News

Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to Fatih Akin’s coming-of-age drama Amrum which debuted in Cannes Premiere.

‘Amrum’ review

Akin and frequent collaborator Hark Bohm, whose credits include In The Fade and Goodbye Berlin, co-wrote the screenplay based on Bohm’s personal experiences growing up on Amrum Island.

Laura Tonke, Diane Kruger, and newcomer child actor Jasper Ole Billerbeck star in the story set in the final days of the Second World War in spring 1945 as a 12-year-old helps his mother feed the family. Aspeace approaches, the enemy is far closer than the youngster imagined.

Amrum marks Akin...

Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to Fatih Akin’s coming-of-age drama “Amrum” after the film’s premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month. The film will be released theatrically by Kino Lorber followed by a digital, educational and home video release.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Directed by Akin and co-written by Akin and frequent collaborator Hark Bohm (“In the Fade”), “Amrum” is based on Bohm’s own personal experiences growing up on Amrum Island.

The film takes place in 1945, with 12-year-old Nanning outside the house he shares with his mother, brother and aunt on the German island of Amrum when he hears the radio deliver the news that Adolf Hitler “has fallen.” Inside the house, Nanning’s very pregnant mother, Hille, lets out a piercing scream and then a gasp, as her water breaks on the kitchen floor and she gives birth to a baby.

Kino Lorber has acquired North American distribution rights to Fatih Akin’s coming-of-age drama “Amrum,” which made its world premiere as an Official Selection of this month’s Cannes Film Festival. The film will be released theatrically by Kino Lorber followed by a digital, educational and home video release. Beta Cinema is handling global sales.

Directed by Akin and co-written by Akin and frequent collaborator Hark Bohm, Amrum is based on Bohm’s own personal experiences growing up on Amrum Island. Starring Laura Tonke, Diane Kruger, and first-time child actor Jasper Ole Billerbeck, the film marks Akin’s first collaboration with Kruger since “In the Fade,” which won her Cannes’ best actress prize in 2017.

The film is set on Amrum Island in spring 1945. In the final days of the war, 12-year-old Nanning (Billerbeck) braves the treacherous sea to hunt seals, goes fishing at night, and works the nearby farm to...

The fifth and final season of the global hit series “Babylon Berlin” has started shooting, and Beta Film has released a first-look image of lead Volker Bruch’s (“Generation War”) Weimar-era police investigator Gereon Rath on set.

In its first four seasons, “Babylon Berlin” sold to more than 140 territories and was watched more than 94 million times on Germany’s Ard Mediathek alone. Among its laundry list of awards, the series won the inaugural European Achievement in Fiction Series Award at the European Film Awards, four German Television Awards, the Grand Prize at the Seoul International Drama Awards, the Austrian Television Award Romy as “TV Event of the Year,” the Premios Ondas in Spain and the Magnolia Award of the Shanghai TV Festival.

“Babylon Berlin’s” writing-directing team of Henk Handlogten, Achim von Borries and Tom Tykwer will return for the show’s final season, as will its leads Bruch and...

The final season of Babylon Berlin is finally a-go. Cameras are rolling on Season 5, with the first picture teasing more action for Volker Bruch’s police inspector Gereon in the German drama.

According to Beta Film, which produces and sells the show, the story is set to reunite [Gereon] with Liv Lisa Fries’ Charlotte for a final investigation, driven by a glimpse of hope to avoid Germany’s darkest period.”

The season is set to the backdrop of Adolf Hitler becoming Reich Chancellor in January 1933 as the end of Germany’s Weimar Republic looms. Two months later, new elections will give Hitler’s party complete power, but in the five weeks preceding, every German is faced with difficult decisions: to adapt, to risk open opposition, or to flee.

Gereon has disappeared, but Charlotte digs deep into a mysterious case of a series of murders of former front-line soldiers. There are growing...

Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to Andres Veiel’s Venice prizewinning documentary “Riefenstahl,” a critical portrait of Leni Riefenstahl, a filmmaker and Nazi propagandist who was close to Adolf Hitler.

Kino Lorber is planning a theatrical release in 2025, followed by a digital, educational, and home video release.

