GFQISSUE3-2017

GERMAN F ILMS QUARTERLY

IN LOCARNOFREEDOM by Jan Speckenbach International CompetitionICEMAN by Felix Randau Piazza GrandeTHREE PEAKS by Jan Zabeil Piazza GrandeTHE POETESS by Stefanie Brockhaus & Andreas Wolff Semaine de la Critique

DIRECTORS Helene Hegemann & Philipp LeinemannPRODUCERS Christine Kiauk & Herbert Schwering of COIN FILMACTOR Franz Rogowski

THE SUMMER ISSUE

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CONTENTS GFQ 3-2017

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GFQ 3-2017 CONTENTS

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I N T H I S I S S U EPORTRAITS

A CONSISTENT APPROACHA portrait of director Helene Hegemann .......................................... 4

THRIVING ON GENREA portrait of director Philipp Leinemann ........................................ 6

COMBINING ENTERTAINMENT & SOPHISTICATIONA portrait of COIN FILM .................................................................... 8

AN INTUITIVE PHYSICAL PRESENCEA portrait of actor Franz Rogowski .................................................. 10

NEWS & NOTES ................................................................................ 12

NEW FEATURES

DREI ZINNENTHREE PEAKS Jan Zabeil ................................................................ 17

FORGET ABOUT NICKMargarethe von Trotta ...................................................................... 18

FREIHEITFREEDOM Jan Speckenbach ............................................................ 19

DIE KÖRPER DER ASTRONAUTENTHE ASTRONAUTS‘ BODIES Alisa Berger ...................................... 20

LUNALUNA’S REVENGE Khaled Kaissar ................................................. 21

DER MANN AUS DEM EISICEMAN Felix Randau ..................................................................... 22

SCHNEEFLÖCKCHENSNOWFLAKE Adolfo J. Kolmerer ................................................... 23

DIE VIERHÄNDIGEFOUR HANDS Oliver Kienle ............................................................. 24

NEW DOCUMENTARIES

THE POETESSStefanie Brockhaus, Andreas Wolff ................................................. 25

WARLESS DAYHamed Mohammadi ......................................................................... 25

NEW SHORTS

GABIMichael Fetter Nathansky ................................................................ 26

MEMENTO MORINina Schiena ..................................................................................... 26

SOGJonatan Schwenk ............................................................................. 27

THE WHEELDaniela Lucato .................................................................................. 27

UPCOMING FILMS

BERLIN BOUNCERDavid Dietl ........................................................................................ 28

BURG SCHRECKENSTEIN 2Ralf Huettner .................................................................................... 28

EINGEIMPFTDavid Sieveking ................................................................................ 28

ELECTRIC GIRLZiska Riemann ................................................................................ 29

FACK JU GÖHTE 3Bora Dagtekin .................................................................................. 29

MACHT EUCH KEINE SORGEN!Emily Atef ......................................................................................... 29

DAS MELANCHOLISCHE MÄDCHENSusanne Hermann ......................................................................... 30

PRÉLUDESabrina Sarabi ................................................................................. 30

DAS SCHÖNSTE PAARSven Taddicken ............................................................................... 30

TRANSITChristian Petzold .............................................................................. 31

TRAUTMANNMarcus H. Rosenmüller .................................................................. 31

WÄLDERLothar Herzog .................................................................................. 31

Shareholders & Supporters ............................................................ 33

Film Exporters ................................................................................. 34

Imprint .............................................................................................. 35

DIRECTOR’S PORTRAIT GFQ 3-2017

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A CONSISTENTAPPROACH

GFQ 3-2017 DIRECTOR’S PORTRAIT

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© 2016 VANDERTASTIC GMBH & CO. KG AND CONSTANTIN FILM PRODUKTION GMBHSUPPORTED BY

„AXOLOTL OVERKILL“ A HELENE HEGEMANN FILM A VANDERTASTIC PRODUCTION IN CO-PRODUCTION WITH CONSTANTIN FILM PRODUKTION, RBB AND BR SUPPORTED BY LEUCHTSTOFF AN INITIATIVE OF RBB AND MEDIENBOARD BERLIN-BRANDENBURGJASNA FRITZI BAUER ARLY JOVER MAVIE HÖRBIGER LAURA TONKE JULIUS FELDMEIER HANS LÖW CHRISTOPHER ROTH AND BERNHARD SCHÜTZ ELECTRONIC MUSIC TERRANOVA EDITOR BETTINA BÖHLER PRODUCTION DESIGNER SYLVESTER KOZIOLEK

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY MANU DACOSSE (SBC) COMMISSIONING EDITORS COOKY ZIESCHE CORNELIA ACKERS CO-PRODUCERS CONSTANZE GUTTMANN FRIEDERICH OETKER EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS MARTIN MOSZKOWICZ OLIVER BERBENPRODUCERS HANNEKE VAN DER TAS ALAIN DE LA MATA BASED ON THE NOVEL „AXOLOTL ROADKILL” BY HELENE HEGEMANN WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY HELENE HEGEMANN WORLD SALES THE MATCH FACTORY

a film by HELENE HEGEMANN

_ _ . . .

It is a mild summer’s evening and HeleneHegemann suggests that we sit on theterrace of the Italian restaurant alongsideVolkspark Friedrichshain, so that she will

be able to smoke. In a few seconds she hasrolled herself a cigarette, while her dogCharly dozes peacefully under the table.

Her full-length feature film debut AXOLOTLOVERKILL has just been launched in Germancinemas after celebrating its world premiereat the well-known Sundance film festival inJanuary. This is remarkable in several re-spects. Not merely because she is only 25years young and has never studied at a film academy, but also because she was alsoadapting her own novel, Axolotl Roadkill. Shepublished the novel at eighteen and becamefamous overnight, the book proving a hugesuccess. But the uncontested literary qualityof the novel, the radical subjective perspectiveof a teenage girl, was overshadowed by anoccasionally scornful discussion followingaccusations of plagiarism. By contrast, thefilm is being almost unanimously praised bythe critics. Not that Hegemann reads thereviews. She stopped doing that long ago, forreasons of self-preservation.

Shortly after its appearance, there werealready several attempts to adapt the book,Hegemann tells me, but she didn’t like any ofthose screenplay versions by various authors.“Fortunately, I had retained the film rightsand so I met up with the people who wantedto film the novel. But it soon became clearto me that their ideas were no better thanmine, so I might as well do it myself.” Thissounds very self-confident, but Hegemannemphasizes that it was largely an “act ofdesperation”.

“All the versions offered to me took the wrongapproach entirely, they were just mixes ofWETLANDS and WE CHILDREN FROM BAHN-HOF ZOO. I was left writhing. I wanted the veryopposite of such a strange party-bold-girl-teenie-story.” She had even managed to keepthe final cut, i.e., the right to avoid cutting inthe end by a nervous film distributor lookingto create a dismal movie with mass appeal.This is anything but automatic in the Germanfilm industry. But her final film also revealsthat artistic freedom.

AXOLOTL OVERKILL is a consistent furtherdevelopment of the novel: apart from thebasic constellation, she has kept very little ofthe original in her radical screenplay. “Afterall, the novel was the protagonist’s inner life,for the film I had to develop an external worldfor her, and in the end, all that was left weretwo of the original scenes,” Hegemann ex-plains.

Mifti is a 16-year-old girl from Berlin, wholives with her two half-siblings after hermother’s death from alcohol abuse; shedoesn’t go to school and prefers to driftthrough the clubs, wavering betweenhedonism and self-destruction, but alwaysrather independent and smart, at least inthe film version.

The axolotl of the title is a gill-breathingsalamander, which never really gets old, andthus provides a rather fitting image for thecharacters in Hegemann’s film, whatevertheir age. The result is laconic, cynical,killingly funny, without seeking to tell a realstory. Things happen with no apparent con -sequences, scenes are left deliberately un -resolved, not explained. The outcome of thisis a confusing undertow, which is very rarein German cinema. The uninhibited, often

ecstatic images by Manu Dacosse won theaward for best camera in Sundance.

And the author filmmaker demonstrated fineinstincts in casting, too, the majority of theactors come from the theater, and – from thesen sational Jasna Fritzi Bauer as Mifti toMavie Hörbiger, Laura Tonke and BernhardSchütz – they all lend a buzzing vitality to theircharacters. “It’s because they all know whatthey are doing, and they totally get the con-text,” the director enthuses.

It is not Hegemann’s first work as a director;two years before the novel she had alreadymade a mid-length film entitled TORPEDO.At the time she was 15 and already streetsahead for her age. Having grown up inBochum, at the age of 13, after her mother’sdeath, she moved to join her father CarlHegemann in Berlin, where he is chiefdramaturge at the Volksbühne, an un -conventional and, for many, one of the bestGerman-speaking theaters. She began towrite at 13, and two years later she won theMax-Ophüls-Prize with TORPEDO. A littlelater, her disturbing debut novel appeared.She is fêted as a screwed-up, brilliantwunderkind.

In the seven years since its publication andthe associated hype as well as the hostility,Helene Hegemann has grown up. She seemsconfident and worldly-wise, speaking withgreat reflection about herself and her work.“I always did retain a healthy distance, be-cause I keep changing my professional field.”Now “Axolotl” is finally done with, too. She iscurrently working on a new novel, her third. Itis about life in gated communities. She wantsto continue with both writing and filmmaking.There is only one thing she doesn’t want to doagain – adapt her own book. Or at least that’swhat she says right now.

Thomas Abeltshauser

DIRECTOR’S PORTRAIT GFQ 3-2017

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“THE KINGS SURRENDER openeda lot of doors for me,” PhilippLeinemann states, still slightlyincredulous about the impact

his second movie, released in 2014, had.“Many offers I received explicitly referred tothat movie. While I felt like a filmmaker be-fore that, THE KINGS SURRENDER certainlyclinched the deal for me.”

Leinemann has a point: He has been in highdemand since his film premiered at theFilmfest Munich in late June 2014. In thewake of THE KINGS SURRENDER the 38-year-old director made a widely acclaimed

POLIZEIRUF 110, directed two TV movies,DIE INFORMANTIN and DER LETZTEGENOSSE, and made waves with the six-partseries TEMPEL with Ken Duken in the lead.All the while, he found time to work on thescreenplay for his new feature film, DASDRITTE STERBEN, which he just finishedshooting with his THE KINGS SURRENDERstar Ronald Zehrfeld and Alexander Fehlingin the leads.

Leinemann’s films tell complex storiesabout complex characters dealing withcomplex problems. When you tell him he’smaking the kind of movies for grown-ups

that seem to have completely died out inGermany as of late, he can’t help but smile.You can tell he’s taking it as a compliment(which it is), because that’s just how he seesit himself. He’s the rare German directorwho thrives on being a genre filmmaker,even though there’s some unspoken rulethat thrillers have a hard time at the Germanbox office because there are already so manyof those on TV for free. Call it the TATORTconundrum.

But of course crime stories lend themselvesto the kind of human studies about difficultmoral and ethical choices which Leinemann

THRIVINGON GENREA PORTRAIT OF DIRECTOR PHILIPP LEINEMANN

GFQ 3-2017 DIRECTOR’S PORTRAIT

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naturally feels drawn to. That’s what driveshim and excites him as a storyteller. “I wantto find interesting ways inside the heads ofmy characters, but at the same time I wantto place them in situations that are tenseand suspenseful. I want to entertain myaudience as much as I want to challenge it,and I feel like genre movies give me the free-dom to accomplish these goals,” he explains.

