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Dieses Jahr feiert das Internationale Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg schon seine 73. Ausgabe. Wir haben mit Sascha Keilholz über die DNA dieses traditionsreichen Festivals gesprochen, wie es sich unter seiner Ägide verändert hat, das Engagement für Talente und warum das Filmekuratieren immer schwieriger wird.

Sascha Keilholz (Credit: Florian Greiner)

Das diesjährige Festival ist das sechste unter Ihrer Leitung. Woran lässt sich Ihre Handschrift erkennen?

Sascha Keilholz: Das Iffmh verfügt über eine beeindruckende Tradition und hatte bis in die 1990er-Jahre hinein eine beachtliche Relevanz. Dann hat es sich sukzessive etwas isoliert, mit einem vielleicht nahezu introspektiven Blick. Wir haben diesen Blick wieder geweitet, die Tradition neu belebt, vor allem aber eine Kultur des Miteinanders etabliert – innerhalb des Teams, genauso jedoch innerhalb der Stadt- und Kulturgesellschaft. Mittlerweile ist das Iffmh ganzjährig in der Metropolregion präsent mit Projekten wie dem Open Air auf der Buga, Lesungen von Matthias Brandt in Kooperation mit dem Enjoy Jazz Festival...

Jella Haase spricht die Babyente Tupac und Fatoni alias Anton Schneider spielt die Hauptrolle in der Netflix-Comedy-Serie „Kacken an der Havel“, die Dimitrij und Alex Schaad gemeinsam entwickelten.

Dimitrij Schaad, Sky Arndt, Anton Schneider in „Kacken an der Havel“ (Credit: Netflix)

Kristina Löbbert ist bekanntlich als Nachfolgerin von Bernd von Fehrn nun Director of Fiction bei Wbitvp Germany. Aber noch gemeinsam schoben die beiden die Netflix-Comedy-Serie „Kacken an der Havel“ von den Schaad-Brüdern an. Die Geschichte über einen Rapper, eine Ente und ein Dorf kommt von den Creators Dimitrij Schaad und Alex Schaad. Alex führt auch gemeinsam mit Jano Ben Chaabane Regie, während Dimitrij ebenso eine tragende Rolle vor der Kamera spielt.

Zur Handlung: Seit Toni (Anton Schneider aka Fatoni) denken konnte, wollte er nichts anderes, als sein Heimatdorf Kacken (an der Havel) zu verlassen und großer Rapper werden. Aber auch nach 18 Jahren Berlin lässt die Karriere auf sich warten,...

Der Bffs hat sich mit einem Appell an die Ministerpräsidentinnen und -präsidenten der Länder gewandet, der sich gegen die Reformpläne für den öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunk wendet: Gegen Pläne, die nach Ansicht des Verbandes und vieler prominenter Schauspielerinnen und Schauspieler „schwerwiegende Folgen“ für das Kulturprogramm, die journalistische Qualität und die Programmvielfalt der Sender haben würden.

Katharina Abt, Repräsentantin „Film/Fernsehen“ im Bffs (Credit: Elena Zaucke)

Der Aufschrei gegen die von den Ländern geforderten Reformen beim öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunk ist groß – und auch nach Ansicht des Bundesverbands Schauspiel (Bffs) drohen mit dem angepeilten Kurs „schwerwiegende Folgen für das Kulturprogramm, die journalistische Qualität und die Programmvielfalt der Sender“. Die vorgeschlagenen Kürzungen würden demnach vor allem das anspruchsvolle Kulturprogramm und die qualitativ hochwertige Berichterstattung treffen. Damit stünden sie nach Auffassug des Verbandes „im Widerspruch zum verfassungsmäßigen Auftrag der öffentlich-rechtlichen Sender, eine umfassende und ausgewogene Informationsversorgung sicherzustellen“.

Mit Unterstützung zahlreicher prominenter Schauspielerinnen und Schauspieler, darunter Maria Furtwängler,...

Christian Petzold’s latest feature marks another collaboration with actress Paula Beer. It’s their fourth film together.

Petzold will direct “Miroirs No. 3,” which just began production in Germany. The film centers on an aspiring pianist, Laura (Beer), whose life is upended when her boyfriend is killed in a car crash. Laura, who was also in the wreck, wanders into the house (and life) of a family of strangers who offer to take care of her. Their motivations turn out to not be as simple as they first appear.

Barbara Auer, Matthias Brandt, and Enno Trebs co-star.

Metrograph Pictures is distributing the feature in the U.S. The Match Factory negotiated the deal on behalf of the filmmakers and is handling worldwide sales.

“We could not be more excited to be working on this film and collaborating with Christian Petzold, a truly incredible and one-of-a-kind filmmaker,” David Laub, head of Metrograph Pictures,...

