2008 A Meeting for German and French Filmmakers ... - German Films

German Films
Quarterly 4 · 2008
AT ROME
Cinema 2008 Competition
LONG SHADOWS by Connie Walther
Anteprima-Premiere
THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX by Uli Edel
PORTRAITS
Directors Hannes Stoehr
& Neele Leana Vollmar,
Rat Pack Filmproduktion,
Actor David Kross

German Films Quarterly 4 · 2008
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directors’ portraits
GLOBAL STORYTELLER
A portrait of Hannes Stoehr
A SENSE OF FAMILY
A portrait of Neele Leana Vollmar
producers’ portrait
PACKING A PUNCH
A portrait of Rat Pack Filmproduktion
actor’s portrait
NORTHERN LIGHT IN THE MOVIE SKY
A portrait of David Kross
news
in production
24 STUNDEN SCHLESISCHES TOR
Eva Lia Reinegger, Anna de Paoli
BERLIN
Michael Ballhaus, Ciro Cappellari
DIE FREMDE
Feo Aladag
DER GROSSE KATER
Wolfgang Panzer
HAUS UND KIND
Andreas Kleinert
HILDE
Kai Wessel
HITLER VOR GERICHT
Bernd Fischerauer
KINDERSUCHE
Miguel Alexandre
MAENNERSACHE
Gernot Roll, Mario Barth
ROMY
Torsten C. Fischer
ROSAMUNDE PILCHER: VIER JAHRESZEITEN
Giles Foster
SCHWERKRAFT
Maximilian Erlenwein
THIS IS LOVE
Matthias Glasner
TRANSFER
Damir Lukacevic
UNTER BAUERN
Ludi Boeken
new german films
9TO5 – DAYS IN PORN
Jens Hoffmann
88 – PILGERN AUF JAPANISCH 88 – PILGRIMAGE IN JAPANESE
Gerald Koll
ADEMS SOHN ADEM’S SON
Hakan Savas Mican
ANONYMA — EINE FRAU IN BERLIN A WOMAN IN BERLIN
Max Faerberboeck

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DER BAADER MEINHOF KOMPLEX THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX
Uli Edel
DIE BIENEN – TOEDLICHE BEDROHUNG KILLERBEES
Michael Karen
BUDDENBROOKS BUDDENBROOKS – THE DECLINE OF A FAMILY
Heinrich Breloer
DEM KUEHLEN MORGEN ENTGEGEN INTO THE COLD DAWN
Oliver Becker, Katharina Bruner
FINNISCHER TANGO FINNISH TANGO
Buket Alakus
FRECHE MAEDCHEN CHEEKY GIRLS
Ute Wieland
GELIEBTE CLARA CLARA
Helma Sanders-Brahms
HINTER KAIFECK KAIFECK MURDER
Esther Gronenborn
HOTEL SAHARA
Bettina Haasen
IN JEDER SEKUNDE AT ANY SECOND
Jan Fehse
JERICHOW
Christian Petzold
KRABAT
Marco Kreuzpaintner
MA’RIB
Rainer Komers
MIKE FIGGIS – THE SEDUCTION OF THE EYE
Ina Borrmann
DAS MORPHUS-GEHEIMNIS MYSTERY OF MORPHUS
Karola Hattop
NARRENSPIEL FOOL’S GAME
Markus F. Adrian
NEBEN DER SPUR TOUR EXCESS
Detlef Bothe
NOBODY’S PERFECT
Niko von Glasow
DER PFAD DES KRIEGERS THE WAY OF A WARRIOR
Andreas Pichler
SCHATTENWELT LONG SHADOWS
Connie Walther
SHORT CUT TO HOLLYWOOD
Marcus Mittermeier, Jan Henrik Stahlberg
STANDESGEMAESS NOBLE COMMITMENTS
Julia von Heinz
U-900
Sven Unterwaldt
WARTEN AUF ANGELINA WAITING FOR ANGELINA
Hans-Christoph Blumenberg
WELTSTADT CITY OF THE WORLD
Christian Klandt
ZWEIER OHNE COXLESS PAIR
Jobst Christian Oetzmann
film exporters
foreign representatives · imprint

Hannes Stoehr (photo © Filmfestival Locarno)
DIRECTOR’S PORTRAIT
Hannes Stoehr was born in Stuttgart in 1970 and studied
European Law at the University of Passau after completing his civilian
service and a nine-month trip through South America. He then studied
Scriptwriting and Directing at the German Film & Television
Academy Berlin (dffb) from 1995 to 1999. After a number of shorts
and medium-length documentaries, he made his feature directorial
debut with Berlin is in Germany in 2001, based on a 15-minute
short with the same name from 1999. The film was shown at over 30
festivals worldwide and released theatrically in Germany, France,
Spain and Turkey, winning prizes at festivals in Poitiers, Valencia and
Annonay. In Germany, the film received, among others, the Panorama
Audience Award at the 2001 Berlinale, the German Film Critics’
Award for actor Joerg Schuettauf, 1st Prize in Studio Hamburg’s Next
Generation Competition, the New Faces Award for Best Young
Director 2002, and the Association of German Film Critics’ Award
for Best Film 2002. In 2003, he wrote and directed the Tatort TV
movie Odins Rache which was nominated for the German and
European CIVIS Television Award 2004 and received the German
Television Award 2004 in the category of Best Supporting Role for
actress Sandra Borgmann. His second feature film, One Day in
Europe, was invited to the Official Competition of the 2005
Berlinale, screened at over 30 other festivals around the world and
was released abroad in cinemas in Japan, Spain, Turkey, the UK,
Poland, and Russia. In 2006, he obtained a writing fellowship for the
Villa Aurora in Los Angeles to work on the project Forty Eighters
and directed his third feature Berlin Calling in the summer 2007.
Starring the electronic composer Paul Kalkbrenner, who also wrote
the film’s score, Berlin Calling had its world premiere on the
Piazza Grande in Locarno this August. Hannes Stoehr works as a
scriptwriter and director in Berlin and is a lecturer at the dffb and the
Baden-Wuerttemberg Film Academy. His other films include: Biete
Argentinien, Suche Europa (short, 1995), Lieber Cuba
Libre (documentary, 1997), Prawda (short, 1998), and Gosh –
Live in Paris (documentary, 1998).
Agent:
Above the Line GmbH · Uschi Keil
Wielandstrasse 5 · 10625 Berlin/Germany
phone +49-30-2 88 77 30 · fax +49-30-28 87 73 10
email: buero-berlin@abovetheline.de
www.abovetheline.de · www.stoehrfilm.eu
GLOBAL
STORYTELLER
A portrait of Hannes Stoehr
Thoughtfully entertaining rather than sermonizing – that’s the goal of
director Hannes Stoehr whose latest feature Berlin Calling
had its world premiere on the Piazza Grande at the Locarno
International Film Festival in August 2008.
“I see myself as more of a clown than a priest,” says Hannes. “I love
solid storytelling which is based on research. Reality is complex, the
main thing is to find the right angle for your story. And the right tone:
I prefer tragicomedies.”
german films quarterly director’s portrait
4 · 2008 4

