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Constantin Television (We Children from Bahnhof Zoo) and UFA Fiction (Deutschland 83) are underway on new German-language drama series Eldorado KaDeWe (w/t), which will be directed by Julia von Heinz, director of Germany’s 2020 Oscar entry And Tomorrow the Entire World.

Made in co-production with Ard Degeto and Rbb, the series is set in Berlin during the Roaring Twenties. The city is dominated by political unrest, inflation and increasing political radicalization but is also a modern metropolis in whose vibrant nightlife emancipation, sexual diversity and social utopias blossom. The drama focuses on the famous luxury department store, KaDeWe at Wittenbergplatz, founded and successfully run by the Jewish entrepreneurial family Jandorf. It is here that the lives of Hedi, Fritzi, Harry and Georg cross paths.

The six-part high-end series is being filmed in Budapest and Berlin and above is a first-look image. Starring are Valerie Stoll, Lia von Blarer, Joel Basman and Damian Thüne.

Stars: Helena Zengel, Albrecht Schuch, Gabriela Maria Schmeide, Lisa Hagmeister, Melanie Straub, Victoria Trauttmansdorff, Maryam Zaree, Tedros Teclebrhan, Matthias Brenner, Louis von Klipstein, Barbara Philipp, Amelle Schwerk | Written and Directed by Nora Fingscheidt

Written and directed by German filmmaker, writer and documentary maker Nora Fingscheidt, System Crasher is an intense and brutally honest and poignant drama about a young girl who has, in no uncertain terms, been utterly failed by the foster care system in Germany. It’s a topic of great depth and delicacy and Fingscheidt used soft hands, an open mind and a well-educated thought process to create something that is spellbindingly truthful and realistic, a visceral look at a young life buried in anger, sadness and violence.

I was almost immediately taken aback by just how strong and compelling the 11 year old Helena Zengel (Die Tochter) is in the lead role of Benni. A raw and engaging actress,...

Likely to be one of the more divisive films at this year’s Berlinale, “System Crasher” depends very much upon whether you believe, when dealing with children saddled with severe traumas and possible neurological issues, that one-on-one attention is more effective than medication in providing a stable platform for recovery. For those skeptical of prescription-based solutions, charmed when tortured kids briefly settle down and experience the thrill of freedom, Nora Fingscheidt’s scripted debut may be an affirmative experience. For others, however, it’s a well-meaning yet maddening slog that soft-pedals the preaching while overindulging the screeching.

The term “system crasher” is apparently used to describe out-of-control kids whose behavior is so antisocial that they’re unplaceable: too young for confined in-treatment programs, too violent to remain in foster care or a group home for any length of time, these children defy a child welfare system unable to cope. “System...

The Golden Glove (Der goldene Handschuh)

Germany’s Fatih Akin turns to horror for his tenth feature, The Golden Glove, which relays the true story of a 1970s serial killer who hunted prostitutes in Hamburg’s red light district. Produced by Akin and Nurhan Sekerci-Porst through his company bombero international, the film is also a co-production with Pathe and Warner Bros. Films Productions Germany. Utilizing his regular Dp Rainer Klausmann, the cast includes Jonas Dassler, Margarethe Tiesel, Uwe Rohde, Victoria Trauttmansdorff, Marc Hosemann, Hark Bohm, Heinz Strunk and Tristan Göbel. Akin competed in Locarno with his 1998 debut Short Sharp Shock but came to prominence in 2004 when his title Head-On won the Golden Bear in Berlin.…...

Iceland’s Oscar submission takes top prize in Lübeck; Edward Snowden gives video introduction to Citizenfour at Dok Leipzig; arson attack hits Lgbt screening in Kyiv.

Baldvin Baldvin Zophoníasson’s Life In A Fishbowl was the big winner at this year’s Nordic Film Days in Lübeck, taking home the Ndr Film Prize, worth $15,655 (€12,500)

Lead actor Thorsteinn Bachmann accepted the award in person from the five-person jury, which said it was “a touching and hopeful film about seemingly hopeless situations”.