Bereits vor seinem Drehstart hat sich Metrograph Pictures die Verleihrechte für Nordamerika an Chrstian Petzolds Drama „Miroirs No. 3“.

Christian Petzolds nächster Film „Miroirs No. 3“ hat bereits einen US-Verleih gefunden (Credit: Jens Koch)

Weltvertrieb The Match Factory hat die Nordamerikarechte an Christian Petzolds nächstem Drama „Miroirs No. 3“ an Metrograph Pictures verkauft, die den Film im kommenden Jahr in die US-Kinos bringen will. Das berichtet „Deadline“.

Im Mittelpunkt des Dramas, das von Schramm Film Koerner Weber Kaiser in Koproduktion mit Zdf und Arte, unterstützt von Ffa, Bkm, Dfff und Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, produziert wird, steht die von Paula Beer gespielte ambitionierte Pianistin Laura, deren Leben auf den Kopf gestellt wird, als ihr Freund bei einem Autounfall, in den sie verwickelt ist, ums Leben kommt. Laura findet Zuflucht, Trost und Unterstützung bei einer fremden Familie, deren Motive, sich um die junge Frau zu kümmern, nicht so ehrbar sind, wie sie zunächst erscheinen. Schon bald stößt Laura auf dunkle Familiengeheimnisse.

Metrograph has acquired North American rights from The Match Factory to Christian Petzold’s Miroirs No. 3 starring Paula Beer, which starts production on Monday (August 26) in Germany.

Petzold and Beer reunite after Transit, Undine and Afire. Miroirs No. 3 follows a young music student who must rebuild her life when her boyfriend dies in a car crash.

The shoot will take place in Brandenburg and Berlin, Germany, and the film will open in 2025. Also starring are Barbara Auer (The Book Thief), Matthias Brandt (Transit), and Enno Trebs (Afire).

Miroirs No. 3 is produced by Petzold’s Schramm Film Koerner Weber Kaiser in co-production with Zdf and Arte.

Christian Petzold’s new drama Miroirs No. 3 has struck a North American distribution deal with Metrograph Pictures just ahead of its production start in Germany.

Marking the fourth feature collaboration for the renowned German filmmaker and actress Paula Beer, the film will be released next year. The Match Factory negotiated the deal on behalf of the filmmakers and is handling worldwide sales.

Miroirs No. 3 centers on the aspiring pianist, Laura (Beer), whose life is upended when she is in a car crash with her boyfriend who is killed. Laura subsequently wanders into the house and life of a family of strangers, who offer to take care of her, but their motivations turn out to not be as simple as they first appear.

Also starring Barbara Auer, Matthias Brandt and Enno Trebs, the film is produced by Schramm Film Koerner Weber Kaiser, in co-production with Zdf and Arte. Its financiers included Filmförderungsanstalt,...

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…...

If there’s one thing Christian Petzold does well it’s introspective examinations of characters at the heart of overwhelming circumstances. Which isn’t the most succinct thing to put on your CV but you have to admit he does it well. After all he has a whole trilogy of films he calls ‘Love in Times of Oppressive Systems’ so clearly it’s working for him.

His latest piece, Afire, focuses on a narcissistic author agonising over his latest novel while sharing a holiday home in the Baltic Sea, completely uninterested in the raging wildfires consuming the nearby woodland. It’s a fitting subject for an artist like Petzold, a creative so obsessed with their own endeavours that they become openly hostile to anything outside themselves.

That sums up our protagonist Leon (Thomas Schubert) in a nutshell. A schlubby, sullen writer chafing against his idyllic surroundings. He refuses to go...

Christian Petzold’s Afire on the IFC Center marquee Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

In the second instalment with director/screenwriter Christian Petzold on Afire starring Paula Beer, Thomas Schubert (winking at the audience like Ryan Gosling’s Ken in Greta Gerwig’s summer blockbuster Barbie), Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs, and Matthias Brandt we touch upon Leo McCarey’s An Affair To Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in reference to Paula Beer in the wheelchair; pronouncing Walter Benjamin and Uwe Johnson; Margarethe von Trotta’s film series Jahrestage; Devid Striesow in Yella; new Baltic Sea tourism in the old east, and the goulash in and out of the bag.

Christian Petzold on Leo McCarey’s An Affair To Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr: “Oh, this is a fantastic movie! It all comes back now!” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Friends Felix (Langston Uibel) and Leon (Thomas Schubert) are on their...

Few movies this year will be as quietly sizzling as German filmmaker Christian Petzold’s “Afire,” a novelistic and sophisticated character study that kindles inside a chamber piece, as languid as a relaxed summer day and as heartbreaking as the end of a short-lived summer love.

