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You may not realize it, but the fantasy genre has a way of bridging boundaries between radically different groups of people. While worldly cultures and customs often collide with each other in a mess of expectations and misunderstandings, fantasy worlds offer an even playing field for telling a universally-understood story.

For example, in Prime Video's upcoming German original, The Gryphon, you won't have to understand the history of German culture and mannerisms to enjoy a classic story from one of the country's most prolific authors. It'd certainly help, but it's not necessary.

Yes, The Gryphon -- aka, Der Greif -- from acclaimed German author Wolfgang Hohlbein is hitting the small screen in an epic fantasy series produced by Amazon. Originally announced in 2021 alongside Luden and Gefesselt, the series will be developed by the same studio behind Netflix's critically-acclaimed series Dark, W&b Television.

If that wasn't enough of a draw,...

Almost Home

Making a student film set in space, in a zero gravity environment, is a huge challenge. Making it well enough to get it shortlisted for the Oscars is something else – but that’s the story behind Norwegian contender Almost Home. It was produced by Jonas Lembeck, directed by Nils Keller and shot by Georg Nikolaus, and it stars seasoned actors Susanne Wolff and Stephen Kampwirth alongside rising star Jeremias Meyer – all of whom reunited when an opportunity arose to talk about the film.

“It’s intensely humbling,” says Nils of the Oscar news. “We dreamed of being there, but still, you can’t calculate with that. It has already been a great journey going to the Student Academy Awards, being nominated there, receiving an award there, then being qualified for the Oscars, then making it to the shortlist. So this is all like a huge journey we never anticipated and in.

“It’s been an amazing ride,” says director Nils Keller, whose film “Almost Home” won a Student Academy Award and has since been shortlisted for Best Live Action Short at the 95th Oscars. “It was a student project. We didn’t have much money. We had high-flying dreams. We hope that the story will come across that we kept all the technical aspects. In the end, we wanted to tell a heartfelt story that I hope touches as many people as possible and feels relevant. This is the ultimate dream to be shortlisted for the Oscars.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

The sci-fi film centers on Nico (Susanne Wolff) and Jakob (Jeremias Meyer), a mother and son who learn of an outbreak of a dangerous virus shortly before their long-awaited return to Earth. The two of them struggle to decide whether to land or return to space aboard their confined spaceship.

To mark the release of We Children from Bahnhof Zoo on 14th June, we’ve been given 2 copies to give away on DVD.

We Children From Bahnhof Zoo follows the life of Christiane and her tight-knit group of like-minded souls who are trying to find out who they are, what they want to do with their lives and where the next party’s at.

We follow their rough ride into adulthood that sees Christiane’s gradual descent into heroin addiction while Benno’s habit drives him to lengths he never imagined while paranoid Axel’s heartbreaking adoration of Christiane persists and Michi, secretly in love with Benno competes with Christiane for his affection. Will they be able to overcome their addictions or will they be consumed by them?

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The Small Print

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Constantin Television and Amazon Studios have revealed the lead cast – and have released the first photo of them on location – for their coproduction “We Children From Bahnhof Zoo.” The high-end series, inspired by the 1978 non-fiction book about teenage drug users in Berlin that was previously adapted as the shocking 1981 film “Christiane F.,” is being distributed internationally by Fremantle.

The series presents “a picture of the drugs and club scene in Berlin” that is “provocative” and “controversial,” according to a statement from the producers.

The Bahnhof Zoo clique at the heart of the show will be played by Jana McKinnon (Christiane), Michelangelo Fortuzzi (Benno), Lena Urzendowsky (Stella), Bruno Alexander (Michi), Jeremias Meyer (Axel) and Lea Drinda (Babsi).

As previously reported, Philipp Kadelbach is directing the eight-episode series. His credits include “Generation War,” about a group of young German friends going through World War II, BBC series “SS-gb,” based on Len Deighton’s novel,...