Produced by Sandra Maischberger, “Riefenstahl” world premiered at the Venice Film Festival where it received the Cinema & Arts Award. The movie played Telluride Film Festival and will next screen at the Zurich Film Festival.

Riefenstah directed films such as “Triumph of the Will” and “Olympia” which are defined by their fascist aesthetics. Her friendship with Hitler and other Nazi dignitaries was well documented during WW2. Yet, Riefenstahl, who first broke into the German film industry as an actress, spent decades after the war denying her association with Nazi ideology and claiming ignorance of the Holocaust.

“Riefenstahl” features materials from Leni Riefenstahl’s estate,...

Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to Andres Veiel’s Venice prize-winning documentary Riefenstahl about the infamous German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl.

Veiel uses previously unpublicised materials from Riefenstahl’s estate, including private films, photos, recordings and letters, to explore how she become the Reich’s preeminent filmmaker.

The film won the Cinema & Arts Award on the Lido, went on to screen at Telluride, and will play at Zurich Film Festival.

It shows how, after starting out as an actress, Riefenstahl broke into filmmaking and became a propagandist of huge influence. She directed Triumph Of The Will (1935), the documentary about...

Andres Veiel’s documentary Riefenstahl – unpicking the deceits of German filmmaker and Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl – has scored a slew of deals following its world premiere at Venice and North American launch at Telluride.

Munich-based World Sales company Beta Cinema announced deals to France (Arp), Spain (Filmin), Portugal (Midas Filmes), Scandinavia (Edge Entertainment), Benelux (Imagine), Poland (Against Gravity), Hungary (Cirko Film), former Yugoslavia (McF) and Japan (Longride Entertainment).

As previously announced Majestic is releasing the film in Germany while the Italian release is being handled by co-producer Rai Cinema. Additional territories are currently in negotiation.

Related: Venice Golden Lion Winners : Photos Of The Festival’s Top Films Through The Years

Riefenstahl is one of the most controversial filmmakers of the 20th century as an artist and a Nazi propagandist, thanks to her 1930s films Triumph of the Will and Olympia — capturing the 1934 Nazi Party convention in Nuremberg and the 1936 Berlin Olympics in Berlin.

It’s official: After more than a year of negotiations and financial wrangling, the producers of Babylon Berlin have received the green light for a fifth and final season of the ground-breaking award-winning German period drama.

Volker Bruch and Liv Lisa Fries will return to reprise their lead roles as police detective Gereon Rath and assistant Charlotte Ritter for a final eight-episode arc set in February 1933 as the Nazis finally seize power in Germany. The season will be based on Volker Kutscher’s fifth Gereon Rath novel, The March Fallen. Series co-creators and showrunners Henk Handlogten, Achim von Borries and Tom Tykwer will return for the finale season, producing via X-Filme Creative Pool and directing all eight episodes.

“In the final season of Babylon Berlin we put February 1933 under the magnifying glass: Rarely has a society been torn apart more radically in such a short period of time than Germany in this chaotic month,...

The wait for news is over… Babylon Berlin is officially coming back for a fifth and final season.

The hit period drama’s future has been a topic of discussion since Sky Deutschland pulled out of original commissioning, leaving a funding gap in the series it shares with German pubcaster Ard Degeto.

It was still expected to move forwards, with producers saying they expected it to film a final season and star Liv Lisa Fries recently telling us of plans to shoot later in 2024. Today, the news became official, with X-Filme Creative Pool producing season 5 in co-production with Beta Film and local pubcasters Ard Degeto, Swr, Wdr and Radio Bremen.

Set in the darkest period of German history, the new season will be set in the dark times of February 1933, when the Nazi Party took power. The director/writer trio of Henk Handlogten, Achim von Borries and Tom Tykwer will return for the finale,...

Former Global Screen executives Julia Weber and Alice von Einem have joined forces with the Beta Group to launch Berlin-based sales outfit Epsilon Film.

The company will be at the European Film Market later this month with its first two projects, both 3D CGI animation projects at the financing stage. Nessie Junior is about the adventures of the grandson of the legendary Loch Ness monster, and is produced by Matthias Drescher of Germany’s Ffl Film- und Fernseh-Labor, with production company and animation studio Rise Pictures.

