Distributor also unveils Kino! Germany Now!
Kino Lorber, scouring the Berlinale for potential acquisitions, has announced a North American deal on Burhan Qurbani’s 2020 Berlinale hit Berlin Alexanderplatz.
The film stars Welket Bungué as an undocumented African immigrant who struggles to make a new life for himself in Berlin.
Without papers, a work permit, and limited options to make money, the man gets an offer from a psychopathic gangster as his life begins to spiral out of control.
Berlin Alexanderplatz won best film and best actor at 2020 Stockholm International Film Festival, among others, and is a fresh retelling of Alfred Döblin...
Kino Lorber, scouring the Berlinale for potential acquisitions, has announced a North American deal on Burhan Qurbani’s 2020 Berlinale hit Berlin Alexanderplatz.
The film stars Welket Bungué as an undocumented African immigrant who struggles to make a new life for himself in Berlin.
Without papers, a work permit, and limited options to make money, the man gets an offer from a psychopathic gangster as his life begins to spiral out of control.
Berlin Alexanderplatz won best film and best actor at 2020 Stockholm International Film Festival, among others, and is a fresh retelling of Alfred Döblin...
- 3/3/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Italian drama Hidden Away, German literary adaptation Berlin Alexanderplatz, and Spanish sci-fi horror The Platform are among the winners in the technical categories of this year’s European Film Awards.
Hidden Away, Giorgio Diritti’s portrait of self-taught Italian painter Antonio Ligabue, won European Film honors for best cinematography (for cameraman Matteo Cocco) and for Ursula Patzak for best costume design. Dascha Dauenhauer won best original score for her soundtrack to Burhan Qurbani’s Berlin Alexanderplatz, a modern-day adaptation of Alfred Döblin’s 1929 literary classic. The Platform, a dystopian drama, that Netflix picked up worldwide, won the European Film Prize for best visual effects for Inaki Madariaga.
Other ...
Hidden Away, Giorgio Diritti’s portrait of self-taught Italian painter Antonio Ligabue, won European Film honors for best cinematography (for cameraman Matteo Cocco) and for Ursula Patzak for best costume design. Dascha Dauenhauer won best original score for her soundtrack to Burhan Qurbani’s Berlin Alexanderplatz, a modern-day adaptation of Alfred Döblin’s 1929 literary classic. The Platform, a dystopian drama, that Netflix picked up worldwide, won the European Film Prize for best visual effects for Inaki Madariaga.
Other ...
- 12/9/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Italian drama Hidden Away, German literary adaptation Berlin Alexanderplatz, and Spanish sci-fi horror The Platform are among the winners in the technical categories of this year’s European Film Awards.
Hidden Away, Giorgio Diritti’s portrait of self-taught Italian painter Antonio Ligabue, won European Film honors for best cinematography (for cameraman Matteo Cocco) and for Ursula Patzak for best costume design. Dascha Dauenhauer won best original score for her soundtrack to Burhan Qurbani’s Berlin Alexanderplatz, a modern-day adaptation of Alfred Döblin’s 1929 literary classic. The Platform, a dystopian drama, that Netflix picked up worldwide, won the European Film Prize for best visual effects for Inaki Madariaga.
Other ...
Hidden Away, Giorgio Diritti’s portrait of self-taught Italian painter Antonio Ligabue, won European Film honors for best cinematography (for cameraman Matteo Cocco) and for Ursula Patzak for best costume design. Dascha Dauenhauer won best original score for her soundtrack to Burhan Qurbani’s Berlin Alexanderplatz, a modern-day adaptation of Alfred Döblin’s 1929 literary classic. The Platform, a dystopian drama, that Netflix picked up worldwide, won the European Film Prize for best visual effects for Inaki Madariaga.
Other ...
- 12/9/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Beta Cinema has closed numerous deals on its Cannes virtual market slate, spearheaded by all-rights deals on Berlin competition entries “Berlin Alexanderplatz” to Le Pacte for France and “My Little Sister” to Weltkino for Germany, as well as “The Auschwitz Report” to Signature Entertainment in the U.K./Ireland.
