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If the prospect of several days alone with your loving family over the holidays fills you with a sense of dread, or if you just need some me time to fill those lazy winter days, The Hollywood Reporter‘s annual pick of the best binge-worthy international TV series has you covered. Take a break with an intoxicating Japanese-French family drama about wine and power, deconstruct the life and work of Franz Kafka with in a new Austrian mini-series or dive deep into the cutthroat world of international fishing with a new Norwegian comedy that’s Succession… with salmon.

All This I Will Give to You Where to Watch: MHz Choice

A deliciously twisty French murder mystery that’s like a sophisticated, sexier version of a British country-house drama. Follow Manuel, the widowed husband of a secretly wealthy man, as he unravels a complex family mystery with a retired cop. Expect cold aristocrats,...

100 years after the death of Franz Kafka, a new mini-series aims to dive beneath the surface of an author who remains enigmatic even as his influence on the culture continues to grow.

Kafka, an ambitious German-language meta-drama written by Austrian writer/director David Schalko (Braunschlag) and best-selling author David Kehlmann (Measuring the World), is based on Reiner Stach’s exhaustive three-volume biography of Kafka and weaves together the writer’s life and work, finding the connections and gaps between the two.

Schalko, who spent more than a decade developing the series, and directs all six episodes, says he was well aware of the perils of trying to capture Kafka on screen. “Everything we think we know about Kafka has become a cliche,” says Schalko.

Kafka

There is a temptation to depict Franz Kafka, the writer, as a “Kafkaesque” character, and his work as simply a heightened reflection of his life.

ChaiFlicks, the prime streaming service for Jewish storytelling, has acquired the rights to premium Austrian limited series “Kafka” from Orf Enterprise, the global distribution arm of Austrian pubcaster Orf.

The six-part series is due to launch June 6 in North America for ChaiFlicks, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the death of the world celebrated Bohemian author Franz Kafka.

Lending his features to the Prague-born author of “The Metamorphosis” is Swish actor Joel Basman. The Orf original series is helmed by David Schalko (“Braunschlag”) who co-wrote the script with German-Austrian novelist and playwright Daniel Kehmann, based on the definitive Kafka biography by Reiner Stach.

The show chronicles the life, love affairs, and friendships of the German-speaking Kafka viewed as one of the most influential writers of all time, whose name led to the familiar term ‘Kafkaesque,’ referring to the surreal, confusing and almost nightmarish situations described in Kafka’s novels.

Franz Rogowski further cemented his status as one of Europe’s most chameleonic and adventurous screen actors with his highwire turn this year as a narcissistic film director in Ira Sachs’ Passages, the agent of chaos at the center of a love triangle that spins out of control. The German actor again brings searing magnetism to Lubo, playing a member of midcentury Switzerland’s nomadic Yenish community, whose family and peaceful existence are torn from him by national authorities in what amounts to an ethnic cleansing campaign. Here, however, it’s the sprawling novelistic material that slips out of director Giorgio Diritti’s control.

Inspired by Mario Cavatore’s 2004 novel Il Seminatore but nudged far too often into melodrama in Diritti and Fredo Valla’s baggy screenplay, the film’s historical jumping-off point is eminently worthy of large-canvas treatment. But after a compelling first hour, the director can’t seem...

Clean, green Switzerland, land of chocolate, cuckoo clocks and direct democracy, is revealed to have a history of racial abuse as ugly as any other in Giorgio Diritti’s rolling epic Lubo, showing in competition at the Venice Film Festival. German actor Franz Rogowski plays the title character, a street performer and paterfamilias who is part of Switzerland’s community of Jenisch, a nomadic people originating in Germany. Lubo’s story is a dramatically terrible one – his wife is killed in a spat with heavy-handed police and his children are taken away, all while he is being marched off to serve time in the army – but it speaks to the truth.

Nobody knows exactly how many Jenisch children were taken from their families by Swiss authorities, but the current estimate is 2000. Lubo opens during the Second World War. Between the 1930s and 1973, when the practice was officially dropped, these children...

For around half of the entire last century, there was a semi-official policy enacted by the Swiss state to forcibly separate the children of “itinerant” parents from their families. The program, known as “Kinder der Landstrasse” (“Children of the Road”), was ostensibly designed for the protection of such children from the perils of vagrancy and criminality which the state imagined rife among the traveller population. In retrospect, of course, the practise, which was discontinued in the 1970s, has been revealed for what it actually was: an unjustifiably cruel abrogation of the human rights of various minority populations, among them the Yenish, the group to which Franz Rogowski’s Lubo Moser, the focus of Giorgio Diritti’s sprawling, overlong “Lubo,” belongs. Nobody could deny that such a historical injustice merits a moving and epic cinematic investigation. It’s just a shame that while the three-hour-long “Lubo” probably contains that very film,...