The second Epsilon acquisition is Snow White And Me, based on the stage musical...

Closing ceremony of festival in Gdynia sees Polish film community speak up against “awful hatred” directed at Holland in recent weeks.

Pawel Maslona’s second feature Scarborn (Kos) won the Grand Prix - Golden Lion at the 48th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia whose closing ceremony saw the Polish film community express their solidarity with Agnieszka Holland in the light of the vociferous political campaign against her and her film The Green Border.

In his acceptance speech, Maslona spoke out against the “awful hatred” directed at Holland in recent weeks and noted that, despite Poland being a country with a strong Christian faith,...

Schaad’s directorial debut won the Queer Lion after debuting at Venice Critics’ Week.

Kino Lorber has acquired North American distribution rights from Beta Cinema to Alex Schaad’s body swap thriller Skin Deep, which premiered in 2022 in Venice Critics’ Week, where it was awarded the Queer Lion.

Skin Deep is the directorial debut of Alex Schaad, who previously won the Student Academy Award for his social media thriller Invention of Trust.

The film is co-written by Schaad and his brother Dimitrij Schaad and produced by Tobias Walker and Philipp Worm of Walker + Worm Productions, Bayerischer Rundfunk, and Donndorffilm.

In the film,...

Beta Cinema will sell international rights to “When Will It Be Again Like It Never Was Before,” the latest production from German powerhouse Komplizen Film, best known for Oscar nominees “Toni Erdmann” and “Spencer,” and directed by Sonja Heiss. As announced today, the moving dramedy will celebrate its world premiere at the Berlinale, opening the Generation 14plus section. Warner Bros. will release the film in Germany on Feb. 23.

The film is based on the bestselling autobiographical novel by Joachim Meyerhoff, which sold more than two million copies in Germany alone, and has been published in more than 10 further territories, including France, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Finland and the Netherlands. It tells a tale of tender romance and longing for departure and arrival.

Growing up in the grounds of one of Germany’s largest psychiatric hospitals is somehow … different. For Joachim, the hospital director’s youngest son, the patients are like family.

Exclusive: Beta Cinema has unveiled a raft of first deals for German director Kilian Riedhof’s drama You Will Not Have My Hate, inspired by the experiences of French writer Antoine Leiris, whose wife was killed in the November 13, 2015 terror attack on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris.

The feature, which world premiered in Locarno over the summer, has sold to Japan (New Select), Taiwan (Av-Jet), Australia and New Zealand (The Reset Collective), Canada (Sphere Films), Spain (Yoda Films), Switzerland (Praesens Film) and Hungary (Mozinet).

Haut et Court is gearing up to release the feature in French cinemas on November 2 and Tobis Film will launch the picture in Germany and Austria on November 10.

This November 13, will mark the seventh anniversary of the attacks on the Bataclan and other locations across Paris, which killed 130 people, with 90 deaths occurring at the concert hall alone.

You Will Not Have My Hate is adapted from Leiris’s best-selling book,...

Bleecker Street has acquired U.S. rights to Maria Schrader’s I’m Your Man after the film picked up a Silver Bear for Maren Eggert’s lead performance at the 2021 Berlin International Film Festival.

Eggert stars alongside Dan Stevens in the German-language movie. Story follows Alma (Eggert), a scientist coerced into participating in an extraordinary study in order to obtain research funds for her work. For three weeks, she has to live with a humanoid robot tailored to her character and needs, whose artificial intelligence is designed to be the perfect life partner for her. Enter Tom (Stevens), a machine in human form in a class of its own, created solely to make her happy.

Bleecker will release the film in cinemas later this year. The deal was brokered between Kent Sanderson and Avy Eschenasy of Bleecker Street with UTA and Beta Cinema’s CEO Dirk Schuerhoff on behalf of the filmmakers.

Bleecker Street has acquired the U.S. rights to Maria Schrader’s “I’m Your Man,” which stars Dan Stevens and Maren Eggert.

The film won the Silver Bear at the 2021 Berlinale for Eggert’s leading performance, and will be released in theaters later this year with a VOD release to follow.