The first thing Leinemann will confess towhen you talk to him is that he doesn’t thinkof himself as a natural born filmmaker.He has no romantic notion about his trade.Instead, he likes the nuts and bolts ofmaking movies and enjoys the intellectualand technical challenge of bringing a storyto the screen. Which probably makes sense,given his upbringing. “I come from a dynastyof engineers which is why at first I signed upto study engineering,” Leinemann says. “Butfrom an early age I also had started to drawand write and make music. I was interestedin telling stories and realized at some pointthat filmmaking was the ideal medium tobring my interests together. I rememberborrowing my dad’s camera and reenactingAPOCALYPSE NOW. Laying my parents’garden to waste.” Engineering was out,directing was in.

Leinemann enrolled in film school in Munichin 2004 and six years later presented hismedium-length graduate film, TRANSIT, atthe Filmfest Munich where it was awardedthe Production Prize. Needless to say, thedrama about a desperate truck driver whohas one last chance to redeem himself al-ready had the edge of a tense thriller. Some-thing that finally came to the fore in THEKINGS SURRENDER, a story with a strongand tight narrative about the fallout of apolice operation gone wrong.

And DAS DRITTE STERBEN will follow in thattradition, while at the same time expandingthe focus. There are bigger fish to fry now.Again produced by Walker & Worm who havebeen on a roll lately, it’s a thriller about anintelligence expert working for the FederalIntelligence Service who realizes that it’snigh to impossible in his trade to distinguishbetween good and bad anymore, which putshim into a difficult position. “I have spentmany hours reading up on the topic which Ifind endlessly fascinating. I researchedeverything and tried to be as thorough aspossible and then took my time turning itinto a suspenseful and hopefully intelligentnarrative,” Leinemann states.

Judging from the way he talks about the pro-ject he’s not only very fond of it, but alsohappy how the shooting process turned out.“I don’t mind doing assignments, but it’sreally something else to work on your ownproject which you can shape any way youplease,” the filmmaker explains. He’s juststarted editing the material. “I’m quitemeticulous about the process. As much as Iobsess over blocking shots with my DP andworking with my actors, it’s in the editingroom that everything comes together – ornot.“

We’ll have to wait until early next year to seethe result. But given Leinemann’s relentlessdrive, it’s safe to say it’s gonna be worth thewait.

Thomas Schultze

PRODUCERS’ PORTRAIT GFQ 3-2017

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COMBINING ENTERTAINMENT &SOPHISTICATION

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A PORTRAIT OF COIN FILM

This year will see producers HerbertSchwering and Christine Kiaukcelebrat ing the 10th anniversary oftheir Cologne-based outfit operat -

ing under the name of COIN FILM.

But Schwering can look back on a career ofalmost 25 years in production, having foundedCOIN FILM’s previous incarnation, ICONFILM, in 1993.

That company was involved in such films asAlmut Getto’s feature DO FISH DO IT? andAustrian director Jörg Kalt’s CRASH TESTDUMMIES as well as feature documentariesby Hans-Erich Viet including MILK ANDHONEY FROM THE ROTFRONT, which wasnominated for the German Film Award. Meanwhile, the omnibus film LOST AND

FOUND with short films by such film-makers as Cristian Mungiu, Jasmila Zbanic,Nadja Koseva, Stefan Arsenijevic, KornelMundruczó, and Mait Laas was the openingfilm of the Forum at the Berlinale in 2005.

“There are two main strands to our com-pany’s activities: co-productions of fictionfilms and documentaries,“ says Schweringwho runs COIN FILM (the COIN stands for“Cologne Independent”) together with Kiaukwho had joined the predecessor in 2001.

The company co-produced Serbian filmmakerStefan Arsenijevic’s feature debut LOVEAND OTHER CRIMES in 2008 after theircollabo ration on LOST AND FOUND, andhas now become a regular productionpartner with the Dutch producer Stienette

Bosklopper of Circe Films on the films by Na-nouk Leopold.

This began in 2010 with BROWNIAN MOVE-MENT, starring Sandra Hüller and premieringin Toronto that year, and continued with the2013 chamber piece IT’S ALL SO QUIET, basedon Gerbrand Bakker’s eponymous novel, andhas now resulted in the latest partnership onCOBAIN about a 15-year-old boy trying to gethis pregnant mother to abandon her self-destructive lifestyle.

Similarly, other Dutch producers have be-come aware of COIN FILM over the yearsleading to Revolver and IJswater Films: theGerman company came onboard actress-director Tamar van den Dop’s feature SUPER-NOVA, which premiered in the Berlinale’s

GFQ 3-2017 PRODUCERS’ PORTRAIT

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Generation in 2014, and was a partner forKeyfilm on writer-director Saskia Diesing’sfeature NENA, starring the German actorUwe Ochsenknecht and the Dutch actressAbbey Hoes, who was a Shooting Star at the2015 Berlinale when the film screened in theGeneration sidebar.

COIN FILM is currently the German partneron BAGHDAD IN MY SHADOW, the latest filmby the Swiss-Iraqi director Samir, which fol-lows on from their collaboration on his 2014feature documentary IRAQI ODYSSEY whichwas the Swiss candidate for the Best ForeignLanguage Film Academy Awards® in 2015.

“This fiction film is based on certain elementsfrom the documentary and is a family dramaset in a café for Iraqis living in exile inLondon,“ Schwering explains. “We are shoot -ing almost exclusively in Cologne on sets ofthe café built at the MMC Studios, and theexteriors in London will be done later in theyear in December.“

“Our German-language productions can ei -ther be as a majority or minority partner,“Kiauk says. “It’s part of our long-termstrategy at the company to be flexible as apartner in order to maintain and developthese working relationships.“

One particularly fruitful collaboration hasbeen with the writer-director Lola Randl,starting in 2008 with DAYS IN-BETWEEN –which premiered at the Berlinale’s Perspek-tive Deutsches Kino that year – and contin -uing with THE RHINO AND THE DRAGONFLY(2012), THE INVENTION OF LOVE (2013), and,most recently, DO YOU SOMETIMES FEELBURNED OUT AND EMPTY? which premieredat the Filmfest Munich at the end of June andwas co-produced with COIN FILM’s “regular“Dutch partner Circe Films.

Charly Hübner, Benno Fürmann and LinaBeckmann star in the quirky comedy about amarriage counselor whose life is thrown outof kilter with unexpected consequences whenshe wakes up one morning to see a doppel-ganger standing right in front of her.

“Lola’s film and Markus Sehr’s THE SMALLAND THE WICKED from two years ago arethe kind of direction we want to follow,“Schwering suggests. “We are looking to com-bine entertainment with sophistication andare inspired in these efforts by the Scandina-vian comedies.“

“We want to show that there is another kindof German humor apart from what is offeredin the mainstream and that such comediescan also include socio-critical elements andirony,“ Kiauk says.

COIN FILM’s development slate already in -cludes a comedy, ANOTHER DAY INPARADISE, by the director Michael Schorr ofSCHULZE GETS THE BLUES fame, about aman who wakes up one day to find that hiswords are becoming increasingly out of syncwhenever he starts speaking.

“There is always a political imperative to thesubjects we select for our other strand, thedocumentaries,“ Schwering explains. “Youcan see that with IRAQI ODYSSEY and THEBARBER AND THE BOMB – about a nailbombattack on a Turkish hairdresser’s in Cologne– and now on MR. GAY SYRIA.“

The Turkish-French-German co-productionwith writer-director Ayse Toprak’s ToprakFilms and and Les Films d’Antoine centers onthe staging of a Mr. Gay Syria competition inIstanbul to raise the profile of gay Syrianrefugees living in Turkey as preparation forparticipating in Mr. Gay World finals in Malta.

“It wasn’t an easy project to finance and weturned to crowdfunding to raise the finance tocomplete the film’s post-production,“ Kiaukrecalls. “This was a very valuable experienceas a way of creating a greater visibility for theproject and we actually raised even more thanwe had set out to collect.“

MR. GAY SYRIA had its world premiere at theSheffield Doc/Fest in June and was picked upby Taskovski Films for international sales,with Edition Salzgeber set to handle theGerman theatrical release.

Meanwhile, COIN FILM is currently workingon a documentary portrait of the veteranactor Mario Adorf, with distributor NFPmarke ting & distribution as a co-financier.

While Schwering and Kiauk intend to remaintrue to the company’s strands of co-pro -duction, German feature films and docu -mentaries, the two producers are notplanning to stand still, but are exploring thepotential for new areas of production such aschildren’s TV series.

In addition, a family entertainment project –JOJO KICKS THE REAL WORLD is beingdevelop ed as a live-action feature with 3Danimation, which would necessitate a higherbudget and co-production partners as part ofthe package.

Martin Blaney

ACTOR'S PORTRAIT GFQ 3-2017

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A PORTRAIT OF ACTOR FRANZ ROGOWSKI

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There are many memorable scenesin Michael Haneke’s latest filmHAPPY END, but one lodges in themind in particular. A young man is

seen standing on the small stage of a poorly-lit karaoke bar, silent and oblivious, dancinghimself into an ecstatic state. We don’t for-get this surprising moment, even long afterthe film is over, not because we would neverhave expected to hear Sia’s thumping worldhit “Chandelier” – of all music – in a Hanekefilm. Instead, it is primarily because of FranzRogowski, whose physical presence is suchthat one cannot take one’s eyes off him here,even for a brief moment.

It is conceivable that Haneke cast the youngGerman actor, born in Freiburg in 1986, asthe son of Isabelle Huppert in HAPPY END –although Rogowski speaks no French – be-cause of this very scene. He was the only oneto work in German, meaning that his sceneshad to be dubbed at a later date. Long beforehe established himself as one of Germany’smost exciting young actors, Rogowski hadworked as a dancer and choreographer:among other things, he studied anthropo -sophic drama pedagogics in Stuttgart,physical theater in the Tessin, and con -temporary dance, and he had appeared onstage at the Salzburg Festival, as well as theBerlin theater Hebbel am Ufer, in Zagreb,and in Brussels.

“It was precisely because I wanted to getaway from dancing that I decided in favor ofthe theater and acting,” Rogowski reveals inour interview. “I’m not at all interested inrediscovering dance in my acting.” Butnaturally, there was no question of decliningthe part in HAPPY END for that reason: “It israther special, of course, when Haneke callsyou up, simply because I have always foundhis films fascinating. But then again, he hadalso written a very strong screenplay. Those

two aspects in conjunction certainly causedsome delight on my part.”

The use of “Chandelier” in the karaoke barwas Rogowski’s own suggestion originally,and it was he who developed a first danceconcept for the scene together with choreo-grapher Jefta van Dinther. “But then Hanekeworked as a choreographer as well, re -arranging our material in his own way,” theactor reports on their cooperation. “He is re-ally quite a perfectionist, for whom there isonly a single correct form, which you need tosearch for. That also means he repeats ascene relentlessly until everything is just ashe imagined it in his mind.”

The fact that he plays a rather taciturn guyin HAPPY END probably pleased Rogowskiparticularly, as he doesn’t much enjoystruggling his way through massive amountsof text – as he did not so long ago at theKammerspiele Munich (where he has beenan established member of the ensemblesince the 2015/2016 season), in the play Wutby Elfriede Jelinek: “In the preparationphase I approach the part first by grasping itthrough my body, sort of like the relationshipto one’s mother in the prenatal stage. Whenacting, for me specific ways of looking orhandling a space and the objects in it aremore concrete, somehow juicier.”

