News

With more than a thousand films screening in Berlin — some 400 in the festival’s various sections and another 700 plus in the European Film Market — it’s hard to stand out.

Most producers and sales companies make do with posters, flyers and one-sheets — plastered around the German capital and piled up in hotel lobbies. But a handful are taking a more inventive tack to grab the attention of buyers and film fans.

To promote 303, his road movie about two students traveling from Berlin to Portugal, director Hans Weingartner parked a huge Hymer 303 motor home — the...

Youth-focused Berlinale sidebar will feature 65 short and feature films from from 39 production and co-production companies.

Source: Berlin Film Festival

‘303’

The Berlin Film Festival (15 - 25 Feb)has revealed the full list of titles that will play in this year’s Generation sidebar, which focuses on youth and children’s films.

In total there are 65 films, 30 of which are feature length in the Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus competitions. They hail from 39 production and co-production companies.

The first batch of Generation titles were announced in December.

Hans Weingartner’s 303 will open The Generation 14plus competition, with Weingartner and the cast attending. Danish animation Den Utrolige Historie Om Den Kæmpestore Pære (The Incredible Story Of The Giant Pear) will open the Generation Kplus competition.

Maryanne Redpath, Berlinale Generation section head, said: “Every single selection is an invitation to the audience to experience life from the perspective of youth. They are films with young people, as opposed to about...

Youth-focused Berlinale sidebar will feature 65 short and feature films from from 39 production and co-production companies.

Source: Berlin Film Festival

‘303’

The Berlin Film Festival (15 - 25 Feb)has revealed the full list of titles that will play in this year’s Generations sidebar, which focuses on youth and children’s films.

In total there are 65 films, 30 of which are feature length. They hail from 39 production and co-production companies.

The first batch of Generations titles were announced in December.

Hans Weingartner’s 303 will open The Generation 14plus competition, with Weingartner and the cast attending. Danish animation Den Utrolige Historie Om Den Kæmpestore Pære (The Incredible Story Of The Giant Pear) will open the Generation Kplus competition.

Maryanne Redpath, Berlinale Generations section head, said: “Every single selection is an invitation to the audience to experience life from the perspective of youth. They are films with young people, as opposed to about them. An impressive characteristic throughout the programme is not only the...

Daughter of MineThe titles for the 68th Berlin International Film Festival are being announced in anticipation of the event running February 15 - 25, 2018. We will update the program as new films are revealed.COMPETITIONDon't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (Gus Van Sant)Dovlatov (Alexey German, Jr.)Eva (Benoît Jacquot)Daughter of Mine (Laura Bispuri)In the Aisles (Thomas Stuber)Mein Bruder heißt Robert und ist ein Idiot (Philip Gröning)Mug (Małgorzata Szumowska)Berlinale Special GALAThe Bookshop (Isabel Coixet)The Silent Revolution (Lars Kraume)Panoramal'Animale (Katharina Mückstein, Austria)Bixa Travesty (Tranny Fag) (Claudia Priscilla & Kiko Goifman, Brazil)Ex Pajé (Ex Shaman) (Luiz Bolognesi, Brazil)Malambo, el hombre bueno (Malambo, the Good Man) (Santiago Loza, Argentina)Obscuro Barroco (Evangelia Kranioti, France/Greece)La omisión (The Omission) (Sebastián Schjaer, Argentina/The Netherlands/Switzerland)Profile (Timur Bekmambetov, USA/UK/Cyprus)River's Edge (Isao Yukisada, Japan)That Summer (Göran Hugo Olsson, Sweden/Denmark/USA)Yocho (Foreboding) (Kiyoshi Kurosawa,...

16 films for youth strand announced.

Source: Zeca Miranda

‘Unicórnio’

The first batch of titles for the 2018 Berlin International Film Festival’s Generation strand have been released.

The sidebar focuses on youth and children’s films. The festival takes place from 15 - 25 February 2018.

The 16 films are equally split between the Generation 14plus and Generation Kplus categories. The complete Generations programme will be released mid-January.

The first batch of Berlin competition titles was announced earlier this week.

Full list of titles

Synopses provided by Berlinale press office.

Generation 14plus

303

Germany

By Hans Weingartner

World premiere

303 tells the story of two university students, Jule (Mala Emde) and Jan (Anton Spieker) who leave Berlin together in an old camper on a road trip south, but for different reasons. As they philosophise on the world and themselves in passionate discussions, director Hans Weingartner maintains a natural closeness to the two young people against breathtaking backgrounds.

16 films for youth strand announced.

Source: Zeca Miranda

‘Unicórnio’

The first batch of titles for the 2018 Berlin International Film Festival’s Generation strand have been released.

The sidebar focuses on youth and children’s films. The festival takes place from 15 - 25 February 2018.

The 16 films are equally split between the Generation 14plus and Generation Kplus categories. The complete Generations programme will be released mid-January.

The first batch of Berlin competition titles was announced earlier this week.

Full list of titles

Synopses provided by Berlinale press office.

Generation 14plus

303

Germany

By Hans Weingartner

World premiere

303 tells the story of two university students, Jule (Mala Emde) and Jan (Anton Spieker) who leave Berlin together in an old camper on a road trip south, but for different reasons. As they philosophise on the world and themselves in passionate discussions, director Hans Weingartner maintains a natural closeness to the two young people against breathtaking backgrounds. After his contribution...