“I’m Your Man” follows Alma (Eggert), a scientist who is coerced into participating in an extraordinary study to obtain research funds for her work. For three weeks, she has to live with a humanoid robot, who is designed to be the perfect life partner for her.

“Maria has created such a funny and touching story of love and connection that questions what it means to be human,” Andrew Karpen, CEO of Bleecker Street, said. “Maren and Dan are sure to be this year’s most romantic modern couple.”

Schrader added: “I’m delighted that a great company like Bleecker...

Bleecker Street has acquired U.S. rights to Maria Schrader’s “I’m Your Man,” which won the Berlinale’s Silver Bear for leading performance for Maren Eggert. The film, which also stars Dan Stevens, will be released in theaters later this year with a VOD release to follow.

In the film, Eggert plays Alma, a scientist coerced into participating in an extraordinary study in order to obtain research funds for her work. For three weeks, she has to live with a humanoid robot tailored to her character and needs, whose artificial intelligence is designed to be the perfect life partner for her. Enter Tom (Stevens), a machine in human form in a class of its own, created solely to make her happy.

“Maria has created such a funny and touching story of love and connection that one questions what it means to be human,” said Andrew Karpen, CEO of Bleecker Street.

Film Movement has acquired North American rights to “My Little Sister,” a poignant drama that will represent Switzerland in the international feature film race at the Oscars.

“My Little Sister,” penned and directed by Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond, is handled in international markets by Beta Cinema.

The Swiss drama world premiered at the Berlinale this year. The film follows Lisa (Nian Hoss”), once a brilliant playwright who no longer writes. She lives with her family in Switzerland, but her heart remains in Berlin, where her twin brother Sven, a famous theatre actor, lives. Since Sven has been suffering from an aggressive type of leukemia, Lisa has been doing everything in her power to bring him back on stage.

Film Movement is planning to release “My Little Sister” theatrically in January 2021, ahead of a roll-out on all home entertainment and digital platforms. The deal was announced by Michael Rosenberg, President...

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, Oscar-winner Caroline Link’s feature adaptation of the novel by Judith Kerr, has been boarded for U.S. rights by Greenwich Entertainment.

German sales agent Beta Cinema brokered the deal at Efm. Pic was a local hit in German when it was released last year, grossing $5.8M.

The movie is a Sommerhaus production in co-production with Warner Bros. Entertainment, Nextfilm Filmproduktion, La Siala Entertainment, Hugofilm Production, and Rai Cinema. It stars Carla Juri (Blade Runner 2049), Oliver Masucci (Never Look Away) and Riva Krymalowski in the story of nine year-old Anna, who in 1933 has to flee the Nazis, leaving her favourite stuffed pink rabbit behind. From now, the toy dominates Anna’s thoughts, as her family moves to Zurich and Paris, to finally land in London.

“Our heroine feels the effects of tyranny, anti-semitism, displacement and being a refugee and despite these real dangers, somehow...

Beta Cinema has sold the German box-office hit “When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit” by Oscar-winner Caroline Link to the U.S. Greenwich Entertainment picked up the rights to the feature, which has attracted almost one million admissions since its Christmas release in Germany alone.

German media lauded the film, calling it “a real godsend for the German cinema year” (Spiegel), “a remarkably optimistic drama” (Stern) and “a film that appeals to children and adults equally” (Die Zeit).

The Sommerhaus production in co-production with Warner Bros. Entertainment, Nextfilm Filmproduktion, La Siala Entertainment, Hugofilm Production, and Rai Cinema stars Carla Juri (“Blade Runner 2049”), Oliver Masucci and Riva Krymalowski, and is based on the semi-biographical bestselling novel by Judith Kerr.

It follows 9-year-old Anna, who in 1933 has to flee the Nazis, leaving her favorite pink rabbit cuddly toy behind. From then on, the toy dominates Anna’s thoughts, as her family moves to Zurich and Paris,...

Spc takes North America in five-territory deal with Beta Cinema.

Sony Pictures Classics has taken multiple territories on Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s psychological thriller Never Look Away, ahead of the film’s premiere in Competition at the Venice International Film Festival.