It was already more than obvious that thisintuitive physical presence is somethingunusual and urgently needed in Germancinema – which is generally dominated byactors trained at classical drama schools –in LOVE STEAKS, made back in 2013. Thatwas when Jakob Lass, who is known for hisimprovisational style, discovered Rogowskifor the big screen; the film won the MaxOphüls Prize, as well as an award at theInter national Film Festival Rotterdam andseveral at Filmfest Munich, including one for

Rogowski personally. He made anotherappearance to worldwide acclaim inSebastian Schipper’s exceptional filmVICTORIA, shot in a single take, and he hasappeared in front of the camera again forLass recently, in the Berlinale entry TIGERGIRL.

Rogowski has often heard it said in recentyears that he is bringing a breath of fresh airinto current German film, as his ironicresponse indicates: “Fresh air is always agood thing. That’s why I air my apartmentevery day and also use the vacuum cleaneronce a week.” Overall, he appears quitemodest, emphasizing how acting is only hisprofession “at the moment”. After all, hedoesn’t know himself how long he can, orwishes to, continue along this particularpath.

Nevertheless, it is easy to see how delightedhe is that since the world premiere of HAPPYEND at the latest, there has been a tangibledifference in attention paid to his work, andhis career has now “somehow gained a dif-ferent dimension”, according to Rogowski.Recently, he faced the cameras alongsideTONI ERDMANN star Sandra Hüller forIN THE AISLES, and he has been workingwith Christian Petzold in Marseille on anadaptation of Anna Segher's TRANSIT.Maybe the actor, who has chosen to live inMunich, doesn’t believe that filmmakersa broad “necessarily need” him and hisGerman colleagues. But that doesn’t stophim want ing to get involved in more inter -national productions beyond the one withMichael Haneke. And Franz Rogowski woulddefinitely be eager to return to Cannes – anytime.

Patrick Heidmann

NEWS & NOTES GFQ 3-2017

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NEWS & NOTES

In 2017 the German Films Previews tookplace for the first time in the city of Nurem-berg. Over the course of three days, distri -butors and buyers from 36 countries had theopportunity to screen 16 new German filmsin the theater and see additional titles pro -vided through an extensive DVD library aswell as upcoming titles in a promo reel.Mariette Rissenbeek, managing directorGerman Films: “The German Previews 2017proved to be one of the most successful

events. A record number of 90 buyers fromall over the world commented with greatappreciation on the event and several ofthem made deals on the spot for some of thefilms of this year’s program. Children’s films,family entertainment and festival runnerswere among them, demonstrating a widevariety of German filmmaking.”

Among the deals that were made on site:THE CAKEMAKER (Films Boutique) was

picked up by Strand Releasing for NorthAmerica. Both Siyah Beyaz Movies from Tur-key and ADS Service from Hungary picked uptwo titles as well: WELCOME TO GERMANYand FOUR AGAINST THE BANK (both PictureTree International). WELCOME TO GERMANYwas also sold to Taiwan (Swallow Wings) andPoland (Telewizja Polska Channel 1).

1SUCCESSFUL GERMAN FILMS PREVIEWS IN NUREMBERG

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German Films Previews 2017 (© Ralf Bürger)

GFQ 3-2017 NEWS & NOTES

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China Film Group with Bavarian delegation (© Tim Nauerz)The votes are in for TERROR (© Eduardo Candel Reviejo)

2MADRID GOES INTERACTIVE

The move to Madrid’s Palacio de la Prensacinema for this year’s festival proceededwith out a hitch: over 5,000 spectators cameto the 19th edition of the Festival of GermanFilms which was held at the beginning ofJune at an even more centrally locatedvenue. This year’s Audience Award went toLars Kraume’s TERROR, an interactive filmevent that created quite a stir in Madrid –both among the audience, which gave itsguilty or innocent verdict at the end of thetrial’s presentation, as well as in the Spanishpress which included reports in the nationalTV evening news. Actor Florian David Fitzreally won over the hearts of the Madridcinemagoers and was involved in animatedand engaged discussions with the audiencesduring the Q&As after the sold-out per -formances for TERROR and THE MOSTBEAUTIFUL DAY. The school screenings wereonce again extremely popular: over 800children attended the screenings for RICO,OSKAR AND THE MYSTERIOUS STONE andover 400 attended the additional screening ofTHE MOST BEAUTIFUL DAY.

The successful collaboration with Bertels-mann/UFA continued with another specialevent presenting the silent film VARIETÉ byEwald André Dupont from 1925 with livemusical accompaniment. The musiciansStephen Horne and Martin Pyne were just asmasterful in their use of a wide range ofinstruments when they set the film’s virtuosoimages to music and were rewarded with along round of applause.

3CHINA FILM GROUP CORPORATION VISITS BAVARIA

Four representatives of the largest Chinesemedia empire, the China Film Group Corpo-ration, visited FilmFernsehFonds Bayernmid-May to find out more about funding andproduction locations in Bavaria. NikolausPrediger offered an overview of the Germanfunding landscape, Anja Metzger presentedBavaria as a shooting location, and AchimRohnke presented the Bavaria Film Group asa guest speaker. The delegation from Chinawas represented by the China Film GroupCorporation’s Vice President Fu Guochang,General Manager Ling Hong, Director of theRisk Control Department Wang Zhigang,and the Director of Operations Li Xiao.The program also consisted of a visit toConstantin Film Produktion. The delegationthen travelled on to Italy.

4THE MATCH FACTORY: SPANNING THE GLOBE FROM COLOGNE

Michael Weber’s The Match Factory hasmade a name for itself since 2006 as a salesagent for arthouse productions, includingsuch award-winning titles as WILD byNicolette Krebitz, PAULA by ChristianSchwochow as well as Maren Ade’s excep -tional TONI ERDMANN (which Weber’s com-pany has sold to over 100 countries) – all ofthem having also been funded by the Film-stiftung NRW. The Match Factory has cur-rently taken on world sales for Fatih Akin’sCannes hit IN THE FADE as well asMargarethe von Trotta’s latest film FORGETABOUT NICK (the German release is in

December). There is hardly an internationalfestival in world where The Match Factoryfilms are not presented, whether it is inBerlin, Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Sundance orSan Sebastian. The company also handlesthe sales for Aki Kaurismäki’s completeworks and selected titles by Jim Jarmusch.

The Cologne-based company also acts as aco-producer (under the moniker of MatchFactory Productions) for numerous Filmstif-tung NRW-funded films such as JUPITER’SMOON by Kornél Mundruczó, which had itsworld premiere in competition in Cannes thisyear. EL OLIVO by Icíar Bollaín and the dramaROSEMARI by Sara Johnsen were also co-produced by Match Factory Productions andfunded by the Filmstiftung NRW. The focus ofthe production company, which MichaelWeber founded together with Viola Fügen in2013, is on high-quality arthouse cinema –just like those titles which The Match Factoryalso represents as a world sales agent.

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JUPITER’S MOON (© Match Factory Productions)

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NEWS & NOTES GFQ 3-2017

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New managing board of VDFP (© VDFP)

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5ANIMATED FILM IN THE SPOTLIGHT AT ANNECY

Every year in June, the idyllic town of Annecyis transformed into the center of the ani -mation world: the Annecy InternationalAnimated Film Festival and Market (MIFA),the leading event in this sector, regularly at-tracts the industry’s Who is Who. This year,animated films from Germany used the plat-form in variously different ways to presentthemselves. The festival program presentedno less than ten films in the competition sec-tions and the prize for the Best Student Filmwas awarded to Jonatan Schwenk for hisshort animated film SOG. The British produc-tion REVOLTING RHYMES by the German di-rectors Jan Lachauer, Jakob Schuh undBin-Han To received the prize for the Best TVProduction.

TEHRAN TABOO by Ali Soozandeh – straightfrom its world premiere in Cannes – filledone of the larger cinemas in the Feature FilmCompetition in Annecy. A big delegationheaded up by the directors Toby Genkel andReza Memari presented RICHARD THESTORK as an Out of Competition screening.The enthusiasm of the audience in Annecyyet again confirmed the film’s remarkable in-ternational success story. The internationalpremiere of 1917 - THE REAL OCTOBER wasalso very well received as another Out ofCompetition screening with director KatrinRothe in attendance.

German Films also collaborated with theMFG Baden-Württemberg, the InternationalFestival of Animated Film in Stuttgart (ITFS),the FMX, the Animation Production Day andthe German Short Film Association to or-ganize the traditional German reception onthe shores of the Lac d’Annecy for informalnetworking.

And the first event organized by a new initia-tive called Animation Germany focused onGerman-Italian cooperation and attracted alot of interest from the international industry.A number of short keynotes about opportu-nities for funding and co-production in Ger-many was then followed by numerousGerman animation producers coming to -gether with representatives of 19 companiesfrom this year’s partner country Italy. Theaim of Animation Germany is to make theGerman animation industry more visible onan international level, to network and pro-mote co-productions. More events are beingplanned with other partner countries.

6VDFP RELOADED!

The independent German Producers’ Asso-ciation (VDFP) has elected a completely newand younger managing board, includingkey producers behind films such as TONIERDMANN, GOODBYE BERLIN, EVERYTHINGWILL BE FINE and PINA. VDFP representssome 70 German independent film and TVcompanies in all relevant and important filmfunding committees and film policy commis-sions. The association is actively supportinga more progressive and future-oriented filmpolicy that should take risks in times wherethe whole industry is rapidly changing. Its agenda stands for improvement of theGerman film funding system and the termsof trade for independent producers, harmo-nization of international co-production termsand, thus, embracing the challenges of thefuture for film and TV production in the globalmarket. At the same time, the VDFP providesa platform for a continuous exchange of

information among its members and esta-blishes a think pool for new strategies indistri bution and business models.

7DESPITE CRISES, NORTHERN FILM INDUSTRY MAINTAINS POSITIVE OUTLOOK ON THE FUTURE

What’s the situation for the film and mediaindustries in Northern Germany? Within theframework of the EU project Cross Motion,the Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein conducted a representative studyamong some 1,400 companies active in theaudio-visual industries. And the results?With a total turnover of 3.2 million euros and14,500 jobs, the audio-visual industry is animportant economic factor in the region. Twoout of three TV producers and about three-fourths of the region’s film producers are ex-pecting increasing returns into the year 2020,despite the fact that only about 20% of thoseasked consider their current economic situa-tion as satisfactory. But even on the job mar-ket the outlook remains positive: more thana third of the audio-visual companies areplanning to hire additional personnel in 2017.And one-fourth of the filmmakers are con-centrating in the future on online-video,while every eighth company is planning tobranch out into the fields of virtual and aug-mented reality.

© Jakob Owens

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GFQ 3-2017 NEWS & NOTES

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8GERMAN SHORT FILMS SUCCESSFUL AT INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS

In recent months, German short films gainedawards recognition at many internationalfestivals, here’s a selection: At the AspenShorts Fest in April, Brenda Lien took homethe award for Best Short Short for CALL OFCUTENESS. SPEECHLESS by Robin Polákwon the Audience Award at the NewportBeach Film Festival. Christian Wittmoser’sEMILY MUST WAIT received the AudienceAward at Go Short – International Short FilmFestival Nijmegen. The documentary FINDFIX FINISH by Mila Zhluktenko and SylvainCruiziat won the Amnesty InternationalAward at IndieLisboa. Urte Zintler’sVACANCY got a Special Mention at the Inter-national Festival of Animated Films AniFestin Trebon. Another German short wasawarded at the Animafest Zagreb: UGLY byNikita Diakur received the Special Award byjury member Nobuaki Doi. PRIMA NOAPTEby Andrei Tănase won the DANZANTEAWARD at the Huesca Film Festival, whereYOUNG by Nehemias Colindres was honoredwith a Special Mention by the jury. From theZlín International Film Festival for Childrenand Youth PEEP AND THE PAPERPLANE byChristoph Englert took home the AudienceAward – for the Best Short Animated Film.At the Palm Springs ShortFest, JonatanSchwenk’s SOG received the Award for BestStudent Animation. SOG was also awardedwith the Cristal for a Graduation Film at therenowned animation film festival in Annecy.