Hannes was born in Stuttgart and grew up in Hechingen in Baden-
Wuerttemberg. Before and after civil service, he did extended backpacking
tours through Central and South America. He then studied
Law, but his involvement in various art projects making films made
him decide to “turn my hobby into a profession.” In 1994, he moved
to Berlin.
Hannes became part of an underground-style filmmaking movement
in the reunified capital, “which was really anarchic, low budget and of
course without any shooting permits. Everything was possible then
because there was such a great energy in the air.”
These Super 8 films were then shown at basement bars and can now
also be viewed on Hannes’ own YouTube channel.
“In fact, looking back, I think that this atmosphere at the beginning of
the 90s in Berlin was very important to me,” he suggests. “It wasn’t
just Germans, because you seemed to have the whole world coming
here to find answers. That energy is something you find in my films.”
His application to Berlin’s German Film & Television Academy (dffb)
was accepted in 1995 where he studied until 1999, making such films
as the documentaries, Lieber Cuba Libre, Gosh – Live in
Paris, and a 15-minute short version of his 2001 feature debut
Berlin is in Germany.
Hannes admits that there may at times have been an ideological clash
between him and dffb director Reinhard Hauff over his work, but he
has nothing but respect for the veteran filmmaker’s humanism. “I
learned a lot from Reinhard Hauff, although or maybe because he
comes from a different generation.” Moreover, several of his fellow
students from film school days have worked with him on subsequent
projects such as DoPs Andreas Doub and Florian Hoffmeister, editor
Anne Fabini and producer Karsten Aurich.
Berlin is in Germany stirred things up winning the Panorama
Audience Award at the 2001 Berlinale, the German Film Critics Prize
for Best Film 2002 and many others, including four international first
film awards.
This feature debut played in the here and now of 2001 Berlin whereas
subsequent films about the recent German past, such as Wolfgang
Becker’s Good Bye, Lenin! or Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s The
Lives of Others, were set during the GDR or in the autumn of ’89.
“I saw myself more in the present,” Hannes explains. “The important
thing for me here was that a wall comes down and, from one day to
the next, a human experiment begins which had never taken place
before. A country is divided and is then brought back together.”
“With my first film I fortunately had the chance to travel around the
world and see what is important for a German film,” Hannes continues.
“My generation of filmmakers is quite privileged because after
the Second World War people had had enough of the Germans,
something which I can understand fully. But after the fall of the Berlin
Wall, the interest in German culture has come back strongly. People
see that something is happening and the clichéd images of the Second
World War are being changed. One can see more nuances there
now.”
Hannes loves traveling and speaks English, Spanish, French and
Portuguese. “I enjoy attending film festivals and being present for the
releases of my films in other countries. I always try to tell my stories
in a universal way. So, it is important to know the cinema styles of
other countries.”
His feature One Day in Europe – which had its premiere in the
Official Competition of the Berlinale in 2005 – he describes as his response
to “a historical European moment coming from this chance of
the fall of the Wall” with interwoven stories set in Berlin, Moscow,
Istanbul and Santiago de Compostela. The overall theme of the film
was languages in Europe.
And looking back now, Hannes says that he can see his three feature
films as forming a trilogy: “Berlin is in Germany shows Berlin
viewed from the alien perspective, One Day in Europe shows
Berlin in the European context, and Berlin Calling is now the view
from within.”
As Hannes points out, it is not by coincidence that his three features
to date all have English titles: “The titles may be English but the films
have a very German content or at least a German point of view. The
films are very local, but at the same time very universal. It worked
out: Berlin is in Germany and One Day in Europe were
released in the cinemas in France, Spain, Turkey, Poland, Russia, the
UK and Japan, and elsewhere. “Also, English titles are an advantage in
a Google world,” Hannes quips.
At the moment, he is promoting the release of Berlin Calling in
Germany and is invited to several international festivals. Berlin
Calling portrays the world of an electronic music composer, a tragicomedy
in the Berlin of today, starring Paul Kalkbrenner, Rita
Lengyel, Corinna Harfouch and Araba Walton. “Our main role and
musician, Paul Kalkbrenner, is an internationally known electronic
music artist, so we have a worldwide audience on all continents
around the globe. We are trying to also reach our global community
by net guerilla activities through My Space, Facebook and YouTube.
The Internet gives you a great opportunity to promote your film without
having so much money,” Hannes adds. “We live in a time where
global storytelling is possible. This is a great opportunity.”
Hannes Stoehr spoke with Martin Blaney
german films quarterly director’s portrait
4 · 2008 5

Neele Leana Vollmar (photo © Rick Ostermann)
DIRECTOR’S PORTRAIT
Neele Leana Vollmar was born in Bremen in 1978. After her
schooling, she was a director’s assistant for various film productions,
followed by studies in Directing at the Baden-Wuerttemberg Film
Academy in Ludwigsburg from 2000 to 2005. She already demonstrated
an interest in interpersonal relationships in her first short films
like Sans une Parole (2001). Her enduring theme of the family
first attracted attention in My Parents (Meine Eltern, 2003),
which received several awards world-wide. She has developed more
and more facets of cinematic relatives in the full-length features
Vacation from Life (Urlaub vom Leben, 2004), Peaceful
Times (Friedliche Zeiten, 2008), and Maria, ihm
schmeckt’s nicht (2008/2009, currently in production). During
her studies, she received the Caligari Fellowship (2002), and participated
in the Berlinale Talent Campus and the Hollywood
Masterclass (2003). Together with Caroline Daube she established
her own production company, Royal Pony Film, with a VGF grant. In
future, Royal Pony Film hopes to realize projects by other directors as
well, but first the aim is to make more films by Vollmar, written once
again by the well-known scriptwriter Ruth Toma. Vollmar often falls
back on a familiar team for her productions: in front of the camera,
she employs regular actors like Gustav Peter Woehler or Anna
Boetcher, and the cameraman is very often Pascal Schmitt. So she has
even internalized her theme on set: “There, I am simply a family kind
of person.”
Contact:
Royal Pony Film GmbH & Co. KG
Bayerisches Filmzentrum
Bavariafilmplatz 7 · 82031 Geiselgasteig/Germany
phone +49-89-64 98 11 20 · fax +49-89-64 98 13 20
email: info@royalponyfilm.com · www.royalponyfilm.com
A SENSE OF FAMILY
A portrait of Neele Leana Vollmar
Although she is the “family filmmaker” among young German directors,
there is no sign of the quiet life in Neele Leana Vollmar’s
work. In her film families, either the children or the parents are prone
to depression, as a rule the family members are ashamed of each
other, and talking to one another is the exception. Why does she like
to plumb the depths of family life so much, driving her dysfunctional
family members to the fringe of madness?
When she is asked the reason for this, the lanky director from Bremen
only laughs and shakes her head. “No, no, no. My own family is a
dream family,” she assures us. They have a close relationship; her
parents know almost everything about her. “It is precisely because
things have always been so great for me that I look for the skeletons
in the closet.” However, her mother is a little to blame for Vollmar’s
favorite theme. After all, she showed her daughter Ingmar Bergman
films at an early age: an object lesson in complicated souls and the
inspiration for film material that Vollmar has already made into her
specialty – from the hysterical short film My Parents to her tragicomic
feature Peaceful Times. This film version of the novel was
launched in German cinemas in September and the international premiere
took place at the 32nd World Film Festival in Montreal shortly
before that.
She even succeeds in recounting people’s fears and tragic events in a
light, laconic tone: Vollmar’s films are suited to an age in which life’s
plans are becoming more and more complicated and the contradictions
in almost every biography are evident. Her characters seem
to say – so why don’t you tell me, what exactly is normal?
german films quarterly director’s portrait
4 · 2008 6