The Berlin Film Festival has announced the first 16 titles to screen next year in its Generation sidebar of youth and children's films.

The lineup includes several world premieres, among them 303, a road movie from German director Hans Weingartner (The Edukators) and Cobain, the latest from Dutch director Nanouk Leopold (Brownian Movement), which follows a 15-year-old boy on his search for his self-destructive mother.

The 2018 Generation also includes several debuts, among them The Pigeon, from Turkish director Banu Sivaci; Denmark from director Kasper Rune Larsen; and Red Cow, the feature debut of Israeli filmmaker Tsivia Barkai.

The Generation...

Maggie Gyllenhaal and Diego Luna amongst those to join jury president Paul Verhoeven.

The 67th Berlin Film Festival has revealed its jury, homage subject and Golden Camera recipients.

Joining jury president, Paul Verhoeven, will be actors Maggie Gyllenhaal, Diego Luna, and Julia Jentsch, producer Dora Bouchoucha Fourati, artist Olafur Eliasson and director-screenwriter Wang Quan’an.

Eighteen films are vying in this year’s competition for the Golden Bear. The winners will be announced at the Berlinale Palast on February 18.

Robocop director Verhoeven is currently flying high off the success of Golden Globe-winning drama Elle.

Gyllenhaal is best known for her Oscar-nominated role in Crazy Heart, breakthrough performances in Donnie Darko and Secretary, The Dark Knight and TV series The Honourable Woman, for which she garnered a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy nomination.

Luna, co-star of Alfonso Cuarón’s Y Tu Mamá También, has played at the Berlinale in titles including Milk (dir: Gus van Sant, Berlinale...

Exclusive: German sales team boards road-trip drama from The Edukators director.

Global Screen has picked up world sales right to writer-director-producer Hans Weingartner’s (The Edukators) drama 303, currently shooting in France and Spain.

Mala Emde and Anton Spieker star in the story of a pregnant woman who falls in love with another man during a heady road trip.

Producers are Kahuuna Films and Neuesuper with support from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Bkm and Ffa.

Delivery is planned for spring/summer 2016.

Julia Weber, head of theatrical sales at Global Screen, said: “We are thrilled to sell 303 internationally. When I first read the screenplay, I was amazed to see how perfectly Hans Weingartner managed to balance out deep conversation with a beautiful, gently rising love story.”

Weingartner’s 2004 drama The Edukators, starring Daniel Bruhl, played in Competition at Cannes.

The Lesson by co-directors Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov was the big winner at this year’s Sofia International Film Festival in Bulgaria.

The duo’s feature debut became the second Bulgarian feature in Siff’s 19-year history to receive the international jury’s Grand Prix after Dragomir Sholev’s Shelter in 2011.

The Lesson also picked up the Audience Award, the Fipresci International Critics’ Prize and the award for the Best Bulgarian Feature Film.

Accepting the award, Valchanov pointed to the importance of the Sofia Meetings where The Lesson had originally been pitched and said that this event should be ¨an example¨ to the Bulgarian state to develop a long-term and sustainable film policy for the future.

The sentiment was echoed by international jury president Stephan Komanderev (The Judgement) when he presented the ¨Sofia City Of Film¨ Grand Prix to the young directors.

The Lesson, which is handled internationally by Wide Management, premiered last year...

Hank Levine, the German producer who spent a couple of years in L.A. where we met before he moved to Brazil where he worked at 02 Filmes with Fernando Mirielles and had a family. He co-produced the Academy Award-nominated films City of God and Wasteland and returned to Germany a couple of years ago. He is now producing the English language directorial debut of Hans Weingartner (The Edukators) with the screen adaptation of the best selling true story of Larry Orbach and Vivien Orbach-Smith’s Soaring Underground (Der Taucher). As a young German-Jewish Berliner struggling to survive in WWII Berlin, Larry Orbach resisted and made a new life. The film will shoot in Germany, Brazil, Africa and Asia. This year, Levine will also direct his first film, Exodus, an international feature documentary. He also produced this year’s Berlinale Competition film Praia Do Futuro.

To read more on Hank Levine's projects visit his site Here...

Hans Weingartner’s to make first English-language film for Praia do Futuro producer Hank Levine.

Hans Weingartner (The Edukators) is set to make his English-language directorial debut with a screen adaptation of Larry Orbach and Vivien Orbach-Smith’s bestseller Soaring Underground (Der Taucher).

The true story of Orbach as a young German-Jewish teenager struggling to survive in Berlin during the Second World War will be produced by Hank Levine Film, one of the producers of the Competition film Praia do Futuro.

“The story personally appealed to me because the protagonist isn’t a victim, he shows resistance to the Nazi regime, and this theme of resistance is one which has run through almost all of my films,” Weingartner told ScreenDaily.

“Everything you need for a film is in the story – emotions, humanity as well as a lot of humour.“

“Orbach’s experiences have a timeless quality and a relevance for today,” added producer...

A young man befriends an orphaned boy, and they try to escape the world by building a cabin in the woods.

"End of the line!"

These are the first words we hear in Hans Weingartner's Hut In The Woods, but not before we have seen impressionistically contrasting images of our protagonist Martin Blunt (Peter Schneider), first alone and ecstatic in a gloriously sunny forest, then similarly alone but this time harnessed and sedated in the rear of a police van. "This bum's fucking up my pants!" complains the policeman as they deliver Martin, drugged and drooling, to a psychiatric...