The film was acquired from German sales outfit Beta Cinema. Sony has taken rights in North America, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand and Scandinavia.

The deal continues the relationship between von Donnersmarck and the two companies, after they collaborated on his Oscar-winning The Lives Of Others.

Never Look Away stars Tom Schilling, Paula Beer, Sebastian Koch, Saskia Rosendahl...

Magnolia Pictures has acquired the North American rights to writer-director Benedikt Erlingsson’s buzzy Cannes dramatic comedy “Woman at War,” the company announced Friday.

The film, a unique modern day fable about an Icelandic activist taking on big industry, recently premiered in Cannes Critics’ Week to high acclaim and won the SACD prize, which recognizes a screenplay from the French writers guild, and also won the Critics’ Week Grand Rail d’Or.

In “Woman at War,” Halla (Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir) declares a one-woman-war on the local aluminum industry. She is prepared to risk everything to protect the pristine Icelandic Highlands she loves… until an orphan unexpectedly enters her life.

Also Read: Cannes Report, Day 10: What Will Win the Palme d'Or?

“‘Woman at War’ is a blast,” said Magnolia President Eamonn Bowles. “Director Benedikt Erlingsson has fashioned an incredibly bracing, original and modern tale and Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir is an electrifying revelation in the dual roles.

Magnolia Pictures has acquired North American rights to Icelandic comedy-drama “Woman at War” after it premiered at Cannes Critic Week.

The film, Benedikt Erlingsson’s follow-up to “Of Horses and Men,” is a modern-day fable about an Icelandic activist taking on big industry. It won the Sacd prize, which recognizes a screenplay from the French writers guild, and also won the Critics’ Week Grand Rail d’Or.

Variety’s Jay Weissberg said in his review, “Is there anything rarer than an intelligent feel-good film that knows how to tackle urgent global issues with humor as well as a satisfying sense of justice?”

Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir stars as woman who single-handedly declares war on the local aluminum industry. She is prepared to risk everything to protect the pristine Icelandic Highlands she loves…until an orphan unexpectedly enters her life.

“‘Woman at War’ is a blast,” said Magnolia president Eamonn Bowles. “Director Benedikt...

Oscar Wilde drama gets European premiere in Berlin on Saturday.

Sony Pictures Classics (Spc) has acquired all North American and Latin American rights to Rupert Everett’s The Happy Prince ahead of Saturday’s European premiere in Berlin as a Special Gala.

Everett’s feature directorial debut premiered in Sundance last month and the multi-hyphenate garnered strong reviews for his portrayal of the 19th century Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde.

The Happy Prince focuses on the literary giant’s final three years from 1897-1900.

Sequestered to a French seaside resort with the company of two loyal friends played by Edwin Thomas and Colin Firth, a restless Wilde travels across Europe under assumed names, unsure whether to reunite with his wife (Emily Watson), or his former lover Lord Alfred “Bosie” Douglas (Colin Morgan).

“I am absolutely thrilled, particularly because Michael [Barker] and Tom [Bernard] distributed my first film Another Country,” Everett said.

Sébastien Delloye, Philipp Kreuzer and [link...

Companies to partner on English-language titles.

German production and distribution outfit Beta Cinema has acquired a minority stake in Alison Thompson and Mark Gooder’s London and La-based international sales outfit Cornerstone Films.

The two companies will partner on commercially-driven English-language films, combining Beta’s production and distribution operations with Cornerstone’s sales activities - the aim is for the joint alliance to create a stronger foothold for both outfits across the global marketplace.

Recent deals struck between the two outfits include Cornerstone’s sales title Georgetown, directed by Christoph Waltz, which Beta will distribute in Germany.

Beta also recently acquired a stake in renowned German film and TV production company X-Filme (Babylon Berlin), which has previously worked closely with Cornerstone.

Cornerstone’s Berlin slate includes a remake of After The Wedding starring Julianne Moore, Gurinder Chadha’s Blinded By The Light and Florence directed by Jeremy Lovering. It is also showing promos of Chiwetel Eijofor’s directorial...

