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The fifth and final season of the global hit series “Babylon Berlin” has started shooting, and Beta Film has released a first-look image of lead Volker Bruch’s (“Generation War”) Weimar-era police investigator Gereon Rath on set.

In its first four seasons, “Babylon Berlin” sold to more than 140 territories and was watched more than 94 million times on Germany’s Ard Mediathek alone. Among its laundry list of awards, the series won the inaugural European Achievement in Fiction Series Award at the European Film Awards, four German Television Awards, the Grand Prize at the Seoul International Drama Awards, the Austrian Television Award Romy as “TV Event of the Year,” the Premios Ondas in Spain and the Magnolia Award of the Shanghai TV Festival.

“Babylon Berlin’s” writing-directing team of Henk Handlogten, Achim von Borries and Tom Tykwer will return for the show’s final season, as will its leads Bruch and...

The final season of Babylon Berlin is finally a-go. Cameras are rolling on Season 5, with the first picture teasing more action for Volker Bruch’s police inspector Gereon in the German drama.

According to Beta Film, which produces and sells the show, the story is set to reunite [Gereon] with Liv Lisa Fries’ Charlotte for a final investigation, driven by a glimpse of hope to avoid Germany’s darkest period.”

The season is set to the backdrop of Adolf Hitler becoming Reich Chancellor in January 1933 as the end of Germany’s Weimar Republic looms. Two months later, new elections will give Hitler’s party complete power, but in the five weeks preceding, every German is faced with difficult decisions: to adapt, to risk open opposition, or to flee.

Gereon has disappeared, but Charlotte digs deep into a mysterious case of a series of murders of former front-line soldiers. There are growing...

The highly anticipated fifth and final season of Babylon Berlin is nearing completion, marking the end of an era for the popular German drama series. Set against the backdrop of the Weimar Republic, the show has captivated global audiences with its gritty, noir-style portrayal of pre-Nazi Germany. The concluding season will bring this tale to a close, focusing on the politically charged months that saw Adolf Hitler’s rise to power.

Filming for the final season wraps later this year, with co-creators Tom Tykwer, Henk Handloegten, and Achim von Borries preparing to deliver a tense and dramatic finale. Babylon Berlin has long been celebrated for its authentic depiction of 1920s Berlin, and season 5 will dive into the events surrounding Hitler’s appointment as Reich Chancellor on January 30, 1933, and the aftermath of his consolidation of power through the elections held in early March.

The season opens with the disappearance of Inspector Gereon Rath,...

For fans of Babylon Berlin, the wait is (almost) over. The show’s fifth and final season is set to finish shooting later this year, and co-creators Tom Tykwer, Henk Handloegten and Achim von Borries have begun to share some of the details of how they plan to bring the epic German neo-noir period drama to a conclusion.

The first image of season 5, provided exclusively to The Hollywood Reporter, show Volker Bruch as Inspector Gereon Rath, in silhouette, set against a murky and ominous background (see above). The plot of the final season, adapted from Volker Kutscher’s fifth Gereon Rath novel The March Fallen, reunites Gereon with Charlotte Ritter (Liv Lisa Fries), a flapper-turned-investigator for a final case.

After Gereon vanishes without a trace, Charlotte is on her own, investigating a series of murders of former frontline soldiers. She begins to uncover evidence that points to a link between...

Marcus Loges has been named the new head of production at storied German backlot Studio Babelsberg, the studio unveiled on Wednesday. On Jan. 1, he will take over from Henning Molfenter, who has run Babelsberg’s production operations for the past 20 years.

Loges has production credits on multiple features that shot at Babelberg, including on sci-fi epic Cloud Atlas, co-directed by the Wachowski siblings and German helmer Tom Tykwer, and on the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit. He worked on several Wachowskis-produced projects that shot in Germany, including as a producer on the Wachowskis’ Netflix show Sense8 and as a production manager on James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta and Ninja Assassin.

More recently, Loges worked as a line producer on the hit German series Babylon Berlin, co-created by Tykwer, Henk Handloegten, and Achim von Borries.

“It is a great honor and pleasure for me to return to Babelsberg – to a...

It’s official: After more than a year of negotiations and financial wrangling, the producers of Babylon Berlin have received the green light for a fifth and final season of the ground-breaking award-winning German period drama.

Volker Bruch and Liv Lisa Fries will return to reprise their lead roles as police detective Gereon Rath and assistant Charlotte Ritter for a final eight-episode arc set in February 1933 as the Nazis finally seize power in Germany. The season will be based on Volker Kutscher’s fifth Gereon Rath novel, The March Fallen. Series co-creators and showrunners Henk Handlogten, Achim von Borries and Tom Tykwer will return for the finale season, producing via X-Filme Creative Pool and directing all eight episodes.

“In the final season of Babylon Berlin we put February 1933 under the magnifying glass: Rarely has a society been torn apart more radically in such a short period of time than Germany in this chaotic month,...