These films appear to tread lightly, but they are also profound. And
they touch people outside Germany: My Parents won three prizes
in Clermont-Ferrand in 2004. It is not surprising: when petit-bourgeois
parents recreate the illusion of a once happy marriage and
actually find themselves and each other in the process, the idea has
considerable potential for identification in any country. “They are
situations that everyone has experienced at some time,” Vollmar says
of her films. She loves the situation comedy that develops in relationships,
but: “The story is always the most important thing, the laughter
comes second.” Vollmar searches for poetry in everyday life: “I
want my viewers to immerse themselves in the film for one or two
hours, and for each person to leave the cinema with his own story
afterwards.”
Her most lavish project to date, Peaceful Times is set in the
Germany of the 1960s: the Striesow family have escaped from the
GDR. Irene is still haunted by her memories of the East and her husband
Dieter is a big dreamer, longing for America – the two could
scarcely be less alike. The minor and major crises in life – as often in
Vollmar’s films – are set off by ironic off-screen commentary. Here, it
is the naive voice of one of the couple’s children that recounts the
family drama. The mother constantly has fantasies of suicide in the
film, certainly, but the viewer cannot hate her for it: an achievement
of actress Katharina Schubert, as well as the direction.
Film neuroses, the decor of the times, or shooting with children:
Vollmar never balks at such challenges. She also refused to accept the
pressure to make another scurrilous comedy after My Parents.
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Indeed, melancholy dominated in Vacation from Life: a bank
employee recognizes that his existence is no more than routine. And
because Vollmar likes to get her own way, she made her student graduation
project into a full-length film despite the opposition.
Later, she founded her own production company, Royal Pony Film,
together with Caroline Daube and made Peaceful Times. She
refuses to be categorized, constantly seeking new facets of her film
theme.
The next one on the list is a witty, perceptive comedy; the film version
of a book that has been very successful in Germany – Maria, ihm
schmeckt’s nicht by Jan Weiler. This Claussen+Woebke+Putz production
centers on a German-Italian relationship and the resultant
misunderstandings: again and again, Vollmar focuses on the minor cultural
clashes – between East and West, between bourgeois and dropout,
between German and Italian mentality. “I love the cliché,” she
says, and adds that she loves to play with it. And often it conceals
something that is simply true. But the sense of homelessness in a different
culture felt by the main character is important to Vollmar as
well. That is what gives the comedy its depth.
Even though her parents sometimes find it annoying to be asked constantly
what went wrong when they were bringing up their daughter:
Vollmar is not working off any kind of trauma. She has merely found
a lively source of inspiration.
Christoph Groener spoke with Neele Leana Vollmar
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Anita Schneider, Christian Becker (photo courtesy of Rat Pack Filmproduktion)
PRODUCERS’ PORTRAIT
Rat Pack Filmproduktion was founded in 2001 by Christian
Becker and Anita Schneider as a production house for feature
films, TV movies, and international event productions with Constantin
Film as a shareholder. A graduate of Munich’s University of Television
& Film (HFF), Becker had produced such films as Bang Boom Bang,
Kanak Attack, Was nicht passt …, 7 Days To Live and Das Phantom
whilst serving as shareholder and managing director of Indigo
Filmproduktion and Becker & Haeberle Filmproduktion before joining
forces with Curt Cress and Michael Bischoff to launch F.A.M.E. Film &
Music Entertainment on the Frankfurt stock exchange in 2000.
Meanwhile, Schneider, who oversees business affairs at Rat Pack, has
several years of experience working for such companies as Bavaria
Film, ProSiebenSat.1 and Indigo Film/F.A.M.E. Rat Pack’s productions
include: Hunt for the Hidden Relic (Das Jesus Video, dir:
Sebastian Niemann, 2002, TV), Blood of the Templars (Das
Blut der Templer, dir: Florian Baxmeyer, 2005, TV), ProSieben
Fairy Tales (Die ProSieben Maerchenstunde, various
directors, 2005-2007, TV), Goldene Zeiten (dir: Peter Thorwarth,
2005), Hui Buh – The Goofy Ghost (Hui Buh – Das
“Big entertainment – that’s our goal and what we like to see ourselves,”
says producer Christian Becker about the strategy of the
Munich-based production house Rat Pack Filmproduktion he
founded with Constantin Film AG, Anita Schneider and a group
of screenwriters and directors in 2001.
Schlossgespenst, dir: Sebastian Niemann, 2006), The Vexxer
(Neues vom Wixxer, dirs: Cyril Boss and Philipp Stennert, 2007),
The Wave (Die Welle, dir: Dennis Gansel, 2008), ProSieben
Funny Movies (various directors, 2008, TV), Killing is My
Business, Honey (Mord ist mein Geschaeft, Liebling, dir:
Sebastian Niemann, 2008/2009, post-prod), Vorstadtkrokodile
(dir: Christian Ditter, 2009, post-prod), Vickie the Viking
(Wickie und die starken Maenner, dir: Michael “Bully”
Herbig, 2009, in production), Jerry Cotton (dirs: Cyril Boss and
Philipp Stennert, in preparation), The Dawn (dir: Dennis Gansel, in
preparation) and Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver
(Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivfuehrer, dir:
Sebastian Niemann, in preparation).
Contact:
Rat Pack Filmproduktion GmbH
Beethovenplatz 2 · 80336 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-1 21 14 87 12 · fax +49-89-1 21 14 87 77
email: office@ratpack-film.de · www.ratpack-film.de
PACKING A PUNCH
A portrait of Rat Pack Filmproduktion
As Becker and Schneider explain, their company’s name refers to the
legendary Rat Pack of entertainers led by Frank Sinatra and Dean
Martin with Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop, who
were friends and worked and partied together in the 1950s.
german films quarterly producers’ portrait
4 · 2008 8

