News

Disney+ has ordered “Call My Agent Berlin,” a German remake of the hit French series revolving around the world of talent agents.

Directed by Boris Kunz, Laura Lackmann and Johann Buchholz, the German version of “Call My Agent” tells the story of the “Stern” actors agency and its agents.

The local cast is headlined by Moritz Bleibtreu, Nilam Farooq, Iris Berben, Veronica Ferres, Katja Riemann, Heiner Lauterbach, Frederick Lau, Heike Makatsch, Emilia Schüle, Kostja Ullmann, Jürgen Vogel, Alicia von Rittberg, Max von der Groeben and Florence Kasumba. The series just finished filming and will launch in the fall.

It’s produced by Johann Buchholz and Henning Kamm at haFriday Film GmbH, together with Wild Bunch Germany GmbH.

“Call My Agent Berlin” starts after the sudden death of founder Richard Stern. “Everything is at stake: the agency is on the verge of bankruptcy, so the staff must attract new talent in the shortest possible time,...

Paramount Pictures’ action horror World War Z will be heading to a brand-new streaming home. The 2013 movie is based on Max Brooks’ best-selling 2006 apocalyptic novel of the same name.

Beginning on March 1, World War Z will officially be available to stream for free on Tubi. The movie is led by Academy Award winner Brad Pitt, who portrays retired United Nations investigator Gerry Lane. In the film, Gerry and his family get caught in the middle of chaos, after discovering that a virus has been rapidly turning people into flesh-eating monsters. Due to his former role in the U.N., he gets recalled back to duty in order to search for the cure, before the infection wipes out the entire human race.

RelatedRidley Scott Sets the Record Straight on Brad Pitt's Casting in 34-Year-Old Oscar-Winning Film

Ridley Scott tells the truth of how Brad Pitt came to be cast in one of the director's landmark films,...

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a theologian, a pastor, and a pacifist. He was also one of the men who conspired to kill Adolph Hitler during World War II. Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin, starring Jonas Dassler in the titular role, tells the story of the German churchman who stood up to the Third Reich — and was hanged for doing so.

Bonhoeffer offers insight into Bonhoeffer's life, but the man was much more complex than any on-screen presentation can depict. Bonhoeffer traveled internationally to study and oversaw underground ministries in the face of a religious system that had turned away from his teachings and beliefs. Bonhoeffer's life as a boy in Germany, his time abroad, and his ultimate actions of defiance are a fascinating glimpse into the struggle between good and evil and how one man sought to make a difference.

3.5/5 Bonhoeffer

Release Date November 22, 2024Cast Jonas Dassler, August Diehl, Moritz Bleibtreu,...

Bonhoeffer chronicles the extraordinary courage of the famed theologian and Lutheran pastor who stood firm against Nazi Germany's genocidal oppression. His staunch belief that Christians must act compassionately while following God's divine principles was unwavering through his final days as a political prisoner sentenced to death in a concentration camp. Bonhoeffer witnessed humanity's worst traits in Europe and America, but refused to remain silent or idle in the face of unbridled evil. He galvanized others to bold action and made the ultimate sacrifice for his faith.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Radical Theologian of the People

3.5/5 Bonhoeffer PG-13

When a pacifist is called to a political act that could change the course of history, a man of honour responds. This is the true story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a man who preached love while plotting the assassination of an evil tyrant.

Release Date November 22, 2024Director Todd KomarnickiCast Jonas Dassler, August Diehl, Moritz Bleibtreu,...

Synopsis

A thrilling post-MTV roller-coaster ride, Run Lola Run is the internationally acclaimed sensation

about two star-crossed lovers who have only minutes to change the course of their lives. Time is running out for Lola (Franka Potente). She’s just received a frantic phone call from her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), who’s lost a small fortune belonging to his mobster boss. Manni will suffer severe consequences if Lola doesn’t replace the money in twenty minutes. Written and directed by Tom Tykwer.

Disc Details And Bonus Materials

4K Ultra HD Disc

• Feature presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision

• German 5.1 DTS-hd Master Audio

• Special Features:

o Audio Commentary with Director Tom Tykwer and Actor Franka Potente

o Audio Commentary with Director Tom Tykwer and Editor Mathilde Bonnefoy

o Making-Of Featurette

o Still Running Featurette

o “Believe” Music Video

o Theatrical Trailer

Cast And Crew

Written and Directed By:...