The unhurried, romantic undertones of “Afire” are elements we came to expect from Petzold’s recent cinema, through the likes of “Barbara,” “Phoenix,” “Transit,” and “Undine” where affecting melancholy runs freely and cinematically alongside a dose of tragedy. This vibe is more or less the atmosphere of “Afire,” which follows two friends—Thomas Schubert’s grumpily petty novelist Leon and Langston Uibel’s chipper photographer/artist Felix—as they head to Felix’s family summer home by the Baltic coast for a seaside break, and maybe for some inspiration and light work on the side.

You could be forgiven to think you’re perhaps...

Christian Petzold’s slow-burning Afire, shot by Hans Fromm, stars Paula Beer, Thomas Schubert, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs, and Matthias Brandt.

Friends Felix (Langston Uibel) and Leon (Thomas Schubert) are on their way to a summer house in the woods near the Baltic Sea when their car breaks down. Animal shrieks fill the air. The area had recently experienced a number of devastating wildfires. When they arrive on foot at the vacation home belonging to Felix’s family, which was supposed to be theirs alone to work on respective projects - a photography submission to...

Christian Petzold, the director of the well-timed summer movie Afire with Anne-Katrin Titze: “I’m really sure that we don’t have summer movies. The Americans have summer movies, the French have summer movies.”

Christian Petzold’s slow-burning Afire, shot by Hans Fromm, stars Paula Beer, Thomas Schubert, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs, and Matthias Brandt.

Nadja (Paula Beer) with Devid (Enno Trebs), Felix (Langston Uibel), and Leon (Thomas Schubert) in Afire

A scene in Leo McCarey’s An Affair To Remember (with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr); Sophie Calle’s Voir La Mer and Hiroshi Sugimoto’s photographs; Astrid Lindgren; a Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre touch; Uwe Johnson’s Mutmassungen über Jakob and Margarethe von Trotta’s Jahrestage series; Johan Wolfgang von Goethe; a Nanni Moretti quote; meeting Paul Dano’s Wildlife cinematographer Diego García (Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Cemetery Of Splendor) in Tel Aviv; Billy Wilder, Fred Zinnemann, Curt Siodmak, Robert Siodmak,...

"I find the sea a bit spooky at night. Come with me." Sideshow + Janus Films have revealed a new official US trailer for the indie German film titled Afire for the US release. The latest film from German filmmaker Christian Petzold. Originally known as Roter Himmel (which translates directly to Red Sky in German), this first premiered at the 2023 Berlin Film Festival earlier this year where it won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize. A seaside vacation to the north of Germany takes an unexpected turn when Leon and Felix show up at Felix's family's holiday home to discover Nadja, a mysterious woman, already there. As an ever encroaching forest fire threatens their well-being, relationships are tested and romances are kindled. The film features Thomas Schubert as Leon, Paula Beer as Nadja, Langston Uibel as Felix, as well as Enno Trebs and Matthias Brandt. This is a great film, with...

Christian Petzold’s Silver Bear winner “Afire” has received a new trailer.

The drama follows writer Leon (Thomas Schubert) and photographer Felix (Langston Uibel) who are surprised by a mysterious young woman named Nadja (Paula Beer) staying as a guest at Felix’s family’s holiday home by the Baltic Sea.

Nadja distracts Leon from finishing his latest novel and, with brutal honesty, forces him to confront his caustic temperament and self-absorption. As Nadja and Leon grow closer, an encroaching forest fire threatens the group. Meanwhile, tensions escalate when a handsome lifeguard and Leon’s tight-lipped book editor also arrive.

The movie stars Thomas Schubet, Paula Beer, Enno Trebs, Langston Uibel and Matthias Brandt.

“Afire” won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival in February, where it also garnered solid reviews. The film is being released Stateside by Sideshow and Janus Films — which also released “Drive My Car...

With Cannes done and dusted and the heavy-hitting autumn quartet of Venice, Telluride, TIFF, and NYFF still a few months off, what’s a film festival fan to do during the dog days of summer? With New York City’s own Tribeca Festival now firmly ensconced in the summer months after moving off its traditional spring dates in 2021, movie lovers both in the city and beyond can enjoy the annual event’s prodigious programming, thanks to a combination of in-person and virtual programming.

The 2023 edition will kick off June 7 with the North American premiere of “Kiss the Future,” a documentary following the story of a community of underground musicians and creatives throughout the nearly four-year-long siege of Sarajevo, as well as the 1997 U2 concert celebrating the liberation of the Bosnian capital.

A special 30th-anniversary screening of “A Bronx Tale” will close the fest on June 17. After the movie, the film...