The fifth and final season of the global hit series “Babylon Berlin” has received an official green light, and eight new episodes will be shot this fall.

“Babylon Berlin” is produced by X-Filme Creative Pool in co-production with Ard Degeto, Swr, Wdr, Radio Bremen and Beta Film. When former producer-distributor Sky Deutschland announced last year that it was pulling out of scripted originals, there was a concern that “Babylon Berlin” could be a casualty of that change. However, Beta Film assured Variety it was talking with partners at German broadcaster Ard’s production company Ard Degeto and X Filme to continue the show, and the groups have found a way to do just that.

Based on Volker Kutscher’s fifth novel, “The March Fallen,” Season 5’s synopsis reads: “Set in the darkest period of German history, the new season dives deep into the dreadful February 1933 and its consequences, the take-over of power of the Nsdap.

The wait for news is over… Babylon Berlin is officially coming back for a fifth and final season.

The hit period drama’s future has been a topic of discussion since Sky Deutschland pulled out of original commissioning, leaving a funding gap in the series it shares with German pubcaster Ard Degeto.

It was still expected to move forwards, with producers saying they expected it to film a final season and star Liv Lisa Fries recently telling us of plans to shoot later in 2024. Today, the news became official, with X-Filme Creative Pool producing season 5 in co-production with Beta Film and local pubcasters Ard Degeto, Swr, Wdr and Radio Bremen.

Set in the darkest period of German history, the new season will be set in the dark times of February 1933, when the Nazi Party took power. The director/writer trio of Henk Handlogten, Achim von Borries and Tom Tykwer will return for the finale,...

The genre-bending detective fiction series that is quickly becoming everybody’s favorite of the year is Sugar. The Apple TV+ series created by Mark Protosevich is set in Los Angeles and it follows the story of a private detective John Sugar as he is hired by a big-time film producer Jonathan Siegel to find his missing granddaughter Olivia. While, trying to find Olivia, Sugar stumbles into something far more dangerous than he could have anticipated. Sugar stars Colin Farrell in the lead role with Amy Ryan, James Cromwell, Sydney Chandler, Nate Corddry, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, and Dennis Boutsikaris starring in supporting roles. If you loved the mystery and thrill of Sugar here are some similar shows you could check out next.

The Man Who Fell to Earth (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Showtime

The Man Who Fell to Earth is a sci-fi drama series created by Jenny Lumet and Alex Kurtzman.

German filmmaker Tom Tykwer is taking over as managing director of X Filme Creative Pool, the company he co-founded 30 years ago, replacing partner Stefan Arndt, who is stepping down from the post on his own accord.

Tykwer will head up X Filme together with Uwe Schott, a producer who has been at the Berlin-based outfit since 2009 and has worked on many of the company’s biggest productions, from Cloud Atlas to the TV series Babylon Berlin.

Arndt, whose cinematic resume includes Run Lola Run, The White Ribbon, and Oscar winner Amour, will continue to produce for X Filme and, as a co-founder, remains a shareholder in the company.

In a statement, he said he wanted to withdraw from the daily business of managing X Filme “so that I can concentrate more on producing again. Some exciting projects are already in the making and I’m looking forward to realizing them...

Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s father-daughter drama Sentimental Value has received €200,000 from the German Federal Film Board (Ffa) and will shoot in Germany as well as in Norway and France later this year.

The film will reunite Trier with Renate Reinsve, the star of his Oscar-nominated The Worst Person In The World, and that film’s writer Eskil Vogt.

The production funding was allocated to the film’s German co-producer Komplizen Film which is producing with Norway’s Mer Film and Eye Eye Pictures, Denmark’s Zentropa, France’s Agat Films, and Mk Production.

The family drama is about two...

Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s father-daughter drama Sentimental Value has received €200,000 from the German Federal Film Board (Ffa) and will shoot in Germany as well as in Norway and France later this year.

The film will reunite Trier with Renate Reinsve, the star of his Oscar-nominated The Worst Person In The World, and that film’s writer Eskil Vogt.

The production funding was allocated to the film’s German co-producer Komplizen Film which is producing with Norway’s Mer Film and Eye Eye Pictures, Denmark’s Zentropa, France’s Agat Films, and Mk Production.

The family drama is about two...

Kino Lorber’s MHz Choice and Topic will merge into one streaming service, the company announced.

The combined product will become the exclusive U.S. streaming home of hit German series “Babylon Berlin” starting in April. As of Feb. 29, the series is no longer available in the country on Netflix, which previously held the U.S. streaming rights.

Co-created, written and directed by Tom Twyker, Achim von Borries and Hendrik Handloegten, “Babylon Berlin” is based on the novels by Volker Kutscher and distributed by Beta Film. The fourth season of the drama, which has not been available for streaming in North America before, will land on the new service June 25.

Along with “Babylon Berlin,” MHz Choice and Topic’s combined lineup will include “The Killing,” “The Bridge,” “Detective Montalbano,” “The Sea Beyond,” “Pagan Peak,” “A French Village,” “Spiral,” “Beck” and “Murder In.”