“Drawing on the original Rat Pack idea, the company aimed to bring
people together who fitted well together, got on with one another
and wanted to make films together,” Becker recalls.
In fact, the core team of collaborators at Rat Pack had been working
together since their film school days in the mid-1990s at Munich’s
University of Television & Film (HFF): “I have always worked with
Peter Thorwarth, starting with his short films Mafia Pizza Razzia and
Was nicht passt, wird passend gemacht and then going on to his feature
film Bang Boom Bang, the feature-length version of Was nicht passt …
and Goldene Zeiten. The same is with Dennis Gansel with Wrong Trip
and Living Dead leading to his first feature-length project Das Phantom
and now The Wave.”
“Sebastian Niemann was someone to emulate because he was two
years above me at film school and had already worked with Rainer
Matsutani on Over My Dead Body (Nur ueber meine Leiche),” says
Becker. Their first collaboration was the TV movie Biikenbrennen –
made for Indigo Filmproduktion and Becker&Haeberle Filmproduktion,
the production companies Becker set up with former
Kinowelt founder Thomas Haeberle after his graduation from the
HFF.
“It was such a sensational feature debut that we said we would do all
of our projects together from now on,” Becker recalls. They followed
the TV movie with an English-language feature film 7 Days To Live
aimed at the international market, produced by Indigo Filmproduktion.
Niemann and Becker came together for Rat Pack’s first big production
Hunt for the Hidden Relic which was shot on location
in Morocco doubling up for Israel. “This production scored the best
ever ratings for a German TV mini-series on ProSieben and the
record still stands,” notes Anita Schneider who is “responsible for the
business and financial side of the company’s operation and keeps an
eye on the budgets, while Christian is the one coming up with the
ideas for our projects.”
Rat Pack began with a focus on working for German television – ranging
from such TV movies as Hunt for the Hidden Relic or
Blood of the Templars as well as the comedy series the
ProSieben Fairy Tales and the ProSieben Funny Movies
– but Becker and Schneider are aiming “to get to a situation where we
can make something in English every two years, although German TV
programs and feature films will continue to be our area of emphasis.”
Thus, next year will see the company embarking on an English-language
remake of Hunt for the Hidden Relic, to be shot again
by Sebastian Niemann with the same team and an international cast.
“The story will be more compressed, nearer to the novel, more
action-laden, everything bigger and louder!,” Becker explains.
The fairy tales series has worked its way through the Brothers Grimm
and will now turn its attention to the Arabian Tales – with a change of
production location from studio sets built in warehouses outside
Prague to the Antalya Studios in Turkey. “However, we will continue
to use the Czech craftsmen because they are really world class. You
don’t see anything like this elsewhere in Europe.”
The work for television also enables Rat Pack to try out young writers
and directors who can then progress to feature projects. A case
in point is the directorial duo Cyril Boss and Philipp Stennert. “We are
really proud that we have accompanied their careers from the first
steps after film school,” Becker says. “At Indigo we had developed TV
movies with them and they wrote a lot for the Was nicht passt … TV
series at Westside [the NRW-based sister company of Rat Pack].
They then wrote scripts for the fairy tales series and directed some
episodes. The next step was for them to take on directing the feature
film The Vexxer.”
The next project Rat Pack is planning with the duo is a feature film
around the 1960s cult detective Jerry Cotton, which will be the company’s
first flagship project for 2009. Becker promises “a fantastic
new interpretation which will be like the way people approached
Starsky & Hutch. It won’t be a parody because we take the character
of Jerry Cotton very seriously but we see him a bit like Inspector
Drebin in The Naked Gun. The film industry as well as the fans and
readers are already all very enthusiastic.”
While the “bread and butter” TV projects keep Rat Pack quite busy,
it is not idle on the feature film front either.
Last winter saw Sebastian Niemann working on the comedy Killing
is My Business, Honey in and around Berlin with a cast including
Rick Kavanian, Nora Tschirner, Christan Tramitz, Gunther Kaufmann
and movie icons Franco Nero and Bud Spencer. Warner Bros. will
release the film next spring.
“We had a great experience shooting in Berlin and Brandenburg on
Dennis Gansel’s The Wave,” Becker recalls, adding that the reaction
to this school drama, which has been seen by over 2.5 million
cinemagoers in Germany, “was the first time that one of our productions
had such international recognition. We have received invitations
to many festivals, won audience awards and have prints of the film
traveling around all the time.”
Meanwhile, this summer saw the company handling the production of
two feature film projects at the same time: Christian Ditter’s adaptation
of Max von der Gruen’s 1977 novel Vorstadtkrokodile,
produced with Rat Pack’s Krefeld-based sister company Westside
Filmproduktion and Constantin Film, and Michael “Bully” Herbig’s
Vickie the Viking which is billed as the most expensive German
family entertainment film to be produced this year.
And Becker and Schneider, together with their in-house creative producers
Lena Olbrich, Nina Maag, Mathias Loesel and Simon Happ,
have plenty in store for the future to keep German and international
audiences on tenterhooks. Projects in development range from the
vampire love story The Dawn and a war drama based on Gert
Ledig’s novel Vergeltung – both to be directed by Dennis Gansel – to
a plane catastrophe film and a western set during the Second World
War by Peter Thorwarth.
Three feature films are also in the works with Sebastian Niemann: the
aforementioned English remake of Hunt for the Hidden Relic,
a big screen version of the children’s classic Jim Button and
Luke the Engine Driver, and a sequel to his 2006 film Hui Buh
– The Goofy Ghost.
“This time, it will be ’Hui Buh meets The Mummy’,” Becker explains.
“After the first part was in dark woods and dungeons, the adventure’s
journey will now be going to Egypt!”
Christian Becker and Anita Schneider spoke with Martin Blaney
german films quarterly producers’ portrait
4 · 2008 9

David Kross (photo © Andreas Muehe)
ACTOR’S PORTRAIT
David Kross was born in the small northern German town of
Bargteheide in July 1990. After his first efforts at acting in a children’s
theater group, news of his unusual talent – although he was only fifteen
at the time – spread so fast that German director Detlev Buck
invited him to a casting in Berlin. There, he successfully competed
against 500 fellow applicants and landed his first leading role in
Tough Enough (Knallhart). The role of Michael Polischka, who
must come to terms with the hard life at a school in Berlin’s problem
district Neukoelln, catapulted him into the film world’s field of vision
overnight. His authentic performance met with great acclaim at the
world premiere during the Berlinale in 2006, and in the following
weeks the film drew 143,000 admissions to German cinemas and
triggered a socio-political debate in the German government about
conditions at socially disadvantaged schools. Kross, who seemed
astonishingly unaffected by all the fuss, subsequently secured the title
role in the lavish filming of bestseller Krabat (2008) by director
Marco Kreuzpaintner. The film, which screened in Toronto, was already
much-discussed worldwide during shooting because of its opulent
realization. The 18-year-old actor then drew the attention of
Hollywood director Stephen Daldry, who casted Kross alongside
Kate Winslet in his third key role in The Reader (2008), which
looks set to further his faultless reputation.
After this three-year, vertical take-off as Germany’s leading young
generation actor, David Kross took a short time off this August
before the world premiere of Krabat, considering the future and
recuperating his energies. In a peaceful moment, we spoke to the
young talent about a future that certainly seems to hold every opportunity.
“When I made Tough Enough, I had no idea what furore the film
would bring in its wake. I would probably have been much more ner-
Agent:
Schulze & Heyn FILM PR · Peter Schulze
Rosa-Luxemburg-Strasse 17 · 10178 Berlin/Germany
phone +49-30-88 68 20 35 · fax +49-30-88 68 28 10
email: schulze@film-pr.de · www.film-pr.de
NORTHERN LIGHT
IN THE MOVIE SKY
A portrait of David Kross
vous if I had known about the risks beforehand.” David Kross gazes
thoughtfully at the ground. Now, after three main roles, the 18-yearold
talent naturally has a better understanding of the business, but in
purely optical terms, he has lost nothing of his youthful integrity. His
facial features may have become more striking, but the sparkle in his
eyes still reflects the mixture of profundity and post-pubertal vehemence
that directors regard as the secret of his natural style of acting.
“He acts as if he has been doing nothing else all his life,” director
german films quarterly actor’s portrait
4 · 2008 10