Afire (2023).In February, Christian Petzold’s new film Afire premiered in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it received the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize. Set on the Baltic coast of Germany, the story follows novelist Leon (Thomas Schubert), who has escaped the city with his friend Felix (Langston Uibel), intending to put the finishing touches on his second book. Instead, the two become romantically enmeshed with Nadja (Paula Beer), a literary scholar who spends the summer selling ice cream, and the local lifeguard Devid (Enno Trebs). Unlike the others, Leon cannot embrace the season’s lighthearted self-abandonment and wanders sleeplessly through blue nights without darkness. All the while, forest fires blaze in the distance. At first, they only reach the protagonists as rumors, sounds of helicopters, and glowing red skies (the German title of the film means “Red Sky”), until the threat finally encroaches upon the immediate forests.

Sideshow and Janus Films have picked up the North American rights to “Afire,” which won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at Berlinale 2023. A theatrical release is planned for Summer 2023.

From writer-director Christian Petzold, the film follows four young people who convene at a holiday house by the Baltic Sea. Plagued by drought, the surrounding landscape soon begets fires, while inside the house emotions heat up: happiness, lust, love, along with jealousies, resentments and tensions.

The film stars Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs and Matthias Brandt. Producers are Florian Koerner von Gustorf, Michael Weber, and Anton Kaiser.

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“I am very happy that Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired the film in North America,” said Petzold in a press statement. “After the screenings at the Berlinale, I am sure that ‘Afire’ will find its audience in the US and Canada.

Second Berlin in two days for distribution partners after Tótem.

Sideshow and Janus Films have picked up their second film from Berlin, taking North American rights to Christian Petzold’s Silver Bear grand jury prize-winner Afire.

‘Afire’: Berlin Review The partners plan a summer theatrical release on the story set against the backdrop of climate catastrophe as four young people convene at a small holiday house by the Baltic Sea, where emotions ignite.

Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs and Matthias Brandt star, and producers are Florian Koerner von Gustorf, Michael Weber, and Anton Kaiser.

Sideshow and...

Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired North American rights for German director Christian Petzold’s new film Afire, following its award-winning world premiere in competition at the Berlin Film Festival.

The work was feted with Berlin’s Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize on Sunday evening (Feb 25) by an international jury led by Kristen Stewart.

The comedy-drama revolves around four very different young people who are thrown together unexpectedly in a remote holiday home by the Baltic Sea.

In the rainless, heat of the summer, sparks begin to fly among the group as the parched forests surrounding the house also start to ignite.

News of the acquisition comes hot on the heels of the announcement by Sideshow and Janus Films on Tuesday that they had taken North American rights for the Mexican competition title Tótem.

The New York-based distribution partners said of Afire: “Christian Petzold has consistently been one of the most thrilling and surprising filmmakers.

Exclusive: The Match Factory has unveiled a slew of deals for German director Christian Petzold’s Berlin Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize winner Afire.

The summertime comedy-drama, which world premiered in Berlin’s main competition, revolves around a disparate group of people thrown together in a holiday home on Germany’s Baltic coast against a backdrop of advancing forest fires.

European deals include France (Les Films du Losange), Italy (Wanted), Spain (Filmin), Benelux (September Film), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Austria (Stadtkino), Scandinavia (Future Film), Poland (Aurora Films), Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia (Vertigo), Ex-Yugoslavia (Demiurg), Romania (Independenta), Baltics (A-One).

Outside of Europe, the picture has been snapped up for South Korea (M&m International), Taiwan (Light Year Images), Turkey (Bir Film), Brazil (Imovision) and Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay (Ifa Cinema).

A North American distribution deal is also closed and due to be announced soon. Further territories are currently in negotiation.

Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2023 Berlin Film Festival. Sideshow and Janus Films releases the film in select theaters on Friday, July 14, with further expansion to follow.

“Something is wrong,” says tortured author Leon (Thomas Schubert) in an uncommon bout of observation. Say what you will about this blinkered sourpuss, but his assessment, in the opening moments to Christian Petzold’s “Afire,” is right on target. Seconds later, a car battery will explode, stranding the young novelist and his travel mate Felix (Langston Uibel) in a coastal forest beset by fires, echoing in animal howls, and ever-so far from the family home where the pair intend to spend a quiet artistic retreat. So credit to Leon for this early feat of recognition — he’ll never be so perceptive again.

Gently dunking on a writer of near-apocalyptic pomposity over the course of a languid seaside vacation, Petzold...

If any writer has ever retreated to a remote, idyllic rural pad with the intention of getting some work done, and proceeded to have a productive and creatively fulfilling time, it has certainly never happened in the movies. Leon, the callow young novelist at the center of Christian Petzold’s canny, many-layered new film “Afire,” is the latest in a long line of onscreen scribes to learn that lesson. But over the course of a hot, rainless summer by the Baltic coastline, the elusiveness of his imagined masterwork turns out to be far from his greatest problem: Writer’s block spills over into bitter social paralysis, exposing every facet of life he doesn’t yet know how to live, let alone write about. All the while, the surrounding woodsy landscape wilts and scorches, the threat of natural disaster lending an urgent pull to this dry, elegant comedy of manners — so dry,...