UK’s Odeon Cinemas Expands Family Offer

In a bid to bolster its draw for families, the UK’s Odeon Cinemas is expanding the scope of its “adults pay kids prices” deal. The scheme will see admits for one adult and one child from as little as £10 for an Odeon Cinema and £15 for an Odeon Luxe throughout 2024. The AMC-owned chain says it’s making the investment into its family offerings as data has shown that affordability and convenience are the biggest concerns for families when considering activities, particularly over the summer holidays. With the opening weekend of Inside Out 2 marking Odeon’s busiest since National Cinema Day last September, turnstiles have been on fire. The UK gross for IO2 through Sunday stands at $40.2M while such titles with family appeal on deck include Despicable Me 4 on July 12 and Harold and the Purple Crayon on August 2. Later in the year,...

Exclusive: Angel Studios, the outfit behind global blockbuster Sound of Freedom, has unveiled the full trailer for its true-life WWII thriller Bonhoeffer – see it above. Spotlighting the courage and sacrifice of the titular German pastor and theologian-turned-spy, the film is written and directed by Sully scribe Todd Komarnicki. Angel Studios will release domestically on November 22.

The drama’s subject is World War II hero Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Jonas Dassler), a pacifist pastor who conspired to bring an end to the Nazi regime, fearlessly speaking the truth while facing unyielding oppression and evil.

The official synopsis reads: When a pacifist is called to a political act that could change the course of history, how will a man of honor respond? This is the true story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a man who preached love while plotting the assassination of an evil tyrant. With world-shattering stakes, Bonhoeffer begs the question, how far will you...

Run Lola Run Image: Sony Pictures Classics Given the bleak prospects of our collective futures in this eco-wrecked, cash-strapped, politically decimated 21st century, it’s no wonder stories about alternate paths continue to enjoy their moment in pop culture. After all, what is the multiverse but a vibrant kaleidoscopic dream...

Run Lola RunImage: Sony Pictures Classics

Given the bleak prospects of our collective futures in this eco-wrecked, cash-strapped, politically decimated 21st century, it’s no wonder stories about alternate paths continue to enjoy their moment in pop culture. After all, what is the multiverse but a vibrant kaleidoscopic dream of...

Run Lola Run.For movie lovers of a certain age, the image of Franka Potente and her shock of Manic Panic red hair in Run Lola Run (1998) is iconic. A still-potent mix of postmodernism, action cinema, and existential drama, Tom Tykwer’s film fits neatly on the shelf between other millennial canonical classics with strong (or strong-ish) female leads like The Fifth Element (1997) and Amélie (2001). Some saw the breakout success of Run Lola Run as evidence that international arthouse cinema had succumbed to the influence of MTV and Hollywood; others found it a blast of fresh air. The elevator pitch is deceptively simple: Lola (Potente) receives a phone call from her boyfriend, Mani (Moritz Bleibtreu): he was supposed to deliver 100,000 stolen deutschmarks to his crime-lord boss, but left the money bag on the subway by mistake, and now Lola has just twenty minutes to come up with a different...

“Run Lola Run” star Franka Potente felt “invincible” while filming Tom Tykwer’s playful, propulsive 1999 hit, which had her running full-tilt through Berlin three times in a row to save her boyfriend, with a different outcome each time.

“I remember feeling invigorated all the time because you feel like you’re part of the process,” Potente raved to TheWrap about working with the director on the breakout film, which is back in theaters for its 25th anniversary.

“Tom immediately invited me into his way of thinking and made me a part of it. I wish more directors were aware of this, because you get more out of the experience with your actors,” Potente added. She and Tykwer started dating after “Lola” and then re-teamed for “The Princess and the Warrior” in 2000.

Franka Potente and Moritz Bleibtreu in “Run Lola Run” (Credit: Sony Pictures Classics)

“It’s really hard to dissect in hindsight and be like,...

When I talked to German writer-director Tom Tykwer and his “Run Lola Run” star Franka Potente on Zoom recently, Tykwer and I remembered our interview 25 years ago when Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) released the movie the first time. (Not that I could find that interview online.) It became a word-of-mouth hit all over the world, scoring $22.9 million worldwide. “It was one of our top movies,” said SPC co-president Michael Barker on the phone. “Our goal has been to find movies that stand the test of time. It was one of the first movies with English subtitles that the younger generation turned out for.”

“Run Lola Run” premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 1998 before opening in the U.S. in early 1999. Now, SPC has orchestrated a 4K restoration coming to 250 theaters on June 7, following the success with younger audiences of such recent classic reissues as A24’s “Stop Making Sense” and SPC’s “Amelie.

Of all the heady-cool, matrix-of-reality, the-digital-future-is-now movies released in 1999, “Run Lola Run” may have been the 1999iest. Sure, “The Matrix” was the sci-fi landmark that bullet-timed audiences into the 21st century. But science-fiction movies have always looked ahead. That’s their job. (Maybe the first true movie of 1999 was “2001: A Space Odyssey.”) “Run Lola Run” was a candy-colored punk Berlin fantasia set in this world, and that was its glory.