As well as the French deal, Burhan Qurbani’s new adaptation of Alfred Döblin’s “Berlin Alexanderplatz” was picked up by distributors in multiple countries. Scanbox took it for Scandinavia, while New Horizons bought the film for Poland, Discovery for former Yugoslavia, Beta Film Bulgaria for Bulgaria, and Mozinet for Hungary. A2 Distributione picked it up for Brazil, and Tohokushinsha Film secured the rights for Japan. Further interest is pending from the U.S., U.K., and Australia/New Zealand.
“My Little Sister,” starring Nina Hoss and Lars Eidinger, by Swiss director duo Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Raymond, was snapped up for Germany/Austria by Weltkino.
As well as the French deal, Burhan Qurbani’s new adaptation of Alfred Döblin’s “Berlin Alexanderplatz” was picked up by distributors in multiple countries. Scanbox took it for Scandinavia, while New Horizons bought the film for Poland, Discovery for former Yugoslavia, Beta Film Bulgaria for Bulgaria, and Mozinet for Hungary. A2 Distributione picked it up for Brazil, and Tohokushinsha Film secured the rights for Japan. Further interest is pending from the U.S., U.K., and Australia/New Zealand.
“My Little Sister,” starring Nina Hoss and Lars Eidinger, by Swiss director duo Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Raymond, was snapped up for Germany/Austria by Weltkino.
- 6/24/2020
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
“System Crasher,” Nora Fingscheidt’s social drama about a troubled young girl, swept the 70th German Film Awards on Friday, winning a total of eight Lolas, including best film, director, actress and actor.
Forced to revamp this year’s ceremony due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the German Film Academy did away with its traditional gala event and instead produced a stripped-down show tailor-made for television that proved uniquely spontaneous, innovative and entertaining.
Hosted by actor Edin Hasanovic (“Skylines”), the show, broadcast live from Berlin and airing on Ard’s Das Erste, featured guest entertainers, actors and presenters in the studio as well as filmmakers, award winners and musicians taking part via video feed from their homes, including a musical performance by Gregory Porter from Los Angeles.
In addition to best film and director awards, “System Crasher” won Fingscheidt the screenplay Lola, best actress for Helena Zengel, supporting actress for...
Forced to revamp this year’s ceremony due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the German Film Academy did away with its traditional gala event and instead produced a stripped-down show tailor-made for television that proved uniquely spontaneous, innovative and entertaining.
Hosted by actor Edin Hasanovic (“Skylines”), the show, broadcast live from Berlin and airing on Ard’s Das Erste, featured guest entertainers, actors and presenters in the studio as well as filmmakers, award winners and musicians taking part via video feed from their homes, including a musical performance by Gregory Porter from Los Angeles.
In addition to best film and director awards, “System Crasher” won Fingscheidt the screenplay Lola, best actress for Helena Zengel, supporting actress for...
- 4/25/2020
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
This year’s German Film Award nominees for best picture include hard-hitting social dramas, tales of romance and cultural divides, family relationships and musical icons as well as works by a growing number of filmmakers from diverse ethnic backgrounds. The German Film Academy, forced to revamp its 70th German Film Awards ceremony due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, will honor the country’s most acclaimed films during a special live TV presentation on April 24.
The German Film Awards ceremony, which in the past aired pre-recorded on Zdf, will be broadcast live for the first time on Ard’s Das Erste, due in part to its remade and shortened presentation. Doing away with its traditional gala event, the show will instead include guest filmmakers, musicians and presenters taking part via video feed from their homes.
Six films are vying for the best picture trophy, nicknamed the Lola, among them Burhan Qurbani’s “Berlin Alexanderplatz,...
The German Film Awards ceremony, which in the past aired pre-recorded on Zdf, will be broadcast live for the first time on Ard’s Das Erste, due in part to its remade and shortened presentation. Doing away with its traditional gala event, the show will instead include guest filmmakers, musicians and presenters taking part via video feed from their homes.