The distributor has picked up North American rights from Beta Cinema to Israeli film-maker Elite Zexer’s directorial debut and Sundance selection.

Sand Storm tells of a fiercely independent Bedouin girl whose headstrong nature forces her to confront life-changing decisions within her intimate community. Lammis Ammar and Ruba Blal star.

The film earned top awards at the work-in-progress sections at the Jerusalem and Locarno film festivals and received its North American premiere earlier this year in Park City where it won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic award.

It also played in the Berlinale’s Panorama section and recently won the New Directors competition at the Seattle International Film Festival.

Sand Storm will play at New York’s Film Forum on September 28 prior to expanding into key markets this autumn.

Haim Mecklberg and Estee Yacov-Mecklberg produced, while Rami Yehoshua, Moshe Edery, Leon Edery and Yigal Mograbi served as executive producers.

Kino Lorber’s CEO Richard Lorber...

Cohen Media Group has acquired all North American rights from Beta Cinema at Afm to Lars Kraume’s historical drama.

The People Vs. Fritz Bauer chronicles the efforts of West German district attorney Fritz Bauer to bring Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann to justice in postwar Germany.

Burghart Klaussner plays Bauer and the cast includes Ronald Zehrfeld, Sebastian Blomberg and Michael Schenk.

Cohen plans a spring release. Senior vice-president John Kochman brokered the deal with Beta Cinema CEO Dirk Schuerhoff.

Bauer is a key character in Germany’s foreign-language Oscar submission Labyrinth Of Lies, which Spc ditributes in the Us.

Emma Watson, Daniel Brühl, Mikael Nyqvist star in thriller.

Beta Cinema has picked up sales to director Florian Gallenberger’s anticipated thriller Colonia starring Emma Watson, Daniel Brühl and Mikael Nyqvist.

Production outfit Majestic are currently shooting in Germany and will move to South America later this year.

The film is due for release in October 2015.

“Florian’s script is a real page turner and the first rushes are more than promising. We can’t wait to introduce the film to buyers at this week’s Afm,“ stated Beta Cinema’s Dirk Schürhoff.

UTA Independent Film Group will be co-representing domestic rights.

Producer Benjamin Herrmann commented: “The combined powers of Beta Cinema and UTA are perfect for this suspense-filled international thriller, which is inspired by true events. We are excited to be working together on Colonia”.

Gallenberger’s script, co-written with Torsten Wenzel, tells the story of Lena (Emma Watson) and Daniel (Daniel Brühl), a young couple...

Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they acquired North American rights to Giulio Ricciarelli's directorial debut Labyrinth of Lies from sales agent Beta Cinema. The film, based on a true story, exposes the conspiracy of certain prominent institutions and government branches to cover up the crimes of Nazis during WWII.

Labyrinth of Lies will have its world premiere on Friday at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. The film is produced by Claussen + W&#246bke + Putz Filmproduktion in co-production with Naked Eye Film Production and stars Alexander Fehling (Inglourious Basterds, Young Goethe in Love), Andre Szymanski, Johann von B&#252low and Friederike Becht (The Reader, Young Goethe in Love) and Gert Voss.

In Labyrinth of Lies the economic miracle is changing the life of Germans in post-war Germany 20 years later. Most of them are sick of the war and prefer to push their guilt to the back of their mind.

The Weinstein Company has acquired rights to the Sky Italia crime drama series Gomorra, directed by Stefano Sollima (Romanzo Criminale). Marco D’Amore, Fortunato Cerlino, Maria Pia Calzone, Salvatore Esposito, Marco Palvetti star in the series based on Roberto Saviano’s bestselling novel, the inside story of the fierce Neapolitan crime organization Camorra. It tells the story of 30-year-old Ciro (d’Amore), the right hand of the Savastano clan’s godfather Pietro (Cerlino), and the ruthless war to take over “The System”. The series consist of 12 one-hour installments and in addition to Sky Italia is produced by Cattley, Fandango La 7 and Beta Film. Negotiations began at the 2013 Mipcom market. The deal is for the original series and no remake is planned as of now. “This is a project that caught our eye a while back for its world-class acting talent, as well as Stefano Sollima’s phenomenal abilities to craft a thriller like none other.