The movie is being rereleased, starting Friday, June 7, in a new 4K version to mark the 25th anniversary of its release in America. (It came out in Germany the year before.) And what a difference a quarter of a century makes! The days of our lives now run on digital kinetic energy. Our stories live in multiverses. Our imaginations hum and click to the mutating magic of technological possibility. When we don’t like reality, we reset it. “Run Lola Run” foresaw all that,...

A quarter-century after its release, Run Lola Run is still not out of breath. Both stylistically and spiritually, the film’s influence permeates through 21st-century moviemaking. Tom Tykwer’s explosion of kinetic energy, starring Franka Potente in her breakout role, burst onto the global cinematic scene in the final year of the 1990s, its iconoclastic structure reflecting emerging forms of media ranging from video games to music videos.

And yet what’s true about most works that can go the distance in the popular imagination also applies to Run Lola Run: As the timeliness fades, the timelessness emerges. The film’s form isn’t a kneejerk response to prevailing cultural aesthetics but an imaginative outgrowth of its very plot. Run Lola Run presents a triptych of possibilities as Potente’s red-headed Lola seeks to find and deliver the 100,000 German marks needed to replace those that her boyfriend, Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), lost.

With Run Lola Run‘s 25th anniversary release this weekend in a new 4K restoration, we are reposting our Spring, 1999 cover interview with director Tom Tykwer. Among the last year’s festival staples, the most exhilarating may have been Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run. The self-taught 34-year-old Berliner’s third feature is a clock-driven, lighter-than-air romantic-action-comedy-thriller floating atop a percolating electronica score. The film plays out three potential narratives of what dangers and distractions the streets of Berlin hold just before noon for Lola (Franka Potente) and Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), two effortlessly cool, suddenly in trouble twentysomething lovers. Manni loses 100,000 marks […]

The post “Most of the Film is Done in 120 Beats Per Minute, But Some of It Is At 140 Bpm”: Tom Tykwer on Run Lola Run first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

With Run Lola Run‘s 25th anniversary release this weekend in a new 4K restoration, we are reposting our Spring, 1999 cover interview with director Tom Tykwer. Among the last year’s festival staples, the most exhilarating may have been Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run. The self-taught 34-year-old Berliner’s third feature is a clock-driven, lighter-than-air romantic-action-comedy-thriller floating atop a percolating electronica score. The film plays out three potential narratives of what dangers and distractions the streets of Berlin hold just before noon for Lola (Franka Potente) and Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), two effortlessly cool, suddenly in trouble twentysomething lovers. Manni loses 100,000 marks […]

The post “Most of the Film is Done in 120 Beats Per Minute, But Some of It Is At 140 Bpm”: Tom Tykwer on Run Lola Run first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

As the year sees a slower run of movies after delays from the strikes, movies like the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy are getting get re-released into theaters. This allows audiences to experience beloved films again on the big screen to commemorate the studio’s legacy in cinema. A smaller movie that will be seeing a new opportunity for exposure is 1998’s Run Lola Run. Deadline has revealed that the time-bending, German action film from Tom Tykwer will be celebrating its 25th anniversary with a return to theaters exhibiting a brand new 4K restoration.

The synopsis per Deadline reads,

“In Run Lola Run, Lola (Franka Potente) answers a call from her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), a small-time courier for a big-time gangster. He has a problem: His boss is coming to pick up 100,000 Deutsche Marks in twenty minutes, and he doesn’t have the money. With Manni’s life on the line,...

Sony Pictures Classics is reissuing the 1999 German cult thriller Run Lola Run for its 25th anniversary on June 7.

The re-release will feature a new Dcp from the 4K restoration, created in collaboration with the filmmakers.

Written and directed by Tom Tykwer, Run Lola Run starred Franka Potente Moritz Bleibtreu, Herbert Knaup, Joachim Król, and Nina Petri, and served as an international breakthrough for the filmmaker and lead actress.

The iconoclastic, three-ending pic minted $7M stateside, becoming one of the highest grossing foreign-language films ever released domestically at that time, and over $22M worldwide. Run Lola Run played the Toronto International Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival, winning the latter’s Audience Award. The pic won seven German Film Awards and received a BAFTA nomination for Best Film not in the English Language.

In the film, Lola (Franka Potente) answers a call from her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), a small-time courier for a big-time gangster.

Lola better get some new sneakers.