Current MHz Choice and Topic subscribers will be...

Exclusive: Things have been quiet on the Babylon Berlin front since the shock news came down middle of last year that Sky was pulling out of original commissioning in Germany, including on the hit period drama.

Series four aired last fall and fans have been waiting for an update on the fate of series five, which producers said last summer would go ahead without Sky.

In a new interview with Deadline set to run tomorrow, the show’s lead actress Liv Lisa Fries confirmed that the plan is to shoot the “last” series of the show later this year:

“At the end of this year we’re going to shoot the last season of Babylon Berlin. It’s still in financial process but they’re writing. Money is a question mark but my schedule is to shoot it later this year.”

Producer Beta Film couldn’t confirm a timetable or...

Tom Tykwer’s return to the big screen is getting closer. After seven years working in television, co-creating and co-directing, with Henk Handlogten and Achim von Borries, four seasons of acclaimed period drama Babylon Berlin, the German director of Run Lola Run, The International and Cloud Atlas will mark his movie comeback with the contemporary German-language drama The Light (Das Licht).

Tykwer’s production house X Filme Creative Pool, German distributor X Verleih and Beta Cinema, which have picked up international sales rights for the film, on Thursday unveiled the first look of The Light. The still, which almost resembles a Renaissance painting, features star Tala al Deen bathed in a radiant glow from a device on the table in front of her.

Al Deen plays Farrah, a mysterious Syrian woman who enters the lives of the Engels, a middle-class German family whose world is slowly unraveling. Nothing appears to...

Babylon Berlin is leaving Netflix next month, and subscribers won't be seeing the fourth season before it goes. The German series premiered on the streaming service in January 2018, and seasons two and three followed. Season four aired on Sky in 2022 but was never released on Netflix.

Created by Tom Tykwer, Achim von Borries, and Henk Handloegten, the series is set in 1920s Berlin and is inspired by the novels by Volker Kutscher. Starring Volker Bruch, Liv Lisa Fries, Peter Kurth, and Matthias Brandt, the Babylon Berlin series follows a police inspector from Cologne trying to take down an extortion ring.

Read More…...

Tom Tykwer is coming back to the movies.

The German director of Run Lola Run and Cloud Atlas has announced his return to filmmaking with the German drama Das Licht (The Light).

The feature, which has just wrapped principal photography, is described as a portrait of a family “between collapse and new beginnings” and deals with the major issues of our time “in a world that is reeling.”

Das Licht is Tykwer’s first feature film since 2016’s A Hologram for the King, starring Tom Hanks. He has spent the past seven years on TV, co-creating and co-directing, with Henk Handloegten and Achim von Borries, four seasons of the acclaimed and award-winning German historic series Babylon Berlin.

Das Licht stars Babylon Berlin alum Lars Eidinger and actor-director Nicolette Krebitz (Wild, My Zoe) as Tim and Milena Engels, a couple whose family, including nearly grown twins Frieda (Elke Biesendorfer) and Jon...

The producers of Babylon Berlin have confirmed the drama will get a fifth season, despite partner Sky Deutschland pulling out of commissioning in the country.

The future of the show was thrown into doubt when news broke Sky’s German arm had decided to stop ordering new shows and films. However, its German free TV network Ard Degato and producers Beta Film and X-Filme released a statement saying they have put season 5 into development.

Babylin Berlin has a unique funding and release model, in which Sky gets a first window on the show for its pay-tv service before public broadcaster Ard runs it later in the year. It then sits on both channels’ streaming services. Season four went out on Sky last October and is set to premiere on Ard this fall.

Beta, co-finances the show and sells it internationally, shopping the show to more than 140 territories to date. In the U.

’The Light’ is one of a slate of features to receive backing from German regional fund Film-und Medienstiftung Nrw.

The Light, Tom Tykwer’s first film for the cinema since his 2016 German-us comedy A Hologram For The King is one of 10 feature film projects allocated almost €6m in production support by the Düsseldorf-based regional fund Film-und Medienstiftung Nrw.

Tykwer’s original screenplay for The Light (Das Licht) centres on a troubled family who take on a Syrian immigrant as a housekeeper. When she successfully shakes up the lives of the family she then confronts them with the dark fate of her own.

Berlin-based X Filme Creative Pool will adapt one of the most successful German-language podcasts, “Zeit Crime” (“Zeit Verbrechen”) into an anthology series for Paramount +.

Awarded the German Podcast Prize, “Zeit Crime” is based on the criminal investigations of Sabine Rückert and Andreas Sentker. According to producer Jorgo Narjes, it currently boasts 5 million streams per month and an average of 1.5 million listeners per episode, “most of them female and in their late twenties.” So far, the podcast consists of more than 100 episodes.

Filming started this month and will continue until the end of June 2023.