9DURBAN FOCUSES ON CINEMAFROM GERMANY

The Durban International Film Festival (13 –23 July 2017), one of the most important andoldest on the African continent, had cinemafrom Germany in its focus this year. Ten filmsby German filmmakers were screened ina Focus Germany during this year’s 38thedition. This showcase was organized in col-laboration with German Films, the Goethe-Institut and the German Embassy in SouthAfrica. A total of 26 German films and co-productions were programmed in Durban.

Mariette Rissenbeek, managing director ofGerman Films: “The strength of contempo-rary German cinema is its great diversity. Inrecent years, we’ve seen both films aboutGerman history as well as those tacklingreally personal subjects achieving inter -national success. Durban is an ideal platformfor presenting the latest in German film -making since, as the oldest festival in Africa’sSouth, it really does enjoy a great reputationas well as attract a very enthusiastic audi-ence.”

A number of directors and actors travelledto Durban to present their films in person.Fatih Akin’s GOODBYE BERLIN was re pre -sented by the two young lead actors AnandBatbileg and Tristan Göbel in a Q&A after thegala screening. Doris Dörrie’s GREETINGSFROM FUKUSHIMA was presented and shegave a master class for African screen -writers and directors as part of the TalentsDurban train ing and mentoring program.Stephan Rick (THE DARK SIDE OF THEMOON), as well as the documentary film -makers Petra Epperlein (KARL MARX CITY)and Karin Steinberger (THE PROMISE) werealso on hand for the screenings of their filmsto South African audiences and network ingactivities with Talents Durban.

10NEW FFA FUNDING GUIDELINES ADOPTED

The administrative board of the GermanFederal Film Board (FFA) adopted newguide lines for FFA project film funding. Thegoals of the future funding measures of theFFA are to increase the quality of Germanfilms from an economic and cultural point ofconsideration. The character of the fundedfilms should concentrate on higher budgetedand high-quality films which have the poten-tial to satisfy the expectations of audiencesand be economically successful.

With the resolution, the board has made thecorrect and an important decision, one whichwill provide more efficiency and transparencyin the work of production and screenplayfunding, according to FFA president Prof. Dr.h.c. Bernd Neumann. For this reason it isnecessary that the committee award theavailable funding to those films which havethe potential to reach numerous cinema -goers.

The board also linked the requirement to theresolution that the effect of the guidelines beevaluated after one year, in order to assurethat their application is having the desiredeffect in funding practices.

Bernd Neumann (© Bundesregierung/Kugler)

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FIND FIX FINISH (© Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München) GOODBYE BERLIN (© Studiocanal/Mathias Bothor)

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8 FEATURES2 DOCUMENTARIES4 SHORT FILMS12 UPCOMING FILMS

26 new German productions are presented

on the following 15 pages. Please visit

our website www.german-films.de

for more information on German features,

documentaries and shorts.

NEW FILMS GFQ 3-2017

16

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Aaron invites his girlfriend Lea andher 8-year-old son Tristan on atrip to the mountains. What couldbe a starting point of a new life

together, slowly turns into difficult territory,as the three fight for their positions within thenew family. High up in the Three Peaks regionin the Italian Dolomites, Aaron and Tristanare faced with their ambivalent love for anddeepest fears of one another, while Leastands in between the two, trying to navigatethis triangle. In his attempt to win the boy’srespect, Aaron takes him up the mountainand confronts Tristan with his continuousaggression towards him. When fog sets in andAaron loses the boy, their power games reacha dangerous level...

JAN ZABEIL was born in 1981 in Berlin. Hestudied Cinematography at the Film Univer-sity Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF in Potsdamfrom 2003-2009. His award-winning films in-clude: L.H.O. (short, 2007), WAS WEISS DERTROPFEN DAVON (short, 2007), and THERIVER USED TO BE A MAN (2011). His secondfeature, THREE PEAKS (2017), premieres inLocarno this year.

GENRE Drama YEAR OF PRODUCTION 2017DIRECTOR Jan Zabeil SCREENPLAY JanZabeil CINEMATOGRAPHY Axel SchneppatCAST Alexander Fehling, Bérénice Bejo, ArianMontgomery PRODUCERS Benny Drechsel,Andreas Pichler, Philipp Moravetz PRODUC-TION COMPANIES Rohfilm Productions, EchoFilm, in co-production with SWR RUNTIME 93min LAN GUAGE German, English, FrenchFESTIVALS Locarno 2017 (Piazza Grande)

SALES The Match Factory info@matchfactory.dewww.the-match-factory.com

© Rohfilm Productions

DREI ZINNEN

GFQ 3-2017 NEW FEATURES

THREE PEAKS

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The only thing that Jade and Mariahave in common is their twice un-faithful ex-husband. Because of thislegal treachery, the two very diffe-

rent women end up sharing the luxurious loftwhere Maria once lived, and Jade still clingsto as her own. They wage a small war over avery large chunk of New York City real estate,but this is a battle in which words are morevaluable, and far more entertaining, thanmoney.

MARGARETHE VON TROTTA ranks among themost important female directors in Germancinema since the 1970s, during which timeshe also made a name for herself as anactress. Today primarily active as a screen -writer and director, her most well-knownfilms include: THE LOST HONOR OFKATHARINA BLUM (1975, in co-directionwith Volker Schlöndorff), THE SECONDAWAKENING OF CHRISTA KLAGES (1977),SISTERS OR THE BALANCE OF HAPPINESS(1979), MARIANNE AND JULIANE (1981),SHEER MADNESS (1983), ROSA LUXEMBURG(1985), THE AFRICAN WOMAN (1990), THELONG SILENCE (1993), THE PROMISE (1994),ROSENSTRASSE (2003), I AM THE OTHERWOMAN (2006), VISION (2009), HANNAHARENDT (2012), and FORGET ABOUT NICK(2017), among others.

GENRE Drama YEAR OF PRODUCTION 2017DIRECTOR Margarethe von Trotta SCREEN-PLAY Pamela Katz CINEMATOGRAPHYJo Heim CAST Katja Riemann, IngridBolsø Berdal, Haluk Bilginer PRODUCERBettina Brokemper PRODUCTION COMPANYHeimatfilm, in co-production with Medien-parks NRW, Zentropa Köln RUNTIME 110 minLANGUAGE English, German

SALES The Match Factory info@matchfactory.dewww.the-match-factory.com

© Martin Menke

FORGETABOUT NICK

NEW FEATURES GFQ 3-2017

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Amother walks out on her hus-band and two children withouta word of explanation. She’sdriven by an irresistible force.She wants to be free.

Nora roams through a museum in Vienna,has sex with a young man and hitchhikesrandomly on to Bratislava. She hides heridentity by telling little lies. She changes herlook, finds work as a chambermaid andmakes friends with a young Slovakian strip-per, Etela, and her husband Tamás, a cook.Meanwhile in Berlin, Philip is trying to ma-nage his family, his job and his affair withMonika. Against his own convictions he has todefend a racist teenager in court, who hasbeaten an African man into a coma. Hestruggles with his role as a single parent andcannot really commit himself to Monika as hiseveryday life has lost meaning since Nora dis-appeared. The only person Philip really opensup to is the unconscious coma patient.

Nora’s desire for freedom is Philip’s chain.

JAN SPECKENBACH studied directing at theGerman Film and Television Academy (DFFB)in Berlin. His short film THE OTHER DAY INEDEN premiered in Cannes’ Cinéfondationin 2008. One year later, his short filmSPARROWS started it’s successful worldwidefestival circuit in Cannes, too. His debutfeature film REPORTED MISSING premieredat the Berlinale and was nominated for theEuropean Film Awards in 2012. His secondfeature FREEDOM has it’s world premiere incompetition at the Festival del Film Locarno.

GENRE Drama YEAR OF PRODUCTION 2017DIRECTOR Jan Speckenbach SCREENPLAYJan Speckenbach, Andreas Deinert CINE -MATOGRAPHY Tilo Hauke CAST JohannaWokalek, Hans Jochen Wagner, Inga Birken-feld, Andrea Szabová, Ondrej Koval PRO -DUCERS Sol Bondy, Jamila WenskeCO-PRODUCERS Peter Badac, Jelena Gold-bach PRODUCTION COMPANY One Two Films,in co-production with BFilms, ZAK FilmProductions RUNTIME 106 min LANGUAGEGerman, Slovak, English FESTIVALS Locarno2017 (International Competition)

SALES Pluto Film Distribution Network info@plutofilm.dewww.plutofilm.de

© Tilo Hauke/One Two Films

FREIHEIT

GFQ 3-2017 NEW FEATURES

FREEDOM

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The story follows a father and histhree children, dreaming of travel-ling to space and trying to cope withthe situation at home.

When his two mature children Anton andLinda eave home after graduating fromschool, father Michael stops taking care of hisbody in protest. His son Anton takes part in abed-rest-study to contribute to space-travel-ling, while his sister Linda is in search of herfirst love and is drawn to a young man whoseems to have similar problems like herfather.

The film is a poetic story about the progres-sion of thoughts and dreams to go to spaceand about the organic beauty of the humanbody, its desires and longings.

ALISA BERGER’s films include: THREEBORDERS (2017), THE ASTRONAUTS’ BODIES(2017), MOHNMÄDCHEN (short, 2015),ISLAND STORY (short, 2014), RUSSIANHOTEL (short, 2013), SLEEP (short, 2011), andFRIEDWALD (short, 2011).

GENRE Art, Coming-of-Age Story, Drama, Ex-perimental, Science Fiction YEAR OF PRO-DUCTION 2017 DIRECTOR Alisa BergerSCREENPLAY Alisa Berger CINEMATOG -RAPHY Bine Jankowski CAST Lars Rudolph,Zita Aretz, Béla Gabor Lenz, Luzie Nadjafi,Britta Thie, Daniel Michel PRODUCER AlisaBerger PRODUCTION COMPANY Kunsthoch-schule für Medien Köln (KHM) RUNTIME 74min LANGUAGE German FESTIVALS Film -festival Max Ophüls Preis Saarbrücken 2017

SALES Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln (KHM)dilger@khm.dewww.khm.dewww.die-koerper-der-astronauten.de

© Alisa Berger

DIE KÖRPERDER ASTRONAUTENTHE ASTRONAUTS’ BODIES

NEW FEATURES GFQ 3-2017

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Luna, a smart, self-possessed andcarefree 17-year-old, is spendingher summer vacation in an idyllicmountain chalet with her family,

when their holiday harmony suddenly be -comes a nightmare: Foreign men take thefamily hostage and kill her parents and littlesister. Luna only barely manages to escape,chased by the killers. Soon she has to findout they all were living a lie: Her dad was aRussian secret agent, their wholesome familywas just his cover. He lived that way in Ger-many for 20 years. When he was uncovered bythe German BND and had to betray his com-rades, it was a death sentence for Luna’sfamily. Luna finds refuge with quiet lonerHamid, an Afghan who was a Russian agentlike her dad, and his best friend. Hamid wantsto smuggle Luna out of the country, but shecan’t leave without avenging her family’sdeath. With Hamid’s help, she sets out to findthe murderers, and make them pay...