Sony Pictures Classics has announced it will re-release Tom Tykwer’s 1999 German action classic Run Lola Run, in a new 4K restored version, in U.S. cinemas this summer, timed to the 25th anniversary of the movie’s original domestic bow.

Franka Potente stars as the titular athletic Lola in the film, racing to find 100,000 deutsche marks in time to rescue her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) who is in deep with a local gangster. Every choice Lola makes, big or small, changes her ultimate fate. The film is told three times, with three separate endings, an approach that recalls video game aesthetics. Herbert Knaup, Joachim Król and Nina Petri co-star.

Run Lola Run was a sensation when it was first released and grossed more than $7 million in the United States and Canada for SPC, becoming one of the highest-grossing non-English-language films ever at that time.

Looking for a genuinely heart-pounding, inventive blockbuster for your summer movie-watching schedule? Consider something classic: Tom Tykwer’s clever 1999 thriller “Run Lola Run.” In celebration of the film’s 25th anniversary, Sony Pictures Classics announced Friday that they will reissue the film in theaters on June 7, timed to coincide with the film’s original U.S. release. The anniversary reissue will feature a new Dcp from the 4K restoration, “created in collaboration with the filmmakers.”

Written and directed by Tykwer, “Run Lola Run” was a breakout smash hit for both the filmmaker and his star Franka Potente. Per today’s announcement, at the time of its original release, the film was “hailed for its experimental structure, propulsive techno score, and Potente’s fierce performance as the titular, flame-haired heroine.” IndieWire’s review from 1999 hailed its “clever, wholly unique narrative concept” which “instantly makes it one of the more original, unpretentious...

Exclusive: Angel Studios, the studio behind surprise global blockbuster Sound of Freedom, has acquired worldwide rights to Bonhoeffer (fka God’s Spy), a true-life thriller written and directed by Sully scribe Todd Komarnicki. Spotlighting the courage and sacrifice of an extraordinary World War II hero, the film is slated for release in theaters in 2024.

Pic’s subject is Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Jonas Dassler), a pacifist pastor determined to live his life with uncompromising political and spiritual courage while choosing to live in Berlin during the Third Reich. Conspiring to bring an end to the Nazi regime, he fearlessly spoke the truth while facing unyielding oppression and evil. His impact is still felt around the world today.

Starring alongside Never Look Away‘s Dassler are August Diehl (Inglorious Basterds), Moritz Bleibtreu (Run Lola Run), Nadine Heidenreich (Die Flaschenpost-Insel), David Jonsson (Rye Lane), and Flula Borg (Suicide Squad). Producers included Emmanuel and Camille Kampouris,...

Picture Tree Intl. has boarded international sales for Scandinavian period drama “Stormskerry Maja,” directed by Tiina Lymi, adapted from Anni Blomqvist’s series of novels.

The film chronicles the saga of Maja and her family as they embark on a journey to the desolate and remote island Stormskerry. Their daily existence becomes an unwavering struggle for survival, but Maja, holding on to her deep-rooted connection to the island, remains there despite hardships.

The cast includes “Thin Blue Line” star Amanda Jansson and Linus Troedsson, as well as Desmond Eastwood, who appeared in “Normal People.” The film was shot in Swedish and English.

“Stormskerry Maja” is produced by Markus Selin, Jukka Helle and Hanna Virolainen for Solar Films in Finland, and marks its second collaboration with Pti after “The Midfwife.” Nordisk Film will distribute the film in Scandinavia next year.

Pti’s AFM slate includes “Everything’s Fifty Fifty,” written and directed by Alireza Golafshan,...

Picture Tree Intl. has picked up international sales duties on “Manta Manta: Legacy,” directed by and starring Til Schweiger. The action comedy is a sequel to the first “Manta, Manta” feature film from 1991, with a market premiere for both movies planned at the Cannes Film Market.

Released by Constantin Film Verleih on March 30, “Manta Manta: Legacy” has reached over 800,000 admissions and was the number one movie in Germany in its opening week.

Produced by Bernd Eichinger, Peter Zenk and Martin Moszkowicz, and directed by Wolfgang Büld, the first movie launched the acting career of Schweiger in a newly reunified Germany. Generating more than 1.2 million theatrical admissions, the film went on to be the most successful film on German commercial television.

“Manta Manta: Legacy” reunites the leading cast of the 1991 original: Schweiger, Tina Ruland (“Ants in the Pants”) and Michael Kessler. The ensemble cast also includes Tim Oliver Schultz, Luna Schweiger,...