Six films are vying for the best picture trophy, nicknamed the Lola, among them Burhan Qurbani’s “Berlin Alexanderplatz,...
- 4/23/2020
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
If you’re not fighting the good fight on the front lines at hospitals, grocery stores or other essential public services as the coronavirus pandemic makes its way across the world, chances are you’re going to be home for a while. And whether you’re self-quaranting, social distancing or otherwise becoming one with your couch, you might look at this as an opportunity to tackle some epic-length movies that might otherwise have seemed daunting. Let us recommend some great ones.
(Note: With works this long, the concepts of “movie” and “miniseries” get rather muddled: “Berlin Alexanderplatz” was originally a miniseries on German TV but was released to theaters as a marathon viewing experience in the United States. Conversely, the Russian “War and Peace” was a mammoth movie — it won 1969’s Best Foreign Film Oscar — that the Criterion Channel now presents in more easily digestible chapter form. For our purposes,...
(Note: With works this long, the concepts of “movie” and “miniseries” get rather muddled: “Berlin Alexanderplatz” was originally a miniseries on German TV but was released to theaters as a marathon viewing experience in the United States. Conversely, the Russian “War and Peace” was a mammoth movie — it won 1969’s Best Foreign Film Oscar — that the Criterion Channel now presents in more easily digestible chapter form. For our purposes,...
- 3/18/2020
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
‘Never Rarely Sometimes Always’ still leads.
Burhan Qurbani’s Berlin Alexanderplatz and Sally Potter’s The Roads Not Taken scored low on Screen’s Berlin 2020 Competition jury grid, as controversial Russian title Dau. Natasha split opinion for a joint-third place spot.
Qurbani’s adaptation of Alfred Döblin’s 1929 novel scored three ones (poor) from Segnocinema’s Paolo Bertolin, Meduza’s Anton Dolin, and The Morning Star’s Rita Di Santo, as well as three twos (average), with only one positive score of three (good) from Dagens Nyheter’s Helena Lindblad. This brought it an average of 1.7, the fourth-lowest score on the grid.
Burhan Qurbani’s Berlin Alexanderplatz and Sally Potter’s The Roads Not Taken scored low on Screen’s Berlin 2020 Competition jury grid, as controversial Russian title Dau. Natasha split opinion for a joint-third place spot.
Qurbani’s adaptation of Alfred Döblin’s 1929 novel scored three ones (poor) from Segnocinema’s Paolo Bertolin, Meduza’s Anton Dolin, and The Morning Star’s Rita Di Santo, as well as three twos (average), with only one positive score of three (good) from Dagens Nyheter’s Helena Lindblad. This brought it an average of 1.7, the fourth-lowest score on the grid.
- 2/27/2020
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
The twin pillars of Alfred Döblin’s epochal 480-page 1929 German-language novel and Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s deeply influential 15-hour miniseries, first broadcast in 1980, together create an overarching shadow from which Burhan Qurbani’s relatively svelte three-hour contemporary reworking of “Berlin Alexanderplatz” struggles to escape.
Although promising a deep-cut dash of contemporary topicality by reimagining the main character as an undocumented African immigrant, there is the sense that the unimpeachable craft and performances — especially from rivetingly charismatic lead Welket Bungué — ultimately add up to just too slick a package. Qurbani’s take starts off confident in the newness of its approach but soon comes to operate as a well-oiled, smoothly functioning machine for the manufacture of bad luck, fatal flaws and tragic, poetic justice. It misses out on the source material’s caustic, messy edge: the way the grime of the very Berlin streets can work itself like grit into the gears of fate.
Although promising a deep-cut dash of contemporary topicality by reimagining the main character as an undocumented African immigrant, there is the sense that the unimpeachable craft and performances — especially from rivetingly charismatic lead Welket Bungué — ultimately add up to just too slick a package. Qurbani’s take starts off confident in the newness of its approach but soon comes to operate as a well-oiled, smoothly functioning machine for the manufacture of bad luck, fatal flaws and tragic, poetic justice. It misses out on the source material’s caustic, messy edge: the way the grime of the very Berlin streets can work itself like grit into the gears of fate.
