The international film sales and production company Totem has officially acquired the global sales rights for Oasis, the highly anticipated feature debut from writer and director Jannis Lenz. The film is set to celebrate its world premiere at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, where it will compete in the prestigious Orizzonti (Horizons) section. This acquisition marks a significant addition to Totem’s portfolio at a time when the Paris-based company is strategically expanding its operations to focus more heavily on internal production while maintaining a curated slate of high-quality international sales titles.
Oasis represents a visceral exploration of contemporary adolescence, set against the backdrop of a school system grappling with the digital age’s capacity for rapid escalation and social fracture. The narrative is ignited by the emergence of a viral video in which a student is seen making violent threats against his peers. As the digital footprint of the threat spreads, the atmosphere within the school deteriorates into a cycle of fear, surveillance, and physical confrontation. The film follows three societal outcasts who, buckling under the immense pressure exerted by both the school administration and their parental figures, seek sanctuary in a nearby forest. In this secluded environment, their shared isolation transforms into a series of rituals where the lines between play, pain, and penance begin to blur, ultimately forcing long-buried psychological wounds to the surface.
The film’s selection for the Venice Horizons competition places it in one of the most significant showcases for new cinematic languages and aesthetic trends. The Orizzonti section is historically known for launching the careers of filmmakers who challenge traditional narrative structures, making it a fitting venue for Lenz’s transition from acclaimed short-form work to feature-length storytelling.
The Strategic Shift of Totem and the Vision of Oasis
The acquisition of Oasis comes at a pivotal moment for Totem. Founded as a boutique sales agency, the firm has recently pivoted toward a hybrid model that emphasizes the development and production of original content. By taking on the sales rights for Oasis, Totem reinforces its reputation for identifying projects that bridge the gap between arthouse sensibilities and urgent social commentary.
Bérénice Vincent, CEO of Totem, expressed significant confidence in Lenz’s directorial vision, noting that the filmmaker possesses a level of technical and narrative maturity rarely seen in debut features. Vincent highlighted the film’s central thesis: the uncomfortable juxtaposition between the violence that modern society has integrated into its daily consumption—often through digital media—and the violence that it chooses to condemn. This thematic resonance, Vincent suggests, makes the film particularly relevant in a global climate where the boundaries of acceptable behavior are constantly being redrawn by technology and social media.
Markus Katsch, the producer representing Zeitgeist Filmproduktion FFM, echoed these sentiments. He described Oasis as a precise study of adolescent fragility. According to Katsch, the film does not merely depict violence but seeks to understand the underlying mechanisms of exclusion and fear that drive young people toward the fringes of society. The production team aimed to maintain a deeply human perspective, ensuring that the characters remain empathetic even as their actions become increasingly extreme.
Director Profile: The Pedigree of Jannis Lenz
Jannis Lenz enters the feature film arena with a distinguished background in the European film festival circuit. A graduate of the prestigious Vienna Film Academy, Lenz’s education was shaped by some of the most influential figures in modern cinema. He was mentored by Jessica Hausner, a director renowned for her meticulously framed and psychologically complex films such as Little Joe and Club Zero. Furthermore, Lenz served as an assistant to Michael Haneke, the two-time Palme d’Or winner whose clinical examination of societal violence in films like The White Ribbon and Funny Games has clearly left an imprint on Lenz’s thematic interests.
Lenz first gained international attention with his 2017 short film, Wannabe. The project, which explored the desperation for digital fame, won the Prix Clermont-Ferrand and received a nomination for the European Film Award. He followed this success with his graduation film, Soldat Ahmet (2021). The documentary-hybrid premiered at Visions du Réel and secured numerous international accolades for its portrayal of a young soldier of Turkish descent in the Austrian army who is also a professional boxer and actor. These earlier works established Lenz’s fascination with the intersection of performance, masculinity, and identity—themes that are further expanded upon in Oasis.
