News

Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique has closed first sales and released the first-look image from Oscar-nominated Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland’s biopic of the Czech novelist Franz Kafka, “Franz.”

The project has sold to September Film in Benelux, Filmin in Spain, Vertigo in Hungary, McF Megacom for the former Yugoslavia and Movies Inspired in Italy.

The film was previously acquired for theatrical distribution by Bac Films Distribution in France, X Verleih in Germany and Austria, Bioscop in Czech Republic and Kino Świat in Poland.

Kafka, a German-speaking Jewish Bohemian famous for surrealist and nightmarish visions, wrote “The Metamorphosis,” “The Trial” and “The Castle,” among others.

The film started shooting in Prague on April 12, including the Old Town near Kafka’s birthplace, and will continue there until the end of May, when the production moves for a week’s shoot in Berlin.

Šárka Cimbalová produces through Czech Republic’s Marlene Film Production,...

New titles include series about the Circeo massacre and El Chapo’s wife.

US streaming platform Paramount+ has unveiled a seven-strong film and series international slate ahead of its launch in the UK and Ireland later this week (June 22).

The originals will be produced in partnership with Vis, Paramount’s international studio. Paramount+ is aiming to commission 150 international originals by 2025.

New projects are Mexican suspense thriller film One Must Die, about seven people who are kidnapped and suddenly find themselves part of a deadly game. It Is directed by and stars Colombian actor Manolo Cardona, with Spanish actress Maribel Verdú also starring.

Letterbox Filmproduktion, producer of Zdf-Arte hit “Bad Banks” – and part of the Studio Hamburg Production Group that backed Netflix’s “Unorthodox” – has boarded “Davos,” a high-end drama series from Zurich-based film producer Contrast Film, producer of “Wonderland.”

“Davos,” a period espionage thriller, is being written by Switzerland’s Adrian Illien, a former producer at Swiss public broadcaster Srf of crime series “Tatort” and Germany’s Julia Penner, head writer on seasons 3, 4 and 5 of “Druck,” Germany’s adaptation of “Skam.”

Budgeted at $13 million, Contrast Film’s Ivan Madeo told Variety, “Davos” is a pioneering high-end drama series for Switzerland, for which Contrast has turned to one of the country’s biggest assets as an international content creators: Switzerland’s mystique as a setting for geo-political power play often tied to the extraordinary influence Switzerland is held to exert on the world’s financial systems.

The Swiss Alpine resort of Davos hosts...

Barbara Ott writes and directs.

The Yellow Affair has boarded sales for Barbara Ott’s Kids Run, the opening film in Berlin’s Perspektive Deutsches Kino section.

Ott writes and directs. Gabriele Simon and Martin Heisler produce for Flare Film, with co-producers Stefanie Plattner and Ekrem Ergün from Storming Donkey Productions. Farbfilm distributes in Germany and Austria, where Zdf has broadcast rights.

The film is about a former boxer, a single dad to his three children, who loses his job, and tries to win an amateur boxing competition to pay off his debts.

The cast features Jannis Niewöhner, Lena Tronina (Once Were Rebels), Eline Doenst,...

The 2020 Berlin Film Festival, the first edition under new artistic director Carlo Chatrian, has unveiled its first wave of titles.

Matteo Garrone’s Pinocchio, starring Roberto Benigni, will have its international premiere at the festival as a Berlinale Special Gala. The team have removed the ‘out of competition’ classification this year and those films will now play as Special Galas. Pinocchio is released theatrically in Italy this weekend and Berlin will mark its festival premiere.

“Garrone succeeds in re-telling the well-known story with his very own world of images. Although he is faithful to Carlo Collodi’s ideas, he has nevertheless created a very personal Pinocchio that is much more cheerful than we’ve experienced before,” commented Carlo Chatrian on the selection.

Also announced today were four films in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino program, which presents debut features. The section will open with Kids Run from Barbara Ott, whose graduation...

An impressive ensemble cast shines against an unlikely backdrop in the romantic comedy, Berlin, I Love You, arriving on Blu-ray (plus Digital), DVD, and Digital April 9 from Lionsgate.

An impressive ensemble cast shines against an unlikely backdrop in the romantic comedy, Berlin, I Love You, arriving on Blu-ray (plus Digital), DVD, and Digital April 9 from Lionsgate. This film is currently available On Demand. This heartwarming anthology contains 10 romantic stories set against the backdrop of the German capital and stars two-time Oscar® nominee Keira Knightley, Oscar® winner Helen Mirren, Luke Wilson, and Jenna Dewan. The Berlin, I Love You Blu-ray and DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $21.99 and $19.98, respectively.

Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren, Jim Sturgess, and Diego Luna head an all-star cast in this sparkling film from the producers ofParis, Je T’Aime. Set against the vivid backdrop of Berlin, Berlin, I Love You weaves ten stories of compassion,...