This weekend, Netflix is adding a comedy-drama TV series, a fantasy adventure movie, and a TV series based on a novel. Last weekend, and as it does on the first days of every month, Netflix added a variety of licensed content, most notably Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, the Bourne trilogy starring Matt Damon along with The Bourne Legacy, the comedies Zombieland, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Not Another Teen Movie, Danny DeVito’s Matilda, Christopher Nolan’s Inception, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, along with the Australian comedy-drama TV series Wellmania, the comedy series Unstable, and the comedy mystery movie Murder Mystery 2.

This weekend, Netflix won’t add as much licensed content as last week, but it will add a variety of titles, such as the documentary Surviving R. Kelly Part III: The Final Chapter, the action thriller The Last Stand, the Nigerian comedy A Simple Lie,...

Exclusive: Jonas Dassler (The Golden Glove) has been tapped to play German pastor and theologian-turned-spy Dietrich Bonhoeffer in the thriller God’s Spy, based on a true story.

Others set for the pic written and directed by Sully scribe Todd Komarnicki include Flula Borg (The Suicide Squad), David Jonsson (Industry), August Diehl (A Hidden Life), Moritz Bleibtreu (World War Z) and BAFTA Award nominee Clarke Peters (The Wire).

The film currently in production is set in Berlin during the time of the Third Reich, examining Bonhoeffer’s determination to live his life with uncompromising political and spiritual courage, while speaking truth to power, in his attempt to save countless Jewish lives. Bonhoeffer was among only a few clergy who were early to recognize the danger of Hitler’s anti-Semitic rhetoric, and while the German church acquiesced to Hitler, Bonhoeffer took him on. First, from the pulpit — and then from the front lines.

Click here to read the full article.

For almost 30 years, the Oldenburg Film Festival has been championing a very specific flavor of fiercely independent cinema.

Equally inspired by the New Hollywood genre films of the 1970s and the bootstraps indie cinema of the 1990s, Oldenburg has carved out a niche unlike any of the major international festivals. Instead of playing the same fall festival hits as Cannes, Venice and Toronto, Oldenburg continues to spotlight overlooked or forgotten movies that don’t fit the industry’s familiar categories.

For the 29th festival, which runs Sept. 14-18, The Hollywood Reporter took a look back at five indie gems from Oldenburg’s weird and wonderful history.

A Coffee in Berlin (2012, Winner, Audience Award, German Independence Award, Best Actor Award)

‘A Coffee in Berlin’

Jan-Ole Gerster’s A Coffee In Berlin, a droll, Jim Jarmusch-inspired day-in-the-life-of-a-German-slacker drama, premiered at the Munich Film Festival.

Red Arrow Studios Intl. has secured a raft of deals for two of its premium drama titles “Blackout – Tomorrow Is Too Late” and “Departure.”

The international thriller “Blackout – Tomorrow Is Too Late,” starring Moritz Bleibtreu (“The Baader Meinhof Complex”) and Marie Leuenberger (“The Divine Order”), has been picked up by Mediawan Rights for French-speaking Europe, Disney Plus in the U.K. and Ireland, and HBO Nordic for a whole host of territories, including the Nordics, Iberia, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Netherlands. The series is produced by W&b Television for Joyn and Sat.1 in Germany.

Seasons one and two of the conspiracy thriller “Departure” have been acquired by Rai for RAI4 in Italy and The Walt Disney Company for Foxcrime in Turkey. Asiaplay has also picked up the show’s second season for Catchplay+ in Taiwan, Indonesia and Singapore, following its previous acquisition of season one.

“Departure” has already...

Tighter national measures mean cinemagoers must be vaccinated or have proof of recovery from Covid-19.

As the Berlinale and European Film Market organisers continue to plan for physical events in February 2022, some German distributors are rearranging their schedules in reaction to further measures being brought in nationally to help curb the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

Constantin Film has postponed the release of three of its major upcoming titles: Caveman, starring Moritz Bleibtreu, due to open on December 23; Sönke Wortmann’s comedy sequel Der Nachname on January 20, and Anika Decker’s romantic Liebesdings, with Elyas M’Barek and Lucie Heinze,...

Sophie Lowe, Louisa Krause star in survival thriller, set to shoot later summer in Malta, Germany.

Augenschein Sales and Protagonist Pictures have struck a worldwide sales partnership on select films from Augenschein’s slate of English-speaking films and will kick off virtual Cannes market talks on survival thriller The Dive.

Protagonist will serve as executive producers on the projects and will help augenschein source additional financing.

The companies will invest a portion of the funds generated by the non-exclusive partnership into co-development of select projects as they assemble a co-production slate.

The Dive is scheduled to commence production in mid-August...