Fisa+ and ÖFI+ schemes have paid out €40m in grants since launch in January.

Austria’s new film and TV incentive schemes Fisa+ and ÖFI+ have already surpassed expectations since being introduced at the beginning of this year, with more than €40m paid out in grants and over €120m generated as “Austrian spend”.

The Fisa+ and ÖFI schemes offer a 30% grant on Austrian spend plus a 5% green filming bonus, with the maximum amount paid per project pegged at €5m for films and €7.5m for series.

ÖFI+ grants

Producer Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu, chairman of trade association Film & Music Austria, told Screen that...

Austrian television is awash with crime, mystery and historical drama, and the country’s biggest hits and new productions are heading to MipTV.

Among this year’s most anticipated titles is the upcoming “Kafka,” starring Swiss actor Joel Basman as the famed Bohemian writer.

The six-part series is currently shooting in Vienna and Salzburg and is set to premiere on Austrian pubcaster Orf and Germany’s Ard early next year, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Franz Kafka’s death.

“Kafka” is produced by Ard, Orf and John Lueftner and David Schalko’s Vienna-based Superfilm. Schalko is directing and co-writing the series with bestselling author and screenplay writer Daniel Kehlmann (“Measuring the World”), based on the Kafka biography by Reiner Stach, who is also

advising the production.

Sold internationally by Orf-Enterprise, the public broadcaster’s commercial subsidiary, the series’ ensemble cast includes David Kross (“Davos”), Nicholas Ofczarek (“Pagan Peak”) and Liv Lisa Fries...

This article contains The King’s Man spoilers.

Matthew Vaughn’s The King’s Man is on streaming now. That’s a quick turnaround since its Christmastime release last year, but perhaps it’s for the best. With the largely underappreciated (and under-seen) Kingsman prequel making its debut on HBO Max and Hulu, there’s a chance the strange action mash-up may finally find its audience.

Indeed, the film’s pitch always seemed a bit niche, even for this franchise. By eschewing the modern class conflict of the first two Kingsman movies, which created a dynamic of “street” versus posh spy, the World War I-set The King’s Man travels back in time more than a hundred years to tell a story that has more in common with Rudyard Kipling novels than Ian Fleming. The King’s Man is about the last gasps of the Empire, and a global conflict that destroyed the 19th century world order,...

Famous names — both historically and cast-wise — abound in the early 1900s set prequel “The King’s Man.” Adapted from the popular comic book series “Kingsman: The Secret Service” by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, the film is an R-rated prequel to the two previous “Kingsman” films, 2014’s “Kingsman: The Secret Service” and 2017’s “Kingsman: The Golden Circle.”

Set in the early twentieth century, the film draws some parallels to Marvel’s Avengers, as a group of good guys gather to diffuse evil schemes of an opposing tyrant group.

Where Is “The King’s Man” Streaming?

“The King’s Man” was originally released exclusively in theaters on Dec. 22, but as of Feb. 18 is currently streaming on both Hulu and HBO Max.

Is “The King’s Man” Still in Theaters?

No, the film is no longer playing in theaters, but you can buy “The King’s Man” on Digital and the film will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on Feb.

"We're not there yet, but at least we're free." "Settling for 'good enough' won't change the world..." The Match Factory has debuted an official promo trailer for the German film Dear Thomas, from filmmaker Andreas Kleinert. This black & white biopic is about a German "poetic rebel" named Thomas Brasch, and it just won Best Film playing at the 2021 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival earlier this month. "Rebel. Poet. Revolutionary: Dear Thomas is a declaration of love to the writer Thomas Brasch." The film tells the story of the writer and artist Thomas Brasch, who escapes the constraints of the Gdr in the 1970s by setting out for the West, but does not find fulfillment there either. The expressive imagery and the phenomenal ensemble with an unleashed Albrecht Schuch in the title role make this artist''s biography a cinematic masterpiece. The cast includes Jella Haase, Ioana Iacob, Jörg Schüttauf, Anja Schneider,...

Adventures Of A Mathematician Samuel Goldwyn Films Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Thor Klein Writer: Thor Klein Cast: Philippe Tlokinski, Esther Garrel, Fabian Kociecki, Joel Basman, Mateusz Wieclawek, Sam Keeley Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 9/22/21 Opens: October 1, 2021 I know that 2+2 equals 4 and […]

The post Adventures of a Mathematician Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Lionsgate Home Entertainment has officially announced that it will release on Blu-ray Tim Fehlbaum's sci-fi thriller The Colony (2021), starring Nora Arnezeder, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Iain Glen, Sope Dirisu, and Joel Basman.