Marco Kreuzpaintner enthuses. And he should know – for several
weeks, he filmed Krabat together with Kross in deepest Romania –
and he expresses only what almost everyone on the set thought of
the young talent. Kross’ down-to-earth personality and professionalism
were even obvious after shooting was over for the day: while his
fellow actors spent the evenings in provincial bars, Kross stayed in his
hotel room, learned his texts, and studied on the Internet for his
secondary school graduation exams. “Actually, I was quite frightened
of the part, because in this film a lot depended on my performance,"
Kross sums up in retrospect. "And by contrast to Tough Enough,
in the case of Krabat I knew just what I was up against.”
The genre film produced by Claussen+Woebke+Putz is 120 minutes
long, and Kross features in almost every scene. The tremendous past
success of Otfried Preussler's original book made the role into quite
a burden from the start. Krabat was sold more than 1.8 million
times in Germany, translated into 31 languages, and showered with
prizes. Young as he was, Kross knew that if he failed with this film, his
early laurels would be forgotten as rapidly as he had earned them.
But that was highly unlikely, as must have been clear to any observant
visitor to the set when they saw his level of concentration. While a
hectic, up to 230-man team worked around him in the icy cold of the
Carpathian Mountains, Kross listened patiently to Marco Kreuzpaintner’s
explanations. As soon as the word 'action' had been spoken,
his body pose, facial expression and breathing altered – and with
astonishing speed and attention to detail, Kross – the lad from northern
Germany – turned into Krabat, a beggar boy from the 17th century.
“Krabat is a small young man who has a hard time mentally and
financially after the death of his mother. He reacts in a rather passive
way to the things that happen to him. But then he falls in love, grows
up, begins to question things, and finally manages to act instead of just
reacting.”
This development into a thinking, acting individual is noticeable in
Kross himself as well. When he saw the film for the first time at a special
screening in Berlin, he analyzed his performance most perceptively.
Afterwards, there was no word of self-praise, but a critical
assessment of what he might have done better. “I cannot explain what
exactly happens to me when I have to act in front of a camera. But I
know that I need to experience a lot more in my life. Only experience
of my own will help me to go on playing my parts well.”
Nevertheless, according to eye-witnesses, he also gave an utterly
competent performance in his shared love scenes with Kate Winslet
in The Reader, brilliantly embodying the boy from a rich family
who falls for the conductress on a train journey. But the 18-year-old
actor still lacks assurance in personal conversations – he has a sympathetic,
rather awkward manner. The media interest in his person
apparently knows no end since Tough Enough, and several journalists
crowding around a table pepper him with questions at interviews,
but he is obviously not the sort of person who likes to hear
himself speak or pat himself on the shoulder. “I have to confess that
sometimes I am still rather uncertain,” Kross admits and then continues,
“but perhaps that is quite a good thing for my roles. If I felt selfconfident,
I would probably come onto the set without preparing so
well.”
From the human perspective, at least, David Kross has kept the rural
mentality of a lad from the North: modest, reserved and with an eye
for the truly important. Professionally, he comes across as someone
who is already experienced and privately, he is in the process of finding
his own way.
“It is important that I remain true to myself,” Kross says. We have
heard this statement from many an up-and-coming star before him,
but very few sound as honest as this young actor, who looks forward
with anticipation but without exaggerated expectations to what lies
ahead. “I don’t know what sort of reactions I will have to face after
the premieres of Krabat and The Reader. But actually, I don’t
really want to know. It is all the same to me where I end up working.
The main thing is that I am involved in filming stories with material that
works well.”
In the meantime, David Kross has completed the first part of his own
very personal story – and it has been a great success.
Johannes Bonke spoke with David Kross
german films quarterly actor’s portrait
4 · 2008 11

“The Baader Meinhof Complex” producer Bernd Eichinger, director Uli Edel (photo © 2008 Constantin Film Verleih GmbH)
NEWS 4/2008
“THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX” TO REPRESENT GERMANY
IN THE RACE FOR THE ACADEMY AWARD ®
The independent expert jury, appointed by German Films to select the
German entry to compete for the Academy Award ® for the Best
Foreign Language Film, has – under the chairmanship of Alfred
Huermer – chosen The Baader Meinhof Complex by Uli Edel.
The jury on its decision: “The brilliant performance by the entire cast
and the extraordinary adaptation of the story allows a view of the
early 70s in the Federal Republic of Germany, without glorifying the
perpetrators.”
Produced by Constantin Film Produktion/Munich (producer: Bernd
Eichinger), Nouvelles Editions de Films/Paris, and G.T. Film Production/Prague,
the film, based on the book by Stefan Aust, was
released in German cinemas on 25 September 2008 (distributor:
Constantin Film Verleih/Munich).
International sales are being handled by Summit Entertainment/Los
Angeles – The Baader Meinhof Complex has already been
sold in the most important international territories.
Bernd Eichinger on the jury’s decision: “Uli Edel and I are extremely
pleased. We invested a lot of energy into this film and are proud to
represent German cinema in the race for the Academy Award ® .”
The Baader Meinhof Complex was supported by FilmFernsehFonds
Bayern, Bayerischen Bankenfonds, the German Federal Film
Board (FFA), the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF) and Medienboard
Berlin-Brandenburg. The broadcasters NDR, BR, WDR and Degeto
were also involved in the project.
On 22 January 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences will nominate five films from the international entries to participate
in the final selection to compete for the Academy Award ® for
Best Foreign Language Film. Films from some 100 countries are being
submitted for this year’s coveted trophy. The official awards ceremony
will be held in Los Angeles on 22 February 2009.
german films quarterly news
4 · 2008 12

From the exhibit “Movies on the Mind. Psychology and Film”
(photo © Deutsche Kinemathek/Marian Stefanowsky)
From the exhibit “Movies on the Mind. Psychology and Film”
(photo © Deutsche Kinemathek/Marian Stefanowsky)
MUSEUM FOR FILM AND TELEVISION
“ON TOUR”
Numerous exhibitions conceived by the Berlin Museum for
Film and Television are on tour this year. In December alone,
three exhibitions will be taken over by international museums.
“Moving Spaces. Production Design + Film” will be shown at the
Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne starting 4
December 2008. The project is dedicated to the work of production
designers, set designers and film architects through the use of film
examples, designs and models. From 11 December 2008, the Centre
for Contemporary Art in Warsaw will show “film.kunst: Ulrike
Ottinger.” This extensive show presents the large-scale photographs,
costumes and workbooks of the self-willed filmmaker. “Movies on the
Mind. Psychology and Film” will open at the Hong Kong Film Archive
in mid-December 2008. In multimedia experience spaces, visitors can
place themselves “on the couch” and explore their emotions in a “crying
room.”
HANDS ON HD IN HANOVER
With some 400 participants from the fields of film and television, over
40 German and European experts and exclusive technical equipment,
this year’s Hands on HD, organized by nordmedia and Band Pro
Munich, was once again a unique industry event. For seven days, practical
exercises and lectures on cinematography and post-production
were on the program for workshop participants.
Directors and producers were offered extensive insight on High
Definition during a two-day seminar. Through the support of around
50 sponsors and cooperation partners, more than 50 HD cameras
and 25 high-tech editing boards were made available, giving the participants
a rare opportunity to get to know almost all camera systems
currently on the market. The goal of the event is to provide intensive
technical and workflow training and to keep the entire film and television
production industry up-to-date on changing transformation
processes.
BONJOUR PARIS
During her tours in the 19th century, Clara Schumann also traveled to
Paris. Now she is returning to the French capital as the leading role in
Helma Sanders-Brahms’ new film Clara. The German-French co-production,
with Martina Gedeck in the leading role, opens the film program
of Saison France-North Rhine-Westphalia 2008/2009 on
October 5th in the Parisian Cinema Arlequin. For an entire year, the
German State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) will present itself
also from its cultural “best side” in France.
The selection of films, which shows the diversity of the productions
from NRW, was made by the Filmstiftung NRW, Goethe-Institut
Paris, German Films and the Duisburger Filmwoche. Other highlights
will include the NRW-supported films being shown at the 13th
Festival of German Films in Paris (15 - 21 October), a short film program
at the Goethe-Institut Paris, a screening of the globalizationdocumentary
Losers and Winners, and the European premiere of
Oskar Roehler’s latest film Lulu & Jimi, which was shot in 2007 in
NRW. Further information on the cultural and arts program Saison
France-North Rhine-Westphalia 2008/2009 can be found at
www.artention.info.
german films quarterly news
4 · 2008 13
Hands on HD in Hanover (photo courtesy of nordmedia)

