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The 26th edition of the International Filmfest Oldenburg came to a close on Sunday with a double win for the Japanese-us co-production. For the 26th time, the mid-sized city of Oldenburg in western Germany has hosted the International Filmfest Oldenburg. The festival, which has been nicknamed the “European Sundance”, took place over five days (11-15 September), showing a selection of international, independent films across its five sections. German director Jan-Ole Gerster opened the gathering with his new outstanding mix of drama and black comedy Lara, exactly seven years after his debut feature, Oh Boy, was also chosen for the opening gala. In addition, it was one of the films competing in the independent section, along with two other German films: Tom Sommerlatte’s Bruder Schwester Herz, a summer drama about the intense relationship between siblings, and the family drama Bis die Welt einen Rand bekommt, the first feature by Daniel Betram,...

Last year’s Munich break-out was Eva Trobisch’s ‘All Is Good’ .

The Munich Film Festival is proving to be the place to go to first catch films by rising German directors. All of the 18 titles in the festival’s New German Cinema line-up are world premeires this year and many have attached international sales agents ahead of their launch.

Ilker Catak’s romantic drama I Was, I Am, I Will Be opened the strand on June 28. Danish sales agent Level K took on its first ever German feature when it acquired the the rights to the film just before...

Finnish boxing drama will compete at the European Film Awards later this year.

Cannes Un Certain Regard prize-winner The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Maki, is one of five titles set to compete for this year’s European Discovery prize at the European Film Awards (Dec 10).

Juho Kuosmanen’s black-and-white boxing drama tells the true story of the titular famus Finnish boxer who had a shot at the World Featherweight title in 1962. Screen sat down with director Kuosmanen in Cannes. The film is Finland’s submission for best foreign-language drama at this year’s Oscars.

The other four nominees are: Bogdan Mirica’s Romania-France-Bulgaria-Qatar co-pro drama Dogs (Caini), which debuted in Cannes Un Certain Regard, Jules Herrmann’s German drama Liebmann, which premiered in Berlin, Elite Zexer’s Israel-France Sundance premiere Sand Storm (Sufat Chol), and Svetla Tsotsorkova’s Bulgarian drama Thirst, which debuted at Sundance 2015.

The nominations were selected by the following Efa Board...

Oscar submission Labyrinth of Lies and comedy drama Summers Downstairs are among films on the shortlist for the Metropolis 2015 directing prize awarded by the German Directors’ Guild.

Giulio Ricciarelli’s Labyrinth of Lies played at Zurich Film Festival 2014 and is Germany’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Feature at the Academy Awards.

Tom Sommerlatte’s Summers Downstairs is nominated for the European Discovery - Prix Fipresci after winning a top prize at Oldenburg International Film Festival.

Both will compete in the New Directing Talent category against Gerd Schneider’s drama The Culpable.

The Best Fiction Feature Direction category will see Oliver Hirschbiegel (13 Minutes) compete against Sönke Wortmann (Frau Müller muss weg), Baran Bo Odar (Who Am I - No System Is Safe) and Markus Sehr (Die Kleinen und die Bösen).

Sebastian Dehnhardt’s basketball portrait Dirk Nowitzki - The Perfect Shot is one of three titles selected for the Best Documentary Direction category.

Other categories...

Tom Sommerlatte’s debut Summers Downstairs (Im Sommer wohnt er unten) was picked by the audience at this year’s Oldenburg International Film Festival (Sep 16-20) for the German Independence Award.

The French-German co-production, handled internationally by Arri Worldsales, premiered in the Berlinale’s Perspektive Deutsches Kino sidebar in February, won Best Feature Film at the Achtung Berlin! festival in April, and was the opening film of Filmfest Schwerin in May.

There were double honours for Sommerlatte at the closing night gala on Sunday (Sep 20) when the nomination jury for the European Film Awards’ European Discovery - Prix Fipresci announced that Summers Downstairs had been chosen as one of five finalists.

The Seymour Cassel Award - in honour of one of Oldenburg’s aficianados - was shared this year for the first time between two actors: actress Sarah Silverman for her performance in I Smile Back and former European Shooting Star Nikola Rakočević for his role in...

Exclusive: Germany’s Oldenburg International Film Festival is to play host to the nomination committee for the European Film Awards’ European Discovery - Prix Fipresci for the first time this year.

An international jury will convene in the North German town of Oldenburg on Sept 19 for their deliberations and announce the five nominated films for the award - dedicated to first features by European directors - at the festival’s closing ceremony on Sept 20.

The jury will comprise German producer Dagmar Jacobsen; Transilvania Iff’s artistic director Mihai Chirilov; Polish critic/actor Krzysztof Kwiatkowski; UK producer Lynda Myles; Italian journalist/festival programmer Marco Spagnoli; Rotterdam Iff programmer Gerwin Tamsma; and UK critic/festival programmer Neil Young

Festival director Torsten Neumann told ScreenDaily: “It’s a great sign of recognition for us as it shows that the Efa regards Oldenburg as the right place for its jury, with its reputation as the European festival of discoveries.”

Last year’s...

Exclusive: Films by Petri Kotwica and Jan Prusinovský are among four new titles acquired by Media Luna New Films ahead of next week’s Cannes Marché.

The first new addition to Media Luna’s sales line-up is Petri Kotwica’s Finnish-Irish drama Absolution, starring Laura Birn (A Walk Among The Tombstones), Mari Rantasila and Eero Aho.

Also new to the slate is Dutch filmmaker Joost van Ginkel’s Amsterdam-set drama The Paradise Suite, with Magnus Krepper (The Girl Who Played With Fire), and Slovenian Blaz Zavrsnik’s comedy Juliet And Alfa Romeo.

The final new addition is Czech director Jan Prusinovský’s local box-office hit The Snake Brothers with Kryštof Hádek and Matěj Hádek.

Ida Martins’ Cologne-based outfit is also handling international sales for veteran director Stijn Coninx’s feelgood drama Marina, based on the childhood memories of the Italian-Belgian singer Rocco Granata, which has been selected for the Cannes Écrans Juniors competition this year.

Global Screen...

The Berlin International Film Festival has announced the films chosen for the Perspektive Deutsches Kino 2015 section. The sidebar highlights features and short films from up and coming German directors. The program will open with the German-French co-production "Im Sommer Wohnt er Unten" ("Summers Downstairs"), a debut film by actor and director Tom Sommerlatte. The feature is about two brothers who meet with their partners at their parents' summer house on the French Atlantic coast. From the start, they are caught in a web of dependencies and their roles in their families. However, through a series of power plays, constellations begin to shift. Notably, "Summers Downstairs" and two of the other selections, "Elixir" and "Bube Stur" ("Stubborn Boy"), were all shot in cinemascope. This year's Berlinale runs from February 5-15. All of the Perspektive Deutsches Kino 2015 selections are listed below: Features "Bube...