★★★★☆ The latest in a line of strong German entries exploring mental illness at this year's 55th BFI London Film Festival, Hans Weingartner's Hut in the Woods (Hütte im Wald, 2011) focuses on the lives of to down-and-outs, former mathematician Martin Blunt (Peter Schneider) and recently orphaned Ukrainian youngster Viktor (Timur Massold), who both become homeless through circumstance. Together, they escape to the forest and build a hut within with to live out their lives.

Weingartner, perhaps best known in the UK for 2004's The Edukators, presents a side of German society rarely seen, sensitively depicting the type of existence that can befall the nation's homeless. Adversely, figures of authority are painted very unsympathetically by the director; Martin's former company refuses to re-employee him after a short stint in care despite promising the contrary; the bailiffs that arrive to evict Martin a few days later are unscrupulous in their work, denying...

The programme for the 55th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express launched today by Artistic Director Sandra Hebron, celebrates the imagination and excellence of international filmmaking from both established and emerging talent. Over 16 days the Festival will screen a total of 204 fiction and documentary features, including 13 World Premieres, 18 International Premieres and 22 European Premieres . There will also be screenings of 110 live action and animated shorts. Many of the films will be presented by their directors, cast members and crew, some of whom will also take part in career interviews, masterclasses, and other special events. The 55th BFI London Film Festival will run from 12-27 October.

Special Screenings

Opening the festival is Fernando Meirelles’ 360, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz. Weisz is also the star of Terence Davies’ closing night film, The Deep Blue Sea, alongside a cast which includes Simon Russell Beale and Tom Hiddleston.

By Alice Baghdjian

London (Reuters) - George Clooney, Ralph Fiennes and David Cronenberg will parade the red carpet of the British Film Institute's (BFI) 55th London Film Festival, which is set to showcase a varied line up of big titles and emerging talent, organizers said Wednesday.

The European premiere "360" directed by Fernando Meirelles with a glittering cast including Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz, will launch the 16-day festival in October, and "The Deep Blue Sea," also starring Weisz and directed by Terence Davies, will round off Britain's largest cinematic celebration.

"London has a strong reputation as a center for creativity and innovation in the film industry and I'm particularly pleased to see that the high profile films selected for the opening and closing nights have been shot in the capital with great British talent," London Mayor Boris Johnson said in a statement.

Following in the wake of Venice...

From the 12th to the 27th of October the 55th BFI London Film Festival brings its annual box of delights to the capital. Earlier today the full programme was announced, and it look like being another fine year.

We already know that Fernando Meirelles’ latest 360 will open proceedings on the 12th and fifteen days later Terence Davies’ The Deep Blue Sea will bring the festival to a close but there are many more great films to come and see in London this October.

There was a familiar feeling creeping across the audience this morning that a lot of the films had, like last year, already played elsewhere but this is only a small consideration when you consider the scope of the festival’s remit. To bring a vital, fresh and horizon-expanding series of features, shorts and documentaries is no easy task, and while the more well known films have played...

Artistic director Sandra Hebron has announced the line-up for the 55th BFI London Film Festival this morning where they will screen “a total of 204 fiction and documentary features, including 13 World Premieres, 18 International Premieres and 22 European Premieres” plus “110 live action and animated shorts”.

We are already knew Fernando Meirelles’ adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s erotic drama play 360 written by Peter Morgan and starring Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz would open the festival and that The Deep Blue Sea, which incidentally is another adaptation of a play (Terence Rattigan’s) and also stars Rachel Weisz, will close it. Of Time and City’s Terrence Davies directed that movie which also stars Tom Hiddleston and Simon Russell Beale.

Now we know the in-between stuff from the Gala & Special Screenings and there’s a wide selection of extremely interesting films;

George Clooney is bringing his political thriller The Ides of March that...

The French Sales Agent with the coolest name on the Croisette might not have anything playing in the different sections but they got a good chunk of items I easily see playing at Locarno, Tiff and Venice. At the top of their charts, I'm actually keen on seeing the tale of the first vibrator with Maggie Gyllenhaal. Hysteria is labeled as in production. From Israel we have Eran Riklis' next in Playoff also on our radar. Here's the Elle Driver slate for 2011: Bunker by Andres Baiz - Production Hysteria by Tanya Wexler - Production Hut In The Woods by Hans Weingartner - Post-Production Love The Boat by Pascale Pouzadoux - Completed My Sweet Orange Tree (Meu PÉ De Laranja Lima) by Marcos Bernstein - Production New Kids Turbo by Flip Van Den Kuil - Completed Omar Killed Me by Roschdy Zem - Completed Painless by Juan Carlos Medina...

#7. Blessed Events Director: Isabelle SteverCast: Annika Kuhl, Stefan Rudolf Distributor: Rights Available. Buzz: Tiff have the world premiere here from a filmmaker who might not be as well known as some of the other German filmmaker counterparts (e.g. Fatih Akin, Tom Tykwer, Hans Weingartner) that were part of the Germany 09: 13 Short Films About the State of the Nation. I'm liking some of the ideas that are being explored in Stever's sophomore film, the film's trailer certainly has a quirky vibe to it. The Gist: 37 year-old Simone decides to go out alone on New Year’s Eve. The next morning, she wakes up next to a stranger, and a few weeks later discovers that she’s pregnant. When she runs into the stranger again she is surprised by his reaction. Tiff Schedule: Tuesday September 14 9:45:00 Pm Scotiabank Theatre 3 Wednesday September 15 2:45:00 Pm AMC 3 Sunday September 19 8:30:...

