurth).

Good news if you enjoy Fack ju Göhte. It has spawned two sequels: Fack ju Göhte 2 and Fack ju Göhte 3. Herfurth does not, however, appear in the third installment of the franchise.

Beat

Following the success of Prime Video’s first German-language series, You Are Wanted, Amazon developed a second German production: Beat. The 2018 show ran for a single season comprised of seven roughly hour-long episodes.

The show centers on Beat, a Berlin party boy known for being the promoter of one of the city’s most popular clubs. Then, the European Secret Service enlists Beat’s assistance to work undercover within his social and professional networks. But Beat isn’t prepared for what he finds out and is exposed to.

Herfurth portrays Emilia, a secret service agent, while Jannis Niewöhner stars as Beat.

SMS für Dich

Karoline Herfurth not only stars in SMS für Dich, she also co-wrote and directed the film. The 2016 film is based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Sofie Cramer. An English-language version of the film is also currently in production starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Outlander‘s Sam Heughan.

The film starts rather dramatically. Herfurth portrays Clara, an illustrator of children’s books whose fiance was killed in a car accident. The loss has left her struggling, both personally and professionally. To get a fresh start, Clara moves back to Berlin and, at the insistence of her best friend Katja (portrayed by Nora Tschirner), agrees to go out on some dates.

Despite trying to move on, Clara continues to send text messages to her fiancee’s number. But what Clara doesn’t realize is that the phone number has been given to someone new who is reading these intimate diary-like notes.

The film also stars Frederick Lau and comediene Enissa Amani.