The co-production between Iceland, Finland, Sweden and the Czech Republic is Iceland’s submission for the Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar and is being handled internationally by Films Boutique.

Special mentions were also given to Hisham Zaman’s Letter To The King (Norway) and J-p Valkeapää’s They Have Escaped (Finland) by the jury comprising actors Victoria Trauttmansdorff and Niklas Osterloh, producer Christoph Thoke, Ndr commissioning editor Diana Schulte-Kellinghaus and Finnish film-maker Kirsi Marie Liimatainen.

Festival-goers voted for...

COLOGNE, Germany -- The German Film academy handed veteran director Doris Dorrie the equivalent of a golden bouquet Friday, nominating her latest drama "Cherry Blossoms" for six Lolas, the German equivalent of the Oscar.

Close behind were Fatih Akin's cross-cultural drama "The Edge of Heaven" with five Lola nominations and Christian Petzold's cerebral mystery thriller "Yella" with four.

Dorrie's film -- a sweetly tragic story of a terminally ill widower who travels to Japan to fulfill a lifelong dream of his dead wife -- picked up Lola noms in most of the main categories, including best film, best director and best actor for star Elmar Wepper.

Wepper has to be considered a front runner for the best actor Lola but he will be going up against two local veterans: Matthias Brandt for his role as an abused husband in Jan Bonny's "Counterparts" and Ulrich Noethen for his comic turn as a husband stuck in a midlife crisis in Rainer Kaufmann's crossover hit "Runaway Horse".

Nina Hoss picked up a Lola nomination for her starring turn in "Yella", a role for which she won the best actress Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival last year. Also nominated are Dutch actress Carice van Houten for Paul Verhoeven's World War II thriller "Black Book" (a German-Dutch co-production) and Victoria Trauttmansdorff as a husband-beating wife in "Counterparts".

"Cherry Blossoms" has been getting rave reviews from German and international critics since its debut at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival. Many consider it the best film in Dorrie's long career.

The 52-year-old director made her name with light comedies including "Men" (1985) and "The Fisher and His Wife" (2005). While her films were often boxoffice hits, they were usually snubbed come awards time. Dorrie has only one Lola -- or German Film Award -- to her credit: a best screenplay prize in 1985 for her script to "Men".

But this year her movie is the one to beat in what is a surprisingly diverse field.

COLOGNE, Germany -- The German Film academy handed veteran director Doris Dorrie the equivalent of a golden bouquet Friday, nominating her latest drama Cherry Blossoms for six Lolas, the German equivalent of the Oscar.

Close behind were Fatih Akin's cross-cultural drama The Edge of Heaven with five Lola nominations and Christian Petzold's cerebral mystery thriller Yella with four.

Dorrie's film -- a sweetly tragic story of a terminally ill widower who travels to Japan to fulfill a lifelong dream of his dead wife -- picked up Lola noms in most of the main categories, including best film, best director and best actor for star Elmar Wepper.

Wepper has to be considered a front runner for the best actor Lola but he will be going up against two local veterans: Matthias Brandt for his role as an abused husband in Jan Bonny's Counterparts and Ulrich Noethen for his comic turn as a husband stuck in a midlife crisis in Rainer Kaufmann's crossover hit Runaway Horse.

Nina Hoss picked up a Lola nomination for her starring turn in Yella, a role for which she won the best actress Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival last year. Also nominated are Dutch actress Carice van Houten for Paul Verhoeven's World War II thriller Black Book (a German-Dutch co-production) and Victoria Trauttmansdorff as a husband-beating wife in Counterparts.

Cherry Blossoms has been getting rave reviews from German and international critics since its debut at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival. Many consider it the best film in Dorrie's long career.

The 52-year-old director made her name with light comedies including "Men" (1985) and The Fisher and His Wife (2005). While her films were often boxoffice hits, they were usually snubbed come awards time. Dorrie has only one Lola -- or German Film Award -- to her credit: a best screenplay prize in 1985 for her script to Men.

But this year her movie is the one to beat in what is a surprisingly diverse field.