After a brief respite, we're back with Part 3 of tMF's Top 50 Essential Foreign Films. This time the spotlight is on German cinema.

- - -

- - - As in Part 1 - French cinema and Part 2 - Movies from the UK, the scope remains the same:

Content-wise, the 50 movies feature stories about war and peace, love and romance, family affairs, coming-of-age tales, cultural and religious diversity, social issues (including prostitution and abortion) and personal - celebrating life or facing death with dignity. Coverage-wise, tMF list down many of the best foreign films from 2000 until last year from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and about 15 other countries in Europe, North and Latin America and Asia-Pacific.

- - -

1. Das Experiment - 2001 - Featuring the amazing performance of Moritz Bleibtreu and Christian Berkel, from the direction of Oliver Hirschbiegel.

About the Movie: Inspired by a famous 1971 psychological experiment, Oliver Hirschbiegel's...

After a brief respite, we're back with Part 3 of tMF's Top 50 Essential Foreign Films. This time the spotlight is on German cinema.

- - -

- - - As in Part 1 - French cinema and Part 2 - Movies from the UK, the scope remains the same:

Content-wise, the 50 movies feature stories about war and peace, love and romance, family affairs, coming-of-age tales, cultural and religious diversity, social issues (including prostitution and abortion) and personal - celebrating life or facing death with dignity. Coverage-wise, tMF list down many of the best foreign films from 2000 until last year from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and about 15 other countries in Europe, North and Latin America and Asia-Pacific.

- - -

1. Das Experiment - 2001 - Featuring the amazing performance of Moritz Bleibtreu and Christian Berkel, from the direction of Oliver Hirschbiegel.

About the Movie: Inspired by a famous 1971 psychological experiment, Oliver Hirschbiegel's...

After a brief respite, we're back with Part 3 of tMF's Top 50 Essential Foreign Films. This time the spotlight is on German cinema.

- - -

- - - As in Part 1 - French cinema and Part 2 - Movies from the UK, the scope remains the same:

Content-wise, the 50 movies feature stories about war and peace, love and romance, family affairs, coming-of-age tales, cultural and religious diversity, social issues (including prostitution and abortion) and personal - celebrating life or facing death with dignity. Coverage-wise, tMF list down many of the best foreign films from 2000 until last year from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and about 15 other countries in Europe, North and Latin America and Asia-Pacific.

- - -

1. Das Experiment - 2001 - Featuring the amazing performance of Moritz Bleibtreu and Christian Berkel, from the direction of Oliver Hirschbiegel.

About the Movie: Inspired by a famous 1971 psychological experiment, Oliver Hirschbiegel's...

After a brief respite, we're back with Part 3 of tMF's Top 50 Essential Foreign Films. This time the spotlight is on German cinema.

- - -

- - - As in Part 1 - French cinema and Part 2 - Movies from the UK, the scope remains the same:

Content-wise, the 50 movies feature stories about war and peace, love and romance, family affairs, coming-of-age tales, cultural and religious diversity, social issues (including prostitution and abortion) and personal - celebrating life or facing death with dignity. Coverage-wise, tMF list down many of the best foreign films from 2000 until last year from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and about 15 other countries in Europe, North and Latin America and Asia-Pacific.

- - -

1. Das Experiment - 2001 - Featuring the amazing performance of Moritz Bleibtreu and Christian Berkel, from the direction of Oliver Hirschbiegel.

About the Movie: Inspired by a famous 1971 psychological experiment, Oliver Hirschbiegel's...

After a brief respite, we're back with Part 3 of tMF's Top 50 Essential Foreign Films. This time the spotlight is on German cinema.

- - -

- - - As in Part 1 - French cinema and Part 2 - Movies from the UK, the scope remains the same:

Content-wise, the 50 movies feature stories about war and peace, love and romance, family affairs, coming-of-age tales, cultural and religious diversity, social issues (including prostitution and abortion) and personal - celebrating life or facing death with dignity. Coverage-wise, tMF list down many of the best foreign films from 2000 until last year from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and about 15 other countries in Europe, North and Latin America and Asia-Pacific.

- - -

1. Das Experiment - 2001 - Featuring the amazing performance of Moritz Bleibtreu and Christian Berkel, from the direction of Oliver Hirschbiegel.

About the Movie: Inspired by a famous 1971 psychological experiment, Oliver Hirschbiegel's...

More Berlinale coverage

Berlin -- Efficiency is thought to be one of the core German values, so perhaps it was no surprise that the news conference to omnibus film "Germany 09" was the most efficient of this year's Berlinale.

Where else could journalists cover the width and breath of current Germany cinema, with 13 of the country's top directors, and still be out in time for lunch?

The director's bakers dozen, sitting alphabetically from Fatih Akin and Wolfgang Becker far left to Tom Tykwer and Hans Weingartner on the right, explored their short film compendium, which ranges in style from documentary to drama to experimental film and is alternatively sad, funny and polemic.

The project, produced by Tykwer, Verena Rahmig and Dirk Wilutzky, was originally conceived as a modern-day take on "Germany in Autumn," from 1978 in which German filmmakers including Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Volker Schlondorff and Alexander Kluge took stock of the current state of their country.