- 2/26/2020
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
‘The Woman Who Ran’, ‘Bad Tales’ score moderately.
Eliza Hittman’s Us drama Never Rarely Sometimes Always has become the runaway leader on Screen’s Berlin 2020 Competition jury grid.
The film achieved 3.4 - 0.3 ahead of the previous leader, Christian Petzold’s Undine.
This is also significantly ahead of the 3.0 for Synonyms and A Tale Of Three Sisters, the tied winners for 2019; and tops the 3.3 of 2018 winner Isle Of Dogs.
Segnocinema’s Paolo Bertolin, Meduza’s Anton Dolin and The Morning Star’s Rita Di Santo each gave it a top-score four (excellent), with the remaining three critics to have scored...
Eliza Hittman’s Us drama Never Rarely Sometimes Always has become the runaway leader on Screen’s Berlin 2020 Competition jury grid.
The film achieved 3.4 - 0.3 ahead of the previous leader, Christian Petzold’s Undine.
This is also significantly ahead of the 3.0 for Synonyms and A Tale Of Three Sisters, the tied winners for 2019; and tops the 3.3 of 2018 winner Isle Of Dogs.
Segnocinema’s Paolo Bertolin, Meduza’s Anton Dolin and The Morning Star’s Rita Di Santo each gave it a top-score four (excellent), with the remaining three critics to have scored...
- 2/26/2020
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
Qurbani’s trilogy of features will each take a colour of the German flag and will take as its themes “unity, justice and freedom.”
German director Burhan Qurbani, whose three hour new feature Berlin Alexanderplatz (sold by Beta Cinema) premieres in competition, is planning an equally ambitious new project - a German counterpart to Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colours Trilogy.
“In the same way I ripped off Fassbinder, I am going to Kieslowski now,” the director joked. (Berlin Alexanderplatz is based on a classic 1929 novel by Alfred Döblin which Rainer Werner Fasssbinder made into a 14 part TV series.
German director Burhan Qurbani, whose three hour new feature Berlin Alexanderplatz (sold by Beta Cinema) premieres in competition, is planning an equally ambitious new project - a German counterpart to Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colours Trilogy.
“In the same way I ripped off Fassbinder, I am going to Kieslowski now,” the director joked. (Berlin Alexanderplatz is based on a classic 1929 novel by Alfred Döblin which Rainer Werner Fasssbinder made into a 14 part TV series.
- 2/21/2020
- by 57¦Geoffrey Macnab¦41¦
- ScreenDaily
The German company boasts two entries in the main competition of the Berlin International Film Festival. World sales agent Beta Cinema is heading to this year’s Berlin International Film Festival and to the accompanying European Film Market with two Golden Bear contenders under its arm and three market premieres in store. Furthermore, the company will be organising market screenings for four other titles and negotiating deals for six promising upcoming features at the Efm. In particular, the company is pinning its hopes on Berlin Alexanderplatz by Burhan Qurbani, which is part of the main competition of the 70th Berlinale. Staged by Sommerhaus Filmproduktion in co-production with Zdf and Lemming Film, the director’s first entry in the prestigious showcase is a present-day-set adaptation of the Alfred Döblin novel that was previously turned into a 15½-hour-long feature by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Also shining bright on the sales agent’s slate.
"I'm not made of sugar. I'm made of marble." Screen Daily has unveiled the first official trailer for the new take on Berlin Alexanderplatz, set for a major premiere at the Berlin Film Festival (aka Berlinale) later this month. The film is a new adaptation of Alfred Döblin's 1929 Weimer Republic era classic novel, which was also turned into an acclaimed TV series in the 1970s by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (also called "Berlin Alexanderplatz"). This seems to be Germany's version of Ladj Ly's Oscar nominated drama Les Miserables, borrowing the title of a classic novel, yet telling a modern-day story of black individuals living in a European country. This new film stars Welket Bungué as a refugee from Guinea Bissau who struggles to survive in Berlin without papers after illegally crossing by boat from Africa to Europe. Also starring Jella Haase and Albrecht Schuch. This looks Damn good. I'm...