The release is available for preorder now.

Studio description:

In this riveting sci-fi thriller from executive producer Roland Emmerich, Earth has been decimated by climate change, pandemics, and war.

Years after the ruling elite escaped to another planet, a mission was launched to find out if a return to an uninhabitable Earth were possible. That mission was lost. Now, a lone astronaut i...

European arms industry corruption, forbidden love in 1920s Berlin and the impact of public outrage on the justice system are some of the themes explored by upcoming Germans TV productions showcased on Aug. 30 on the opening day of the Series Mania Forum in Lille, France.

In collaboration with German Films, the presentation offered a sneak peek at five new high-end shows that look to continue the country’s impressive rollout of recent hit series like “Dark,” “Deutschland 83,” “Babylon Berlin,” “Bad Banks” and “Barbarians.”

The new titles included Zdf and Arte’s ambitious French-German thriller “Algiers Confidential”; Ard’s period drama “Eldorado KaDeWe”; the globetrotting melodrama “Paradiso” and dark comedy “The Wasp,” both from Sky Deutschland; and TVNow (soon to be Rtl Plus) and Vox’s legal drama “The Allegation.”

“Algiers Confidential,” based on Oliver Bottini’s novel, is a political thriller set in present-day Algiers and focuses on the...

"They're not thinking of actually using the bomb, are they?" Samuel Goldwyn Films has unveiled an official trailer for an indie historic biopic called Adventures of a Mathematician, which originally premiered at the 2020 Palm Springs Film Festival last year. It's finally opening in the US in theaters + on VOD in October this year. Based on the autobiography of the same name by Stanislaw (Stan) Ulam, the film is about a Polish immigrant who escaped in the 1930s. It's the warmhearted story of a mathematician who moves to the US. Stan deals with the difficult losses of family and friends all while helping to create the hydrogen bomb and the first computer. The film grapples with the subsequent ethical fallout of thermonuclear war, a spectre which still looms large over our humanity. Adventures of a Mathematician received grants from the Arthur P. Sloan Foundation. This stars Philippe Tlokinski as Stan, with Joel Basman,...

Constantin Television (We Children from Bahnhof Zoo) and UFA Fiction (Deutschland 83) are underway on new German-language drama series Eldorado KaDeWe (w/t), which will be directed by Julia von Heinz, director of Germany’s 2020 Oscar entry And Tomorrow the Entire World.

Made in co-production with Ard Degeto and Rbb, the series is set in Berlin during the Roaring Twenties. The city is dominated by political unrest, inflation and increasing political radicalization but is also a modern metropolis in whose vibrant nightlife emancipation, sexual diversity and social utopias blossom. The drama focuses on the famous luxury department store, KaDeWe at Wittenbergplatz, founded and successfully run by the Jewish entrepreneurial family Jandorf. It is here that the lives of Hedi, Fritzi, Harry and Georg cross paths.

The six-part high-end series is being filmed in Budapest and Berlin and above is a first-look image. Starring are Valerie Stoll, Lia von Blarer, Joel Basman and Damian Thüne.

Tides Trailer 2 — Saban Films has released the second movie trailer for Tides (2021). View here the first Tides film trailer. Cast and crew The Tides stars Nora Arnezeder, Iain Glen, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Sebastian Roché, Hong Indira Rieck, Luna Mwezi, Nicola Perot, Eden Gough, Stanley I. Walker Jr., and Joel Basman. Tim Fehlbaum, [...]

Continue reading: Tides (2021) Movie Trailer 2: Nora Arnezeder Travels from Kepler-209 to Find Out if Earth is Habitable Again...

Watch the brand-new trailer for The Colony.

Cataclysmic conditions on Earth forced a mass exodus to a distant planet. Generations later, a manned mission hurtles back to assess living conditions on the desolate, mostly submerged world. The sole survivor of the expedition is attacked by a violent band of scavengers, themselves locked in battle with a far more sinister foe. Now, mankind’s very survival depends on the bravery and ingenuity of the lone astronaut.

Stars Nora Arnezeder, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Iain Glen, Sebastian Roché, Joel Basman.

The Colony debuts in theaters, on VOD, and Digital August 27, 2021. rATED r.

The post Watch The Trailer For The Sci-Fi Movie The Colony – Stars Nora Arnezeder, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Iain Glen, Sebastian Roché appeared first on We Are Movie Geeks.