The Bavarian delegation in Montreal (photo courtesy of FFF Bayern)
SUPPORT FOR THE GERMAN FILM
COLLECTION AT HARVARD
In 1999, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern established a center for
German film at Harvard University – the German Film Collection. In
the meantime, over two hundred 35 mm prints of German films are
archived at the university in Cambridge, MA, where symposia and
workshops are also offered. Now FFF Bayern, with the support of
numerous producers, is currently adding new German films to the
stock. “There is no other place in North America that is better equipped
than Harvard University for the research and viewing of German
films,” says Prof. Eric Rentschler. His colleague, Haden Guest, director
of the Film Archive adds: “Thanks to the mediation from FFF Bayern,
we have also received English-subtitled prints from American distributors
including, for example, the Oscar ® -winning The Lives of Others.
Some of the latest additions to the film library include: Grenzverkehr by
Stefan Betz, Die Scheinheiligen by Thomas Kronthaler, Oktoberfest by
Johannes Brunner, Winterreise and Hierankl by Hans Steinbichler, the
literary adaptation Durch diese Nacht sehe ich keinen einzigen Stern by
Dagmar Knoepfel, and the political drama Schlaefer by Benjamin
Heisenberg.
To secure future events in the coming year, further prints, press materials
and film literature will be sent at the end of 2008. Other producers
have confirmed their films. “We will continue our support for the
German Film Collection in Harvard, for there is no better place outside
of Germany to get to know and study German films than at
Harvard,” says FFF Bayern’s CEO Dr. Klaus Schaefer.
In addition to Harvard, the FFF Bayern was also active at two other
North American “locations”: the German Currents in Los Angeles
and the presentation of 10 Bavarian productions recently at the
World Film Festival in Montreal were great successes.
GERMAN SHORTS SUCCESSFUL
AT SUMMER FESTIVALS
German shorts celebrated one success after another during the summer
months. And the USA proved to be particularly interested in
German short films. Tomer Eshed’s Our Wonderful Nature won the
Best Well Told Fable Prize at the SIGGRAPH Festival in Los Angeles,
one of the most internationally renowned competitions in the area of
computer animation. At the end of August at the LA Shorts Festival –
with over 600 films, one of the largest worldwide – Peter Ladkani’s
film Guenstige Prognose won the award for Best Foreign Language Film
and thereby qualifies for submission for the Short Film Oscar ® . In July,
Gil Alkabetz won the Best Short for Children award at Animamundi in
Brasil for his film Ein sonniger Tag.
At the Monterrey International Film Festival in Mexico, Florian Grolig’s
film Weiss took home the Best Animated Short Film prize. And Reto
Caffi’s highly-acclaimed short Auf der Strecke continued its winning
streak after the Student-Oscar ® : at the International Tabor Short film
Festival in Croatia, the moving drama was distinguished as Best Short
german films quarterly news
4 · 2008 14
Scene from “Weiss” (photo © Florian Grolig)

Scene from “Long Shadows” (photo © Olaf Aue)
Lothar Herzog, Dennis Gansel, Jennifer Ulrich, Martin Gypkens in Buenos Aires
Feature. The film also received the Patrick Peyton Excellence in
Filmmaking Award at the Angelus Student Festival in Hollywood.
MFG BADEN-WUERTTEMBERG IN
ROME & PRAGUE
The MFG-supported film Long Shadows by Connie Walther is being
screened in the Official Selection (Cinema 2008 competition) of this
year’s Rome film festival. The Next Film and Gambit Film production
tells the story of Widmer, a former member of the Red Army Faction
who sat in prison for some 20 years. A key witness confirmed his
involvement in the murder of a bank president and bank employee.
But the doubts concerning his involvement remain. Until he meets
Valerie. Then he has to pay…
Three other MFG-supported films were screened at the third DER
FILM festival in Prague, which was organized by the local Goethe-
Institute: Absurdistan by Veit Helmer, Runaway Horse by Rainer
Kaufmann, and Sonbol by Niko Apel. Absurdistan tells the story of a
group of women who start a sex-strike in their village when their men
refuse to repair the local water supply. Runaway Horse, with Ulrich
Noethen, Katja Riemann and Ulrich Tukur in the leading roles,
recounts the coincidental meeting of two old school friends; a meeting
which turns into a competition on life’s philosophies and women’s
fancies. And Sonbol portrays the strong woman of the title name: a
self-employed dentist who lives in the Islamic Republic of Iran – and
drives in sports rallies!
RECORD ATTENDANCE AT 8TH FESTIVAL
OF GERMAN FILMS IN BUENOS AIRES
Some 5,500 cinemagoers packed the Village Recoleta cinemas in
Buenos Aires to see German films. For the third year in a row, attendance
figures climbed and the festival has become a welcomed cultural
event for local audiences, press and distributors in the Argentine
capital.
This year’s festival opened with Dennis Gansel’s The Wave, with the
director and his leading actress Jennifer Ulrich in attendance. The film
was shown in three sold-out screenings. Director Martin Gypkens was
also on hand to present his film Nothing But Ghosts. Other films in the
festival program included: Cherry Blossoms – Hanami by Doris Doerrie,
The Edge of Heaven by Fatih Akin, Trade by Marco Kreuzpaintner,
Special Escort by Maggie Peren, Chiko by Oezguer Yildirim, Beautiful
Bitch by Martin Theo Krieger, And Along Come Tourists by Robert
Thalheim, the documentary To the Limit by Pepe Danquart, the children’s
film Red Zora by Peter Kahane and the TV movie Rose by Alain
Gsponer.
Lothar Herzog was also in Buenos Aires to represent German Films’
NEXT GENERATION 2008 program and presented his film Yuppy
Cars to an enthusiastic audience. The silent movie Hamlet by Sven
Gade and Heinz Schall closed up the event with live musical
accompaniment by the Seronoser Quartett.
german films quarterly news
4 · 2008 15