Leaving behind the fairy-tale enigma of his last film, Undine, Christian Petzold returns in Afire to the unembellished realism more characteristic of his work, even when he has flirted with genre, from noir to melodrama to Hitchcockian thriller. The German auteur also departs from the densely populated cities that have chiefly been his canvas, dropping his characters into the seemingly tranquil setting of a sleepy beach town on the Baltic Sea and a summer home in idyllic woodlands. But the skies are turning red as forest fires loom closer, ash is raining down and wildlife is fleeing.

The anxiety caused by natural disaster is echoed by the festering self-doubt of the central character, Leon (Thomas Schubert), who has escaped Berlin to work on the manuscript of his new novel, his spirits dampened by the tepid response of his publisher. He’s accompanied by Felix (Langston Uibel), whose family owns the...

A cottage in the woods: isolated, idyllic and unavoidably reminiscent of some half-forgotten fairy tale. Unfortunately, Leon (Thomas Schubert) is not a country person. When his friend Felix’s car breaks down on the forest road on the way to the family holiday house where they both plan to work in peace and quiet, all Leon can hear are unnerving crackles in the undergrowth. Wild boar. Leon is definitely not a wild boar kind of guy.

The car will have to stay where it is. Felix (Langston Uibel) knows a shortcut through the woods. When they reach the house, however, they find it obviously already occupied by someone else. Someone who leaves dirty dishes and food on every available surface. Flies! Leon is a writer. He doesn’t do boar; he doesn’t do flies. The interloper evidently is a woman; Felix’s mother forgot to tell them about her.

The movie year has already unleashed a lot of memorable work, from Sundance breakouts to “M3GAN.” But things are about to get a lot more global. Even as a new Marvel movie opens in theaters worldwide, the Berlin International Film Festival begins on Wednesday to offer a whole lot more. Nestled in between Sundance and SXSW, Berlin is like a firehose of international cinema.

More than 200 films from around the world will premiere at the festival this week, many of which are potential discoveries. Berlin premieres sometimes creep into awards consider (this year’s Oscar nominee “The Quiet Girl” premiered there last year) but can also deliver major new works from rising filmmaker talent. Some of the more promising titles from this year’s lineup speak to its versatility. It’s also a valuable European launchpad for Sundance highlights: The festival’s hit “Past Lives” plays in competition.

From its...

Christian Petzold returns to the Berlinale this year with Afire, the second installment of his elemental trilogy following 2020’s water-inspired Undine and preceding a forthcoming film about earth. Afire will reunite Petzold with his frequent collaborator Paula Beer, who will star alongside Thomas Schubert, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs and Matthias Brandt. The first trailer arrives today from Matchbox Films ahead of Afire‘s Berlin premiere. Per the film’s official synopsis: “Leon and Felix’s plan was to spend the summer together in a holiday home on the Baltic coast. They wanted to be there as friends but also to work—one on his […]

The post Trailer Watch: Christian Petzold’s Afire first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Christian Petzold returns to the Berlinale this year with Afire, the second installment of his elemental trilogy following 2020’s water-inspired Undine and preceding a forthcoming film about earth. Afire will reunite Petzold with his frequent collaborator Paula Beer, who will star alongside Thomas Schubert, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs and Matthias Brandt. The first trailer arrives today from Matchbox Films ahead of Afire‘s Berlin premiere. Per the film’s official synopsis: “Leon and Felix’s plan was to spend the summer together in a holiday home on the Baltic coast. They wanted to be there as friends but also to work—one on his […]

The post Trailer Watch: Christian Petzold’s Afire first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

"Why is she worried?" "Because of the forest fires." The Match Factory has revealed the first promo trailer for the German romantic drama Afire, the latest movie made by acclaimed German filmmaker Christian Petzold. He is best known for his films Jerichow, Barbara, Phoenix, Transit, and Undine previously, and his latest is also premiering at the 2023 Berlin Film Festival starting this week (hence the new trailer). Afire, also known as Roter Himmel (or Red Sky) in Germany, is about a group of friends staying at a holiday home by the Baltic Sea where emotions run high as the parched forest around them catches fire. It's obviously a love story about Paula Beer, as it seems every single guy in this trailer is madly in love with her. Natürlich. The main cast also includes Thomas Schubert, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs, and Matthias Brandt. Another earnest romantic film about the power of love from Petzold.

In case you missed the Super Bowl spot for Christian Petzold’s Afire during last night’s big game, the first full trailer for the German auteur’s new film has now arrived. On a streak like few other directors and marking the second part of his elemental trilogy, which kicked off with water in 2020’s Undine, he now tackles––of course––fire before a subsequent feature about the earth. Reuniting him with Paula Beer, the cast also includes Thomas Schubert, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs, and Matthias Brandt, and now ahead of a Berlinale premiere, the first trailer has arrived.