Berlin -- Richard Loncraine's "My One and Only," a '50s-era comedy starring Renee Zellweger and Kevin Bacon, was squeezed into the competition lineup for this year's Berlin International Film Festival, barely a week before the event kicks off.

Zellweger plays a glamorous single mom on the hunt for a rich man to foot the bill for her and her sons' lifestyle. Produced by Merv Griffith Entertainment and Ray Gun Prods., "My One and Only" will have its world premiere in Berlin. Essential Entertainment is handling international sales.

Berlin also added Lone Scherfig's Sundance favorite "An Education" with Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina and Emma Thompson and Davis Guggenheim's music documentary "It Might Get Loud" for its Berlinale Special Galas, ensuring the films will get the red carpet treatment without any of the pressure of competition.

All three films should give an added boost of star power to...

With the addition of the following 26 titles (14 of which have been invited), the competition section is almost completed. You'll notice the kid with wings flick Ricky by Francois Ozon that we reported on earlier. Also having it's world premier is Mitchell Lichtenstein's (Teeth) newest film Happy Tears which sounds nothing it's predecessor (a genre piece) as it's a family drama.

You can check out the list after the break.

Competition (some out)

Cheri UK

By Stephen Frears (The Queen, Dangerous Liaisons)

With Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathy Bates, Rupert Friend, Felicity Jones

World premiere

Darbareye Elly (About Elly) Iran

By Asghar Farhadi (Fireworks Wednesday)

With Golshifteh Farahani, Taraneh Alidousti, Mani Haghighi

World premiere

Deutschland 09 Germany - Out of Competition

Compilation film by Fatih Akin, Tom Tykwer, Wolfgang Becker, Sylke Enders, Dominik Graf, Romuald Karmakar, Nicolette Krebitz, Isabelle Stever, Hans Steinbichler, Hans Weingartner, Christoph Hochhäusler, Dani Levy and Angela Schanelec

World...

Berlin -- Stephen Frears' period epic "Cheri," rap biopic "Notorious" and the omnibus project "Deutschland 09," featuring a who's who of German directing talent, have made the cut for next month's Berlin International Film Festival.

As the Berlinale rushes to close its competition lineup, director Dieter Kosslick has secured several high-profile titles for the race for the 2009 Golden Bear.

These include Francois Ozon's "Ricky"; "Storm," from German art house favorite Hans-Christian Schmid ("Requiem"); and "Happy Tears," Michael Lichtenstein's hotly-anticipated follow up to his breakthrough debut, "Teeth."

The fresh faces will be joined by several old masters including Andrzej Wajda, who returns to Berlin with "Sweet Rush"; Bertrand Tavernier, whose Civil War drama "In the Electric Mist," starring Tommy Lee Jones and John Goodman, will have its world premiere in Berlin; and Costa-Gavras, who will close the festival with his out-of-competition entry "Eden Is West."

Other competition titles include Danish director Annette K.

Cologne, Germany -- A who's who of German directing talent, including Tom Tykwer, Fatih Akin, Wolfgang Becker and Hans Weingartner have signed on for "Deutschland 09," an episodic feature film intended as a snapshot of Germany's current social and political climate.

Other directors shooting segments in the film include Sylke Enders, Dominik Graf, Romuald Karmaker, Nicolette Krebitz, Isabelle Stever and Hans Steinbichler.

The project, which on Tuesday received a 500,000 euro ($784,000) boost from state subsidy body Filmstiftung Nrw, aims to be a modern update of 1978 omnibus film "Deutschland im Herbst," which involved directors such as Wim Wenders, Volker Schlondorff and Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Tykwer will produce, together with Dirk Wilutzky and Berlin-based Piffl Medien, which will release "Deutschland '09" next year.

• Screen Daily has gathered some more details on the upcoming financing slate for the Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein Film Fund. The Ffhsh is a film funding entity that provides subsidies for both features and TV productions that promise high-quality content as well as showcasing the states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. As we reported yesterday, the institution has funneled $1.26 million into Fatih Akin’s upcoming comedy Soul Kitchen. That represents the largest single contribution of a $4.8 million initiative to fund new films by local auteurs Tom Tykwer (left), Hans Weingartner (center), and Akin (right). Also included in the allocation is funding for international co-productions helmed by France’s Eleonore Faucher (A Common Thread), Norway's Sara Johnsen (Kissed by Winter) and Poland's Radek Wegrzyn, the lone fresh face of the bunch. Details are scarce on the various projects. Along with the Akin’s comedy, Wegrzyn will be mining for laughs with Father, Son

...

San Sebastian Film Festival

SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain -- The theme of Reclaim Your Brain is how crass TV is corrupting the minds of the masses. But the movie's very own lack of subtlety undermines its message. German director Hans Weingartner, whose last feature The Edukators did well in the Art House market across Europe, fails to engage from the start. The two main characters are not well-constructed and some plot lines do not seem credible. The crudeness of the film may limit its appeal to German-speaking markets.

TV producer Rainer (Moritz Bleibtreu) got to the top by making vulgar programs such as one in which contestants compete to make a master race. Then the mysterious Pegah (Elsa Schultz Gambar) smashes into his car in revenge for her grandfather's suicide, caused by one of Rainer's shows. Suddenly Rainer is inspired to make intelligent programs. When they fail, he sets off with Pegah to uncover a conspiracy surrounding the rigging of audience figures to ensure the masses are fed only trash TV.