Dancing with “Sunshine Barry and the Disco Worms” in Toronto
CINE-REGIO IN LEIPZIG
The Mitteldeutsche Medienfoerderung (MDM) will host this
year’s Cine-Regio Annual Meeting, which takes place during the 51st
International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film (27
October – 2 November). Cine-Regio is a network of regional film
funds in Europe and was established in 2005 as an independent nonprofit
association. The network today represents 33 funds from 15
countries. Cine-Regio’s main objectives are to exchange information
for the benefit of the European film industry, to promote regional
audiovisual interests towards European institutions and to strengthen
co-production activities, including creative exchange and know-how
throughout Europe. The Annual Meeting’s agenda, amongst others,
features discussions on members’ activities in the field of children’s
and documentary film, and speakers from the European Commission
and European Audiovisual Observatory.
RENDEZ-VOUS IN HAMBURG
The Hanseatic City of Hamburg will be hosting the sixth Rendez-Vous
Franco-Allemand du Cinéma. Some 400 representatives from France
and Germany will meet from 20 – 22 November to discuss current
film industry issues on various panels. Topics include co-productions,
means of funding, and digital cinema projection. The Senate of Hamburg
is holding a reception and dinner in the Town Hall, after which
alumni of the German-French Masterclass of the Ludwigsburg Film
Academy will throw a party for all the Rendez-Vous guests. “The
three-day event will deepen the contacts established between our
two countries throughout the past years. As hosts, we will do our best
to enthuse our French guests and the entire German film industry for
Hamburg as an ambitious, cosmopolitan film city,” says Eva Hubert,
who, as executive director of Filmfoerderung Hamburg
Schleswig-Holstein, is helping to finance and organize the meet-
ing in cooperation with Unifrance and German Films, the Centre
National Cinématographie (CNC), the German Federal Film Board
(FFA), other regional film funding institutions, the Chamber of
Commerce Hamburg and the Free & Hanseatic City of Hamburg.
PREMIERES IN TORONTO
With a total of 36 productions in the festival's various sections, the
German film industry had a very high profile at the 33rd Toronto
International Film Festival (4-13 September 2008).
Four films celebrated their eagerly awaited world premieres at the
festival and were received very favorably by audiences and critics
alike: A Year Ago In Winter by Caroline Link as a Gala Presentation, A
Woman in Berlin by Max Faerberboeck as a Special Presentation, as
well as Krabat by Marco Kreuzpaintner and Sunshine Barry and the
Disco Worms by Thomas Borch Nielsen (DK/DE) in the Sprockets
Family Zone section. Other films presented at Toronto included
Tonight by Werner Schroeter (FR/DE/PT) in Masters, Jerichow by
Christian Petzold, Cloud 9 by Andreas Dresen, My Mother, My Bride,
and I by Hans Steinbichler in Contemporary World Cinema, and the
documentaries The Heart of Jenin by Leon Geller and Marcus Vetter,
Peace Mission by Dorothee Wenner and Upstream Battle by Ben
Kempas in Real to Reel. Most of the directors attended the festival to
personally introduce their films to enthusiastic audiences.
German Films provided information about the German film industry
at a stand at the Sales & Industry area in the Sutton Place Hotel.
Together with the Goethe-Institut and the German Consulate
Toronto, German Films hosted a reception where the German and
international festival guests could exchange ideas for new upcoming
projects and potential co-productions.
german films quarterly news
4 · 2008 16

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IN PRODUCTION
24 Stunden
Schlesisches Tor
Scene from “24 Stunden Schlesisches Tor”
(photo © dffb)
Type of Project Documentary Cinema Genre Society, Culture
Production Company Deutsche Film- & Fernsehakademie Berlin
(dffb) Producer Hartmut Bitomsky Directors Eva Lia Reinegger,
Anna de Paoli Screenplay Eva Lia Reinegger Directors of
Photography Luciano Cervio, Jenny Lou Ziegel Editor Karin
Nowarra Format Digi Beta/Mini-DV, color, 1:1.78, Dolby SR
Shooting Languages German, English Shooting in Berlin, July
2007 German Distributor Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie
Berlin (dffb)
World Sales (please contact)
Deutsche Film- & Fernsehakademie Berlin (dffb)
Maximilian Muellner
Potsdamer Strasse 2 · 10785 Berlin/Germany
phone +49-30-25 75 91 15 · fax +49-30-25 75 91 63
email: muellner@dffb.de · www.dffb.de
Schlesisches Tor in the Berlin district of Kreuzberg is one of the most
lively places in the city. The area is full of shops, snack bars, restaurants
and clubs. It is also home to the above-ground subway station of
the same name, which is the last stop line U1 makes in Kreuzberg
before it crosses the Oberbaumbruecke into the eastern part of the
city. Just behind the bridge used to be the Wall.
Directors Eva Lia Reinegger and Anna de Paoli, both students
at the dffb, acknowledge Louis Malle’s 1972 Place de la République as
their template, but instead of ten days talking to and observing the
people of Paris, they’re doing 24 hours Schlesisches Tor!
“We’re taking the rhythm of the place,” Reinegger explains, “Its
breath, the subway, the cars, pedestrians. We’re participating in its
daily routine, acknowledging its atmosphere, how its tempo changes
from morning hectic to afternoon sleepiness. Then comes the evening
rush hour and then the night, which belongs to partygoers, clubbers
and, finally, people making their way home.”
“We spoke to passers-by, and asked them about themselves,” de Paoli
explains. “They paused for thought for a moment, and then told us
about their lives, their work, their children, the people and things they
love. It was astonishing and touching to experience such a variety of
personalities. These interviews became the film’s backbone. We are
trying, in this way, to create a document of time that explains something
about life in the year 2007.”
To turn the location itself, Schlesisches Tor, and the people into the
main protagonists, Reinegger and de Paoli used Mini DV video, the format’s
flexibility and the small size of the camera allowing them to react
spontaneously, interviewing passers-by as they go.
24 Stunden Schlesisches Tor is a slice of Berlin life, a snapshot
of the many people who make this city the exciting and dynamic
metropolis it is.
Berlin
Type of Project Documentary Cinema Genre Art, Biopic,
Theater, Music, City Portrait Production Company cine
plus/Berlin, in co-production with RBB/Postdam-Babelsberg, ARTE/
Strasbourg With backing from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg,
German Federal Film Fund (DFFF) Producers Joerg Schulze,
Arndt Potdevin Directors Michael Ballhaus, Ciro Cappellari
Screenplay Michael Ballhaus, Ciro Cappellari Directors of
Photography Michael Ballhaus, Ciro Cappellari Editor Karl Riedl
Music by Fetisch With Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Maybrit Illner,
Alexander Hacke, Danielle de Picciotto, Dieter Kosslick, Angela
Winkler, Nele Winkler, Dimitri Hegemann, Christoph Schlingensief,
Jeff Mills and others Format HD (HDCAM, HDCAM-SR, XDCAM
EX), blow-up to 35 mm, color, 1:1.66, Dolby Digital Shooting
Language German Shooting in Berlin, June – July 2008
German Distributor Farbfilm Verleih/Berlin
World Sales
Bavaria Film International
Dept. of Bavaria Media GmbH · Thorsten Ritter
Bavariafilmplatz 7 · 82031 Geiselgasteig/Germany
phone +49-89-64 99 26 86 · fax +49-89-64 99 37 20
email: international@bavaria-film.de
www.bavaria-film-international.com
Fate evidently wanted Michael Ballhaus and Ciro Cappellari
to work on a film together.
german films quarterly in production
4 · 2008 18
SK
Ciro Cappellari, Michael Ballhaus
(photo courtesy of Just Publicity)

