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The German filmmaker’s black comedy will star Bernhard Schütz and Sandra Hüller. German filmmaker Peter Meister is ready to make his feature debut with the comedy The Black Square. Penned by Meister himself, the script received the Tankred-Dorst screenwriting award in 2018. The story follows Vincent, a struggling art thief and failed artist, who steals Kazimir Malevich’s famous abstract painting ‘Black Square’ and fraudulently embarks on a cruise ship together with his younger partner Nils. It is there that they intend to sell the painting to a Russian oligarch and his art expert Martha. When Vincent and Nils discover that the two men they overpowered in order to make their way onboard are in fact cruise entertainers, they are forced to assume the roles of David Bowie and Elvis Presley impersonators. Soon, however, the crew discover their true identities and a wild chase for the painting begins. The cast of.

Germany’s film industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, but the sector remains teeming with opportunities for domestic and international productions and looks set to spring back into action in the coming months.

Boasting 10 federal and regional film funders with more than €330 million ($359 million) for film and TV production and a number of major studio and VFX facilities, the country has become a favorite location for international producers.

Warner Bros.’ “The Matrix 4” and Sony Pictures’ “Uncharted” were all set to shoot at Studio Babelsberg near Berlin before work stopped amid the Covid-19 outbreak in March. While the studio initially let go hundreds of film crew members following the shutdown, it has since reinstated them after securing financial assistance from the federal labor agency, staving off a potential legal dispute.

Other recent international projects that lensed in Germany include Abel Ferrara’s Berlinale screener “Siberia,” starring Willem Dafoe,...

Sales agent Picture Tree Intl. has taken the international rights to comedy “The Black Square,” which will star Sandra Hueller, the co-lead of Oscar-nominated “Toni Erdmann,” and now appearing in “Exile,” which has its European premiere Monday in Berlin’s Panorama section, after playing at Sundance.

Port au Prince Pictures will release “The Black Square” in Germany and Austria. The distributor also released last year’s Berlinale Silver Bear winner and German Oscar entry “System Crasher,” which became an indie box office hit in Germany with a $5.15 million theatrical gross.

“The Black Square,” which starts principal photography on Tuesday, is written and directed by Peter Meister, making his feature film debut.

The film tells the story of two art thieves who have stolen the iconic avant-garde painting “Black Square” by Kazimir Malevich. The handover of the $60 million ransom is set to take place on a cruise ship, but things go...