The show is helmed by four directors, making four separate 60-minute-long films, each one inspired by a specific story from the podcast. Faraz Shariat, also behind HBO/Sky show “The Baby,” Helene Hegemann (“Axolotl Overkill”), Jan Bonny (Netflix’s “King of Stonks”) and Mariko Minoguchi, who recently brought sci-fi “Element” to Locarno Pro’s Alliance 4 Development,...

Each year we are proud to partner with the European Film Promotion to celebrate ten emerging European talents as part of their ongoing Efp Shooting Stars programme. Today we’re pleased to join the reveal of 2023’s cohort, who we’ll be getting to know better next year at the 73rd Berlinale.

Here are 2023’s European Shooting Stars:

Joely Mbundu (Belgium), Alina Tomnikov (Finland), Leonie Benesch (Germany), Thorvaldur Kristjansson (Iceland), Benedetta Porcaroli (Italy), Yannick Jozefzoon (The Netherlands), Kristine Kujath Thorp (Norway), Judith State (Romania), Gizem Erdogan (Sweden) and Kayije Kagame (Switzerland).

We’ll be meeting with each of the Shooting Stars out in Berlin next February and speaking to them. So, remember to check back next year for those interviews.

In the meantime, here are more details about each of the intake from the Efp themselves.

Belgium / Joely Mbundu ©Tina Herbots

Joely Mbundu hails from Villeneuve-St-Georges, France and attended school in Flanders,...

Exclusive: The latest casting round of tributes and mentors in Lionsgate’s prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes includes Irene Boehm, Cooper Dillon, Luna Kuse, Kjell Brutscheidt, Dimitri Abold, Athena Strates, Dakota Shapiro, George Somner and Vaughan Reilly.

As we told you previously, the film is set during the early days of tyrannical President of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) who is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the girl tribute from impoverished District 12. But, after Lucy Gray commands all of Panem’s attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony, Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy,...

Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we’ll shine a spotlight on key executives and companies outside of the U.S. shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week, we’re talking with top German talent agency Players. Headed up by Mechthild Holter and Fabian Haslob, the duo have clients that have worked across recent projects such as Babylon Berlin, Unorthodox and Deutchland ’89. In a rare interview, they tell us why now is a great time for German-speaking talent to cross borders.

With film and television sectors more globalized than ever, international talent has fast become a premium for streamers as they lean in on local language productions in foreign markets to offset stagnant domestic growth. One company at the sharp end of this change is Germany’s Players Agency. The company, which was founded by Mechthild Holter in 1994, represents around 180 actors, writers, directors and cinematographers and is...

Matthias Luthardt with Anne-Katrin Titze on his cello musicianship inspiring Clemens Berg’s role in Pingpong: “I used to play a lot when I was a teenager. I was playing intensely.”

My first interaction with Matthias Luthardt, the director of the upcoming Dh Lawrence adaptation of The Fox (Der Fuchs), written by Sebastian Bleyl, starring Luise Aschenbrenner (Dominik Graf’s Erich Kästner adaptation of Fabian: Going to the Dogs) and Christa Théret (Olivier Assayas’s Non-Fiction) was when I sent in a question during the Face to Face with German Films in 2022 filmmakers' panel in Berlin: “Which film you saw did you particularly like in 2021?” His response was Joachim Trier’s Oscar nominated The Worst Person In The World, starring Cannes Best Actress winner Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie.

Sebastian Urzendowsky and Clemens Berg in Pingpong

Autumn 1929 - Shadows above Babylon and Pingpong,...

1. “Gentefied” (available February 21)

Why Should I Watch? From executive producer America Ferrera comes a half-hour comedy about a family trying to preserve their heritage, their neighborhood, and their livelihoods in a rapidly changing Los Angeles community. Yes, at its core, “Gentefied” sounds a lot like “Vida,” but a) that’s not a bad thing, given how damn good the Starz show remains, and b) this has a fresh look, larger ensemble, and its own ideas. The new original series is based off the 2017 Sundance web series of the same name, and focuses on three Mexican-American cousins whose big dreams conflict with established ideals: How does a family-owned taco stand adapt to meet modern customers’ demands without losing its cultural appeal? How do you become your own person without separating from the family identity? How do you pronounce Latinx? “Gentefied” promises to address all of these questions in bright, spirited, and authentic fashion.

Berlin — Described as continental Europe’s most expensive show ever, epic crime drama “Babylon Berlin” will bow on Sky’s streaming service on Jan. 24, now set in 1929, with a new murder mystery, based on “The Silent Death”, the second novel in Volker Kutscher’s trilogy, though the same intent: To trace with large artistic ambition yet historical accuracy the origins of Nazism.

A world premiere on Dec. 16 hinted, with its creators’ and cast comments, at what’s new, and the series’ growing relevance to the present day.

Produced again by Berlin-based X Filme Creative Pool, pan-European pay TV giant Sky, German public network Ard Degeto and Munich-based production-sales house Beta Film, Season 3 follows police Inspector Gereon Rath (Volker Bruch) and flapper clerk Charlotte Ritter (Liv Lisa Fries) as they investigate a murder on a film set. The series diverges from its source material as co writer-show runners Tim Tykwer, Achim von Borries...