"For the many!" Saban Films has debuted a brand new official US trailer for a gritty sci-fi thriller titled The Colony, formerly known as Tides when it originally premiered at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year. This epic post-apocalyptic story is about a ship that crash lands on Earth in the distant future, when the entire planet has changed. The film "sends its audience on a breathless journey full of surprising twists and turns into a unique world in which humanity is about life and death." In the lead role as the astronaut Blake, who is left to her own devices and has to make a momentous decision, young star Nora Arnezeder. At her side, Iain Glen from "Game of Thrones", plus Sarah-Sofie Boussnina and Joel Basman. I originally caught this at Berlinale earlier in the year and I enjoyed it, but it's not really a great film. I wanted more out of it,...

Further deals include Spain and India.

German sales outfit The Playmaker Munich (formerly Arri Media International) has closed a North American deal with Corinth Films for Oliver Rihs’ Swiss drama Caged Birds.

Spain (Piramide Films) and India (Big Tree Ent.) also acquired the film during the Pre-Cannes Screenings.

Caged Birds stars Joel Basman and Maria Leuenberger and is based on the true story of Walter Stürm, who gained fame in the 1980s as the so-called Jailbreak King. The film follows a radical lawyer fighting Switzerland’s antiquated prison system, who joins forces with Stürm.

The film played in competition at...

Switzerland’s Locarno Film festival has unveiled its line-up ahead of a physical 2021 edition running August 4-14. Scroll down for a list of titles.

As previously announced, Ferdinando Cito Filomarino’s Beckett, starring John David Washington and Alicia Vikander, will open the festival with its world premiere on August 4.

Joining the movie for a screening at the fest’s main venue, the Piazza Grande, will be titles including John Swab’s Ida Red starring Frank Grillo, which will world premiere, Shawn Levy’s Free Guy starring Ryan Reynolds, and several U.S. classics including Michael Mann’s Heat and James Cameron’s The Terminator.

Back in November last year, Deadline interviewed new artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro, who told us about his love for popular cinema and American movies. This will mark his debut edition at the helm.

Screening in the Concorso Internazionale strand, which features international works from around the world,...

Tides Trailer — Tim Fehlbaum‘s Tides / Haven: Above Sky (2021) movie trailer has been released by Constantin Film. The Tides Trailer stars Nora Arnezeder, Iain Glen, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Sebastian Roché, Hong Indira Rieck, Luna Mwezi, Nicola Perot, Eden Gough, Stanley I. Walker Jr., and Joel Basman. Crew Tim Fehlbaum, Mariko Minoguchi, and [...]

Continue reading: Tides Trailer: Astronaut Nora Arnezeder crash-lands on Wasteland Earth in Tim Fehlbaum’s 2021 Sci-Fi Movie...

"The human race doesn't need us to survive..." Constantin Film in Germany has released the first trailer for a sci-fi thriller titled Tides, formerly known as Haven: Above Sky. This has also been announced as a selection of the 2021 Berlin Film Festival, premiering in the Berlinale Special section next month. Set in the distant future, a female astronaut, shipwrecked on the long-decimated Earth, must decide the fate of the wasteland's remaining populace. Tides "sends its audience on a breathless journey full of surprising twists and turns into a unique world in which humanity is about life and death." In the lead role as the astronaut Blake, who is left to her own devices and has to make a momentous decision, young star Nora Arnezeder. At her side, Iain Glen from "Game of Thrones", plus Sarah-Sofie Boussnina and Joel Basman. At first glance this seems a bit like a live-action Wall-e...

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.

In today's Horror Highlights: Devil May Cry 5 heads to new consoles, Loot Crate offers Mr. Kramp, and Saban picks up the reboot of Wrong Turn.

Devil May Cry 5 Launches on Next-Gen Consoles: "It’s time to fight like hell, as Devil May Cry™ 5 Special Edition has arrived with all-new features and the by-fan-demand playable Vergil. The digital version of Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition arrives today for Xbox Series X|S, and on November 12, 2020 for PlayStation® 5. The physical versions for all consoles will be available starting December 1, 2020 and both the digital and physical versions of the game will be available for Msrp $39.99.

Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition ups the ante on the award-winning stylish action with next-gen features that enhance visuals, audio and performance. Players can enable increased frame rates of up to 120 fps, play in stunning 4K fidelity on supporting consoles, and battle amid the life-like reflections, pooling shadows,...

Paris-based Indies Sales is handling international rights.

Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired North American rights to Adventures Of A Mathematician, inspired by the life of the late legendary Polish-American scientist Stanislaw Ulam whose work contributed to the development of the hydrogen bomb as well as computers.

The acquisition is among a slew of pre-sales unveiled by Paris-based Indie Sales as it continues to tie up deals on the title during the AFM.

The film has also sold to France (Rezo), the Middle East and North Africa (Gulf Film), China (Huanxi Media Group), Russia, Cis and the Baltics (Rocket Releasing), Taiwan...

Saban Films has acquired the rights to two titles from Munich-based “Resident Evil” producer Constantin Film.

The deals include North American and U.K. rights to the adventure thriller “Tides,” directed by Tim Fehlbaum, and North American rights to director Mike P. Nelson’s anticipated horror reboot, “Wrong Turn.”

Mister Smith Entertainment is handling worldwide sales on both Constantin titles this week at the virtual American Film Market, where the titles will be screening for buyers.

“Tides” marks the second film from Swiss-born director Fehlbaum, who burst to attention with his debut feature “Hell,” another sci-fi thriller.

Set in a not-too-distant future, “Tides” follows an elite female astronaut from Space Colony Kepler who is shipwrecked on a decimated Earth after a global catastrophe has wiped out nearly all of humanity. She must make a decision that will seal the fate of the Earth’s populace.

“Tides” stars Nora Arnezeder (“Mozart In The Jungle...

Saban Films has doubled down on projects from Constantin Film, the producers behind the Resident Evil movies. Out of the American Film Market, Saban has acquired thriller Tides from the U.K. and North America and the North American rights for horror reboot Wrong Turn.

From Swiss director Tim Fehlbaum, Tides is set in the near future and follows a female astronaut, shipwrecked on the long-decimated Earth, who must decide the fate of the wasteland’s remaining populace. Nora Arnezeder, Iain Glen, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Sope Dirisu, Sebastian Roché and Joel Basman star.

Thomas Wöbke and Philipp Trauer for BerghausWöbke Filmproduktion produced, with Ruth Waldburger for ...

Sabam Films has doubled down on projects from Constantin Film, the producers behind the Resident Evil movies. Out of the American Film Market, Saban has acquired thriller Tides from the U.K. and North America and the North American rights for horror reboot Wrong Turn.

From Swiss director Tim Fehlbaum, Tides is set in the near future and follows a female astronaut, shipwrecked on the long-decimated Earth, who must decide the fate of the wasteland’s remaining populace. Nora Arnezeder, Iain Glen, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Sope Dirisu, Sebastian Roché and Joel Basman star.

Thomas Wöbke and Philipp Trauer for BerghausWöbke Filmproduktion produced, with Ruth Waldburger for ...

In the 2010s, the use of fourth-wall breaking narration has become ubiquitous. From “House of Cards” to “Fleabag” protagonists, speaking directly to the audience has become so popular that “Robot Chicken” has riffed on it. Now, “Wolkenbruch,” a Swiss romantic comedy now on Netflix, uses it to poke fun at a Jewish teen’s act of romantic rebellion.

Director Michael Steiner joined stars Joel Basman and Inge Maux at TheWrap’s Screening Series to discuss the new film, which has been selected as Switzerland’s entry into the Best International Film Oscar race. In the film, which has the full title “Wolkenbruch’s Wonderous Journey Into the Arms of a Shiksa,” Basman plays Motti Wolkenbruch, an awkward young Jew who is getting constantly set up for dates by his mother with women who, well, are practically clones of her. As he notes in a rapid-fire intro, the life of a...

Switzerland has selected Michael Steiner’s romantic comedy “Wolkenbruch” as its entry in the race for a nomination in the International Feature Film category of the 92nd Academy Awards.

The film is based on the novel “Wolkenbruch’s Wonderous Journey into the Arms of a Schickse” by Thomas Meyer, which takes a close look at the Orthodox Jewish community in Zurich, and is sprinkled with Yiddish dialogue. The focus is on the student Motti Wolkenbruch who, much to his mother’s dismay, falls in love with the beautiful schickse – that is, a non-Jewish woman – Laura. Featured in the leading roles are Joel Basman and Noémi Schmidt, two young acting talents from Switzerland.

The film had its world premiere at the Zurich Film Festival last year and was a hit at the Swiss box office. Basman won the Swiss Film Award for best actor.

“Wolkenbruch” was produced by Turnus Film in...

Michael Steiner’s comedy was a hit at 2018 Swiss box office.

Michael Steiner’s Wolkenbruch has been selected as the Swiss submission for the newly-rebranded International Feature Film category at the 2020 Academy Awards.