- 2/6/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
It stars Welket Bungué in a contemporary version of Alfred Döblin’s 1929 classic novel.
Screen can reveal the first English-language trailer for Burhan Qurbani’s Berlin Alexanderplatz, which will have its world premiere in Competition at this year’s Berlin Film Festival (20 Feb - 1 Mar).
Qurbani and co-writer Martin Behnke have drawn on elements and characters from Alfred Döblin’s 1929 Weimer Republic era classic novel for this tale set in present-day Berlin.
It stars Welket Bungué as a refugee from Guinea-Bissau who struggles to survive in the German capital without papers after illegally crossing by boat from Africa to Europe.
Screen can reveal the first English-language trailer for Burhan Qurbani’s Berlin Alexanderplatz, which will have its world premiere in Competition at this year’s Berlin Film Festival (20 Feb - 1 Mar).
Qurbani and co-writer Martin Behnke have drawn on elements and characters from Alfred Döblin’s 1929 Weimer Republic era classic novel for this tale set in present-day Berlin.
It stars Welket Bungué as a refugee from Guinea-Bissau who struggles to survive in the German capital without papers after illegally crossing by boat from Africa to Europe.
- 2/6/2020
- by 1101184¦Orlando Parfitt¦38¦
- ScreenDaily
The film is directed by Swiss duo Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond.
In advance of the Berlinale, German powerhouse Beta Cinema has snapped up international rights to Berlinale competition entry My Little Sister (Schwesterlein) from Swiss director duo Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond.
My Little Sister stars in Silver Bear winner Nina Hoss and Lars Eidinger (Personal Shopper). Also in the cast is Marthe Keller.
The film is produced by Ruth Waldburger’s Vega Film in co-production with Rts, Srg/Ssr, and Arte. It is the latest venture from Swiss director-duo Chuat and Reymond (The Little Bedroom), who co-directed all...
In advance of the Berlinale, German powerhouse Beta Cinema has snapped up international rights to Berlinale competition entry My Little Sister (Schwesterlein) from Swiss director duo Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond.
My Little Sister stars in Silver Bear winner Nina Hoss and Lars Eidinger (Personal Shopper). Also in the cast is Marthe Keller.
The film is produced by Ruth Waldburger’s Vega Film in co-production with Rts, Srg/Ssr, and Arte. It is the latest venture from Swiss director-duo Chuat and Reymond (The Little Bedroom), who co-directed all...
- 2/4/2020
- by 57¦Geoffrey Macnab¦41¦
- ScreenDaily
Ten works in progress also screened at Coming Soon showcase.
Laura Samani’s Italian-Slovakian project Small Body and Mikko Myllylahti’s Finnish drama The Woodcutter Story received the TorinoFilmLab’s two prestigious €40,000 production awards on the final night of Tfl’s Meeting Event which marked the culmination of the 11th edition of the TorinoFilmLab.
The event presented all of the projects developed at Tfl through the year and took place from November 23-24.
Four co-production awards of €50,000 each were also presented to Mounia Akl’s Costa Brava, Lebanon (Lebanon-France-Sweden-Norway), Felipe Gálvez’s The Settlers (Chile-Argentina-Denmark), Jianjie Lin’s Blood And Water...
Laura Samani’s Italian-Slovakian project Small Body and Mikko Myllylahti’s Finnish drama The Woodcutter Story received the TorinoFilmLab’s two prestigious €40,000 production awards on the final night of Tfl’s Meeting Event which marked the culmination of the 11th edition of the TorinoFilmLab.
The event presented all of the projects developed at Tfl through the year and took place from November 23-24.
Four co-production awards of €50,000 each were also presented to Mounia Akl’s Costa Brava, Lebanon (Lebanon-France-Sweden-Norway), Felipe Gálvez’s The Settlers (Chile-Argentina-Denmark), Jianjie Lin’s Blood And Water...
