
Acting
Markus Knüfken wuchs in Essen auf. Knüfken machte 1985 in Essen-Kettwig sein Abitur und zog dann nach München, um seinen Zivildienst anzutreten. 1987 arbeitete er für sechs Monate im Paketpostamt München, um sich eine halbjährige Reise nach Australien zu finanzieren. Im April 1988 kam er aus Australien zurück. Er machte den Taxischein und arbeitete als Dauerstatist bei der Bavaria Film für die ARD Reihe Rote Erde. Im Sommer 1990 begann er seine Ausbildung als Schauspieler bei der Schauspielschule Schauspiel München. Nach drei Jahren schloss er die Ausbildung ab. Sein Anfänger-Engagement hatte er im Februar 1994 beim Stadttheater Herford. Zuvor drehte er jedoch bereits seine ersten Fernsehproduktionen. Seine erste große Rolle spielt Knüfken im November/Dezember 1993 als rechtsradikaler Skinhead in der Polizeiruf-110-Folge Samstags wenn Krieg ist unter der Regie von Roland Suso Richter. Es folgten Hauptrollen in Krimi-Reihen wie Tatort und Notruf Hafenkante. Im Jahr 1995 etablierte sich Markus Knüfken mit der Hauptrolle des Eddie Velten in der Serie Auf Achse. Seitdem hat er in vielen Fernsehfilmen, Serien aber auch Kinoproduktionen mitgespielt. Als seine persönlichen Lieblingsprojekte nennt Knüfken Bang Boom Bang und Doppelpack. Weitere bekannte Produktionen, an denen Knüfken mitwirkte, waren unter anderem Das merkwürdige Verhalten geschlechtsreifer Großstädter zur Paarungszeit und Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door. Markus Knüfken war mit der niederländischen Schauspielerin Ellen ten Damme verheiratet. Er lebt seit 2003 in Hamburg und ist mit Andrea Lion verheiratet, mit der er ein Kind und eine Stieftochter hat.

Two young men, Martin and Rudi, both suffering from terminal cancer, get to know each other in a hospital room. They drown their desperation in tequila and decide to take one last trip to the sea. Drunk and still in pajamas they steal the first fancy car they find, a 60's Mercedes convertible. The car happens to belong to a bunch of gangsters, which immediately start to chase it, since it contains more than the pistol Martin finds in the glove box.

Bank robber Kalle Grabowski escapes from prison while his unemployed smalltime crook buddy is sitting around doing nothing after he just lost all their money. A fast paced comedy from German director Peter Thorwarth.

The last three weeks of school life have begun: After the Abitur, Germany's leaving certificate, the friends and schoolmates of Gymnasium Kerkheim (Kerkheim High) will not see each other again so soon. It is a hard time for Markus and his girl Sandra from a lower grade, as he wants to hang out with his old friends, whereas she wants him to be there for her. It's an even harder time for Dirk, who is to be expelled from school if he fails the math exam that is coming up around midday, and it is the hardest time for Michael, who is a perfect pupil, but has no fun in life at all - and doesn't even know it yet. When Steven calls out a party to celebrate his letter of exemption from the army, they all get together for one of the last real cool events ever.

The film is a comedy centering on the lives of eight Germans who long for sexual excitement.

Naive, talkative Hoffi and mouthy Lehmi are as different as can be. But this doesn't dampen their friendship. When they wake up one morning in the middle of Dortmund Zoo instead of in their beds among the water buffaloes, it doesn't upset them, because the orderly lives of their fellow human beings aren't their thing anyway. What's much worse is that Hoffi has got it into his head to get a birthday present for his sister on this beautiful summer's day of all days, when you could actually be relaxing in the park with a crate of beer. The two lovable slobs embark on an odyssey through the city, at the end of which they lose sight of the present but have found their dream girls.

Produced and directed by seven Munich Film School students, Honolulu takes place not in Hawaii, but inside of a rural town just outside of Munich, Germany. Several vignettes, lasting approximately 10 to 15 minutes each, are connected by one of the town’s public bus routes, outside of which two men booze the night away while waiting for the bus to make its rounds.

A boarding game comes alive and drags a family into its world

After a painful separation from her husband, Barbara, an attractive woman in her mid-forties, wants to change her mind and really relax. With her best friend Silke, she travels to a chic ski resort to enjoy her new-found freedom to the full. As soon as she arrives at the posh ski resort, Silke thinks she recognizes Hermann, the love of her life, in a hotel guest who seems to have died two years ago in unexplained circumstances. Has she been taken in by a marriage fraud? Silke persuades her friend Barbara to play the wealthy decoy.

Heinrich Lutter is unemployed and lives with his two sons Mike and Günni. Both need his full attention: Mike has a criminal record and Günni has been disabled since birth. The only thing that keeps him going is his camper van - his symbol of freedom and a better life in Italy. But his dream on four wheels is confiscated by the authorities. Nevertheless, he refuses to be deterred and continues to hold on to his conviction that he can honestly obtain his rights and realize his visions.