Inspired by the true story of a Russian agentcouple living undercover for more than 20years in Germany, LUNA’S REVENGE is bothgripping drama and espionage thriller. LisaVicari (HELL) delivers an outstanding per -formance in the directing debut by KhaledKaissar, producer of STEREO.

KHALED KAISSAR was born in Afghanistanin 1972 and emigrated with his family toGermany in 1986. In 2008 he founded KaissarFilm and has produced numerous short,documentary and feature films, includingSTEREO, KÖNIG VON DEUTSCHLAND, DREISTUNDEN, SCHILDKRÖTENWUT, BERGBLUT,and TRANSIT. His first short film as a director,ZARNITSA, premiered in Hof in 2015. LUNA‘SREVENGE is his debut feature.

GENRE Action, Thriller YEAR OF PRODUC-TION 2017 DIRECTOR Khaled KaissarSCREENPLAY Ulrike Schölles, Ali Zojaji, Alex-ander Costea CINEMATOGRAPHY NamcheOkon CAST Lisa Vicari, Carlo Ljubek, BrankoTomović, Benjamin Sadler, Bibiana Beglau,Johannes Meier PRODUCERS Khaled Kaissar,Thomas Wöbke PRODUCTION COMPANYKaissar Film, in co-production with Rat PackFilmproduktion, BerghausWöbke Film pro -duktion, VIAFILM RUNTIME 92 min LAN -GUAGE German, Russian

SALES Global Screen info@globalscreen.dewww.globalscreen.de

© Kaissar Film

LUNALUNA’S REVENGE

GFQ 3-2017 NEW FEATURES

22

The Ötztal Alps, more than 5300years ago. A Neolithic clan hassettled near a creek. It is theirleader Kelab’s responsibility to be

the keeper of the group’s holy shrine Tineka.

While Kelab is hunting, the settlement is at-tacked. The members of the tribe are brutallymurdered, amongst them Kelab’s wife andson, only one newborn survives... and Tinekais gone! Blinded by pain and fury, Kelab is outfor one thing alone – vengeance!

The pursuit of the murderers is shaping up tobe quite an odyssey for Kelab. He fights forthe infant’s survival and against the forces ofnature. And a fatal error even turns Kelabfrom hunter to hunted. On top of all that, theloneliness causes Kelab to doubt his actionsmore and more.

When Kelab finally faces the murderers of hisclan, his greatest challenge will be not to be-come a victimizer himself...

Ötzi – The Iceman is one of the oldest and mostwell-known mummies in the world. Withemotional impact, writer/director Felix Randaudepicts the first unsolved murder case in thehistory of mankind.

FELIX RANDAU was born in 1974 in Emden.After studies in German Literature andEthnology, he studied Directing at theGerman Academy of Film & Television (DFFB)in Berlin. His films include: the shorts RI-TUAL (1995), SOMETHING HAPPENED TO MEYESTERDAY (1996), MATADORE (1997),BOOMTOWN BERLIN (1997), SOMETHINGSTUPID (1998), SIEMENSSTADT (2000), andthe features NORTHERN STAR (2003), THECALLING GAME (2007), and ICEMAN (2017).

GENRE Drama, Adventure YEAR OF PRODUC-TION 2017 DIRECTOR Felix Randau SCREEN-PLAY Felix Randau CINEMATOGRAPHYJakub Bejnarowicz CAST Jürgen Vogel,André M. Hennicke, Sabin Tambrea, MartinAugustin Schneider, Susanne Wuest, ViolettaSchurawlow, Anna F, Axel Stein, Franco NeroPRODUCER Jan Krüger PRODUCTION COM-PANY Port-au-Prince Film & Kultur Pro -duktion, in co-production with Echo Film,Lucky Bird Pictures, Amour Fou Filmpro -duktion RUNTIME 96 min LANGUAGE ExtinctRhaetic (no subtitles needed) FESTIVALSLocarno 2017 (Piazza Grande)

SALES Beta Cinema beta@betacinema.comwww.betacinema.com

© Port au Prince Filmproduktion/Martin Rattini

DER MANN AUS DEM EIS

NEW FEATURES GFQ 3-2017

ICEMAN

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After an economical and societalcollapse, anarchy rules thestreets of Berlin in the near fu-ture. But the reckless outlaws Tan

and Javid couldn’t care less about what’shappening around them. They have only onegoal for the rest of their hopeless lives: to findWinter, the leader of the underground fascistorganization responsible for the murder ofboth Tan and Javid’s families. Their hunt forWinter gets unexpectedly twisted as Tan’spetty snack bar quarrel with the chef over thetaste of a kebab escalates into a full blownshoot-out in which they accidentally andunknowingly kill the parents of Eliana. Aban-doned by the powerless police, Eliana hiresbizarre bounty hunters to assassinate Tanand Javid – who are unaware that they havebecome the targets of a personal vendettathemselves. That is until one day they find amysterious screenplay which not only tellsEliana’s and their own recent history, but alsoseems to foresee the future in meti culous de-tail: The script is called Snowflake.

All hell breaks loose as everything unfolds ex-actly like it is written in the wicked story andTan and Javid are hunted down by Polish can-nibals, a blind contract killer, the self-madesuperhero Hyper Electro Man and supposedlyeven God himself. And so they desperately tryto break out of the outrageous plot, which hasthem inevitably closing in on a catastrophicclimax. When Eliana’s hired hit men all fail todo their job, she decides to take matters intoher own hands and sets up an elaborate trapfor her adversaries. But meanwhile Tan andJavid have found the writer of the screenplay,a clueless dentist, and force him to rewritethe ending…

ADOLFO J. KOLMERER was born in 1986 inCaracas/Venezuela and moved to Germany in2005. He studied at the L4 Akademie. Also ac-tive as director for commercials, his films in-clude: the shorts SCHEISSJOB (2008), ERIC’SSUISITE (2011), FIRST DATE (2011), THECLOUD (2011), A TIME OF VULTURES (2012),and his feature debut SNOWFLAKE (2017). Heis currently working on his second feature.

GENRE Crime, Black Comedy YEAR OF PRO-DUCTION 2017 DIRECTOR Adolfo J. KolmererSCREENPLAY Arend Remmers CINEMATOG -RAPHY Konstantin Freyer CAST ErkanAcar, Reza Brojerdi, Xenia Assenza, DavidMasterson, Alexander Schubert, Adrian Topol,Antonio Wannek, Mathis Landwehr, SelamTadese, Eskindir Tesfay, Martin Goeres,Gedeon Burkhard, Bruno Eyron, David Gant,Sven Martinek, Angela Hobrig, MehmetKurtulus, Katja Wagner PRODUCERS EricSonnenburg, Adrian Topol, Erkan Acar,Reza Brojerdi PRODUCTION COMPANYSchneeflöckchen RUNTIME 110 minLANGUAGE German, English

SALES Schneeflöckchen mail@ericsonnenburg.comwww.ericsonnenburg.com

© Schneeflöckchen

SCHNEEFLÖCKCHEN

GFQ 3-2017 NEW FEATURES

SNOWFLAKE

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W hen Jessica and Sophie werekids, they witnessed thekilling of their parents. 20years later, Jessica has a

fatal accident and Sophie wavers betweengrief over losing her sister and the hope thatshe will now be able to lead a normal life afterhaving been subjected to Jessica’s morbidparanoia. But she keeps having blackouts andgradually realizes that another person is con-trolling her spirit and life. Sophie fights backagainst this other person residing in her body,but will she succeed?

OLIVER KIENLE was born in 1982 in Dettel-bach. While studying German Literature, healso worked at a commercial film production.In 2001 he wrote, directed and producedhis first short film, a comedy entitledFALSCHRUM. He then studied at the Film-akademie Baden-Württemberg from 2004-2010, graduating with BIS AUFS BLUT, whichwon numerous prizes including the AudienceAward at the Filmfestival Max-Ophüls-Preis,the First Steps Award 2010, and the StudioHamburg Newcomer Director Prize. Aftershooting the TATORT episode HAPPY BIRTH-DAY, SARAH (2013), he served as head writerfor the international series BAD BANKSdirected by Christian Schwochow, scheduledto premiere early 2018. FOUR HANDS is hissecond feature.

GENRE Psycho Thriller YEAR OF PRODUC-TION 2017 DIRECTOR Oliver Kienle SCREEN-PLAY Oliver Kienle CINEMATOGRAPHY YoshiHeimrath CAST Frida-Lovisa Hamann,Friederike Becht, Christoph Letkowski,Agnieszka Guzikowska, Detlef Bothe PRO -DUCERS Klaus Dohle, Markus Reinecke CO-PRODUCERS Thomas Reisser, MarcusMachura, Dan Maag PRODUCTION COMPANYErfttal Film- und Fernsehproduktion, in co-production with Niama Film, PantaleonEntertain ment, SWR, ARTE RUNTIME 94 minLANGUAGE German FESTIVALS Munich 2017

SALES ARRI Media Internationalworldsales@arri.dewww.arrimedia.de/international

© Erfttal Film- und Fernsehproduktion

DIE VIERHÄNDIGE

NEW FEATURES GFQ 3-2017

FOUR HANDS

Hissa Hilal is the voice from behindthe veil. Her weapon is her word.Hissa is a self-taught writer andshe says what she thinks. She de-

cides to take part in the Million’s Poet show,an Abu-Dhabi based TV show. It is the Arabworld’s biggest poetry competition, and it isdominated by men. Hissa works herself up,becoming the first woman in the finals. In herpoems she criticizes the patriarchal Arab so-ciety and she attacks one of the most noto-rious Saudi clerics for his extremist fatwas,live, in front of 75 million viewers. We’ll neversee Hissa’s face. Like the majority of Saudiwomen, Hissa is covered from head to toe.She is not allowed to drive a car. She doesn’town a passport. And she requires consentfrom her husband for any sort of activity.Coming out of nowhere, the housewife Hissais suddenly breaking news in the biggest

Western and Arab media. How did she gainthe knowledge and the courage to step onstage and risk her life? This is Hissa‘s story.

STEFANIE BROCKHAUS and ANDREASWOLFF realized the documentaries ON THEOTHER SIDE OF LIFE (2010) and THEPOETESS (2017) together. Wolff also directedTHE CAPTAIN AND HIS PIRATE (2013).

Brockhaus also directed SOME THINGS AREHARD TO TALK ABOUT (2017).

GENRE Society, Women YEAR OF PRODUC-TION 2017 DIRECTORS Stefanie Brockhaus,Andreas Wolff CINEMATOGRAPHY Tobias Tempel, Stefanie Brockhaus PRODUCERAndreas Wolff PRODUCTION COMPANYBrockhaus/Wolff Films RUNTIME 90 min

LANGUAGE Arabic FESTIVALS Locarno 2017(Semaine de la Critique)

SALES Brockhaus/Wolff Filmsandreasnikolauswolff@gmail.comwww.brockhauswolff.com

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© Brockhaus/Wolff

GFQ 3-2017 NEW DOCUMENTARIES

THE POETESS

Solmaz Vakilpour, born in 1980 inKhorramshahr/Iran, is an Iranian-German activist/artist who dealswith the topics of women’s rights

and war in her performance series WARLESSDAY. While she is preparing her new cam-paign, which is to be held on InternationalWomen’s Day in front of the Cologne CentralStation in 2016, she is contacted by anacquaintance from Iran: the actress anddirector Moujan Mohammad Taher wants todo a demonstrative nude action in Iran, whichis extremely dangerous.