Watch the Trailer for Separation: "8-year-old Jenny (Violet McGraw) is constantly caught in the middle of the feuding between her lawyer mother Maggie (Mamie Gummer) and artist father Jeff (Rupert Friend). She leads a lonely but imaginative life, surrounded by puppets called “Grisly Kin”, which are based on the works of her father. When Maggie is tragically killed in a hit-and-run, Jeff and Jenny try to piece together a new life. But when Maggie’s father (Brian Cox) sues for custody, and babysitter Samantha (Madeline Brewer) tries to be the new woman of the house, life in their Brooklyn townhome takes a dark turn. The puppets and frightening characters come to life and Jenny is the only person who can see them. When the motives of the ghoulish creatures become clear, the lives of everyone are put very much in jeopardy."

Directed By: William Brent Bell Written By: Nick Amadeus...

Germany’s Arri Media has acquired world sales rights to Swiss director Oliver Rihs’ Caged Birds which is making ts international premiere in competition at Tallinn’s Black Nights Film Festival next week.

Based on real-life events, the production by Switzerland’s Contrast Film and Berlin-based Port au Prince Film & Kultur Produktion with Niama Film, centres on an unlikely alliance between the legendary figure of Walter Stürm, who became known as the Jailbreak King for breaking out of prison on eight occasions between 1974 and 1995, and the young radical and idealistic lawyer Barbara Hug who took on Switzerland’s antiquated prison system in the 1980s.

Exploring wide-ranging global themes, from poverty, migration, political strife and fascism to art and romance, German sales companies are presenting an eclectic offering of local and international cinematic works at this year’s AFM.

Social dramas and political thrillers reflect both the current zeitgeist and historical parallels of similarly troubled times.

In Marcus Lenz’s “Rival,” a 9-year-old Ukrainian boy travels to Germany to be with his mother, who has been forced to leave her country to work as an undocumented caretaker for an old man.

Producers Gunter Hanfgarn and Andrea Ufer of Berlin-based Hanfgarn & Ufer say they were intrigued by Lenz’s story from the start, noting that it is “set against the backdrop of two problems we see in a lot of Western countries — the nursing crisis and poverty emigration.” Sold internationally by Pluto Film, “Rival” is screening at AFM following its world premiere at this year’s Busan Film Festival.

Several major distributors return to UK cinemas this weekend.

France, opening Wednesday, October 21

A dozen new films opened in France this week into a complex reality for the country’s distributors and exhibitors following the introduction of a night-time curfew for Paris and eight other major cities on October 17. It was announced yesterday (Oct 22) that the measure will be extended to more than half the country this Saturday (Oct 24) following a further surge in cases over the past week.

Prior to the announcement, a dozen distributors had taken the plunge to release films on Wednesday against already difficult odds. In the backdrop,...

Some 14,000 cinema-goers attended physical screenings across hybrid 10-day event.

Nearly 14,000 cinema-goers attended screenings during the 10 days of this year’s Filmfest Hamburg, which came to a close with the German premiere of Chloé Zhao’s Golden Lion winner Nomadland on Sunday October 4.

A total of 13,690 admissions were posted across the Filmfest’s five cinema venues, which corresponds to almost a third of the previous year’s attendance. Festival director Albert Wiederspiel declared himself “very pleased” with this result, since each cinema could only have a maximum seating capacity of 30% and the festival programme had been reduced by almost half of...

Film fund chief Helge Albers reflects on an eventful 12 months in the job.

“It’s definitely not been boring for me here at the film fund over the past 12 months,” reflects Helge Albers, CEO of the local regional film fund Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein (Ffhsh).

“We made changes to the structure and composition of the funding committees, reduced the red tape by streamlining the procedure for funding applications and have now given the jury the opportunity to invite applicants to present their projects via video conferencing during the actual funding session.”

In addition, he says, the fund hopes to “open up...

The festival is showcasing first films by Moritz Bleibtreu, Bjarne Mädel,Fanny Liatard, Jeremy Trouilh and Suzanne Lindon.

The 28th edition of Filmfest Hamburg opened on Thursday evening with the premiere of Oskar Roehler’s tribute to New German Cinema’s iconic director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Enfant Terrible,. It closes on October 3 with this year’s Golden Lion winner Nomadland by Chloé Zhao.

Festival director Albert Wiederspiel, who is celebrating his 17th year in the role, explains how he hopes the festival will help to bring audiences back to cinemas, how the event has adapted to the city’s social...

The festival is showcasing first films by Moritz Bleibtreu, Bjarne Mädel,Fanny Liatard, Jeremy Trouilh and Suzanne Lindon.

The 28th edition of Filmfest Hamburg opened on Thursday evening with the premiere of Oskar Roehler’s tribute to New German Cinema’s iconic director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Enfant Terrible,. It closes on October 3 with this year’s Golden Lion winner Nomadland by Chloé Zhao.