“Leon and Felix’s plan was to spend the summer together in a holiday home on the Baltic coast,” reads the official synopsis. “They wanted to be there as friends but also to work – one on his second book, the other assembling his art portfolio. But Nadja and Devid are also there,...

The German sales company’s slate also includes titles by Margarethe von Trotta, Emily Atef, Tatiana Huezo.

The Match Factory has finalised a seven-strong slate of titles playing at the 2023 Berlinale, on which it represents world sales rights.

The company’s lineup includes four titles in Berlin Competition, including German director Christian Petzold’s latest film Afire, about a group of friends in a holiday home by the Baltic Sea where emotions run high as the parched forest around them catches fire.

The film stars Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs and Matthias Brandt and is produced by...

The Berlin Film Festival on Monday unveiled the titles selected for its official competition as well as its sidebar Encounters competitive section.

A total of 18 films have been selected for the international competition with highlights including Christian Petzold’s latest film Roter Himmel (Afire), Margarethe von Trotta directing Phantom Thread star Vicky Krieps in Ingeborg Bachmann — Journey Into the Desert, and Philippe Garrel returns with a new feature titled The Plough.

Scroll down for the full lineup.

This morning the festival also revealed an extra special screening: Actor and filmmaker Sean Penn will debut a documentary titled Superpower, a film shot in Ukraine last year at the outbreak of Russia’s invasion and follows president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The Berlin Film Festival takes place February 16-26.

Organizers have already announced more than 100 titles across sidebars spanning Panorama, Forum, and Berlinale Special. The festival had initially done a good job of increasing...

The Berlin International Film Festival unveiled the competition lineup for its 2023 edition on Monday morning, naming the 18 movies that will compete for the coveted Gold and Silver Bears at the 73rd Berlinale.

Berlinale executive director Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic director Carlo Chatrian presented a very international and arthouse-heavy lineup, with a strong focus on politically-charged cinema.

In a late addition, Superpower, Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufman’s documentary on Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Russian invasion of the country and the ongoing war, will have its world premiere in Berlin’s out-of-competition Berlinale Special section. The doc, made for Vice Studios, Aldamisa Entertainment and Fifth Season, is being sold internationally by Fifth Season.

Berlin 2023, taking place a year after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, will have a major focus on Ukraine. Even the festival’s official pin will be in the Ukraine colors of blue and yellow.

In competition, German auteur...

Afire

So deserving and so close at cracking our top 10, the great German filmmaker Christian Petzold continues at his break-neck speed of quantity and quality. Production on Afire (formerly going by The Red Sky) took place last summer in the month of June in Germany. Paula Beer returns for a second outing with Petzold, and we also find Thomas Schubert, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs and Matthias Brandt in what is the second part in fairy tale trilogy and focuses on passion between men. Schramm Film Koerner & Weber’s Florian Koerner von Gustorf and Michael Weber produced.

Gist: A small holiday house by the baltic sea.…...

Netflix has doubled its budget to €500 million ($571 million) for German-language productions between 2021 and 2023 and has revealed a raft of new projects.

On Tuesday, the Netflix German-language team presented a selection of 19 productions, including previously announced projects, at the Content Remote Show. The shows are from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

New series include eight-parter “Achtsam Morden” (working title), based on the book of the same name by Karsten Dusse, which topped the Spiegel bestseller list for over nine months and is now being filmed for Netflix by Constantin Film, Jan Ehlert and Nina Viktoria Philipp. Writers Miriam Rechel and Chris Geletneky tell the story of top lawyer Björn Diemel, who to save his marriage, finds a new work-life balance with the help of a mindfulness seminar and accidentally becomes a murderer in the process.

Another book adaptation, also produced by Constantin Television, is thriller series “Liebes Kind” (working title). Based on the novel by Romy Hausmann,...

Munich-based sales agency Global Screen has sold crime drama “Dark Woods” to streaming service Walter Presents for the U.K., where it’ll be shown on Channel 4’s All 4 platform, and across the Nordic Region, via C More.

The drama, which was produced by ConradFilm and Bavaria Fiction on behalf of Ndr and Ard Degeto for Das Erste, was the most-watched show on Ard’s catch-up service in Germany this year, and was the German TV Award winner.

Julia Weber, head of acquisitions and sales at Global Screen, said: “We are thrilled to announce the acquisition of this highly original and sought-after series, across Scandinavia and in the U.K., where crime drama has proved to be a key genre and is hugely popular with viewers of all ages.”

The show, inspired by real-life-events, starts out in the summer of 1989, when the sister of high-ranking Hamburg police officer Thomas...

