International Press (English)

"Frozen Angels is a mesmerizing work that is not so much a science film a startling conduit into the future of the American Dream, where " perfect children " can be added to the shopping list. In their visually enthralling documentary, Eric Black and Frauke Sandig brilliantly evoke an atmosphere of familiar otherworldliness as they survey the field of assisted human-reproductive technologies."    Shari Frilot, SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

"Los Angeles is the seventh heaven for gene researchers, baby designers and surrogate mothers. From here a gigantic biotech industry sends its material out into the world, and from the world over, parents come into Mr. Handel's egg donor and surrogate mother agency in order to fulfill their desire to have children. Frozen Angels, the impressive documentary by Frauke Sandig and Eric Black, examines the nightmarish universe of baby production in California. Calmly, without alarmism the film portraits captains of the biotech industry, hopeful parents and newly initiated surrogate mothers. In the sterile politeness of this new world, there is always a wish to be fulfilled, and a solution to be used. Frozen Angels does not denounce this desire. The brilliantly filmed work is instead, a masterpiece of sobriety and reserve, relying alone upon the chill suggested in its images."    DIE ZEIT, Germany

"the most chilling film on show this year is Eric Black and Frauke Sandig's Frozen Angels, which follows Los Angeles radio host and surrogate mother agency owner, Bill Handel as he seeks to show just how close we are to the age of designer babies, with all its terrifying eugenic consequences".    David Parkinson, BBC, London

"With "Frozen Angels" the two documentary filmmakers, Frauke Sandig and Eric Black have, over three years filming, constructed a mysterious puzzle, whose story-like structure and visual style are closer to feature, fiction films such as "Short Cuts" or "Magnolia" than to documentary. The film unites the different protagonists and episodes seemingly according to coincidence, thereby giving an impression of casualness where a sense of the real atmosphere of Los Angeles can emerge: one whose cult of the body perfect continued right on, uninterrupted through the announcement and associated propaganda of the second Iraq war."    ARTE (French-German public television)

"... brilliant, haunting Frozen Angels, (is) an exploration of the world of alternative reproduction in Southern California whose structure combines unexpected sources, not unlike the machinations of genomes themselves."    Peter Keough, FIPRESCI, (International Federation of Film Critics), Sydney

"If Michael Mann ever made a documentary about human-reproduction technologies, it might look a lot like Frozen Angels. with portentous urban imagery reminiscent of "Heat" and "Collateral."    VARIETY, Los Angeles

This extremely informative film illuminates the state of reproduction technology in Southern California from surrogate mothers to human genetic engineering. Without scruple, researchers report on possibilities that will, in the future, allow them to design model children and ship the result worldwide per post. One frightening documentary for an audience concerned about the future of humanity, with excellent editing and a grand cinematographic style."    CINEMA

"Blonds preferred... The chilling quality of Frozen Angels is not revealed through some peculiarly of the main characters themselves but in how friendly, sympathetic and trustworthy they come across."    DIE WELT, Germany

"The film presents a outstanding essay on the state of the reproduction possibilities in California: Where so many embryos lie on ice, one could populate whole cities. Where nice ladies with joyous voices, telephone want-to-be parents with elated news of their successful coupling with surrogate mothers and egg donors - "they read your application, they loved it, they absolutely want you!". Where single women avail themselves to a sperm bank of Nobel Prize winners. Where the selection possibilities of genetic engineering seems so close within reach, it already appears clear what parents would chose if they could determine the characteristics of their children: The world will become blond and blue-eyed."    FRIDAY

"BEAUTIFUL NEW WORLD...When the talk-show radio host and proprietor of the world's largest surrogate-mother agency, Bill Handel, sings the praises of artificial reproduction in the film Frozen Angels, one's reaction is a mixture of fascination and horror. One could like him as well as the scientists who work to further the development of artificial reproduction technology, believing that they act only for the benefit of individuals. Yet in an industry like this there is little place for idealism especially since - as the lawyer Lori Andrews knows - in the USA this market is without any controls."    FRANKFURTER RUNDSCHAU, Germany