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There was some disgruntled chatter within parts of the German contingent at this year’s Berlinale about what had been perceived as a shortage of local projects in the festival’s main competition lineup. Much of that criticism was overblown, as German filmmakers were positively represented across the wider festival programme. On the ground in Berlin, it was also difficult to ignore the increased presence of a new and diverse generation of local artists.

Chief among them was Lamin Leroy Gibba, who was one of the buzziest names at the festival. The 31-year-old is the showrunner behind Black Fruit (Schwarze Früchte), the breakout series of 2024 in Germany.

A co-production between Jünglinge Film, Studio Zentral, and Ard Degeto, Black Fruit debuted at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival before a highly publicized release on Ard in Germany. The show is currently screening at the BFI Flare Film Festival in London. Zdf Studios...

Exclusive: Zdf Studios has acquired international distribution rights to Black Fruit (Schwarze Früchte), the buzzy debut series from actor-writer Lamin Leroy Gibba.

A co-production between Jünglinge Film, Studio Zentral, and Ard Degeto, Black Fruit debuted at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival before a highly-publicized release on Ard in Germany.

Set in contemporary Hamburg, the series follows the journey of mid-twenty Lalo (Gibba) as he grapples with the sudden loss of his father, embarking on a tumultuous path of impulsive decisions that reverberate through his life and those around him. Alongside his ambitious best friend Karla, Lalo strives to define his identity amidst societal pressures and personal struggles. The show is one of the first serial productions in Germany to chronicle the lives of Queer people of color.

Gibba stars in the series and also serves as the showrunner. Writers on the show include Sophia Ayissi, Naomi Kelechi Odhiambo, Lisa Tracy Michalik,...

Andrew Ahn’s latest feature The Wedding Banquet opens this year’s BFI Flare Film Festival, which runs from March 19 – 30 at the BFI Southbank in London.

It’s a big-ticket title, arriving in London following a debut bow at Sundance with a red-hot cast including Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, and serves as a sign of the festival’s continued relevance and mainstream appeal.

Currently the UK’s largest queer film event, Flare is also one of the world’s longest-running queer film festivals. It turns 40 next year. The BFI is already planning a series of celebrations to mark the milestone. Highlights from this year’s lineup, however, include screenings of Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Berlinale title Hot Milk starring Emma Mackey and Vicky Krieps, Lamin Leroy Gibba’s buzzy German series Black Fruit, and Truong Minh Quy’s beloved Cannes title Viet and Nam. The festival will close...

BFI Flare: London Lgbtqia+ Film Festival’s 2025 industry programme, running from March 21-23 at BFI Southbank, will include Film4, BFI Filmmaking Fund and Doc Society execs, as well as a spotlight on German Lgbtqia+ filmmaking.

The ‘Show me the money’ panel will explore goals, preferences and criteria for supporting film projects from a range of film financiers, including the BFI Filmmaking Fund’s Mia Bays; Max Park, Film4 development and production executive; Hannah Bush Bailey, Doc Society film and production executive; and BBC Film development exeuctive,Alice Ojha.

Also on the line-up is an exploration of first-person documentary filmmaking with...

After wowing audiences with their 2020 debut film, the award-winning Berlinale screener “No Hard Feelings,” and branching out into TV, Paulina Lorenz and Faraz Shariat of Berlin-based Jünglinge Film are set for their next big-screen project from an increasingly voluminous pipeline.

Lorenz and Shariat, who are celebrating their company’s 10th anniversary this year, are also developing their first English-language pic and working with some of Germany’s highest-profile producers on ambitious series.

Jünglinge is scheduled to begin production in May on “Prosecution” (“Staatsschutz”), a legal thriller that explores right-wing violence in the German justice system, which Shariat will direct.

Chen Emilie Yan, Alev Irmak, Sebastian Urzendowsky and Arnd Klawitter star in the film, which follows a young Korean-German public prosecutor (Yan) who’s starting her first job in a small eastern German town.

“It’s her story of resistance and trying to figure out whether you can resist within the...

The 2024 edition of Filmfest Hamburg was the biggest in the German festival’s 32-year history, posting approximately 59,000 admissions to screenings, up from last year’s record-breaking total of 52,700.

This included the preceding open-air Binnenalster Filmfest, which ran from September 19-22.

The 10 days of the festival closed with the gala screening of Pedro Almodovar’s The Room Next Door on October 5.

“So many of my dreams for this first year have come true. It feels truly magical,” said festival director Malika Rabahallah. “It was overwhelming to see so many renowned directors, actors, and filmmakers in Hamburg, all enjoying the special festival atmosphere with us.

Mia Bays, director of the BFI Filmmaking Fund and Nostradamus Report analyst Johanna Koljonen will participate in the fifth edition of the Filmfest Hamburg’s Explorer Conference on September 30, which has the theme of ‘Risk and Reward’.

The one-day event will focus on better recognising and managing risks in the development, production and marketing of films and series and how the rewards can be assessed more accurately.

Bays will be in Hamburg to present the BFI’s innovative development initiative Next Wave Genre Lab which is dedicated to UK-based writers, producers and directors working primarily in genres such as horror,...

Filmfest Hamburg has unveiled the full programme for its 32nd edition, which is set to open with Louise Courvoisier’s Cannes prize-winner Holy Cow and close with Pedro Almodovar’s Golden Lion-winner The Room Next Door.

French filmmaker Courvoisier will be accompanied by lead actors Clément Faveau and Malwéne Barthelemy at the opening gala on September 26 for the German premiere of her debut feature, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes where it won the Youth Prize. The coming-of-age film will be released by Pandora Film in German cinemas on January 2.

The Filmfest’s new director Malika Rabahallah and...

Tribeca Festival 2024 has revealed the participants for this year’s Tribeca Festival Creators Market, which features a curated selection of creatives pitching feature, episodic, audio and immersive projects to a group of industry leaders. Companies in attendance for the pitch market include Sony Pictures Classics, Neon, Cinetic Media, Paramount+, Max, IFC Films and the Sundance Institute.

The 2024 Tribeca Festival Creators Market program includes narrative projects from Tallie Medel (“Everything Everywhere All At Once”) who will pitch her feature film “Ketchikan;” Lauren Minnerath, who will pitch her feature “Clare,” executive produced by Nia DaCosta (“The Marvels”); as well as Oliver Edwin, who will present his narrative feature “Situation #64.” Tisha Robinson-Daly and Jonathan Mason, who previously participated in the Creators Market and in Tribeca’s Epic Games Writing in Unreal program, will pitch their feature in production, “High.”

The documentary selection includes “Rebel Without a Pause,” directed by Maya Cueva and produced...

Filmfest Hamburg has 17 films funded by Moin screening at the festival.

Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein’s regional film fund Moin will have a strong presence at this year’s Filmfest Hamburg.

17 films funded by Moin will screen at the festival, including international productions such as Nicolaj Arcel’s King’s Land and Alice Troughton’s The Lesson as well as Isabal Herguera’s animated feature Sultana’s Dream and Leiv Igor Devold’s Norwegian Dream.

Other Moin backed features include new works by German filmmakers ranging from Sven Halfar (Heaven Can Wait - Wir Leben Jetzt) through to Stephan Rick (The Roots...