Telepool’s Global Screen has sold the miniseries “Dark Woods” to further international territories, including Japan (Nhk Enterprises), Cis (Mauris Film), Poland (Canal Plus), Czech Republic (Ceska Televize), Slovenia (Rtv Slovenija), Latvia (Latvian Television), Lithuania (Lrt), India and sub-continents (BookMyShow), and French-speaking Switzerland (Rts).

Deals for the U.K., Australia, Scandinavia and Portugal are expected to close before Mipcom, while sales to North America (Topic Media), France (Canal Plus) and Spain (Cosmo TV) were revealed earlier this year.

“We are thrilled to announce the next slate of deals for this highly original series,” stated Julia Weber, head of acquisitions and sales at Global Screen. “With its mix of crime and drama, the excellent acting and a unique, gripping atmosphere, ‘Dark Woods’ is a perfect match for all clients looking for high-end European content. The outstanding ratings in Germany – it was the most-watched program in Ard’s catch-up TV in 2020 – along...

Presents “Dark Woods” A Topic Original Directed by: Sven Bohse (“Ku’damm 56”) Written by: Stefan Kolditz Starring: Matthias Brandt (“Babylon Berlin”), Karoline Schuch, August Wittgenstein (“Das Boot”), Silke Bodenbender, Nicholas Ofczarek (“Pagan Peak”), Jenny Schily (“Tatort”), Hildegard Schmahl (“We Children from Bahnhof Zoo”), Hanno Koffler, Anne Werner, Janina Fautz, and Mirco Kreibich Produced by: Maren Knieling In the …

The post Check out The Trailer! True Crime Miniseries “Dark Woods” | Streaming Exclusively on Topic in May appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

International distributor Global Screen, part of Will Smith’s Telepool, has sold crime thriller miniseries “Dark Woods” to U.S., Canada, Spain and France, following its stellar ratings success in Germany.

Inspired by a true crime, unsolved for almost 30 years, the six-part show centers on a high-ranking police officer’s desperate search for his sister, and the family’s suffering. Starring Matthias Brandt (“Babylon Berlin”) and Karoline Schuch (“Balloon”), “Dark Woods” was directed by Sven Bohse, written by International Emmy Award winner Stefan Kolditz (“Generation War”) and produced by ConradFilm’s Marc Conrad, and Bavaria Fiction’s Maren Knieling and Jan S. Kaiser.

Each episode was the most watched show in the primetime schedule on its respective day of broadcast in Germany, and reached up to 20.2% market share in December. The miniseries is also the most-watched show in the Ard-Mediathek in 2020, with more than 10.7 million streams.

Canal Plus Group, French leading pay TV group,...

Production has started on German crime drama “Dark Woods,” based on the real-life 1989 disappearance of a woman who was the sister of a high-ranking German police officer. It will star Matthias Brandt (“Babylon Berlin”), Karoline Schuch (“Hanna’s Journey”), and August Wittgenstein (“Das Boot”). Silke Bodenbender (“Vater Mutter Morder”) and Nicholas Ofczarek (“Pagan Peak”) have also been cast in the series, which is for free-tv channel Das Erste.

Global Screen has international rights and will distribute the six-part drama. Bodenbender plays Barbara Neder, who went missing in Lower Saxony. Shortly before, two couples had been cruelly murdered in nearby woodlands.

The scripted series follows the efforts of her brother, a former senior police officer, to find her. Because the disappearance takes place outside his jurisdiction, he cannot officially investigate, but he sets out to solve the case, a quest for justice that continues past his retirement and ultimately sees him tracking a suspected serial killer.

Christian Petzold in front of a La Dolce Vita poster on Hans Dieter Huesch's lullaby Abendlied, sung by Franz Rogowski in Transit: "It's something about childhood, home, relief, and death." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Christian Petzold's latest, shot by his longtime cinematographer Hans Fromm, stars Franz Rogowski and Paula Beer with Barbara Auer, Lilien Batman, Alex Brendemühl, Godehard Giese, Maryam Zaree, and Matthias Brandt, positions Anna Seghers's novel Transit (originally published in 1944) about a young, nameless man who escaped a concentration camp into present-day Marseille. He travels through France in 1942 in the hopes to obtain a transit visa. Like his counterpart, Georg (Rogowski) finds himself among refugees and while on a mission to deliver a letter, discovers a dead writer's unfinished manuscript.

Christian Petzold on Franz Rogowski in Transit: "Georg is a man without any ballast. He is empty. He has nothing." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

There is no place like home to return to,...