- 11/27/2018
- by Gabriele Niola
- ScreenDaily
Afghan-German filmmaker Burhan Qurbani, director of hard-hitting social drama “We Are Young. We Are Strong,” is adapting Alfred Döblin’s 1929 novel “Berlin Alexanderplatz,” one of Germany’s most renowned literary works of the past century. It was adapted twice previously, most famously by Rainer Werner Fassbinder as a 1980 miniseries that remains an acclaimed and beloved classic. Departing from the book’s 1920s setting, Qurbani’s story takes place in the African refugee community of present-day Berlin. He spoke to Variety about the challenges of adapting a masterpiece, the refugee crisis and being haunted by Fassbinder.
How did the project come about?
Some four years ago I started working on the idea to adapt the novel. And then the refugee crisis came upon us. Of course there are many, many tragic, terrible, disturbing, wonderful and heart-warming original stories that refugees have to tell and those should be told. I chose a...
How did the project come about?
Some four years ago I started working on the idea to adapt the novel. And then the refugee crisis came upon us. Of course there are many, many tragic, terrible, disturbing, wonderful and heart-warming original stories that refugees have to tell and those should be told. I chose a...
- 9/8/2018
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Adaptation of Judith Kerr’s novel is now shooting in Germany.
Beta Cinema has taken international sales rights to Oscar-winning German director Caroline Link’s much-anticipated adaptation of Judith Kerr’s autobiographical novel When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit that is now shooting in Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.
The German-language film is based on Kerr’s family’s real-life flight from Nazi Germany in the 1930s. It stars newcomers Riva Krymalowski and Marinus Hohmann with Swiss actress Carla Juri who made an impact with her performance in Wetlands when it was premiered at Locarno 2013.
Kerr went on to write...
Beta Cinema has taken international sales rights to Oscar-winning German director Caroline Link’s much-anticipated adaptation of Judith Kerr’s autobiographical novel When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit that is now shooting in Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.
The German-language film is based on Kerr’s family’s real-life flight from Nazi Germany in the 1930s. It stars newcomers Riva Krymalowski and Marinus Hohmann with Swiss actress Carla Juri who made an impact with her performance in Wetlands when it was premiered at Locarno 2013.
Kerr went on to write...
- 8/7/2018
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.Recommended VIEWINGWe're very much in love with Zama, Lucrecia Martel's long-anticipated return to filmmaking. The new trailer calls us back to our encounter of the film at Toronto last year and our conversation with the director.We all know that Rainer Werner Fassbinder made a lot—a whole lot—of films in his all too brief 15 years of activity, but it's truly remarkable how new (old) work of his keeps appearing. First there was the revelation of World on a Wire (1973) and now another made-for-tv epic has been restored and is being re-released, Eight Hours Are Not a Day (1972-1973). We wonder what other future delights and provocations Rwf has in store for us!Recommended READINGDoll & EmAt The Guardian, Lili Loofbourow takes a look at how stories about women are perceived and received differently than those about men.
- 3/15/2018
- MUBI
Exclusive: Features from Sandra Nettelbeck, Thomas Stuber, Caroline Link and Burhan Qurbani on slate for German outfit.
New features by Sandra Nettelbeck, Thomas Stuber, Burhan Qurbani and Oscar-winner Caroline Link are being lined up by the Ludwigsburg/Berlin-based production company Sommerhaus Filmproduktion, which was launched by producers Jochen Laube and Fabian Maubach at the end of last year with Beta Film’s Jan Mojto as partner.
The first project to go into production this year will be the melancholic romantic comedy What Does Not Kill Us (Was Uns Nicht Umbringt) by writer-director Sandra Nettelbeck in August with a cast including August Zirner, Sophie Rois, Christian Berkel, Bjarne Mädel and Jenny Schily.
The German-language film will mark Nettelbeck’s return to filmmaking in Germany after working abroad for more than ten years on films including Helen and Mr. Morgan’s Last Love. It will also link to the director’s internationally successful romantic comedy Mostly Martha (Bella Martha) with...
