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Berlin-based Picture Tree International (Pti) has acquired global sales rights to Leander Haussmann’s highly anticipated East German laffer “A Stasi Comedy.”

Set in the early 1980s, the film centers on East Germany’s infamous state security service, the Staatssicherheitsdienst or Stasi, and young agent Ludger, played by David Kross, who is sent to infiltrate the counterculture scene in East Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg district, home to artists, bohemians and free-thinking radicals. Decades later, Ludger is confronted with the possibility of his secret Stasi past coming to light.

Written and directed by Haussmann, “A Stasi Comedy” is the third installment in the celebrated filmmaker’s East German-themed comedy trilogy that began with “Sonnenallee” (“Sun Alley”) in 2000 and followed with “Nva” in 2004.

“After 30 years, it should be finally allowed to laugh about the Stasi,” Haussmann said.

“A Stasi Comedy” is produced by Ufa Fiction in co-production with Constantin Film, which is...

A new issue of Senses of Cinema will always be the top story, any day it appears. As this one's not only the 60th but also a "bumper issue," as Catherine Grant puts it, it's "a timely reminder of just what a valuable publication this online journal is." Without question, it's worthy of your support if you're able to provide it. Among the highlights of this issue are remembrances of Claudine Paquot by Serge Toubiana and Bérénice Reynaud, who finds it "hard to convey the loss experienced by French-speaking readers and cinephiles to the Anglo-Saxon world, how her presence in the editorial staff at Cahiers du cinéma had had a definitive impact on the way cinema is written about."

Samuel Bréan considers the reception of the "Navajo English" subtitles for Godard's Film socialisme. Three disparate moments in the history of German cinema: Alexandria Placido on women and fashion in Weimar cinema,...

COLOGNE, Germany -- Doris Doerrie's The Fisherman and His Wife: Why Women Never Get Enough will open the 13th Hamburg International Film Festival on Sept. 22, organizers announced Tuesday. The relationship comedy is loosely based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale about a fisherman who catches a wish-granting fish only to find that, despite providing untold wealth and luxury, his demanding wife is never satisfied. In Doerrie's retelling, rising star Christian Ulmen (Berlin Blues) plays Otto, a fish doctor who travels to Japan to buy rare Koi carp for wealthy fish collectors. There he falls in love with fashion designer Ida, played by Downfall star Alexandra Maria Lara. Later in Germany, Ida's career takes off while Otto stays at home to raise their young child. But the more Otto gives up for his wife, the less she respects him. The Hamburg screening will serve as the European premiere of Fisherman, which debuted at the Montreal Film Festival. The festival runs Sept. 22-29.

COLOGNE, Germany -- Fatih Akin's Head-On, the Golden Bear winner at the Berlin International Film Festival, leads the nominations for the German Film Prize, Germany's biggest film awards, with four mentions, including nominations for best picture and best director, as well as best actor noms for stars Birol Unel and Sibel Kekilli. Sonke Wortmann's boxoffice hit The Miracle of Bern, Leander Haussmann's '80s tragicomedy Berlin Blues and Christian Petzold's drama Wolfsberg were close on the heels of Head-On, picking up three nominations each.

COLOGNE, Germany -- MTV Germany veejay Christian Ulmen has been cast to star in the title role of Leander Haussmann's upcoming comedy Herr Lehmann, the film's producers, Boje Buck Produktion and Pandora Filmproduktion, said Tuesday. The film is Haussmann's first project since the surprise success of his debut feature, Sun Alley, also from Boje Buck. Alley was one of the top-grossing German films of 1999. Ulmen will play the titular Lehmann, a 30-year-old bartender in West Berlin in 1989, before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Boje Buck co-head Detlev Buck, who co-scripted and starred in Sun Alley, will play Lehmann's best friend, Karl. Katja Danowski will star as love interest Katrin.

COLOGNE, Germany -- Financially troubled Studio Babelsberg has secured a new lease on life, revealing Tuesday that the German film studio has signed contracts for the production of three new feature films at its Potsdam-based complex. Babelsberg said the films shooting at the studio will be Herr Lehmann, a new comedy from Sun Alley director Leander Haussmann; Die Frauen von der Rosenstrasse (The Woman From Rosenstrasse), Margarethe von Trotta's 1940s period piece; and Die Nacht Singt Ihre Lieder (The Night Sings Their Songs), a new drama from director Romuald Karmakar (Manila, Deathmaker). The news comes as Babelsberg parent Vivendi Universal signaled that it intends to keep the German studio running despite rumors that Vivendi Uni is considering selling off Babelsberg to pay down debt.