Festival director Albert Wiederspiel, who is celebrating his 17th year in the role, explains how he hopes the festival will help to bring audiences back to cinemas, how the event has adapted to the city’s social...

The festival is showcasing first films by Moritz Bleibtreu, Bjarne Mädel,Fanny Liatard, Jeremy Trouilh and Suzanne Lindon.

The 28th edition of Filmfest Hamburg opened on Thursday evening with the premiere of Oskar Roehler’s tribute to New German Cinema’s iconic director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Enfant Terrible,. It closes on October 3 with this year’s Golden Lion winner Nomadland by Chloé Zhao.

Festival director Albert Wiederspiel, who is celebrating his 17th year in the role, explains how he hopes the festival will help to bring audiences back to cinemas, how the event has adapted to the city’s social...

The German festival opens tonight with the premiere of Oskar Roehler’s Enfant Terrible.

The international premiere of Enfant Terrible, Oskar Roehler’s tribute to the legendary New German Cinema director Rainer Werner Fassbinder kicks off the mostly physical edition of the Filmfest Hamburg in Germany today, September 24.

Enfant Terrible was the only German film to be selected for this year’s Cannes 2020 label and Hamburg is the first time the film will screen in front of a live audience. Weltkino is releasing in German cinemas from October 1.

Roehler will be in town for the opening night of the mostly physical festival.

The German festival opens tonight with the premiere of Oskar Roehler’s Enfant Terrible.

The international premiere of Enfant Terrible, Oskar Roehler’s tribute to the legendary New German Cinema director Rainer Werner Fassbinder kicks off the mostly physical edition of the Hamburg Filmfest in Germany today, September 24.

Enfant Terrible was the only German film to be selected for this year’s Cannes 2020 label and Hamburg is the first time the film will screen in front of a live audience. Weltkino is releasing in German cinemas from October 1.

Roehler will be in town for the opening night of the mostly physical festival.

Now with the month of June pretty much in our rearview, it’s time to look forward to a new month of VOD and Digital releases headed our way throughout the month of July. There’s a lot of great content coming out over the next few weeks, so even though most movie theaters won’t be open, you’ll still have plenty of stuff to keep you entertained from the comfort of your own home.

Some of the highlights for July’s Digital and VOD releases include Homewrecker and Belzebuth on July 7th (the latter had previously been streaming exclusively on Shudder until now), The Beach House on July 9th, Relic on July 10th (this debut from Natalie Erika James was one of my favorite films out of Sundance 2020), the cult classic Rad, which has several digital release dates in July, Joko Anwar’s Impetigore on July 23rd (another...

German cinema looks set for an exciting year with forthcoming works that include a high-profile Cannes selection celebrating one of Germany’s most iconic filmmakers, an expressionistic thriller set in 1920s Vienna, a tale of Nazi seduction and a new Thomas Mann adaptation.

The Covid-19 pandemic dashed the excitement of a splashy Cannes premiere for Oskar Roehler’s “Enfant Terrible,” part of the festival’s Official Selection, but the film is nevertheless certain to generate buzz with its portrayal of legendary filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and his turbulent film career that spanned 1969 to 1982.

In making the film, Roehler found inspiration in Fassbinder’s own work.

“We didn’t want to do your standard biopic,” says producer Markus Zimmer, managing director of Bavaria Filmproduktion. “I think we did come very close to what Fassbinder would have made out of his own life. We tried to be in line with the artistic...

The Cannes Marché du Film, along with a sales initiative led by Hollywood agencies, is hosting the first major virtual market since the start of pandemic, starting on June 23. Distributors and sales agents are looking forward to it: the turn-up for the online Cannes Marché du Film is significant with more than 7,000 accredited participants as of mid-June.

“As nobody can leave their house, a virtual market is the next best thing. It’s a valid and worthwhile effort … people need something to initiate interactions. If this virtual market can help in some way to stimulate business that’s a great thing,” says Dylan Leiner at Sony Pictures Classics.

Here’s a look at some key titles for sale:

“Balestra”

Director: Nicole Dorsey

Producers: Pierre Even

A disgraced competitive fencer (Tessa Thompson) is aiming for her Olympic comeback. She receives a prototype device allowing her to extend her training into her...