New features by Sandra Nettelbeck, Thomas Stuber, Burhan Qurbani and Oscar-winner Caroline Link are being lined up by the Ludwigsburg/Berlin-based production company Sommerhaus Filmproduktion, which was launched by producers Jochen Laube and Fabian Maubach at the end of last year with Beta Film’s Jan Mojto as partner.
The first project to go into production this year will be the melancholic romantic comedy What Does Not Kill Us (Was Uns Nicht Umbringt) by writer-director Sandra Nettelbeck in August with a cast including August Zirner, Sophie Rois, Christian Berkel, Bjarne Mädel and Jenny Schily.
The German-language film will mark Nettelbeck’s return to filmmaking in Germany after working abroad for more than ten years on films including Helen and Mr. Morgan’s Last Love. It will also link to the director’s internationally successful romantic comedy Mostly Martha (Bella Martha) with...
- 2/23/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Embrace Of The Serpent director Ciro Guerra and We Are Young. We Are Strong. director Burhan Qurbani among winners.
Projects from Germany, the Netherlands and Colombia have picked up awards at CineMart (Jan 31-Feb 3), the co-production market of International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr).
German production Berlin Alexanderplatz was awarded the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award of €20,000, which is given to a project presented by a European producer.
Directed by German filmmaker Burhan Qurbani, known for 2014 feature We Are Young. We Are Strong., his new films is produced by Sommerhaus Filmproduktion.
The story centres on friendship and betrayal between a Nigerian refugee and a German drug dealer in Berlin and is based on the eponymous book by Alfred Döblin.
A jury statement said: “The project gives us a new and relevant view on a classic piece. The talented director has already made several films about urgent and relevant topics, that currently affect all our countries. Here he will...
Projects from Germany, the Netherlands and Colombia have picked up awards at CineMart (Jan 31-Feb 3), the co-production market of International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr).
German production Berlin Alexanderplatz was awarded the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award of €20,000, which is given to a project presented by a European producer.
Directed by German filmmaker Burhan Qurbani, known for 2014 feature We Are Young. We Are Strong., his new films is produced by Sommerhaus Filmproduktion.
The story centres on friendship and betrayal between a Nigerian refugee and a German drug dealer in Berlin and is based on the eponymous book by Alfred Döblin.
A jury statement said: “The project gives us a new and relevant view on a classic piece. The talented director has already made several films about urgent and relevant topics, that currently affect all our countries. Here he will...
- 2/4/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Dutch royalty attend opening, which kicked off with Boudewijn Koole’s new feature; Bero Beyer hails Rotterdam diversity.
The 45th International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr) (Jan 27 - Feb 7) opened last night with an unlikely infusion of glamour in the shape of 44-year-old Queen Maxima.
The Queen, attending Iffr for the first time, was in the festival’s main venue, the Doelen, for the screening of opening film, Beyond Sleep. The film is directed Boudewijn Koole (Kauwboy) and based on Dutch novel Nooit meer slapen by W.F. Hermans.
“International Film Festival Rotterdam is about as old as I am,” new festival director Bero Beyer commented in his opening speech. “It has been here year after year, growing in size and impact…but we should not take either the festival nor the open environment for granted.
“All over the world, filmmakers we cherish and have welcomed here in the past are prohibited to show their work, restricted in their...
The 45th International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr) (Jan 27 - Feb 7) opened last night with an unlikely infusion of glamour in the shape of 44-year-old Queen Maxima.
The Queen, attending Iffr for the first time, was in the festival’s main venue, the Doelen, for the screening of opening film, Beyond Sleep. The film is directed Boudewijn Koole (Kauwboy) and based on Dutch novel Nooit meer slapen by W.F. Hermans.
“International Film Festival Rotterdam is about as old as I am,” new festival director Bero Beyer commented in his opening speech. “It has been here year after year, growing in size and impact…but we should not take either the festival nor the open environment for granted.
“All over the world, filmmakers we cherish and have welcomed here in the past are prohibited to show their work, restricted in their...