The film's struggles come largely in the area of poorly developed main characters. An opening sequence of cocaine-snorting Rainer speeding through traffic in his sports car plays out a tired cliche. And character of the beautiful Pegah is sketchy in the extreme.

Weingartner and co-writer Katherine Held throw in a series of improbable plot turns. When Rainer is confronted by Pegah, the explanation of her grandfather's suicide seems unlikely. Rainer's decision to jeopardize a highly successful career to save the nation's brains is equally improbable.

But when the pair pull off their "revolution," Germans suddenly immerse themselves in high culture. This works well as comedy: Scenes of Germans throw awaying their TVs and meeting to discuss poetry -- captured by TV news bulletins -- amuse. When Rainer's gang subvert the TV ratings system, Weingartner plays this for laughs well.

The unlikely star of Reclaim Your Brain is Milan Peschel, who plays the conspiracy-obsessed oddball Philip. Peschel can do both zany and shy convincingly. But Philip's decision to throw his lot in with two strangers to embark on a TV revolution doesn't ring true.

This movie might succeed as a comedy romp in its native land, but the jokes may be too direct and culturally specific for the film to travel much beyond home.

RECLAIM YOUR BRAIN

Kahunna films GmbH with coop99 Filmproduktion GmbH

Credits:

Director: Hans Weingartner

Writers: Katherine Held, Hans Weingartner

Producters: Hans Weingartner, Antonin Svoboda

Director of photography: Christine A. Maier

Production designer: Udo Kramer

Music: Adam Ilhan, Andreas Wodraschke

Costume designer: Thomas Olah

Editing: Andreas Wodraschke

Cast:

Rainer: Moritz Bleibtreu

Pegah: Elsa Schultz Gambard

Philip: Milan Peschel

Maiwald: Gregor Bloeb

Anna: Simone Hanselmann

Running time -- 129 minutes

No MPAA rating...

San Sebastian, Spain -- Austrian director Hans Weingartner, in San Sebastian with his competition entry Reclaim Your Brain, is teaming with City of God screenwriter Braulio Mantovani for his next project, Nanny.

Nanny revolves around two women who leave their families in South America to become domestic servants in the U.S. As with Weingartner's previous two films -- Brain and The Edukators -- it is an undisguised attack on the abuses of modern capitalism.

"It looks at the perversion of the system, where rich countries have to import love and caring (for their children) from the Third World," Weingartner told The Hollywood Reporter. "How these women are forced to leave their own families to go and provide for the rich."

Weingartner made his name on the international film scene with his second feature, Edukators, which debuted in Cannes and went on to win several awards, including the German Film Critics prize for best film. Palmer West and Jonah Smith of production outfit Thousand Worlds have picked up the U.S.

• Yesterday’s day of coverage began by a morning chat/interview with filmmaker Ramin Bahrani – who was in Toronto to present the North American premiere of Chop Shop - a film that I was very fond and discovered at Cannes (read review here). A pleasurable sit down (the sort that could begin with a glass of vino and finish with 2 polished off bottles). For me its always interesting to discuss the form, structure, narrative strategy and of course all the behind the scenes process of the filmmaking process. Unfortunately, moments after the completion of the interview I realized that (and this is where I have that sick to my stomach feeling) I only had a portion of the interview recorded. That feeling falls somewhere between my dog ate my homework and probably how Lodge Kerrigan felt when he lost an entire film in a processing lab disaster. A real

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More Toronto fest news

TORONTO -- The Toronto International Film Festival is likely to be a highly charged poker game, with plenty of wild cards in play.

A possible actors strike next summer could dry up indie slates. Distributors still are absorbing films that they acquired during January's unexpected buyer frenzy at the Sundance Film Festival. New distributors with deep pockets are entering the market. And few, if any, Oscar contenders have emerged so far, adding to the pressure for the fall awards hopefuls to deliver the goods.

All these factors could impact the annual north-of-the-border festival.

"The mood is panic", TIFF director Noah Cowan said Wednesday on the eve of the festival. "There are a lot of important movies that people are eager to see."

He estimated that this year's lineup contains about 40 movies with Oscar potential, plus 10 likely candidates for U.S. acquisition and another 10 prestige titles likely to find international buyers.

Although Cowan and TIFF Sales and Industry Office head Giulia Filippelli take pains to insist that Toronto isn't a market, the fest is making itself more buyer-friendly. Last year's debut of 15 extra buyers-only screenings has been replaced with an extra 31 "priority press screenings." Only buyers and a select number of media members with a soon-to-be-coveted "P" on their badges are allowed in these showings until 15 minutes before they start, when the gates are opened for all press and industry who can be accommodated.

The extra screenings, which average four a day, would appear to be a compromise with critics who felt the extra buyers-only screenings were too insular and exclusionary, while providing a top-tier alternative for line-dreading buyers jumping from theater to theater for select titles.

Films on the list include Tom McCarthy's "The Visitor", Paolo Barzman's "Emotional Arithmetic" and Hans Weingartner's "Reclaim Your Brain", plus several others that already have domestic distribution. Filippelli said that these are additional screenings beyond the usual number, so no one is being shut out. Her other initiatives include a detailed list of all available rights by territory.