HAMED MOHAMMADI’s films include: theshorts 19GHOSTSIII (2008), QUALITÄTS -SICHERUNG (2009), DAS SPIEL (2010),SPRECHBLASE (2010), DIE GESCHICHTE DERFRAU YDGDF (2010), KATZE (2011), EXCITE-MENT (2012), DÄMONEN (2013), NIGHT(2014), HALLOWEED (2015), ÜBER:LEBEN –ABOUT LIFE (2015), NIEDERSCHLAG (2016),and WARLESS DAY (2017).

GENRE Art, Experimental YEAR OF PRODUC-TION 2017 DIRECTOR Hamed MohammadiCINEMATOGRAPHY Chantal BergemannWITH Solmaz Vakilpour, Johan Nemes,Michael Kammerer, Safia Lebdi, MoujanMohammad Taher PRODUCER HamedMohammadi PRODUCTION COMPANY Kunst-hochschule für Medien Köln (KHM) RUNTIME60 min LANGUAGE English, French, German,

Persian FESTIVALS FIDMarseille 2017

SALES Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln (KHM)dilger@khm.dewww.khm.de

© Hamed Mohammadi

WARLESS DAY

NEW SHORTS GFQ 3-2017

26

GABI

© Clara Rosenthal

An uneasy emptiness is over -shadow ing tile-layer Gabi’s life.Her husband is cheating on her,but she does not even mind. Her

sister is pregnant and stressed out. Insteadof recognizing Gabi’s conundrum she in -creasingly shifts responsibilities on to Gabi.Ultimately, Gabi even has to take in her seniledad after his retirement home becomes un-inhabitable. The only person paying attentionto her is her apprentice Marco. He sees her.He talks to her. Almost exaggeratedly. Marco,too, has problems. He is not capable of sepa-rating from his unfaithful girlfriend. There-fore, he is practicing breaking up with her:with Gabi in the role of his girlfriend. This roleplay in duces an emotional mix, ranging fromtantrums to affection, during which the linesbetween reality and acting begin to blur…

MICHAEL FETTER NATHANSKY was born in1993 in Cologne and studies at the Film Uni-versity Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF. His filmsinclude: DIE EINTAGSFLIEGE (mockumen-tary, 2014), CHEWBACCERL (short doc, 2015),PITTER (short, 2016), and GABI (short, 2017).

GENRE Tragicomedy YEAR OF PRODUCTION2017 DIRECTOR Michael Fetter NathanskySCREENPLAY Michael Fetter NathanskyCINEMATOG RAPHY Clara Rosenthal CASTGisa Flake, Florian Kroop, Britta Steffen -hagen, Martin Neuhaus, Dela Dabulmanzi,Werner Prieß, Anja Karnstedt PRODUCTIONCOMPANY Filmuniversität BabelsbergKONRAD WOLF, in co-production with RBBRUNTIME 30 min LANGUAGE German FESTI-VALS Berlinale 2017, Int. Short Film WeekRegens burg 2017, Filmfest Dresden 2017,Sehsüchte 2017, Wendland Shorts 2017, TelAviv Int. Student FF 2017, Palm SpringsShortFest 2017, Cinema Jove Valencia 2017AWARDS Audience Award Regensburg 2017,Audience Award Dresden 2017

SALESFilmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLFdistribution@filmuniversitaet.dewww.filmuniversitaet.de

MEMENTO MORI

© Nina Schiena

“Do you fear death? Don’t be frightened...”

Aboy spends hours on a busy holi-day beach. His impressions andthoughts intertwine to a currentperception that is concerned with

transience.

The cinematic essay MEMENTO MORI aimsto understand life and death as a unit andquestions the fear of death.

NINA SCHIENA was born in 1977 in Berlinand studied Directing at the Filmarche inBerlin and Editing at the Film UniversityBabels berg KONRAD WOLF in Potsdam. Herfilms include: THE BEAUTY IS THE ACT (short,2005), MEMENTO MORI (short, 2016), LIFE INA BOX (short, 2017), and PAULA UND PAULwhich is currently in development.

GENRE Fiction, Narrative, Experimental, ArtYEAR OF PRODUCTION 2016 DIRECTORNina Schiena SCREENPLAY Nina SchienaCINEMATOGRAPHY Yves Maurice Itzek, AntoJularic CAST Jens Reuter PRODUCERS NinaSchiena, Yves Maurice Itzek RUNTIME 13 minLANGUAGE German FESTIVALS ARFF AroundFilm IFF 2017, Film Fest Schleswig-Holstein2017, FilmZ Mainz 2017, Signes de Nuit Saar-brücken 2017, Best Independent FF Karls-ruhe 2017, Accolade Global FF La Jola 2016,World Film Festival Houston 2016, CinemaGrand Prix Jawa Barat 2016, Festival Zeichender Nacht Berlin 2016 AWARDS Best TrailerARFF 2017, Award of Recognition AccoladeGlobal FF La Jola 2016, REMI Award Houston2016, Award of Achievement Jawa Barat 2016

SALESNina Schienainfo@ninaschiena.dewww.ninaschiena.de/mementomori

GFQ 3-2017 NEW SHORTS

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SOG

© Jonatan Schwenk

After a flood, some fish got stuck inold trees. In danger of drying-out,they scream sharply. Woken up bythe noise, the inhabitants of a

nearby cave don’t feel happy about the un -intended gathering.

JONATAN SCHWENK was born in Gottingenin 1987. He studies Visual Communication atthe University of Art and Design in Offenbachand is a guest student at the Kunsthoch-schule Kassel in the Animation class. Also ac-tive as a sound designer, his films as adirector include: SISYPHOS BLUES (2009),MAISON SONORE (2011), NEUNUNDACHTZIG(2012), and SOG (2017).

GENRE Animation, Drama YEAR OF PRO -DUCTION 2017 DIRECTOR Jonatan SchwenkSCREENPLAY Jonatan Schwenk, MerlinFlügel CINEMATOGRAPHY Iván RoblesMendoza ANIMATION Jonatan Schwenk PRO-DUCER Jonatan Schwenk RUNTIME 10 minLANGUAGE no dialogue FESTIVALS Anima-fest Zagreb 2017, Annecy 2017, Palm SpringsShortFest 2017, Anima Mundi 2017 AWARDSCristal for Best Graduation Film Annecy 2017,Best Student Animation Palm Springs Short-Fest 2017

SALESJonatan Schwenkjonatan.schwenk@gmail.comwww.jonatan-schwenk.com

THE WHEEL

© Daniela Lucato

The loss of childhood imaginedthrough a kid. The film talks aboutthe loss of the childhood, the com -ing of age and the entrance into the

adult world. A child faces this passagethrough two characters who symbolically re-present the world of children as an uncon -taminated world that is destined to finish.

DANIELA LUCATO studied Theater and Philo-sophy in Padua. Also active as an actress forfilm and the theater, she wrote and directedthe theater piece Call Me Reality in 2013 andthe dance-theater production ConnectingFingers in 2015. Her films as a director in-clude: THE BIRTHDAY (short, 2014), WHEN IDANCE (doc, 2016), and THE WHEEL (short,2017).

GENRE Art, Children & Youth, Coming-of-AgeStory, Experimental, Fantasy YEAR OF PRO-DUCTION 2017 DIRECTOR Daniela LucatoSCREENPLAY Sara Fortuna CINEMATOG -RAPHY Jacopo Pantaleoni CAST NicolaCampanelli, Roberta Ricci, Elia PantaleoniPRODUCER Daniela Lucato RUNTIME 9 minLANGUAGE no dialogue FESTIVALS KlickKino 2017

SALESDaniela Lucatodanielalucato@hotmail.comwww.danielalucato.wixsite.com/thewheelshortfilm

UPCOMING FILMS GFQ 3-2017

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BERLIN BOUNCER

David Dietl, who made his fictionfeature debut with KÖNIG VONDEUTSCHLAND in 2013, has re -

turned to the documentary genre for hisportrait of Berlin’s most famous bouncers –Sven Marquardt, Frank Künster and SmileyBaldwin. The three men have been part andparcel of the capital’s club scene for morethan 25 years – from the days after the fall ofthe Berlin Wall to the present day – but aren’tyet considering calling it a day even thoughlife makes more demands on them as theyturn 50.

Thanks to the bond of trust built up with hisprotagonists, Dietl is able to explore the fas-cination of Berlin night life over the past few

decades from the inside and venture behindthe glittering facade.

GENRE Music, Society CATEGORY Documen-tary DIRECTOR David Dietl PRODUCERSMartin Heisler, Katharina Bergfeld PRODUC-TION COMPANY Flare Film LANGUAGEGerman

CONTACT Flare Film info@flare-film.comwww.flare-film.com

BURG SCHRECKENSTEIN 2

Inter-school rivalry reaches new dimen -sions as the Shiverstone boys and Rosen-fels girls add mutual sabotage to their

annual sports day events! But things come toan abrupt end when the count crashes hisairship into the lake! Saved in the nick of time,he then has to spend several weeks in asanatorium. His physical and mental condi-tion aside, he is also financially wrecked. Hiscousin Kuno sees the only hope in selling thecastle to a mysterious Chinese businessman,Wang. But the boys learn he plans to ship itto a medieval theme park in China! Then theschool servant, Jean, tells them of a myste-rious treasure, supposedly buried some -where on the grounds, which could saveShiverstone. Myth or reality? There is only oneway to find out…

GENRE Children & Youth, Family Entertain-ment CATEGORY Feature DIRECTOR RalfHuettner SCREENPLAY Christian LimmerCAST Sophie Rois, Henning Baum, Uwe Och-senknecht, Alexander Beyer, Maurizio Magno,Chieloka Nwokolo, Benedict Glöckle, CasparKrzysch, Eloi Christ, Nina Goceva, MinaRueffer, Paula Donath PRODUCERS AnnieBrunner, Andreas Richter, Ursula Woerner,Alexis v. Wittgenstein PRODUCTION COM-PANY Roxy Film, in co-production with VioletPictures, Tele München Gruppe LANGUAGEGerman, English

SALES Beta Film beta@betafilm.comwww.betafilm.com

EINGEIMPFT

Following the feature documentariesDAVID WANTS TO FLY and FORGET MENOT, David Sieveking is currently

working on his third autobiographical filmIMMUNIZED (WT) which tells the story of aloving couple and the challenges they faceafter the birth of their first baby when theyrealize that they don’t agree on the scheduleof vaccinations proposed for newborns. Daviddecides to set out on a research trip through -out Europe and as far as West Africa to un -earth the facts and dispel the mythssurrounding vaccination. The young couple isnow expecting its second child; a decision willhave to be taken... A tongue-in-cheek familycomedy and a profound insight into the globalimpact of vaccinations today.

GENRE Society, Human Interest CATEGORYDocumentary DIRECTOR David SievekingPRODUCERSMartin Heisler, Katharina Berg-feld CO-PRODUCER Carl-Ludwig RettingerPRODUCTION COMPANY Flare Film, in co-production with Lichtblick Film LANGUAGEGerman, English

CONTACT Flare Film info@flare-film.comwww.flare-film.com

© 2017 Flare Film/Eric Ferranti

© Martin Rattini

© Flare Film/Adrian Stähli

GFQ 3-2017 UPCOMING FILMS

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ELECTRIC GIRL

Twenty-seven-year-old slam poet Mia iscelebrated for her spontaneous andunpredictable talent. When she lands

a dubbing job in a Japanese animated seriesshe merges more and more with the role ofthe blue-haired Kimiko. Suddenly, Mia cansee electricity, leap from roofs and savepeople’s lives. But as Mia’s superpowersgrow, so does her awareness of loomingdanger. Just as in the Kimiko anime, hostilepowers are planning to destroy the city,maybe even all of humanity. Only Mia can savethe day. But who is really in danger here?

