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It also won the prizes for best director, screenwiting, lead actress and editing.

Ilker Çatak’s The Teachers’ Lounge was the surprise winner of the German Film Awards’ top prize of the Golden Lola for best film, ahead of the Silver Lola for Edward Berger’s All Quiet On The Western Front and the Bronze Lola for Ali Abbasi’s thriller Holy Spider.

The fourth feature from Çatak stars Benesch as a teacher struggling to keep a situation under control in a secondary school also won best director for Çatak, best screenplay for Çatak and Johannes Duncker, best lead actress...

German-language productions on offer at the Cannes Film Market present an eclectic mix of adult drama, biting social commentary, history, comedy, kids’ pics and animation from such high-profile helmers as Stefan Ruzowitzky, Marcus H. Rosenmüller, Maria Schrader and Matti Geschonneck.

In Ruzowitzky’s atmospheric “Hinterland,” part of Beta Cinema’s lineup, a Great War veteran tracks down a killer in 1920s Vienna.

Rosenmüller and Santiago López Jover’s 1960s-set animated comedy “Snotty Boy” follows a kid whose unstoppable talent for drawing gives him an outlet for his discontent while growing up in a small conservative Austrian town where Nazi sympathy is still very prevalent. Sold by Picture Tree Intl., the pic was inspired by the life and work of late Austrian cartoonist and satirist Manfred Deix.

Rosenmüller’s other new comedy, “Lifeguard Off Duty,” centers on grumpy lifeguard Karl and his efforts to save the local swimming pool from closure.

Following hot on the heels of the recently wrapped Berlin Film Festival, this year’s online edition of the Hong Kong Intl. Film & TV Market (FilMart) will include a host of buzzy titles and award winners gathered under the Europe! Umbrella, which brings together 29 European sales agents in a virtual pavilion organized by European Film Promotion (Efp).

Beta Cinema will be presenting two Berlin competition titles which already closed a flurry of deals during the European Film Market. Emmy Award-winning director Maria Schrader’s (“Unorthodox”) wry romcom “I’m Your Man” (pictured), starring Dan Stevens (“Downton Abbey”), Maren Eggert and Sandra Hueller (“Toni Erdmann”), earned stellar reviews and a leading performance Silver Bear for Eggert. The company is also repping the dark comedy “Next Door,” the directorial debut of German star Daniel Brühl, who plays a version of himself in the film.

Also with two Berlinale competition selections on offer, Films Boutique...

The European Film Promotion organization is poised to return to Hong Kong’s FilMart with a virtual booth that befits this year’s online-only edition of the film rights market. Its umbrella stand will host 29 smaller European sales agencies, including four newcomers.

One of those, the French sales company Reel Suspects, will be pitching “Bliss” by Germany’s Henrika Kull, which recently made its festival debut in the Panorama section of the Berlin film festival.

The other first-time participants are: Rise and Shine World Sales from Germany, which will be promoting the Austrian documentary “Vienna Symphony” by Iva Svarcova and Malte Ludin; Spain’s Feelsales with the Italian-German coproduction “Hong Kong, Ga Yau,” a documentary by Marco Di Noia; and Media Move from Poland, which will be looking to attract buyers’ interest in the Serbian drama “Loan Shark” by Nemanja Ceranic.

Other films which made recent Berlinale debuts are Maria Schrader...

The Berlin International Film Festival has set its full slate for the upcoming 2021 edition. Berlinale usually follows Sundance with a February festival, but the pandemic has forced organizers to develop a new festival format for 2021. The 71st Berlin International Film Festival is set to take place with the “Industry Event” from March 1 to 5, which will include the European Film Market (EFM), the Berlinale Co-Production Market, the Berlinale Talents, and the World Cinema Fund in online forms. From June 9 to 20, 2021 the Berlinale will launch a “Summer Special” with numerous film presentations in Berlin, both at indoor and outdoor cinemas.

Included in the March event is the traditional film festival slate, which includes the main Berlinale Competition lineup as well as sidebar sections such as Berlinale Special & Berlinale Series, Encounters, Berlinale Shorts, Panorama, Forum & Forum Expanded, Generation, Perspektive Deutsches Kino, and Retrospective. With the exception of the Retrospective, the films will be shown at the March event.

Involving Germany, Luxembourg and Poland, Barbara Kronenberg’s film for younger audiences will feature in the selection of the 71st Berlinale. Mission Ulja Funk, the debut film by German director Barbara Kronenberg, will enjoy its international premiere at the 2021 Berlinale. The title finds itself among the 17 lucky winners forming part of the 2021 Generation vintage, painstakingly put together by programmer Maryanne Redpath. The feature film has rocketed into the Generation KPlus competition (a sub-section reserved for works offering a powerful view of young people and presented in their original language) which is dominated by stories retracing the paths trodden by determined heroines. It’s a trait which fits perfectly with the character of 12-year-old Uja, played by acting revelation Romy Lou Janinhoff (in her big screen debut): she’s prepared to do anything it takes to freely pursue her passion for astronomy. Armed with a stolen hearse and a driver in.