‘For Sama’ wins best documentary.

Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite was the big winner at the European Film Awards on Saturday (December 7), winning eight prizes include best film, best director, best actress for Olivia Colman and best comedy.

The film also won four previously announced technical awards for best cinematography, costume design, editing and hair and make-up.

Neither Lanthimos nor Colman attended the ceremony in Berlin, with Colman sending a video message.

Antonio Banderas won the best actor prize for his role in Pedro Almoodvar’s Pain & Glory.

Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts’ For Sama won the best documentary prize. They...

Eleven months after receiving 10 Academy Award nominations, Yorgos Lanthimos’ black comedy “The Favourite” dominated the European Film Awards on Saturday night in Berlin, winning four awards including the top honor, European Film.

Although the film was released in the U.S. in 2018, it was eligible for the Efa because it was released in January 2019 in the U.K.

Lanthimos also won the best director award, and his film about intrigue in the court of Queen Anne was named the year’s best European comedy. Olivia Colman was named best actress for the role that won her an Oscar in February.

Best-actor honors went to Antonio Banderas for Pedro Almodovar’s “Pain and Glory.”

Also Read: 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire' Film Review: Ravishing Drama Is a Feminist Tale From a Pre-Feminist World

Ladj Ly’s “Les Miserables” won the European Discovery award, “For Sama” was named the...

The brand-new European Achievement in Fiction Series Award goes to Achim von Borries, Henk Handloegten and Tom Tykwer, creators and directors of the series. On the occasion of the 32nd European Film Awards, the European Film Academy is introducing a new award category – the European Achievement in Fiction Series Award. In its first edition, the award is presented to creators and directors Achim von Borries, Henk Handloegten and Tom Tykwer for Babylon Berlin. Efa introduces this new category to reflect the changes in the cinematic landscape and to celebrate the great achievements in European fiction series. As Efa Chairwoman Agnieszka Holland points out: “For younger generations, series are a much more popular format than theatrically released movies and if we want to remain relevant for our audiences, the EFAs need to reflect that.” "With this award, the European Film Academy intends to pay tribute to a ground-breaking series, at...

German series ’Babylon Berlin’ honoured with inaugural award.

The European Films Awards (EFAs) will honour TV for the first time this year by introducing the European achievement in fiction series award.

German series Babylon Berlin is the first recipient of the prize. It is written and directed by Achim von Borries, Henk Handloegten and Tom Tykwer, with the trio set to collect the prize at the Efa award ceremony on Dec 7 in Berlin.

In a statement, the European Film Academy explained that it introduced the new award to “reflect the changes in the cinematic landscape and to celebrate the great achievements in European fiction series.

The international popularity of Germany’s “Babylon Berlin” shows no signs of abating.

Season 3 of the lavish historical crime drama, written and directed by Tom Tykwer, Achim von Borries and Henk Handloegten, has sold in more than 35 countries, including China, where Lemon Tree Media nabbed the rights, and Brazil, where it was picked up by Blue Entertainment.

Produced by X Filme Creative Pool, Ard Degeto, Wdr, Sky and Beta Film, “Babylon Berlin 3” is based on “The Silent Death,” the second novel by Volker Kutscher featuring detective Gereon Rath.

Netflix will continue streaming the show in the U.S., Canada and Australia, while Telefonica’s Movistar+ acquired it for Spain and Mediawan for France. Nrk picked it up for Norway and Telenet for Belgium, while Yle took it for Finland and Dr for Denmark.

Beta Film will premiere the first footage of the new season of “Babylon Berlin” at its traditional brunch at MipTV on Tuesday.

A disused newspaper factory in the south of England is to be converted into a film studio complex. The Daily Mail printing press in Oxfordshire has been acquired by media company Rebellion, the games developer, motion capture firm and publishing outfit which owns the 2000 Ad comic book IP, which includes Judge Dredd. The complex is being lined up as a home for Duncan Jones’s Rogue Trooper film and Judge Dredd TV show Mega-City One. Six sound stages will be available at the 220,000 sq ft site, which is due to open in the spring. Rebellion founders Jason Kingsley and Chris Kingsley were producers on the 2012 feature film Dredd and set up Rebellion Productions in 2017 to develop and produce film and TV based on the company’s IP. Variety first reported news of the studio.

Shoot on hit German crime series Babylon Berlin by Tom Tykwer, Henk Handloegten and...

“Babylon Berlin” has launched strongly on free-tv in its domestic German market, where it has become the most popular scripted series on free-tv this year.

The landmark €40 million ($46.5 million) show launched on pubcaster Ard on Sunday, having already bowed on pay-tv platform Sky. Its audience peaked at 8.5 million on Ard and averaged 7.8 million viewers, making it the top drama series on free-to-air TV overall in Germany in 2018, and in the 14-to-49 demographic. It garnered a 24.5% market share.