GENRE Drama CATEGORY Feature DIRECTORZiska Riemann SCREENPLAY Dagmar Gabler,Ziska Riemann, Angela Christlieb, Luci vanOrg CAST Victoria Schulz, Hans JochenWagner, Björn von der Wellen, Svenja Jung,Irene Kugler, Jan Brisolla, Anna AmaliaBornmeyer, Bastian Sierich, Simone Jäger,Yusuke Yamasaki PRODUCER Nicole Ger-hards CO-PRODUCERS Dries Phlypo, StefanSchubert, Uwe Kolbe PRODUCTION COM-PANY NiKo Film, in co-production with APrivate View, Wüste Film LANGUAGE German

CONTACT NiKo Filminfo@nikofilm.dewww.nikofilm.de

FACK JU GÖHTE 3

It’s time for school as the Goethe Compre-hensive reopens its doors and energizes itsmetal detectors to welcome those keen

and energetic young minds ready to learn and... Nah! That’s somewhere else! This is thepolitically incorrect third and final part of thenow famously successful trilogy, where Mr.Müller and his problem kids Chantal, Dangerand Co. once again take up arms against theirsworn enemy, the German education system.

The overall success of the FACK JU GÖHTEseries is without equal in the German filmlandscape. With a total of some 15.1 millionviewers the first two parts are among themost successful German films ever.

GENRE Comedy CATEGORY FeatureDIRECTOR Bora Dagtekin SCREENPLAYBora Dagtekin CAST Elyas M’Barek, JellaHaase, Sandra Hüller, Katja Riemann, Maxvon der Groeben, Gizem Emre, Aram AramiPRODUCERS Lena Schömann, MartinMoszkowicz PRODUCTION COMPANY Con-stantin Film Produktion LANGUAGE German

CONTACT Constantin Film Verleih zentrale@constantin-film.dewww.constantin-film.de

MACHT EUCH KEINE SORGEN!

E arlier this summer, Emily Ateftravelled with cast and crew tolocations in and around Jericho on

the West Bank in the Palestinian Territoriesfor her family drama about a German teen-ager who leaves home totally unexpectedly tojoin the ranks of the so-called Islamic State(IS) in its armed struggle. When the boy’sfather and older brother set off on an adven-turous journey to the Syrian border, theymanage to find him and bring him back toGermany. However, back home, questionsstart being asked: did he return of his ownfree will, has he disassociated himself fromthe IS ideology, or is he in fact a ‘sleeper’agent awaiting orders?

GENRE Drama CATEGORY TV Movie DIREC-TOR Emily Atef SCREENPLAY Kathi Liers,Jana Simon CAST Jörg Schüttauf, LeonardCarow, Ulrike C. Tscharre, Leonard ScheicherPRODUCER Thomas Kufus PRODUCTIONCOMPANY zero one film for WDR LANGUAGEGerman, English

CONTACT zero one film office@zeroone.dewww.zeroone.de

© Hannes Hubach/NiKo Film

courtesy of Constantin Film Verleih

© zero one film/Thomas Kufus

UPCOMING FILMS GFQ 3-2017

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DAS MELANCHOLISCHE MÄDCHEN

The melancholic girl has writer’s blockand no home. She makes her waythrough the market of possible life-

styles in this beautiful, new, neoliberal worldand meets several men on the way.

Instead of narrating the crisis as personalsuffering, the film politicizes its protagonist’sdepression and shows her episodically, suffe-ring under the structures. It departs from au-thenticity and shows life’s realities inprecisely built, visually stunning tableaux withdeliberate political purpose: the resultingsurreal reality appears as one absurd possi-bility among many – and the unease in societybecomes the longing for another.

Susanne Heinrich’s debut feature film is ahumorous and deadly serious social criticismin pink and light blue.

GENRE Comedy CATEGORY FeatureDIRECTOR Susanne Heinrich SCREENPLAYSusanne Heinrich CAST Marie RathscheckPRODUCER Jana Kreissl PRODUCTION COM-PANY Deutsche Film- und FernsehakademieBerlin (DFFB) LANGUAGE German

CONTACT DFFBj.settmacher@dffb.dewww.dffb.de

PRÉLUDE

This year’s Berlinale Shooting StarLouis Hofmann (LAND OF MINE) hasbeen cast in Sabrina Sarabi’s debut

feature PRÉLUDE as a young piano studentwho enthusiastically rushes into the world ofmusic and his first true love, but increasinglyloses control over his life as he succumbs togrowing pressures and self-doubt.

The portrait of an individualized generationby the graduate of Cologne’s Academy ofMedia Arts (KHM) features such up-and-com -ing talents as Liv Lisa Fries (one of the leadsin the BABYLON BERLIN TV series), JohannesNussbaum (RADEGUND) and Saskia Rosen-dahl (WORK WITHOUT AUTHOR) alongsideUrsina Lardi (THE WHITE RIBBON) and JennySchily (SLEEPING SICKNESS).

GENRE Drama CATEGORY Feature DIRECTORSabrina Sarabi SCREENPLAY Sabrina SarabiCAST Louis Hofmann, Liv Lisa Fries, Johan-nes Nussbaum, Ursina Lardi, Jenny Schily,Saskia Rosendahl PRODUCERS MarkusKaatsch, Jonas Weydemann, Jakob D.Weydemann PRODUCTION COMPANIESabout:film, Weydemann Bros. , in co-pro -duction with WDR, SWR LANGUAGE German

CONTACT about:filminfo@about-film.de

DAS SCHÖNSTE PAAR

Two young teachers, Malte and Liv, arespending their summer holiday on theMediterranean coast when they are

attacked by three young men. The incidentescalates and Liv is sexually assaulted. Twoyears later and Malte and Liv are not only stilltogether, they demonstrate an amazingstrength in dealing with the traumatic ex -perience, determined that it will not drive awedge between them. But when Malte en-counters Liv’s attacker purely by chance hefinds himself driven to seek revenge andjustice, and sets out in pursuit. However, thelonged for confrontation occurs too soon, be-fore Malte has told Liv, let alone the police,and the young couple’s fragile relationship,which they have fought so hard to preserve, isput to the test once more.

GENRE Drama, Love Story CATEGORY Fea-ture DIRECTOR Sven Taddicken SCREENPLAYSven Taddicken CAST Maximilian Brückner,Luise Heyer, Jasna Fritzi Bauer PRODUCERSJamila Wenske, Sol Bondy CO-PRODUCERIlann Girard PRODUCTION COMPANY OneTwo Films, in co-production with ArsamInter national LANGUAGE German

SALESBeta Cinema beta@betacinema.comwww.betacinema.com

© Agnes Pakozdi/DFFB

© Max Preiss

© Thomas von Klier/One Two Films

GFQ 3-2017 UPCOMING FILMS

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TRANSIT

Schramm Film and Christian Petzoldhave come together for their 11thcollaboration on the director’s latest

feature, TRANSIT, a contemporary reworkingof Anna Seghers’ 1944 novel about refugeesattempting to flee through Marseille after theNazi invasion of France in 1940.

Franz Rogowski portrays a man on the runfrom the Germans, who assumes the identityof a dead writer. Arriving in Marseille, hemeets and falls in love with the writer’s un-suspecting widow (Paula Beer) who wants tostart a new life in South America.

GENRE Drama CATEGORY Feature DIRECTORChristian Petzold SCREENPLAY ChristianPetzold CAST Franz Rogowski, Paula Beer,Lilien Batman, Ronald Kukulies, GodehardGiese, Barbara Auer, Maryam Zaree, MatthiasBrandt, Justus von Dohnányi, Alex Brende-mühl, Trystan Pütter, Sebastian Hülk, Emiliede Preissac, Antoine Oppenheim PRODU-CERS Florian Koerner von Gustorf, MichaelWeber CO-PRODUCER Antonin Dedet PRO-DUCTION COMPANY Schramm Film Koerner& Weber, in co-production with Neon Produc-tions LANGUAGE German, French

SALES The Match Factory info@matchfactory.de www.the-match-factory.com

TRAUTMANN

B avarian director Marcus ‘Rosi’Rosenmüller is making his English-language feature debut with a biopic

about the legendary German-born goal -keeper Bernd ‘Bert’ Trautmann. David Krossplays Trautmann, who was in goal for Man-chester City from 1949 to 1964 and famouslyplayed the FA Cup Final with a broken neck,with Freya Mavor cast as the love of his life,Margaret, who was the daughter of his coachat St Helens. Described by another Man Citygoalie Joe Corrigan as “one of the greatestgoalkeepers of all time”, Trautmann receivedGermany’s Order of Merit in 1997 and anhonorary OBE from the Queen in 2004 for hiswork in promoting Anglo-German relations.

GENRE Drama CATEGORY Feature DIRECTORMarcus H.Rosenmüller SCREENPLAY MarcusH.Rosenmüller, Nicholas J. Schofield, RobertMarciniak CAST David Kross, Freya Mavor,John Henshaw, Dave Johns, Harry Melling,Gary Lewis, Chloe Harris, Mikey Collins,Dervla Kirwan, Michael Socha, David SchütterPRODUCERS Robert Marciniak, Chris Curling,Steve Milne PRODUCTION COMPANIESLieblingsfilm, Zephyr Films, British FilmCompany, in co-pro duction with ARD Degeto,SquareOne Entertainment, ARRI MediaLANGUAGE English, German

SALES Beta Cinema beta@betacinema.comwww.betacinema.com

WÄLDER

E lena is a student in Minsk. She is hav -ing an intense but self-destructivelove affair with Viktor. When Elena’s

father goes to prison she has to take chargeof his business dealings to help him. Shedrives repeatedly into the restricted zone atChernobyl, behind the wheel of a truck, inorder to smuggle contaminated steel. Theconflicts with Viktor escalate, and Elena is in-creasingly captivated by the zone’s deceptivebeauty…

GENRE Drama, Thriller CATEGORY FeatureDIRECTOR Lothar Herzog SCREENPLAYLothar Herzog CAST Daria Mureeva, EvgenySanghadzhiev, Aleksey Filimonov, AlekseyKravchenko, Vitaly Kotovitsky, Helga FilippovaPRODUCER Benny Drechsel PRODUCTIONCOMPANY Rohfilm Productions, in co-pro-duction with Deutsche Film- und Fernseh-akademie Berlin (DFFB), WDR, ARTELANGUAGE Russian

CONTACT DFFBj.settmacher@dffb.dewww.dffb.de

© Marco Krüger/Schramm Film

© Jürgen Olczyk /JAT-PHOTO

© Philipp Baben der Erde

GERMAN FILMS: A PROFILE GFQ 3-2017

32

GERMAN FILMSSERVICE + MARkETINGis the national infor mation and advisorycenter for the promotion of German filmsworldwide. It was established in 1954 underthe name Export-Union of German Cinema asthe umbrella association for the Associationof German Feature Film Producers, theAssociation of New German Feature FilmProducers and the Association of GermanFilm Exporters, and operates today in thelegal form of a limited company. In 2004, thecompany was re organized and now operatesunder the name: German Films Service +Marketing GmbH.

SHAREHOLDERS are the German Pro -ducers Association, the German Pro ducersAlliance, the Association of German Film Ex-porters, the German Federal Film Board(FFA), the Deutsche Kinemathek, the GermanDocumentary Association, FilmFernsehFondsBayern, Film- und Medien stiftung NRW,Medien board Berlin-Brandenburg, and theGerman Short Film Association.