The film premiered at the 2018 edition of Zurich Film Festival and went on to become the most successful domestic film in Swiss cinemas for the year, selling 300,000 tickets.

Based on a novel by Thomas Meyer, the comedy tells the story of Motti, a young orthodox Jew who falls in love with non-Jewish girl Laura, and starts to doubt whether the strict ways of his family and culture...

Switzerland has picked Michael Steiner’s romantic comedy Wolkenbruch to represent the country at next year's Oscars in the international feature film category.

Based on Thomas Meyer's best-selling novel, Wolkenbruch’s Wondrous Journey Into the Arms of a Shiksa, the film is set in Zurich's Orthodox Jewish community. Joel Basman plays Motti Wolkenbruch, a student who, much to the dismay of his Orthodox mother, falls head over heels for the beautiful shiksa, or non-Jewish woman, Laura (Noémie Schmidt).

Wolkenbruch premiered at last year's Zurich Film Festival, where Basman won the Swiss Film Award for best actor for his performance....

Switzerland has picked Michael Steiner’s romantic comedy Wolkenbruch to represent the country at next year's Oscars in the international feature film category.

Based on Thomas Meyer's best-selling novel, Wolkenbruch’s Wondrous Journey Into the Arms of a Shiksa, the film is set in Zurich's Orthodox Jewish community. Joel Basman plays Motti Wolkenbruch, a student who, much to the dismay of his Orthodox mother, falls head over heels for the beautiful shiksa, or non-Jewish woman, Laura (Noémie Schmidt).

Wolkenbruch premiered at last year's Zurich Film Festival, where Basman won the Swiss Film Award for best actor for his performance....

$4.7m Swiss-German co-production is directed by Oliver Rihs.

Switzerland’s Contrast Film has started production on its most ambitious feature film to date, Storm directed by Oliver Rihs.

Screen can reveal an exclusive first look image from the film, above.

Storm started shooting on April 1 in Switzerland, Germany and Spain. The nine-week shoot will wrap on June 12. In Switzerland, the production shoots in Zurich and in eastern and central Switzerland; in Germany it shoots in the Black Forest and in the studio at Ludwigsburg; and in Spain, in Almeria in Andalusia.

The film has a budget of €4.2m ($4.7m) and...

Two debut features in writer-director Antoine Russbach’s “Those Who Work” and Anja Kofmel’s animated documentary “Chris the Swiss,” were the big winners at Friday night’s Swiss Film Awards, notching three plaudits each.

Sold by Be For Films, “Those Who Work,” stars Belgian actor Olivier Gourmet, who has appeared in every single film by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne since 1996’s “La Promesse,” to winning a Cannes best actor award for 2002’s “The Son.” In Russbach’s film Gourmet plays Frank, a 50-something fixer for a company which rents out cargo ships. On a busy day, to prevent a ship being put into quarantine, he rashly orders a stowaway be thrown overboard to certain death. The decision gets him fired, not for moral reasons, but in the hopes of avoiding a media scandal.

The film scooped the awards for best fiction feature, best screenplay and best performance in a supporting role,...

Prizes for ’Those Who Work’ included best fiction film.

Those Who Work and documentary Chris The Swiss were the top winners at the 2019 Swiss Film Awards in Geneva on March 22, with three prizes each.

Antoine Russbach’s fiction feature debut Those Who Work took best fiction film, best screenplay and best performance in a supporting role for Pauline Schneider. The film, which premiered at Locarno 2018, is a socio-critical drama about the contemporary working environment.

Anja Kofmel’s Chris The Swiss, which launched at Critics’ Week at Cannes 2018, received best documentary film, best film score and best film editing. The animated...

First look at Nora Arnezeder in project; Mister Smith Entertainment launching sales at Afm.

Munich-based Constantin Film has begun production on sci-fi epic Haven - Above Sky, from director Tim Fehlbaum and executive producer Roland Emmerich.

Screen can reveal a first look at the film, which is starring Nora Arnezeder (Mozart In The Jungle), Iain Glen (Game Of Thrones), Sarah-Sofie Boussnina (Mary Magdalene), Sope Dirisu (The Huntsman: Winter’s Tale), Sebastian Roché (The Man In The High Castle) and Joel Basman (Land Of Mine).

Director Fehlbaum co-wrote the screenplay with Mariko Minoguchi. Set in the near future, after a global...

Philippe Tlokinski and Esther Garrel join production in casting reshuffle.