- 1/28/2016
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
It all begins with a freeze frame of a dirt road somewhere in Yorkshire county, lined with trees whose lush foliage converges above in an arch. What could it be if not a portal? The movie itself, meanwhile, has not even started as we watch the opening credits, encased in large old-fashioned frames, slowly fade away—a device consistently favored by Alain Resnais who opened each of his 19 features likewise, holding off the films themselves until the screen no longer contained any visual surplus. The freeze frame comes to life as the camera pans farther down the road; then we find ourselves in a theatrical set.
We have been here before, of course. Resnais' Smoking/No Smoking, also based on a play by British playwright Sir Alan Ayckbourn, is set in Yorkshire as well. Life of Riley (Aimer, boire et chanter) borrows from the five-hour diptych its theatrical setting, one...
We have been here before, of course. Resnais' Smoking/No Smoking, also based on a play by British playwright Sir Alan Ayckbourn, is set in Yorkshire as well. Life of Riley (Aimer, boire et chanter) borrows from the five-hour diptych its theatrical setting, one...
- 6/17/2014
- by Boris Nelepo
- MUBI
24 Hours Berlin director Volker Heise explains why he chose to shoot his latest documentary in Jerusalem, and explains why the city is like a puzzle with pieces that don't fit.
Follow the 24 Hours Jerusalem project at the dedicated website 24hjerusalem.tv and submit your own Vine videos via #24hjerusalem on Twitter
In the era of the modern documentary, rare is the film-maker who prays that nothing out of the ordinary happens on the day of shooting. Yet that was exactly the concern on Volker Heise's mind a year ago today, when he began filming his real-time study of Jerusalem, an ambitious multi-camera, multiple-perspective study that aims to look beyond the city's headlines and present the everyday stories of the people that live there.
The project began eight years ago, with a trial run in Berlin. Says Heise, an avuncular, self-deprecating 52-year-old north German who apologises for his English not...
Follow the 24 Hours Jerusalem project at the dedicated website 24hjerusalem.tv and submit your own Vine videos via #24hjerusalem on Twitter
In the era of the modern documentary, rare is the film-maker who prays that nothing out of the ordinary happens on the day of shooting. Yet that was exactly the concern on Volker Heise's mind a year ago today, when he began filming his real-time study of Jerusalem, an ambitious multi-camera, multiple-perspective study that aims to look beyond the city's headlines and present the everyday stories of the people that live there.
The project began eight years ago, with a trial run in Berlin. Says Heise, an avuncular, self-deprecating 52-year-old north German who apologises for his English not...
- 4/11/2014
- by Damon Wise
- The Guardian - Film News
The writer and king of London psychogeography is curating a season of 70 classic and unusual films throughout his 70th birthday year, presented in cinemas and quirky venues across the capital. Here he explains the project's genesis
Approaching a birthday I had no particular desire to record or commemorate, I was seduced by an enticing offer: the opportunity to nominate 70 films, one for each year survived. The man floating this folly across the table of the Little Georgia restaurant on Hackney's Goldsmith's Row was Paul Smith, underground impresario and secret magus of King Mob, Blast First, Disobey, and other shortlived but potent cultural manifestations. We had some previous, through a series of spoken-word CDs involving Ken Kesey, Charles Bukowski, the Black Panthers, Stewart Home. The CDs existed and I had copies to prove it, but they never really made the transit from warehouse to retail counter. I had performed, under Paul's promotion,...
Approaching a birthday I had no particular desire to record or commemorate, I was seduced by an enticing offer: the opportunity to nominate 70 films, one for each year survived. The man floating this folly across the table of the Little Georgia restaurant on Hackney's Goldsmith's Row was Paul Smith, underground impresario and secret magus of King Mob, Blast First, Disobey, and other shortlived but potent cultural manifestations. We had some previous, through a series of spoken-word CDs involving Ken Kesey, Charles Bukowski, the Black Panthers, Stewart Home. The CDs existed and I had copies to prove it, but they never really made the transit from warehouse to retail counter. I had performed, under Paul's promotion,...
- 7/16/2013
- by Iain Sinclair
- The Guardian - Film News
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