German Films’ budget of presently €4.72million comes from film export levies, theoffice of the Federal Government Com -missioner for Culture and the Media, andthe FFA. The eight main regional film funds(FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, FilmförderungHamburg Schleswig-Holstein, Film- undMedien stiftung NRW, HessenFilm, Medien -board Berlin-Brandenburg, MFG Baden-Württemberg, Mittel deutsche Medien-förderung, and Nord media) make a financialcontribution – currently amounting to€362,000 – towards the work of GermanFilms.

German Films is a founding member of theEuropean Film Promotion, a network ofEuropean film organizations with similarresponsibilities to those of German Films.The organiza tion, with its headquarters inHamburg, aims to develop and realize jointprojects for the pre sentation of Europeanfilms on an inter national level.

In association and cooperation with its share -holders, German Films works to promote fea-ture, documentary, television and short films.

In addition, German Films has foreign re p -resentatives for Eastern Europe, China/Southe ast Asia, and the USA/Canada.

.

RANGE OF ACTIVITIES

Close cooperation with major interna -tional film festivals, in cluding Berlin, Cannes,Venice, San Sebastian, Locarno, Rome,Karlovy Vary, Montreal, Toronto, New York,Shanghai, Warsaw, Moscow, and Busan

Organization of umbrella stands forGerman sales companies and producers atinternational television and film markets(Berlin, Cannes, AFM Los Angeles, Shanghai,Toronto, Clermont-Ferrand, Annecy)

Staging of Festivals of German Films inselected inter national territories in coopera-tion with the Goethe-Institut

Staging of industry screenings in keyinternational territories

Providing advice and information for rep -resentatives of the international press andbuyers from the fields of cinema, homeentertain ment, and television

Providing advice and information forGerman filmmakers and press on inter -national festivals, conditions of participation,and German films being shown

Organization of the annual Next Genera-tion Short Tiger short film program, whichpresents a selection of shorts and is inter -nationally premiered in Cannes

Publication of informational literatureabout current German films and the Germanfilm industry, as well as international marketanaly ses and special festival brochures

A website (www.german-films.de) offer -ing in forma tion about new German films, afilm archive, in formation and links to Germanand international film festivals and institu -tions

Organization of the selection procedurefor the German entry for the Oscar® for BestForeign Language Film

Collaboration with Deutsche Welle’sDW-TV KINO program which features thelatest German film releases and inter nationalproductions in Germany

Organization of the German Films Pre-views geared toward arthouse distributorsand buyers of German films

Selective financial Distribution Supportfor the foreign releases of German films

Organization with UniFrance of the annualGerman-French film meeting

SUPERVISORY BOARD

Peter Herrmann Chairman

Jana CernikKatharina Cramer-Hadjidimos Peter Dinges Antonio Exacoustos Prof. Dr. Klaus Schaefer

TEAM

Mariette Rissenbeek Managing Director

Christine Harrasser Distribution Support, Television, Business Affairs

Angela Hawkins Communications & Marketing

Nicole Kaufmann Regional Coordinator: USA, UK & Northern Europe

Birgit Koch Press & PR

Verena Köstler Accounts

Marita Luger Assistant to the Managing Director

Dennis Ruh Festival Relations

Fides Schäffer Regional Coordinator: Asia & Australia

Maike Schantz Regional Coordinator: Southern Europe & Latin America

Martin Scheuring Project Coordinator & Short Film

Sabrina Schrödl Assistant to the Managing Director

Bernhard Simek Regional Coordinator: Eastern Europe, Documentary Film

Allianz Deutscher Produzenten – Film & Fernsehen e.V. German Producers Alliance Kronenstr. 3 | 10117 Berlin/Germanyphone +49-30-2 06 70 88 0 | fax +49-30-2 06 70 88 44 | info@produzentenallianz.de | www.produzentenallianz.de

Arbeitsgemeinschaft Dokumentarfilm e.V.German Documentary AssociationSchweizer Str. 6 | 60594 Frankfurt am Main/Germanyphone +49-69-62 37 00 | fax +49-61 42-96 64 24 | agdok@agdok.de | www.agdok.de

Arbeitsgemeinschaft Kurzfilm e.V.German Short Film AssociationFörstereistr. 36 | 01099 Dresden/Germanyphone +49-3 51-4 04 55 75 | fax +49-3 51-4 04 55 76 | info@ag-kurzfilm.de | www.ag-kurzfilm.de

Deutsche Kinemathek Museum für Film und FernsehenPotsdamer Str. 2 | 10785 Berlin/Germany phone +49-30-30 09 03-0 | fax +49-30-30 09 03-13 | info@deutsche-kinemathek.de | www.deutsche-kinemathek.de

FilmFernsehFonds Bayern GmbHGesellschaft zur Förderung der Medien in Bayern Sonnenstr. 21 | 80331 Munich/Germanyphone +49-89-54 46 02-0 | fax +49-89-54 46 02 21 | filmfoerderung@fff-bayern.de | www.fff-bayern.de

FilmförderungsanstaltGerman Federal Film BoardGroße Präsidentenstr. 9 | 10178 Berlin/Germanyphone +49-30-27 57 70 | fax +49-30-27 57 71 11 | info@ffa.de | www.ffa.de

Film- und Medienstiftung NRW GmbHKaistr. 14 | 40221 Düsseldorf/Germanyphone +49-2 11-93 05 00 | fax +49-2 11-93 05 05 | info@filmstiftung.de | www.filmstiftung.de

Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg GmbHAugust-Bebel-Str. 26-53 | 14482 Potsdam-Babelsberg/Germanyphone +49-3 31-74 38 70 | fax +49-3 31-7 43 87 99 | info@medienboard.de | www.medienboard.de

Verband Deutscher Filmexporteure e.V. (VDFE)Association of German Film ExportersRobert-Koch-Str. 1 | 80538 Munich/Germany | Berlin office: Winterfeldtstr. 56 | 10781 Berlin/Germany phone +49- 89-57 08 77 53 | fax +49-89-57 08 77 60 | mail@vdfe.de | www.vdfe.de

Verband Deutscher Filmproduzenten e.V. German Producers AssociationHäberlstr. 5 | 80336 Munich/Germanyphone +49-89-22 84 50 45 | fax +49-89-12 19 76 03 mail@filmproduzentenverband.de | www.filmproduzentenverband.de

Die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und MedienFederal Government Commissioner for Culture & the MediaKöthener Str. 2 | 10963 Berlin/Germany | phone +49-30-18 68 10fax +49-30-1 86 81 54 43 51 | K36@bkm.bund.de | www.kulturstaatsminister.de

Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein GmbHFriedensallee 14–16 | 22765 Hamburg/Germanyphone +49-40-398 37-0 | fax +49-40-398 37-10 | info@ffhsh.de | www.ffhsh.de

HessenFilm und Medien GmbHAm Steinernen Stock 1 | 60320 Frankfurt am Main/Germanyphone +49-69-15 32 404-0 | fax +49-69-15 32 404 99 | info@hessenfilm.de | www.hessenfilm.de

MFG Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg mbHBereich Filmförderung | Breitscheidstr. 4 | 70174 Stuttgart/Germanyphone +49-7 11-90 71 54 00 | fax +49-7 11-90 71 54 50 | filmfoerderung@mfg.de | www.film.mfg.de

Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung GmbHHainstr. 17-19 | 04109 Leipzig/Germanyphone +49-3 41-26 98 70 | fax +49-3 41-2 69 87 65 | info@mdm-online.de | www.mdm-online.de

nordmedia – Film- und Mediengesellschaft Niedersachsen/Bremen mbHExpo Plaza 1 | 30539 Hanover/Germanyphone +49-5 11-1 23 45 60 | fax +49-5 11-12 34 56 29 | info@nordmedia.de | www.nordmedia.de

33

GFQ 3-2017 SHAREHOLDERS & SUPPORTERS

ASSOCIATION OF GERMAN FILM ExPORTERS GFQ 3-2017

34

ASSOCIATION OFGERMAN FILM ExPORTERS

Robert-Koch-Str. 1 80538 Munich/Germany phone +49-89-570 877 53 fax +49-89-570 877 60 mail@vdfe.de www.vdfe.de

ARRI Media InternationalTürkenstr. 8980799 Munich/Germanyphone +49-89-38 09 12 88fax +49-89-38 09 16 19worldsales@arri.dewww.arrimedia.de/international

Beta Cinema GmbHGrünwalder Weg 28d82041 Oberhaching/Germanyphone +49-89-6 73 46 98 28beta@betacinema.comwww.betacinema.com

Constantin Film Verleih GmbHFeilitzschstr. 680802 Munich/Germanyphone +49-89-44 44 60 0fax +49-89-44 44 60 666 zentrale@constantin-film.dewww.constantin-film.de

Berlin office: Winterfeldtstr. 5610781 Berlin/Germany phone +49-30-8 61 23 93

Films Boutique GmbHKöpenicker Str. 18410997 Berlin/Germany phone +49-30-69 53 78 50 contact@filmsboutique.com www.filmsboutique.com

Global Screen GmbHSonnenstr. 2180331 Munich/Germanyphone +49-89-24 41 29 55 00fax +49-89-24 41 29 55 20info@globalscreen.dewww.globalscreen.de

Media Luna New Films UGKaiser-Wilhelm-Ring 38, 6th Floor50672 Cologne/Germanyphone +49-2 21-51 09 18 91fax +49-2 21-51 09 18 99info@medialuna.bizwww.medialuna.biz

Picture Tree International GmbHHusemannstr. 710435 Berlin/Germanyphone +49-30-420 824 80fax +49-30-420 824 812pti@picturetree-international.comwww.picturetree-international.com

SOLA Media GmbHRotebühlplatz 2970178 Stuttgart/Germanyphone +49-7 11-96 89 44 40fax +49-7 11-96 89 44 51post@sola-media.comwww.sola-media.com

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GFQ 3-2017 IMPRINT & FOREIGN REPRESENTATIVES

35

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German Films Quarterly is published by:

German Films Service + Marketing GmbHHerzog-Wilhelm-Str. 1680331 Munich/Germanyphone +49-89-5 99 78 70fax +49-89-59 97 87 30info@german-films.dewww.german-films.de

ISSN 1614-6387

Credits are not contractual for any of the films mentioned in this publication.

© German Films Service + Marketing GmbH

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy ortransmission of this publication may be madewithout written permission.

EditorAngela Hawkins

Contributors Thomas Abeltshauser, Martin Blaney, Patrick Heidmann, Simon Kingsley, Thomas Schultze

TranslationsLucinda Rennison

CoverFREEDOM(© Joachim Gern/Midnight Marauder)

Design & Art DirectionWerner Schauer www.triptychon.biz

Printing Officewww.esta-druck.de

German Films supports the use of paper from sustainable forestry.The pages of this magazine are made of PEFC certificated cellulose.PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certificationschemes) is the largest independent organization worldwide forsecuring and continuously improving a sustainable forest manage-ment and it guarantees ecological, social and economic standards.Currently there are 258 million hectares of PEFC certificated forestworldwide.

FOREIGN REPRESENTATIVES

Eastern EuropeSimone BaumannSaxonia EntertainmentAltenburger Str. 904275 Leipzig/Germanyphone +49-3 41-35 00 45 36fax +49-3 41-35 00 77 45 36baumann@german-films.de

USA & CanadaOliver MahrdtHanns Wolters International Inc.599 Eleventh Ave., 3rd FloorNew York, NY 10036/USAphone +1-212-714 0100mahrdt@german-films.de

ChinaAnke Redl China Media Management Inc.Galaxy SOHO, Tower D-50931No. 7 Xiaopaifang HutongDongchengBeijing 100010/Chinaphone +86-10-65 20 64 30fax +86-10-65 20 64 50 redl@german-films.de

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