The Talented Mr F. screens as part of this year’s 2026 HSBC German Film Festival, more information about the festival is available here: The 2026 HSBC German Film Festival returns to cinemas in May
Read the Glam Adelaide story about the festival here: 2026 HSBC German Film Festival begins 6 May to 27 May at Palace Nova Cinemas – Glam Adelaide
The Talented Mr F. is another strong entry in the 2026 German Film Festival, charting the theft of a short film and the steps taken by its creators to reclaim it and is a fascinating documentary engagingly filmed and presented.
The Talented Mr F. follows the story of two young German filmmakers, Julius Drost and Moritz Hennenberg who created an animated short film called BUTTY, which is the story of a robot doing household chores that goes wrong.
Julius and Mortiz tried to enter their film to many film festivals but were rejected and they discovered the reason for the rejections was that their film had been stolen by a young American student called Samuel Felinton who changed BUTTY slightly, renamed it ‘T-130’ and claimed it as completely his own work. ‘T-130’ was shown at many festivals world wide, won awards at some of the film festivals and Samuel had given TV interviews unashamedly accepting praise for the stolen film.
Julius and Mortiz considered taking legal action against Samuel but were discouraged by how long that process would take and the international complications that would be involved. They decided instead to track Samuel down themselves and confront him about the theft. They discovered that Samuel had been very entrepreneurial and had a large social media presence over a number of platforms. They planned to entice a confession out of Samuel on camera by posing as reporters and to do so in Samuel’s hometown of Morgantown, West Virginia where he was a college student. In case Samuel knew who Julius and Mortiz were, they enlisted the help of Ian who is an American and was willing to act as the frontperson for the ruse. Their trick worked and Samuel agreed to the interview but the confrontation didn’t go as Julius and Mortiz had planned.
Director Igor Plischke and cinematographer Benedikt Hugendubel use various camera techniques of static shots, hand held shots and drone footage which could be considered a little jarring at times but does add to the ‘young filmmaker’ feel of the film.
The Talented Mr F. investigates originality and deception in the digital age as well as exploring reckoning and redemption of sorts which is compelling to the end.
The actual short film of BUTTY can be seen here:
Reviewed by Rob McKinnon
Rating 4 out of 5
Distributor: Palace Films
Fascination study of theft in the digital age, reckoning and redemption of sorts.