Viewers were drawn to inspector Gereon Rath’s exploits in decadent pre-war Berlin. Ard ran the first three episodes Sunday and will play a further three Thursday. The remaining two episodes of Season 1 will then play in a regular Thursday slot.

The free-tv numbers follow the series’ strong showing on pay-tv. On Sky, it was the best-performing non-English-language series ever, and was only beaten in overall numbers by the latest season of “Game of Thrones.

Picking up where the previous run left off, the new season of lavish German series “Babylon Berlin” will be set in the 1930s and will look at the seamy side of the movie industry, centering on the murder of a big star at a time when “the talkies” were beginning to take off, producers of the show said Tuesday.

Shooting is scheduled to begin in the fall in Berlin and at other locations. Season 3 of the hit noir series – whose renewal Variety reported exclusively in May – will consist of 10 new episodes and be based on the second novel by Volker Kutscher featuring detective Gereon Rath, titled “Silent Death.”

The series will be written by the directing-writing trio of Tom Tykwer, Henk Handloegten and Achim von Borries. Once again, the production partners on the show are X Filme Creative Pool, Ard Degeto, Sky and Beta Film.

The first two seasons of “Babylon Berlin,...

As expected, well-received German crime-drama series Babylon Berlin is coming back for a third season.

Producing partners X Filme Creative Pool, Ard Degeto, Sky and Beta Film have confirmed that shooting will begin this fall in Berlin and at other new locations.

Director-writer trio Tom Tykwer, Henk Handloegten and Achim von Borries are currently working on the scripts for ten new episodes, based on Volker Kutscher’s second Gereon Rath novel The Silent Death. As previously reported, the show’s writing team received German Government development funding last December and the team confirmed plans for a third season when I met them on the festival circuit late last year.

The new season will pick up in the early 1930s when the talkies start conquering the big screen, leaving many by the wayside: producers, cinema owners – and silent film stars. Inspector Gereon Rath encounters the dark side of the industry when...

Another win for Babylon Berlin: The biggest Asian TV festival in Shanghai has honored the Roaring Twenties-Drama as Best Foreign Series with the renowned Magnolia Award. The 16-hour show has beaten highly prestigious Us series such as David Lynch’s Twin Peaks and David Shore’s medical drama The Good Doctor. The Shanghai TV Festival jury states: “Babylon Berlin wins for its high production values, brilliant script, engaging characters, and thrilling story. It showed us a time in European history that still feels culturally and politically relevant.”

After sweeping five German Television Awards earlier this year, among them Best Drama Series, the Magnolia Award it is the next great success for the series by X Filme Creative Pool, Ard Degeto, Sky Germany and Beta Film. Praised as “the most bingeable new drama since The Crown…” (Vogue) and “fabulous and stunning” (The Guardian) by international press Babylon Berlin garnered fabulous ratings...

A third season of “Babylon Berlin,” the landmark German period drama, is set to enter production later this year, Variety has learned. The new season of Europe’s most expensive non-English-language drama will continue to follow the exploits of police inspector Gereon Rath in decadent, seedy, politically fraught pre-war Berlin.

Work on the scripts is underway, with filming expected to start in October, a production source said. Some funding is in place from German agencies Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg and Film und Medienstiftung Nrw.

The production, broadcast and distribution partners – X Filme Creative Pool, Ard Degeto, Sky and Beta Film – are in final negotiations on budgets and timing, but all are expected to board the third season. The partners said plans were underway for a new outing, and multiple sources told Variety it will happen this year.

“The process of development and financing of projects like ‘Babylon Berlin’ is rather complex,...

Canal Plus Group has acquired French rights to hit German drama series “Babylon Berlin” from Ab International Distribution, the Paris-based company owned by Mediawan group.

The series, which comprises 16 one-hour episodes, will screen on closing night on Series Mania Festival in Lille and will be broadcast on Canal Plus later this year.

Based on Volker Kutscher’s best-selling novels and directed by Tom Tykwer (“Sense8”), Achim von Borries and Henk Handloegten, “Babylon Berlin” broke audience records in Germany and in the U.S. where it streamed on Netflix.

Sold by Beta Film, “Babylon Berlin” stars Volker Bruch as a young police inspector in 1929 Berlin, transferred from Cologne to solve a case who finds himself caught up in a tangled web of corruption, organized crime and political extremism. “Babylon Berlin” is considered to be the most expensive TV drama in German history, with a budget of €40 million.

Liv Lisa Fries, Peter Kurth,...

Beta Films has secured new deals which will see acclaimed German crime drama “Babylon Berlin” debut across Africa and India.

South Africa-based broadcaster M-Net, which is owned by Africa’s biggest subscription television network MultiChoice, has acquired rights across the whole of the African continent. Indian rights have been acquired by Tata Sky, the joint venture between Tata Sons and 21st Century Fox.