Efm: Brisk business for Beta Cinema; Pandastorm buys five.

Beta Cinema’s two Competition titles – Dietrich Brüggemann’s Stations Of The Cross and Edward Berger’s Jack – were the Munich-based sales company’s top-selling titles at this year’s European Film Market (Efm).

Stations Of The Cross has been sold to France (Memento), Italy (Satine Film), Spain (Caramel), Poland (Aurora), Benelux (Wild Bunch), Portugal (Vendetta Films), Greece (7 Films), Scandinavia and the Baltic States (Nonstop), Ex-Yugoslavia (Discovery) and Hungary (Circo).

As reported by ScreenDaily yesterday, the UK (Arrow) has also taken the drama, which had been the top-rated film of the Screen jury before Richard Linklater’s Boyhood was screened.

Further interest has been shown from the Us and Australia for the Ufa Fiction production, which received the Silver Bear for Best Script and the Ecumenical Jury’s prize for the best film in the Competition..

Jack has been acquired for France (Diaphana), Japan (Showgate), Norway (Europa...

Kino Lorber has acquired U.S. rights to the Agnieszka Holland-directed film that follows the plight of Czech student Jan Palach, who set himself on fire to protest the the Soviet occupation of Prague in 1969, and his family’s legal fight to clear his name. Having lived in Czechoslovakia at the time the events took place, Holland made Burning Bush as a three-part, 234-minute HBO Europe miniseries, and subsequently edited it herself as a 206-minute feature length work. The nearly four-hour version of the film (at 234 minutes) is slated to open at New York’s Film Forum on June 11, before a national theatrical expansion during the summer followed by VOD and home media rollout later in 2014. Kino Lorber also controls U.S. television rights which does not include any planned HBO broadcast in the U.S. This deal was negotiated between Kino Lorber CEO Richard Lorber and Dirk Schürhoff,...

Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired the North American rights to The Notebook, the Hungarian entry for Best Foreign Language Film. The film is directed by J&#225nos Sz&#225sz (Woyzeck, The Witman Boys), shot by Academy Award nominated Christian Berger (The White Ribbon, Cache) and is produced by Intuit Pictures, in co-production with Hunnia Filmstudio, Amour Fou and Dolce Vita Films.

Here's what J&#225nos Sz&#225sz had to say in a brief statement.

"To make this movie was a wonderful and a painful journey for me, like a time machine, took me back into the war time. The jungle of fear and immorality."

Sony Pictures Classics issued their own statement.

"We have wanted to buy this film following its successful showings at the Toronto Film Festival. We have never really seen a movie quite like this. Based on a famous European novel, The Notebook portrays...

Beta sells other territories on the film based on Noah Gordon’s trilogy of books.

The Physician’s producers Wolf Bauer and Nico Hofmann have indicated that they may take on the other two books of Noah Gordon’s trilogy, of which The Physician is the first part: Matters Of Choice and Shaman.

Speaking exclusively to ScreenDaily ahead of the world premiere of The Physician in Berlin on Monday evening, Bauer explained: “We have discussed this with Noah Gordon and would have access [to the properties].”

“But we won’t have this discussion before the film has reached 3m admissions in Germany and Spain,” said Bauer, who is currently reading Shaman for the seventh time.

Moreover, the producers would have freedom in casting since Shaman is set in the 19th century some 800 years after the events in The Physician.

Hofmann revealed that, as part of the film’s financing from broadcaster Ard Degeto, a longer...

Sony Pictures Classics as acquired the Us distribution rights to the new Agnieszka Holland drama called, In Darkness, which is based on a true story that takes place in 1943 in the the Polish town of Lvov, which was occupied by the Nazis. One day a selfish thief and burglar by the name of Leopold Socha encounters a group of Jewish refugees – and hides them for money in the labyrinth of the town’s sewers. At first Socha is only interested lucrative business, but the whole thing reaches more and more Socha’s conscience. The Polish small-time crook makes up his mind and finally risks his own life for the refugees...

Sounds like a great story, the full details of the film can be found in the official press release below.

Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all Us rights to Academy Award® nominee Agnieszka Holland's In...

Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all Us rights to Academy Award nominee Agnieszka Holland's In Darkness from sales agent Beta Cinema. The film, based on the true story In the Sewers of lvov by Robert Marshall, is written by David F. Shamoon and stars Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno F&#252rmann (North Face, Merry Christmas), Maria Schrader (Aimee & Jaguar DVD) and Herbert Knaup (Run Lola Run, The Lives of Others). In Darkness is produced by The Film Works, Schmidtz Katze Filmkollektiv and Zebra Films.

In Darkness is set in 1943 and the Polish town of Lvov is occupied by the Nazis. Poverty grows. One day the selfish thief and burglar Leopold Socha encounters a group of Jewish refugees - and hides them for money in the labyrinth of the town's sewers. At first only interested in lucrative business the whole thing reaches more and more Socha's conscience. The...

New York (February 15, 2011) – Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all Us rights to Academy Award® nominee Agnieszka Holland’s In Darkness from sales agent Beta Cinema. The film, based on the true story “In the Sewers of lvov” by Robert Marshall, is written by David F. Shamoon and stars Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Fürmann (North Face, Merry Christmas), Maria Schrader (Aimee & Jaguar) and Herbert Knaup (Run Lola Run, The Lives Of Others). In Darkness is produced by The Film Works, Schmidtz Katze Filmkollektiv and Zebra Films. In In Darkness, it is 1943, the Polish town of Lvov is occupied by the Nazis. Poverty grows. One day the selfish thief and burglar Leopold Socha encounters a group of Jewish refugees – and hides them for money in the labyrinth of the town’s sewers. At first only interested in lucrative business the whole thing reaches more and more Socha’s conscience.

Strand Releasing has acquired all U.S. rights to Florian Gallenberger's historical drama "John Rabe."

Set in Nanking in 1937, the film centers around a German businessman who offered a refuge to the Chinese when the Japanese begin bombing the city.

The German-French-Chinese co-production picked up four trophies at this year's German film awards.

The deal was done between Strand’s Jon Gerrans and Beta Cinema’s Dirk Schuerhoff.

The film is slated for a spring release.

U.S. rights to Academy Award winner Florian Gallenberger’s historical drama “John Rabe” have been picked up by Strand Releasing. The German-French-Chinese co-production is based on the diaries of John Rabe who was known as the “Schindler of China” because of his role in rescuing 200,000 civilians during the Nanking Massacre. Strand’s Jon Gerrans negotiated the deal with Beta Cinema’s Dirk Schuerhoff. The company plans a spring 2010 release. Set in Nanking …...

Strand Releasing has acquired all U.S. rights to Max Faerberboeck's "A Woman in Berlin" from Beta Cinema.

The film, which stars Nina Hoss as a woman dealing with the Red Army invasion of Berlin in 1945, will be released theatrically in the summer.

"This is a bold, thought-provoking film that we are proud to introduce to the American marketplace," said Strand's Jon Gerrans, who negotiated the deal with Beta's Dirk Schuerhoff.

Munich-based Beta has sold the film in more than 20 countries to date.

NEW YORK -- Sony Pictures Classics has nabbed North American rights to German drama The Counterfeiters, a true story about a money-manufacturing operation set up by the Nazis.

The film, from writer-director Stefan Ruzowitzky, last week received seven Lola nominations, including best feature.

Ruzowitzky, whose credits include 1998's The Inheritors and 2000's Anatomie, adapted the film from Adolf Burger's memoirs The Devil's Workshop.

The film stars Karl Markovics, who plays the head of a counterfeiting operation, and David Striesow, who plays the superintendent who arrests Markovics' character and then puts him in charge of an effort to produce fake foreign currency.

The film was produced by Nina Bohlmann, Babette Schroeder and Josef Aichholzer and co-produced by Caroline von Senden, Henning Molfenter and Carl L. Woebcken.

The acquisition reteams SPC with Beta Cinema, with which it made a deal for the German film The Lives of Others, which won the Oscar last month for best foreign-language film.

SPC's Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Dylan Leiner negotiated the deal with Dirk Schuerhoff of Beta Cinema.