Cut Off is one of the latest thrillers from director Christian Alvart (Pandorum). Shot in Germany, this dark yarn is based on novelists: Sebastian Fitzek and Michael Tsokos' work. To be released in the U.S. this July, the film's story follows a coroner and a strange mystery. Paul finds an even stranger clue, which leads to the location of his kidnapped daughter. But, each clue leads to another character and another twist. Cut Off stars: Moritz Bleibtreu (Run Lola Run), Jasna Fritzi Bauer (Dogs of Berlin) and Fahri Yardim. A U.S. trailer and poster are hosted here. The trailer shows how other characters are connected to a serial killer, through no choice of their own. All of the characters continue to find clues as a trail of bread crumbs leads to a final confrontation. Dark Sky Films will show Cut Off on Digital and DVD this July 3rd.

German production companies Pantaleon Films and Carte Blanche Intl. are separately developing two series projects from writer Katja Eichinger that delve into the Hamburg underworld and the city’s unique high security prison.

Pantaleon, part of actor-director Matthias Schweighöfer’s Pantaflix Ag entertainment group, has optioned Eichinger’s “Santa Fu,” about life in Hamburg’s notorious Justizvollzugsanstalt Fuhlsbüttel prison, commonly known as Santa Fu. Making the facility particularly unique is the fact that it has the only prison soccer team in Germany that plays in a regional league.

Stephan Wagner and Alexander van Dülmen’s Carte Blanche Intl., meanwhile, are developing Eichinger’s screenplay adaptation of “King of Snow,” the memoir of former drug kingpin Ronald “Blacky” Miehling, who amassed unimaginable wealth in the early 1990s as Hamburg’s premiere coke dealer before losing it all and, coincidently, ending up in Fuhlsbüttel.

Actor-director and Hamburg native Moritz Bleibtreu is set...

Run Lola Run is getting yet another version of events.

The iconic German movie, which starts over three times as Lola (Franka Potente) and Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) attempt to collect 100,000 Deutsche Marks to pay off his debt, is heading to Bollywood, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

The original movie came out in 1998 and became a hit, as audiences connected with the serendipitous plot — all starting with Lola’s encounter with a man and his dog outside her apartment. Run Lola Run followed as Manni accidentally lost a bag full with money and calls his girlfriend Lola, who instantly tries to help him to varying successes.

German cult classic Run Lola Run is headed to Bollywood.

Titled Loopa Lapeta, the Hindi-language remake of the 1998 hit film will star Taapsee Pannu and Tahir Raj Bhasin and will be directed by Aakash Bhatia and scripted by Vinay Chhawal and Ketan Pedgaonkar. Principal photography is set to begin in April, with a release date slated for Jan. 29, 2021.

Toplined by Franka Potente and Moritz Bleibtreu, Run Lola Run centered on two star-crossed lovers who find themselves left with a few minutes to change their lives forever. The pic was helmed by Tom Tykwer and produced by X-Filme Creative Pool, which ...

German cult classic Run Lola Run is headed to Bollywood.

Titled Loopa Lapeta, the Hindi-language remake of the 1998 hit film will star Taapsee Pannu and Tahir Raj Bhasin and will be directed by Aakash Bhatia and scripted by Vinay Chhawal and Ketan Pedgaonkar. Principal photography is set to begin in April, with a release date slated for Jan. 29, 2021.

Toplined by Franka Potente and Moritz Bleibtreu, Run Lola Run centered on two star-crossed lovers who find themselves left with a few minutes to change their lives forever. The pic was helmed by Tom Tykwer and produced by X-Filme Creative Pool, which ...

Around 25% will be invested in projects by new talents.

Warner Bros Germany is to invest €3m over the next three years in the development and production of feature films originating from or shot in the German region of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein in the first deal of its kind between a German regional fund and a Us major.

At least 25% of each annual €1m will be earmarked for projects by up-and-coming filmmakers to boost talent development in the region.

The deal was signed today (January 24) between Hamburg-based Warner Bros Entertainment and the regional film fund Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein (Ffhsh)

The financial...

Stars: Moritz Bleibtreu, Jasna Fritzi Bauer, Lars Eidinger, Fahri Yardim, Enno Hesse, Christian Kuchenbuch, Urs Jucker, Barbara Prakopenka, Stephanie Amarell, Dirk Nocker, Niels-Bruno Schmidt, Klara Höfels, Joy Maria Bai, Georg Veitl | Written and Directed by Christian Alvart

Cut Off (Abgeschnitten) is based on a novel by Sebastian Fitzek and Michael Tsokos with a screenplay from Christian Alvart who also directs, and is a dark German thriller set in the world of forensic pathology. A coroner named Paul Herzfeld discovers, in the head of a corpse, a phone number and the name of his daughter. When he calls the number he finds that his daughter has been abducted and the man who is holding her captive will kill her if Paul doesn’t do as he wants. What follows from there is a bloody story as Paul tries to find and save his daughter, Hannah, and along the way finds Linda,...