Picture Tree International has acquired international rights to “Mission Ulja Funk,” which has been selected for Berlin Film Festival’s youth-centric Generation KPlus competition.

The film, which is the debut feature of German writer/director Barbara Kronenberg, is about the 12 year old girl Ulja, who sets out on a road trip in a stolen hearse to Eastern Europe to witness the impact of an asteroid she discovered.

Kronenberg studied at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne, and her graduation film “The Ballade of Ella Plummhoff” screened at more than 50 festivals and received numerous awards, including a nomination for the prestigious German First Steps Award.

“Mission Ulja Funk” is produced by Roshanak Behesht Nedjad’s outfit In Good Company (Germany) with pubcaster Mdr in co-production with Samsa Films (Luxemburg) and Shipsboy (Poland).

The film received German funding from the German Ministry of Culture (Bkm) and the Dfff as well as regional...

Generation, the Berlin Film Festival’s section for youth-centric movies, has unveiled its lineup, with a majority of its films directed by women.

Sixty per cent of the films are directed by women, and many of them feature “strong willed” female protagonists, the festival said, such as “Ninjababy,” in which Rakel is six months pregnant, but doesn’t want to become a mother. Other such films include “Short Vacation,” “Mission Ulja Funk” and “Nelly Rapp – Monster Agent.”

Many of the films immerse themselves in the worlds of young people, such as “The White Fortress,” “Stop-Zemlia,” “The Fam” and “Fighter.”

Generation features eight world premieres across its two competition programs, Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus, with the films coming from 17 countries. With four contributions each, productions from the Asian and Scandinavian countries are particularly well represented.

“The 15 films in this year’s Generation selection are an open invitation to go beyond the obvious,...

The 2021 festival will take place in two parts.

The Berlin International Film Festival has unveiled the first films selected for its 2021 edition which will take place in two parts, starting with the industry-focused, online-only event from March 1-5.

They are the titles that will comprise the Generation and Retrospective strands, and come nearly two months later than last year’s equivalent announcement as organisers prepare to host the first virtual edition of the festival.

A second event, titled Summer Special, is scheduled to run June 9-20 and set to include physical screenings of the selection and their filmmakers, at 10 venues in Berlin.

The 71st Berlin International Film Festival unveils its program this week, with the Generation and Retrospective sections kicking off proceedings today.

A total of 15 films are selected across the two youth-focused Generation competitions – Kplus and 14plus. Of the titles chosen, 60% are directed by female directors. Scroll down for the full list.

The movies come from the likes of Canada, China, and Korea. There are eight world premieres and six debuts. Films arriving from other festivals include the animation Cryptozoo, which was at Sundance and features Lake Bell and Michael Cera in its voice cast.

The 2021 Retrospective program will focus on the comedic work of three actresses – Mae West, Rosalind Russell, and Carole Lombard during the era when the Motion Picture Production Code (“Hays Code”) was coming into effect. There are 27 films in total, released between 1932 and 1943. They are also listed below.

Buyers will get the chance to view these movies during the virtual EFM,...

Exclusive: Frank Spotnitz’s Big Light Productions has continued its writing apprenticeship scheme into its fourth year, this time providing a two-month paid placement for Bulgarian scribe Nadya Todorova.

Todorova will shadow Spotnitz and creative director Emily Feller, albeit virtually in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Big Light was behind Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle and is currently in post-production on Aidan Turner series Leonardo, which it is co-producing with Italy’s Lux Vide.

Todorova completed the Berlin-based Serial Eyes postgraduate television training program, on which Spotnitz has been tutoring since 2013. She has written on a selection of TV shows, including comedy, thriller, and crime series, in her home country.

“Nadya is a very exciting writer with a raw talent and sharp wit,” Spotnitz said. Todorova added: “Frank was such an important teacher for me and I’m looking forward to continuing to learn everything I can...

Exclusive: Frank Spotnitz’s Big Light Productions has continued its writing apprenticeship scheme into its third year, providing a two-month paid placement for Macedonian writer and director Eleonora Veninova.

Veninova will go to work in Big Light’s London office, observing its writers’ room and working alongside Spotnitz and creative director Emily Feller. Big Light is currently in production on Sony-distributed drama Leonardo, which stars Aidan Turner and Freddie Highmore.

Veninova completed the Berlin-based Serial Eyes postgraduate television training program, on which Spotnitz has been tutoring since 2013. She co-created Macedonian TV show Prespav, while her short film The Sign premiered in the Director’s Fortnight program at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. Veninova has also worked as a journalist for the BBC World Service in Macedonia.

Spotnitz said: “This is now the third year that we have invited a graduate of the Serial Eyes program to shadow us here in London,...