Paris-based company Indie Sales has acquired world rights to German director Thorsten Klein’s upcoming English-language debut Adventures Of A Mathematician, inspired by the life of late legendary Polish-American scientist Stanislaw Ulam, whose work contributed to the development of the hydrogen bomb as well as computers.

In separate news for the production, the company also revealed that Polish-French actor Philippe Tlokinski has been cast in the role of the protagonist Stanislaw, or Stan, alongside French actress Esther Garrel. Tlokinski replaces Jakub Gierszal who was originally announced for the role.

Born...

As endurance tales go, Frenchman Henri Charrière’s is one of the most intense, a case of wrongful imprisonment that moves from the degradation of a notorious penal colony to the isolated awfulness of Devil’s Island. Charrière’s 1969 book “Papillon,” named for his moniker (derived from a butterfly tattoo) and an autobiographical dramatization of his experiences, became a popular, controversial memoir in France. So why has it inspired not just one but two so-so prison escape films?

Franklin J. Schaffner’s 1973 epic of grime and sweat “Papillon” was made from a screenplay co-written by Dalton Trumbo. It boasted megastar Steve McQueen in you-can’t-break-me mode ten years after “The Great Escape,” but to lesser effect, and Dustin Hoffman — as Papillon’s pal Louis Dega — once more flexing his peculiar gift for disappearing into a role and chewing scenery simultaneously. At two and a half hours, it barely justified its running time,...

Screen Star Of Tomorrow 2014 Keeley will play Us mathematician Jack Calkin.

Further casting and financing has been confirmed on Thor Klein’s Adventures Of A Mathematician, which Mongrel Media represents for international sales at the Efm.

Rising young Irish actor Sam Keeley, a former Screen International Star Of Tomorrow, has joined the cast and will play Us mathematician Jack Calkin alongside Jakub Gierszal as Polish mathematician Stan Ulam.

Adventures Of A Mathematician chronicles the story of Polish immigrant Ulam and how he helped develop the hydrogen bomb and worked on the first computer while dealing with huge upheaval in his private life.

Young German actor Sabin Tambrea is also on board as German spy Klaus Fuchs. Previously announced Joel Basman plays Hungarian physicist Edward Teller.

Lena Vurma of German outfit Dragonfly Films is the lead producer alongside Mary Young Leckie of Solo Productions and Joanna Szymanska’s of Shipsboy.

It’s amazing how some tweaking can turn a decent film showing its age into a worthwhile project that earns its upgrade four decades later. To watch Franklin J. Schaffner’s original Papillon adaptation is to see an arduous series of harrowing ordeals strung together for no reason other than the thrill of adventure. It introduces the titular tough guy safecracker Henri “Papillon” Charrière and scrawny forger Louis Dega as two men caught in a horrible place with little hope. They team-up in order to use each other: brawn and money respectively. But as the film continues on, that dynamic never changes. It’s hinted that a friendship forms, but the two never pretend anything they do for the other is selfless. The result is a hollow depiction of inspired by true events machismo.

Director Michael Noer and screenwriter Aaron Guzikowski have a different take on Charrière’s memoirs (a...

Barbet Schroeder speaks about the influence of Walter Benjamin and Raoul Hausmann on Amnesia and Ibiza Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Barbet Schroeder in our conversation remembers his famous grandfather Hans Prinzhorn, Walter Benjamin in San Antonio, Raoul Hausmann and the fascinating water system of Ibiza architecture, employing a time frame in Amnesia (for Marthe Keller, Max Riemelt, Bruno Ganz, Corinna Kirchhoff, Fermí Reixach, Marie Leuenberger, Joel Basman) going ten years back to 1990 after the fall of the Berlin Wall, More and the music of Pink Floyd.

Jo (Max Riemelt): "Basically, it's cubes and every cube can collect the water."

Anne-Katrin Titze: Let's talk about the spirit of place. The house on Ibiza for me resembled the mood of Georgia O'Keeffe's house in New Mexico. Despite the fact that the landscape is very different. Can you tell me a bit about the house in Amnesia?

Barbet Schroeder: The architecture of...

Marthe Keller stars in Barbet Schroeder's Amnesia

Barbet Schroeder's Amnesia, starring Marthe Keller and Max Riemelt with Bruno Ganz, Corinna Kirchhoff, Fermí Reixach, Marie Leuenberger, and Joel Basman is a supremely personal chamber piece by the filmmaker who brought us Hollywood films such as Reversal Of Fortune (which won Jeremy Irons an Oscar), Barfly (Faye Dunaway, Mickey Rourke) or Single White Female (Bridget Fonda, Jennifer Jason Leigh), who worked with Jacques Rivette and Jean-Luc Godard and directed an episode of Mad Men.