Many buyers are downplaying the list of available titles at Toronto, but some of the same buyers also bemoan the lack of available good titles in advance of this year's Sundance before big checks began flying for foreign films with no stars. "A lot of films that were overpriced at Sundance haven't been released, so a lot of people haven't drunk the Kool-Aid," Red Envelope Entertainment head Bahman Naraghi said.

CANNES -- Moritz Bleibtreu has signed on to star in Free Rainer, the new feature from Hans Weingartner (The Edukators) that the Match Factory is selling at the Marche du Festival. Bleibtreu will play the title role of a television executive frustrated with producing garbage who decides to start a broadcast revolution. Gathering a group of disciples around him, he successfully hacks the code for TV set-top ratings boxes and manipulates the ratings figures so that intelligent television is hugely successful and trash TV fails miserably. This leads to a cultural revolution but also to a backlash from the broadcast powers-that-be. "If 'The Edukators' was about economic revolution, about poor vs. rich, this film will be more about cultural revolution, about freeing the mind," Weingartner said in an interview. "But like 'The Edukators, ' it will also be funny and suspenseful and with a love story in the middle of it all."...

CANNES -- Moritz Bleibtreu has signed on to star in Free Rainer, the new feature from Hans Weingartner (The Edukators) that the Match Factory is selling at the Marche du Festival. Bleibtreu will play the title role of a television executive frustrated with producing garbage who decides to start a broadcast revolution. Gathering a group of disciples around him, he successfully hacks the code for TV set-top ratings boxes and manipulates the ratings figures so that intelligent television is hugely successful and trash TV fails miserably. This leads to a cultural revolution but also to a backlash from the broadcast powers-that-be. "If 'The Edukators' was about economic revolution, about poor vs. rich, this film will be more about cultural revolution, about freeing the mind," Weingartner said in an interview. "But like 'The Edukators, ' it will also be funny and suspenseful and with a love story in the middle of it all."...

NEW YORK -- Brad Anderson has been tapped to adapt and direct a remake of Hans Weingartner's political German film The Edukators. Palmer West and Jonah Smith of production outfit Thousand Words will produce the film. The story centers on three youths whose concern over global capitalism leads them from acts of protest to serious crime. The original, released domestically last summer by IFC Films, won top honors at the German Critics Film Awards and top honors at several European film festivals. "What excites me most is the way the story straddles genres," said Anderson, who most recently directed The Machinist. "On the one hand it's a suspenseful thriller, and on the other, it's a provocative and timely political debate. Yet at its heart it's really a very sly, very dark romantic comedy. In my films I've always tried to artfully 'mash up' genres. Palmer and Jonah get this. I couldn't ask for better collaborators."...

COLOGNE, Germany -- Hans Weingartner's politically charged drama The Edukators was named best film by the German association of film critics Wednesday, with the film's star Julia Jentsch picking up the best actress nod. August Diehl won the best actor prize for his turn in Achim von Borries' period romantic drama Love in Thoughts, and Michael Schorr's tragicomedy Schultze Gets the Blues picked up the award for best film debut.

CANNES -- "The Edukators" is that rare beast, a terrific movie that boasts intelligent wit, expert storytelling, delightful characters and grown-up dialogue plus suspense and a wicked surprise ending. The first German-language film In Competition at the festival in 11 years is a crowd-pleaser guaranteed to earn international attention.

Director and co-screenwriter Hans Weingartner's ambition is high as he grafts all the elements of a thriller onto what is a fascinating discussion of the need for kids to rebel. Rebellion is difficult for today's young people when what used to be subversive is on sale at the local department store and there's the feeling that everything has been done before.

Friends Jan (Daniel Bruhl) and Peter (Stipe Erceg) have their own answer. Using a membership list from the city's yacht club and armed with Peter's knowledge of alarm systems, they break into expensive mansions in the middle of the night. But they don't steal anything. They stack furniture, put objets d'art in the toilet and stick the stereo in the fridge. And they leave a note "Your days of plenty are numbered," signed "The Edukators". "We only want to scare them", Jan says.

These are youngsters who take their politics seriously, campaigning against Asian sweatshops that make high-priced name-brand sneakers and desperate for ways to make their mark on a heedlessly capitalist world.

Peter's girlfriend, Jule (Julia Jentsch), is brought into their nighttime adventures when Peter is away on holiday and he asks Jan to help Jule clean up the apartment she has been evicted from. Jule is €94,000 in debt because she wrote off a Mercedes as an uninsured car, and the owner, a man named Hardenberg, sued her.

Jan and Jule share a growing attraction to each other, and when he shows her how he cases the mansions, they discover they're near the street where the Mercedes owner lives, and they break in. Caught up in the adrenalin rush of their escapade, however, they're caught unawares when Hardenberg (Burghart Klaubner) shows up.

They call Peter to help and the three decide to kidnap the man and take him to Jule's uncle's empty cabin in the mountains. All of this is depicted with great flair and invention and played with pleasing naturalness and charm by the trio of young actors.

Once they are in the mountains, Weingartner and co-writer Katharina Held make their boldest step and carry it off with superb aplomb. As the triangle becomes more testing and the situation more criminal, Hardenberg turns out to be not quite the capitalist pig he appears. Well, he is, but he wasn't always, at least so he claims. He was a member of the SDS in 1968, he says, living in a commune with his wife and four others, with demonstrations, long hair, free love and the whole damned thing. Here, Klaubner matches the youngsters with his assured performance.

