Instead of luxuriating in idyllic views of the city and creating a promotional video that fades from one attraction to the next, students from Munich University of Film and Television have turned their backs on some of the city’s most persuasive charms to create a fast-paced action film for München Tourismus.
“The Hardest Job” tells the story of a Munich tour guide’s exciting life. Our tour guides are responsible for excited visitors to the city – which includes taking responsibility for making sure that they go back home! That’s where the problems begin: Visitors to Munich just don’t want to leave! They hide, they run away, and they even resort to sneaky tricks to try to stay in Munich.
Bringing them back into line requires someone with intelligence, lightning-fast reactions and a body of steel – in other words, a super agent! Because it takes a super agent to tackle “The Hardest Job” to the satisfaction of all concerned. Wild chases through the city are certainly one way of seeing the beauty of Munich – though from some rather unusual perspectives! Nonetheless, it’s impossible for viewers to miss exactly what it is that makes Munich simply irresistible.
The film is the result of a collaboration between München Tourismus and Munich University of Film and Television. In the winter of 2016/2017, München Tourismus teamed up with the Chair of Advertising Films to organise a story development competition for a television ad promoting Munich as a travel destination. Participating students were given the greatest possible design freedom. The judging panel, headed by Mayor Josef Schmid, chose the video treatment submitted by Nils Keller. The production was funded using monies from the city’s tourism fund.
“A wonderful student film for München Tourismus”
Nils Keller directed the video, based on his own script, while production of the short film fell to Max Traub and Leon Hellmann from Cellardor Film. Karl Kürten did the camera work, and Prof. Henning Patzner and his team supported with story development and production. The 100-second ad is being disseminated on the internet and via social media.
On 17 May 2018, “The Hardest Job” was awarded the silver Prix Victoria at the 28th International Business Film Festival in Vienna in the Tourism Films category.
The video took 3rd place at "The World's Best Tourism Film & Video Award" in Vienna in November 2019. “The Hardest Job” was submitted together with more than 3000 films from all over the world to the competition of the International Committee of Tourism Film Festivals (CIFFT).
In October 2022, director Nils Keller won also Oscar gold at the Student Academy Awards in Los Angeles for his film "Almost Home".
"The Hardest Job" was just the beginning of the cooperation between München Tourismus and the University of Film and Televison. The project "Club of Cool Cities" from the year 2018 can be found here. In 2019, the spot "The Unbelievabowls" proved that Munich and sport are a dream team.