With these deals, Beta Film has now closed sales to more than 90 territories, including the U.S., Australia and throughout Europe.

The high-end drama from directors Tom Tykwer, Achim von Borries and Henk Handloegten is the most expensive non-English language television drama made to date. Spanning 16 hours across two concurrently shot seasons, “Babylon Berlin” stars Volker Bruch as a young police inspector in 1929 Berlin, transferred from Cologne to solve a case who finds himself caught up in a tangled web of corruption, organized crime and political extremism.

Recently, I've been sampling a few non-English series from the past year or so that are available on Netflix. Are any sufficiently intriguing to justify the time investment to binge-watch them in their entirety? Have you seen any less-heralded shows that we should be checking out? If so, let us know in the comments, please. Babylon Berlin: The easiest show to recommend captured my attention within the first two minutes of its first episode. Tom Tykwer, Hendrik Handloegten and Achim von Borries created the 16-episode series and I've watched six episodes so far. It's deep, dark and sometimes disturbing. Set in Berlin, Germany during the Weimar Republic (aka before Hitler took control), it starts off in 1929 and follows, roughly, the intersecting storylines of Inspector...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Eight new drama series projects among co-pro line-up.

Source: X-Filme

Babylon Berlin

For the fourth time, the Berlinale Co-Production Market will invite producers, commissioning editors, distributors, and other drama series financiers to the Zoo Palast for the pitch event CoPro Series, mounted as part of the Drama Series Days 2018 (February 19 – 21).

Scroll down for line-up

In previous years, CoPro Series has hosted drama series projects looking for partners that have since become successful series, such as Babylon Berlin created by Tom Tykwer, Achim von Borries, and Henk Handloegten, as well as Das Verschwinden (The Disappearance) by Hans-Christian Schmid, or Norway’s Valkyrien by Erik Richter Strand.

This year, eight new series projects have the chance to find co-production and financing partners. The creators will present a short pitch, followed by an opportunity to meet both at an informal get-together and in one-on-one meetings with interested partners to talk in concrete terms about a possible collaboration.

Two German projects...

Two vibrant cities that love making movies, Berlin and Los Angeles will celebrate their 50th anniversary as sister cities by screening the highly anticipated Tom Tykwer series Babylon Berlin (Isa: Beta) in Downtown Los Angeles on October 6th at The Theatre at Ace Hotel. The two cities have a number of other exciting events planned for the anniversary as well.

The City of Berlin and the City of Los Angeles, two of the most exciting places in the world, connected through their inspiring and trend setting art scene, their social freedom, openness and their integration of different cultures and religions will join each other to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of their Sister Partnership with events throughout September and October in Los Angeles, culminating with the International Premiere of Babylon Berlin.

Babylon Berlin, the much talked about new TV series, co-written and co-directed by BAFTA and Golden Globe Nominated Tom Tykwer,...

Author: Linda Marric

Actor & director Vincent Perez is every bit as European as his name would suggest. Born in Switzerland to a German mother and a Spanish father, Perez first cut his teeth playing classical roles in some of the most popular French movies of the 1990s, and went on to star in Cyrano de Bergerac (Jean-Paul Rappeneau, 1990), La Reine Margot (Patrice Chéreau, 1994) and Indochine (Régis Wargnier, 1992) to name but a few.

Earlier this week, we had the pleasure of meeting Vincent for an interview and asked him about his new movie Alone In Berlin, which he co-wrote as well as directed. Adapted from Hans Fallada’s popular 1947 novel by the same name, the film tells the story of a law abiding German couple and their quiet resistance during Nazi rule in Berlin. Staring Emma Thompson and Brendan Gleeson, Alone In Berlin has so far been met with mixed reviews,...

The series set in 1920s Berlin is being hailed as game-changer for German film and TV.

German directors and writers Tom Tykwer, Achim von Borries and Henk Handloegten premiered a dazzling 15-minutes of their ambitious high-end series Babylon Berlin at the MIPDrama Screenings on Sunday where it won the grand jury prize.

Based on the detective novels of German writer Volker Kutscher, revolving around idiosyncratic police detective Gereon Rath, the series unfolds against the backdrop of Berlin during the Golden Twenties.

The city was then at its cultural height, a hotbed of decadence and also a safe haven for hundreds of thousands of Jewish immigrants seeking refuge from persecution in Russia and Eastern Europe.

Budgeted at $39m (€37m) for seasons one and two, consisting of 16 episodes, and produced by Tykwer’s X Filme Creative Pool, Ard Degreto, Sky and Beta Film, which is also distributing worldwide, the series is being hailed as potential game-changer for German film and...

The series set in 1920s Berlin is being hailed as game-changer for German film and TV.

German directors and writers Tom Tykwer, Achim von Borries and Henk Handloegten premiered a dazzling 15-minutes of their ambitious high-end series Babylon Berlin at the MIPDrama Screenings on Sunday where it won the grand jury prize.