Sustaining the logic of the plot brilliantly, the film contrives to play the boys against each other and the girl, and the rich man against the rest in scenes that are highly entertaining and satisfying.

"Edukators" has the fresh breath of originality that makes going to the movies a pleasure.

THE EDUKATORS

A Y3 Film (Germany) co-production with Co-op99 (Austria) in collaboration with Sudwestrundfunk (SWR).

Credits:

Director: Hans Weingartner

Screenplay: Katharina Held, Hans Weingartner

Producers: Hans Weingartner, Antonin Svoboda

Cinematography: Matthias Schellenberg, Daniela Knapp

Production design: Christian M. Goldbeck

Editing: Dirk Oetelshoven, Andreas Wodraschke

Sound: Stefan Soltau

Costumes and makeup: Silvia Pernegger

Music: Andreas Wodraschke

Cast:

Jan: Daniel Bruhl

Jule: Julia Jentsch

Peter: Stipe Erceg

Hardenberg: Burghart Klaubner

No MPAA rating

Running time -- 126 minutes...

BERLIN -- Hans Weingartner, the director of Cannes Competition entry The Edukators, has won the newcomer award, Foederpreis Deutsche Film, at this year's Munich Film Festival, the festival said Thursday. The three-person jury -- directors Hans-Christian Schmid and Michael Althen, and actress Sophie von Kessel -- chose Weingartner's entry over Marco Kreuzpaintner's Summer Storm and Marcus Lenz's Close. Edukators star Stipe Erceg won the best actor award, while Marie-Luise Schramm beat out Julia Jentsch (The Edukators) for the best actress prize for her role in Kathrin Feistl's Am I Sexy? Now in its third year, the Foederpreis is Germany's top prize for up-and-coming talent. The award is presented by Munich-based film company Bavaria Film, state pubcaster Bayerischen Rundfunk and bank HypoVereinsbank.

CANNES -- "The Edukators" is that rare beast, a terrific movie that boasts intelligent wit, expert storytelling, delightful characters and grown-up dialogue plus suspense and a wicked surprise ending. The first German-language film In Competition at the festival in 11 years is a crowd-pleaser guaranteed to earn international attention.

Director and co-screenwriter Hans Weingartner's ambition is high as he grafts all the elements of a thriller onto what is a fascinating discussion of the need for kids to rebel. Rebellion is difficult for today's young people when what used to be subversive is on sale at the local department store and there's the feeling that everything has been done before.

Friends Jan (Daniel Bruhl) and Peter (Stipe Erceg) have their own answer. Using a membership list from the city's yacht club and armed with Peter's knowledge of alarm systems, they break into expensive mansions in the middle of the night. But they don't steal anything. They stack furniture, put objets d'art in the toilet and stick the stereo in the fridge. And they leave a note "Your days of plenty are numbered," signed "The Edukators". "We only want to scare them", Jan says.

These are youngsters who take their politics seriously, campaigning against Asian sweatshops that make high-priced name-brand sneakers and desperate for ways to make their mark on a heedlessly capitalist world.

Peter's girlfriend, Jule (Julia Jentsch), is brought into their nighttime adventures when Peter is away on holiday and he asks Jan to help Jule clean up the apartment she has been evicted from. Jule is €94,000 in debt because she wrote off a Mercedes as an uninsured car, and the owner, a man named Hardenberg, sued her.

Jan and Jule share a growing attraction to each other, and when he shows her how he cases the mansions, they discover they're near the street where the Mercedes owner lives, and they break in. Caught up in the adrenalin rush of their escapade, however, they're caught unawares when Hardenberg (Burghart Klaubner) shows up.

They call Peter to help and the three decide to kidnap the man and take him to Jule's uncle's empty cabin in the mountains. All of this is depicted with great flair and invention and played with pleasing naturalness and charm by the trio of young actors.

Once they are in the mountains, Weingartner and co-writer Katharina Held make their boldest step and carry it off with superb aplomb. As the triangle becomes more testing and the situation more criminal, Hardenberg turns out to be not quite the capitalist pig he appears. Well, he is, but he wasn't always, at least so he claims. He was a member of the SDS in 1968, he says, living in a commune with his wife and four others, with demonstrations, long hair, free love and the whole damned thing. Here, Klaubner matches the youngsters with his assured performance.

Sustaining the logic of the plot brilliantly, the film contrives to play the boys against each other and the girl, and the rich man against the rest in scenes that are highly entertaining and satisfying.

"Edukators" has the fresh breath of originality that makes going to the movies a pleasure.

THE EDUKATORS

A Y3 Film (Germany) co-production with Co-op99 (Austria) in collaboration with Sudwestrundfunk (SWR).

Credits:

Director: Hans Weingartner

Screenplay: Katharina Held, Hans Weingartner

Producers: Hans Weingartner, Antonin Svoboda

Cinematography: Matthias Schellenberg, Daniela Knapp

Production design: Christian M. Goldbeck

Editing: Dirk Oetelshoven, Andreas Wodraschke

Sound: Stefan Soltau

Costumes and makeup: Silvia Pernegger

Music: Andreas Wodraschke

Cast:

Jan: Daniel Bruhl

Jule: Julia Jentsch

Peter: Stipe Erceg

Hardenberg: Burghart Klaubner

No MPAA rating

Running time -- 126 minutes...