"You have three weeks until your ship sails." Music Box Film has debuted an official Us trailer for an indie drama from Germany titled Transit, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival last year. It's the latest from acclaimed German filmmaker Christian Petzold and received glowing reviews playing at numerous major festivals throughout last year, including the Toronto and New York Film Festivals. Franz Rogowski stars a man named Georg fleeing Germany, who ends up stuck in Marseille, encountering others trying to escape and get out of Europe; they all need transit papers for safe passage. The full cast includes Paula Beer, Godehard Giese, Lilien Batman, Maryam Zaree, Barbara Auer, and Matthias Brandt. I saw this at Berlinale and it's a great film, commenting on contemporary issues (set in present day) borrowing a story from WWII times - read my festival review. Highly recommended viewing. Here's the official Us trailer...

Transit star Franz Rogowski on Christian Petzold: "Christian has a deep connection with ghosts. And ghosts keep coming back in his work over the past 20 years." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

The Film Society of Lincoln Center Christian Petzold retrospective The State We Are In includes films with actors Nina Hoss, Benno Fürmann and Ronald Zehrfeld, shot by Petzold's longtime cinematographer Hans Fromm.

Franz Rogowski as Georg in Transit: "Yeah, he's stuck. I mean, bureaucratic hell got him."

Harun Farocki's The Interview, along with Nothing Ventured and Petzold's latest, Transit, starring Franz Rogowski and Paula Beer with Barbara Auer, Lilien Batman, Alex Brendemühl, Godehard Giese, Maryam Zaree, and Matthias Brandt (Main Slate selection of the 56th New York Film Festival), will also screen in the programme.

Transit positions Anna Seghers's novel (originally published in 1944) about a young, nameless man who escaped a concentration camp and travels through France in 1942 in the hopes to.

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.

Hot on the heels of its premiere in-competition at the Berlin Film Festival this weekend, a trailer has arrived for the new film by German filmmaker Christian Petzold (Jerichow, Barbara, Phoenix) titled Transit. This film is set in modern times even though the story is actually based in WWII, with various people trying to escape from France on ships to America or Mexico. Franz Rogowski stars a man fleeing Germany, who ends up stuck in Marseille, encountering others trying to escape and get out of Europe, they all need transit papers for safe passage. The full cast includes Paula Beer, Godehard Giese, Lilien Batman, Maryam Zaree, Barbara Auer, and Matthias Brandt. I saw this at Berlinale and it's a great film, commenting on contemporary issues with immigration through a story from WWII - read my full review here. Watch below. Here's the first international trailer (+ poster) for Christian Petzold's Transit,...

Christian Petzold, Emily Atef, Lance Daly join Berlinale.

Source: Great Point Media

‘Damsel’

Another ten films have joined the Competition of the 68th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 15 - 25). Three more have also been selected for the programme of the Berlinale Special.

Joining the eight Competition films and two Berlinale Special titles are 13 productions from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong - China, Iran, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Paraguay, People’s Republic of China, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Uruguay, and the USA.

Joining the main competition are Barbara and Phoenix director Christian Petzold’s new drama Transit, a contemporary reworking of Anna Seghers’ 1944 novel about refugees attempting to flee through Marseille after the Nazi invasion of France in 1940. The film stars Frantz breakout Paula Beer.

Also new to competition is David and Nathan Zellner’s Damsel, the western about a Us businessman who travels to join his fiancée...

Christian Petzold, Emily Atef, Lance Daly join Berlinale.

Source: Great Point Media

‘Damsel’

Another ten films have joined the Competition of the 68th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival. Three more have also been selected for the programme of the Berlinale Special.

Joining the eight Competition films and two Berlinale Special titles are 13 productions from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong - China, Iran, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Paraguay, People’s Republic of China, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Uruguay, and the USA.

Additional films for both categories are due to be revealed soon. Films announced today are:

Competition

3 Tage in Quiberon (3 Days in Quiberon)

Germany / Austria / France

By Emily Atef (Molly’s Way, The Stranger In Me)

With Marie Bäumer, Birgit Minichmayr, Charly Hübner, Robert Gwisdek, Denis Lavant

World premiere

Black 47

Ireland / Luxembourg

By Lance Daly (Kisses, The Good Doctor)

With Hugo Weaving, James Frecheville, Stephen Rea, [link...

Opening in L.A. and other cities June 16, “Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe” is a stylishly accomplished and intellectually well thought out character study of a man who was the most popular author in the world in the 1920s and 1930s and who, today, is nearly forgotten. Told through six windows of 20 minutes each, this unique storytelling technique gives the film an immediacy as each part of Stefan Zweig’s life plays out in real time.

Stefan Zweig’s books have been made into 23 movies around the world, including his novel, Letter from an Unknown Woman, which was adapted to the screen in 1948 by Max Ophüls and starred Joan Fontaine and Louis Jourdain. His writings have also inspired Wes Anderson’s “Grand Budapest Hotel”.

Having just read his memoir, The World of Yesterday and having been on my own private search for what it means to have to leave your...