ABOUT

We focus on stories from society, art, and culture that risk being overlooked or forgotten.

Since 2010, Berlin-based director, editor, cinematographer, and producer Tom Ehrhardt has released his work under the label con men. His first feature documentary, Last Year in Summer—about a toy-instrument orchestra touring Paris—was produced entirely independently. He went on to create numerous music videos, including for Hanin Elias (Atari Teenage Riot) and the electro-rap duo Mediengruppe Telekommander. The video This Party Blows for the Berlin band Crime premiered at the Pornfilm Festival Berlin in 2012, followed by con men’s production of the band’s stage visuals for their 2012/13 European tour.

In 2014, work began on The Forgotten Treasure. The project received the Gerd Ruge Grant from Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and was selected for the Documentary Campus Master School. Supported by cultural funds, a successful crowdfunding campaign, and licensing from MDR in Germany and Brazil, the film was completed in 2017/18. The documentary on non-conformist artists in the GDR premiered at the Montreal International Festival of Films on Art, toured German cinemas in 2020/21, and was recommended by outlets such as Süddeutsche Zeitung and DER SPIEGEL. During this period, con men also co-produced the Brazilian music documentary ELETRONICA:MENTES (dir. Dácio Pinheiro), which screened in the competition of IndieLisboa 2020 and other international festivals.

The short films Ash, Wood and Stars (2021) and theilmann (2023) followed, both premiering at international festivals—including FIPADOC, on art, and Message to Man—and later released in the ARD Mediathek. In 2023, the co-produced documentary Lenita premiered at the São Paulo International Film Festival.

Many con men productions are created in close collaboration with the Brazilian company Gore Filmes, led by director Dácio Pinheiro—among them The Forgotten Treasure, ELETRONICA:MENTES, Lenita, and the award-winning short fiction film Lair’s Birthday. Currently, the hybrid documentary Villa Lobos Artistic Caravan and the artist biography The Circular Universe are in final post-production. Gore Filmes and con men are also developing Asphalt Flower, the feature-film adaptation of Pinheiro’s 2010 documentary My Buddy Claudia.