Based on the detective novels of German writer Volker Kutscher, revolving around idiosyncratic police detective Gereon Rath, the series unfolds against the backdrop of Berlin during the Golden Twenties.

The city was then at its cultural height, a hotbed of decadence and also a safe haven for hundreds of thousands of Jewish immigrants seeking refuge from persecution in Russia and Eastern Europe.

Budgeted at $39m (€37m) for seasons one and two, consisting of 16 episodes, and produced by Tykwer’s X Filme Creative Pool, Ard Degreto, Sky and Beta Film, which is also distributing worldwide, the series is being hailed as potential game-changer for German film and...

Second edition of high-end drama showcase featured 12 upcoming shows.

Brazilian prison drama Jailers and Tom Tykwer’s ambitious detective tale Babylon Berlin, capturing the city in the Golden Twenties, clinched the grand jury awards in the full episode and work-in-progress categories at MIPDrama Screenings on Sunday.

Unfolding on the eve of Miptv, the second edition of the showcase put the spotlight on 12 upcoming drama shows, screening either full episodes or extracts as a work-in-progress.

“There is a lot of commercial pressure to do a certain type of drama series but what really struck me was the diversity and originality of all these shows… every one of them was very unique and defied simple expectations,” jury member Frank Spotnitz, creator of hit series such as The Man In The High Castle and Medici: Masters Of Florence, said.

Also on the jury were The Bridge producer Lars Blomgren, writer Virginie Brac (Cannabis, Spiral), director...

Second edition of high-end drama showcase featured 12 upcoming shows.

Brazilian prison drama Jailers and Tom Tykwer’s ambitious detective tale Babylon Berlin, capturing the city in the Golden Twenties, clinched the grand jury awards in the full episode and work-in-progress categories at MIPDrama Screenings on Sunday.

Unfolding on the eve of Miptv, the second edition of the showcase put the spotlight on 12 upcoming drama shows, screening either full episodes or extracts as a work-in-progress.

“There is a lot of commercial pressure to do a certain type of drama series but what really struck me was the diversity and originality of all these shows… every one of them was very unique and defied simple expectations,” jury member Frank Spotnitz, creator of hit series such as The Man In The High Castle and Medici: Masters Of Florence, said.

Also on the jury were The Bridge producer Lars Blomgren, writer Virginie Brac (Cannabis, Spiral), director...

X Filme board Josef Bierbichler’s adaptation of his 2011 novel Mittelreich.

Berlin-based X Filme Creative Pool Entertainment has recruited Beta Cinema to handle international sales on veteran Bavarian actor-director Josef Bierbichler’s adaptation of his 2011 novel Mittelreich.

The chronicle of a rural Bavarian community facing the challenges of technological and social change during the last century began shooting in Thuringia a week ago with Bierbichler directing as well as playing the central role of the village innkeeper.

The cast includes Bierbichler’s son Simon Donatz who plays the innkeeper character as a young man and had appeared with his father in Tom Tykwer’s Winter Sleepers 20 years ago as father and son, as well as Martina Gedeck, known to international audiences from The Lives of Others and last year’s Original Bliss.

On the eve of this year’s Berlinale, X Filme and Beta Film announced a strategic partnership between the two companies as they unveiled the first...

X Filme board Josef Bierbichler’s adaptation of his 2011 novel Mittelreich.

Berlin-based X Filme Creative Pool Entertainment has recruited Beta Cinema to handle international sales on veteran Bavarian actor-director Josef Bierbichler’s adaptation of his 2011 novel Mittelreich.

The chronicle of a rural Bavarian community facing the challenges of technological and social change during the last century began shooting in Thuringia a week ago with Bierbichler directing as well as playing the central role of the village innkeeper.

The cast includes Bierbichler’s son Simon Donatz who plays the innkeeper character as a young man and had appeared with his father in Tom Tykwer’s Winter Sleepers 20 years ago as father and son, as well as Martina Gedeck, known to international audiences from The Lives of Others and last year’s Original Bliss.

On the eve of this year’s Berlinale, X Filme and Beta Film unveiled the first footage of the 16-part high-end TV series Babylon Berlin which...

Nazi hunter thriller wins best film at the annual ‘Lolas’.

Lars Kraume’s Nazi hunter thriller, The People Vs. Fritz Bauer, won six Lola statuettes at this year’s German Film Awards after being tipped as the evening’s hot ticket with nine nominations.

The co-production between Berlin’s zero one film and Cologne-based Terz Film picked up the evening’s top award - the Lola in Gold for Best Film - as well as the statuettes for Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Ronald Zehrfeld), Best Production Design (Cora Pratz), and Best Costume Design (Esther Walz).

Accepting the Gold statuette from the hands of Germany’s State Minister for Culture and Media Monika Grütters, producer Thomas Kufus dedicated the award to the memory of Fritz Bauer.

Kurth knocks out Klaußner

While many thought that it was foregone conclusion that Burghart Klaußner would take the Lola home for his portrayal of the state prosecutor Fritz Bauer, nobody...