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Playoff Topia Communications Israel Director Eran Riklis Producer Michael Sharfshtein 18 • NPP 2008 Synopsis It is the 1970s, 30 years after the war: a time before satellites and the internet; a moment before the world became a global village. It runs by definitions, first according to national symbols which draw clear lines between countries, then between outlooks and beliefs, between friend and foe. There is East and West; Israel and Germany; good and bad - and between them there is an abyss that cannot be bridged. Coming from a family of Holocaust survivors, the archetype of determination and struggle, Max (45) has achieved the impossible. With determination, he has gone from being a bullied refugee child to the ultimate Israeli: the successful and popular coach of Maccabi Tel-Aviv, the basketball team that has become a national symbol and has taken Europe by storm. His success and outward complacency mask the fact that he feels dislocated from the world, unable to enjoy the fruits of his hard work. Everybody believes that Max, with his family history, will reject the astonishing offer he receives after winning the European Championship with Maccabi: to coach the German national team. However, despite the public outrage in Israel and despite his mother regarding the step as an act of betrayal, he agrees to go to Germany for a trial period. Perhaps deep down he believes that he will not take the job and be back in no time. Once in Germany, however, he is irresistibly drawn to the apartment where he lived as a child. There he finds himself attracted to Deniz, a young Turkish woman, lost in a new life in a new country. While helping Deniz find her husband, Max digs into his own past and discovers new facts about old family secrets, mostly do to with his father. He realises that his whole life has been based on betrayal and desires - nothing heroic, nothing symbolic. Max slowly understands that he has to smash the symbols of the past, and that the first symbol is his own. And so he becomes the coach of the German team, facing the past, perhaps understanding it better, and becoming a new symbol of his own personal victory. Director’s statement After The Syrian Bride and Lemon Tree, which (with Cup Final) completed my Middle East trilogy, I thought it was about time to put my mind and soul into other stories. So no more Israelis and Palestinians, not even the Druze… but in all honesty, am I really going to move that far away from the explosive stories of the Middle East Well, not really… Playoff is set in Germany almost 30 years ago. It is about being a stranger in a familiar land, about looking at your past in order to understand your future. It is about taking risks, exploring new frontiers, crossing borders (a subject I am quite familiar with), dealing with your demons and moving ahead. It is about personal and national preconceptions, icons, symbols… Our story puts all these elements to the test by using the very personal story of one man, and then one woman, and a group of basketball players. So we will combine sports, immigration, solitude and searching: the constant search for people, love, friendship, power, understanding – all words that I feel make for a powerful foundation for a powerful story. If I had to match two films which could be a recent inspiration for Playoff, I would, as directors like to say, describe it as a cross between Head-On and The Lives of Others, a cross which is an intriguing one as it is a fusion of different styles in terms of storytelling and visual conception. And I feel Playoff can mix the two to create its own exciting style. Director Eran Riklis Eran Riklis is one of Israel’s most acclaimed film-makers. His most recent film as writer, director and producer is Lemon Tree, coproduced with Germany and France and winner of the audience award at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival. Riklis’s previous film, The Syrian Bride, enjoyed worldwide critical and box-office success and won 16 international awards, including Best Film in Montreal and Audience Favorite in Locarno. Previous feature films by Riklis include: the award-winning Cup Final (1992, present-
Director Eran Riklis Producer Michael Sharfshtein Writer Gidon Maron, David Akerman Based on an original story inspired by true events Language English, German, Hebrew Genre Drama Format 35mm Running time 100 mins Target audience Wide Thirty years after surviving the Holocaust, a famous Israeli basketball coach goes back to Germany to coach the national team. Budget € 5,000,000 Cast tbc ed in Venice and at the Berlinale); Zohar (1993, the biggest box-office success of the 1990s in Israel); Temptation (2002); Vulcan Junction (2000); and his first film, On a Clear Day You Can See Damascus (1984). Producer Michael Sharfshtein One of the most successful producers in Israel, Michael Sharfshtein has been working in film and television for almost 40 years. Today his production company, Topia Communications, is part of the United King Films group. United King Films is one of the biggest distribution and production companies in Israel, responsible for many of the major film and television productions in recent years and also the owner of the biggest cinema complex in Israel. The company’s films include Women (Moshe Mizrahi, 1998); Passover Fever (Shemi Zarhin, 1997); and two films by Eran Riklis: Zohar and Cup Final. Writer Gidon Maron Gidon Maron worked as a crime reporter for Ma’ariv, the second-largest daily newspaper in Israel, for seven years. He also wrote a book about the ‘Motorcycle Robber’, a case which drove the Israeli police crazy and fascinated the public. Maron created the TV series Criminal Reports (2005), based on real events and stories he covered as a crime reporter. He currently writes for Yediot Aharonot magazine. He is a graduate of the Bar Ilan University in Criminology and Political Science. Writer David Akerman 2004-5 Love Behind the Corner (drama series, produced by Hertzlia Studios & Channel 2) 2005 The Criminal Reporter (drama series, produced for Israeli Television, Channel 1) Eengale (52-minute drama, produced for Channel 2) Vaserman/The Rain Man (52- minute drama; Channel 2 France/ Channel 2 Israel; Best Drama, International Film Festival, Gerona) 2006 Srak-Srak (feature film, co–produc tion between Israel and Spain) 2006 Bad Girls (drama series, produced for the Music Channel) Current projects: 48.7 Inches (feature film, Israel/Australia co-production) Wild Horses (drama series, produced by Omer TV for Israeli Television, Channel 10) Casino Proletariat (feature film, Israel/ France co-production) Current status Third draft currently available; casting in progress; co-production and world sales negotiations being held. By September 2008, we expect to be closing German and French co-producers and world sales. Aims at the NPP To explore Dutch co-production possibilities, together with further European and/or other co-production options. Contact Eran Riklis 10 Melchet Street 65215 Tel Aviv Israel Tel: (972) 3 620 6385 Fax: (972) 3 525 5437 Mobile: (972) 52 2442130 eriklis@netvision.net.il NPP 2008 • 19
Page 1: Netherlands Production Platform NPP
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Page 6 and 7: The Bear (Ursul) Libra Film Romania
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Page 12 and 13: Invasion Twenty Twenty Vision Filmp
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Page 18 and 19: Our Grand Despair (Bizim büyük ca
Page 22 and 23: The Runway Fastnet Films Ireland Wr
Page 24 and 25: Seeing Chris Newgrange Pictures Ire
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Page 28 and 29: The Snow Queen (Lumekuninganna) F-S
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Page 36 and 37: A Kronstadt Tale Van Lieshout Filmp
Page 38 and 39: Lourdes Holland Harbour Productions
Page 40 and 41: Olga - Tomorrow I’ll Dance (Olga
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Page 46: Index English titles, original titl

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