As a Berlinale Talents alumnus, Lenz is part of a generation of filmmakers who are increasingly focused on the psychological toll of the digital era. His move into the Venice Horizons competition is seen by industry analysts as the logical next step in a career defined by rigorous formal discipline and a keen eye for social friction.
Production Architecture and Financial Support
Oasis is a complex co-production involving multiple European entities, reflecting the collaborative nature of modern high-end arthouse cinema. The lead production house is Germany’s Zeitgeist Filmproduktion FFM, working in tandem with Austria’s Wega Film—a legendary production company known for its long-standing association with Michael Haneke. Additional co-production support was provided by Germany’s Third Picture, in collaboration with We Fade to Grey, Ocean Pictures Filmproduktion, and Totem Films itself.
The project benefited from a robust network of European film funds, highlighting the institutional support available for challenging, director-driven content. The financial architecture of the film includes contributions from:
- Der Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (BKM)
- Deutscher Filmförderfonds (DFFF)
- Österreichisches Filminstitut (ÖFI+)
- MFG Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg
- Film- und Medienstiftung NRW
- Kuratorium junger deutscher Film
- Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA)
This level of institutional backing underscores the film’s perceived cultural value and its potential to perform well across the European festival and theatrical circuits. The involvement of both German and Austrian funding bodies also points to the film’s identity as a transnational project that addresses shared European concerns regarding youth, education, and the impact of digital media on social cohesion.
Cast and Creative Ensemble
The film features a blend of established talent and fresh faces, a casting strategy designed to lend the school setting an air of authenticity. The central role is played by newcomer Florian Geißelmann, who previously appeared in Sound of Falling. Geißelmann is tasked with portraying the volatile emotional landscape of a student at the center of a burgeoning crisis.
He is joined by Godehard Giese, a veteran of German cinema known for his nuanced performances in films such as Rose and Transit. Giese’s presence provides a grounded, adult counterpoint to the raw energy of the younger cast members. The ensemble is rounded out by rising German actors Anton Petzold and Mathilda Smith, who play the fellow outcasts joining Geißelmann’s character in the forest retreat.
The technical crew behind Oasis also reflects Lenz’s commitment to high-caliber craft. The cinematography and sound design are reportedly central to the film’s transition from the claustrophobic, high-tension school environment to the eerie, ritualistic atmosphere of the forest. By moving between these two distinct settings, the film visually manifests the psychological shift from societal pressure to primal escape.
Broader Implications and Industry Context
The premiere of Oasis at Venice comes at a time when the film industry is increasingly preoccupied with the "coming-of-age" genre’s evolution. Traditional narratives of adolescent discovery are being replaced by darker, more cynical examinations of how the internet and social media platforms act as catalysts for real-world trauma. Oasis joins a growing canon of films that treat the school environment not just as a place of learning, but as a pressure cooker where digital threats can lead to physical displacement.
From a market perspective, Totem’s involvement ensures that Oasis will have a significant presence at the Venice Film Market (Venice Production Bridge). International buyers are expected to be drawn to the film’s pedigree, particularly the link to Haneke and Hausner, as well as its timely subject matter. The film’s exploration of "ritualized pain" as a form of escape suggests a psychological depth that may appeal to high-end distributors in territories known for supporting challenging European dramas, such as France, Benelux, and Scandinavia.
Furthermore, the film’s focus on the "normalization of violence" serves as a meta-commentary on the current state of media consumption. By forcing the audience to confront the transition from a digital video to a physical ritual in the woods, Lenz challenges viewers to reflect on their own desensitization to the imagery of conflict.
As the Venice Film Festival approaches, the industry will be watching closely to see how Oasis resonates with the international press and the Horizons jury. Given Jannis Lenz’s track record and the institutional weight behind the project, the film is positioned as one of the key European titles to watch in the latter half of the 2024 festival season. Its success could signal a new direction for German-Austrian co-productions, prioritizing bold, auteur-driven narratives that tackle the complexities of the modern human condition with clinical precision and empathetic depth.