Barbet Schroeder with Anne-Katrin Titze on Nelly Quettier: "She's a great editor." Photo: Steven Beeman

In New York before the opening, Barbet spoke with me about his editing on a "huge white wall" with Nelly Quettier (Terror's Advocate, Claire Denis' Beau Travail, Ursula Meier's Home, Léos Carax's Holy Motors), a Nanni Moretti-like Mia Madre idea, Walter Benjamin and Raoul Hausmann, the mood of Georgia O'Keeffe's house,...

Director: Martin Zandvliet Writer: Martin Zandvliet Starring: Roland Møller, Louis Hofmann, Joel Basman, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Oskar Bökelmann, Emil Belton, Oskar Belton There is an inherent tension and drama in the true story the Danish film Land of Mine is based on, a story I’d never heard about prior to screening the film. It seems a number of young German […]...

In the realm of “docudramas”, the one war that seems to be a bottomless well of stories is that second World War (and usually the sequel comes up short). Film makers bring us tales often unknown by the general public. Last (and endured) week, we were given a new spin on II’s predecessor Ww I in The Ottoman Lieutenant (mind you a fiction story with a real historical backdrop). This week sees another little known story of the war in Europe. Less than a year ago, an assassination plot against a high-ranking Nazi stationed in Czechoslovakia was dramatized in Anthropoid (still sounds like a monster movie to me). And at last year’s Academy Awards the story of the Sonderkommandos, Son Of Saul, took home the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. This week’s new release travels a bit north for a view of the war. Actually, it’s not the war,...

Welcome back to the Weekend Warrior, your weekly look at the new movies hitting theaters this weekend, as well as other cool events and things to check out.

This Past Weekend:

Bomb, bomb bomb bomb, Boooooomb! Things just kept getting worse and worse at the box office as this past weekend saw more new releases not meeting up to their potential. The horribly-reviewed horror movie Rings (Paramount) ended up around where I predicted with $13 million, taking second place to M. Night Shyamalan’s Split. The sci-fi romance The Space Between Us (Stx Entertainment) didn’t make much of a mark, opening in ninth place with just $3.8 million with about $1,300 per theater. Robert De Niro’s The Comedian (Sony Classics) tanked worse than many recent movies, making less than a million in 848 theaters or about $1,000 per theater. By comparison, the doc I Am Not Your Negro made about 78% of that amount in 800 less theaters.

Land Of Mine (Under sandet) Sony Pictures Classics Reviewed by: Harvey Karten, Shockya Grade: A- Director: Martin Zandvliet Written by: Martin Zandvliet Cast: Roland Møller, Mikkel Følsgaard, Laura Bro, Louis Hofmann, Joel Basman, Oskar Bökelmann, Emil Belton, Oskar Belton, Leon Seidel, Karl Alexander Seider, Maximilian Beck, August Carter, Tim Bülow, Alexander Rasch, Julius Kochinke, Zoe […]

The post Land of Mine Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

"Do you think I feel sorry for you?" Sony Pictures Classics has debuted an official Us trailer for a Danish drama called Land of Mine, set near the end of World War II. The story is about a group of very young German POWs captured by the Danish army who are forced to clear thousand of land mines from a beach. The full cast includes Roland Moller, Mikkel Boe Folsgaard, Louis Hofmann, Joel Basman, Emil Belton, and Oskar Belton. As this trailer shows, the film looks like a very moving and tense story about these boys learning that "the war is far from over" even though they've stopped fighting and firing guns. I like the way the trailer ends with silence, plus that "boom" joke at the end, powerful stuff. Worth a watch. Here's the official Us trailer (+ poster) for Martin Zandvliet's Land of Mine, in high def from...

Sundance 2016 is fast approaching. Last week we posted the movie lineup of Midnight and Competition film selections. We now have the complete lineup for the premieres in both the feature film and documentary categories. We also have their selections for the Spotlight and Kid films. I've also included a list of special events.

There are a lot of great films on this list that I'm excited about seeing because of the incredible talent involved. Viggo Mortensen and Frank Langella star in Captain Fantastic; Laura Dern, Kristen Stewart, Michelle Williams star in Certain Women; Rachel Weisz, Michael Shannon, Kathy Bates and Danny Glover star in Complete Unknown; Paul Rudd and Selena Gomez star in The Fundamentals of Caring; John Krasinski directed a film called The Hollars which he stars in with Anna Kendrick, Margo Martindale, Richard Jenkins, Sharlto Copley, and Charlie Day; Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi has made a new...