Three years ago, Joerg Schulze and Arndt Potdevin of the
production department of Berlin’s cine plus had approached the
internationally celebrated cinematographer, who was working on
Martin Scorsese’s The Departed at the time, to make a portrait on the
occasion of his 70th birthday. They had suggested that fellow
cinematographer and director Ciro Cappellari, with whom cine plus
has made several documentaries, including his Adolf Grimme Awardwinning
A Struggle for Love on the musician Abdullah Ibrahim, could be
the director.
Although this project was not realized, Ballhaus proposed Cappellari
as a co-director when broadcaster RBB came to him last year with the
idea of a film about Berlin, tracing the changes and dynamism of the
German capital 20 years after the fall of the Wall as it finds its way to
a new normality.
The new Berlin is shown through the portraits of some 20 people
through their projects and activities, ranging from the city’s mayor
Klaus Wowereit and Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier to Nele Winkler, the handicapped daughter of
actress Angela Winkler, to Clara Leskovar and Doreen
Schulz of the young fashion label C.Neeon and the Turkish kiosk
owner Ercan Ergin.
Producer Joerg Schulze explains that directing a documentary was
“a totally new experience for Michael, involving a lot of preliminary
research. But he had a lot of fun coming back to his native city and
broadening his view of Berlin.”
“It wasn’t just a case of Michael doing the directing and Ciro being the
operator behind the camera,” he continues. “They both wanted the
film to be a joint effort and since Ciro has been living in Berlin for
more than 20 years, he could introduce Michael to people he might
otherwise not have known. There was an open discourse between
the two about whom to interview.”
“Some of the portraits would deserve a whole film in themselves,”
adds producer colleague Arndt Potdevin. “Whether it is celebrities
like Christoph Schlingensief, the musician Alexander
Hacke and the Foreign Minister Steinmeier or less well-known
people such as Nele Winkler.”
“For both of them, an important criterion was that they didn’t just
gather official statements from their interviewees,” Potdevin says.
“Each person had to have a project affecting the city where we could
observe what they are doing and to see some progress in the project
during the film. It was also important that they could develop an intimate
relationship with each person, and not have just talking heads,
because it is much more interesting to know what goes on ’behind the
scenes’ and see how these people really operate.”
The two were able to get up close and personal with their interviewees
thanks to their decision to use the small Sony PMW/EX1,
while the Sony CineAlta F23 camera was deployed for the premium
shots.
“We wanted consciously to avoid those camera movements for
which Michael is so well-known such as crane shots and lots of
dollies,” Potdevin notes. “There is more of a split between a lot of
hand-held and off the shoulder camerawork to always be close to the
people being interviewed and then the wide angle shots with the helicopter
or from the top of buildings around Berlin.”
As the two producers explain, the digital workflow – combining the
XDCAM-EX format footage with the F23’s HDCAM-SR material – is
being handled completely at cine plus’ post-production facilities in
Berlin for theatrical release in Germany by Farbfilm Verleih in 2009.
Die Fremde
Type of Project Feature Film Cinema Genre Drama Production
Company Independent Artists Filmproduktion/Berlin, in
co-production with WDR/Mainz, ARTE/Strasbourg, RBB/Potsdam-
Babelsberg With backing from Filmfoerderungsanstalt (FFA),
Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, BKM, Filmstiftung NRW,
Kuratorium junger deutscher Film, German Federal Film Board
(DFFF) Producers Feo Aladag, Zueli Aladag Director Feo Aladag
Screenplay Feo Aladag Director of Photography Judith
Kaufmann Editor Andrea Mertens Music by Max Richter Production
Design Silke Buhr Principal Cast Sibel Kekilli, Nizam
Schiller, Settar Tanrioegen, Derya Alabora, Tamer Yigit, Florian Lukas,
Serhad Can, Almila Bagriacik, Nursel Koese, Alwara Hoefels, Ufuk
Bayraktar, Orhan Guener Casting Ulrike Mueller, Harika Uygur, Luci
Lenox Format 35 mm, color, cs, Dolby SR Shooting
Languages German, Turkish Shooting in Berlin, Istanbul, July-
September 2008 German Distributor Delphi Filmverleih/Berlin
World Sales
TELEPOOL GmbH · Anja Uecker
Sonnenstrasse 21 · 80331 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-55 87 60 · fax +49-89-55 87 62 29
email: cinepool@telepool.de · www.telepool.de
Twenty-five year old Umay flees with her young son, Cem (5), from
her husband in Istanbul back to her home city of Berlin. She wants
Cem to grow up in a loving environment and hopes for her family’s
support. But trapped in convention and convinced that Umay is
bringing shame upon them, her parents and brothers withhold their
support. Torn between their affection for their own daughter and
sister and a system of archaic rules, they struggle with a seemingly
unresolvable situation until Umay leaves her family. With hope in her
heart and a good deal of strength and endurance, Umay builds a new
life for Cem and herself. Unable to cut those strongest of bonds,
family ties, she makes repeated attempts to reconcile. But Umay’s
struggle for self-determination unleashes a deadly chain of events.
german films quarterly in production
4 · 2008 19
MB
Scene from “Die Fremde” (photo courtesy of
Independent Artists Filmproduktion)

Die Fremde (“The Stranger”) is the powerful debut film of writerdirector
Feo Aladag who, together with Zueli Aladag, is the cofounder
of Berlin-based Independent Artists Filmproduktion,
whose first feature film this also happens to be.
“First and foremost,” Feo Aladag says, “we want to realize our own
film material, material which is artistically of a high standard as well as
commercial. We are convinced that films which have relevant content,
made in a universal way will – if they have high cinematic standards
and are entertaining – find their audience.”
In which case, Die Fremde is certainly off to a flying start with the
casting of Sibel Kekilli as the main protagonist, Umay. Kekilli is the
winner of the German Film Award in Gold and the New Faces
Award, both 2004, for her searing performance in Fatih Akin’s Head-
On. This is a woman who brings burning intensity to the screen.
Kekilli is supported by a great cast which includes Turkish stars
Derya Alabora and Settar Tanrioegen, as well as Florian
Lukas (Good Bye, Lenin!), Nursel Koese (The Edge of Heaven)
and Tamer Yigit (Freunde). Making their screen debuts are
Nizam Schiller (5), Serhad Can (16) and Almila Bagriacik
(18).
Other names to note in Die Fremde’s credits are that of director
of photography Judith Kaufmann, nominated for the German
Film Award 2007 for her work on Four Minutes, and production designer
Silke Buhr, who worked on the Oscar ® and German Film
Award-winning The Lives of Others.
The circumstances and events depicted in Die Fremde, sadly, are
only too real in many parts of the world, including here in Europe,
where certain sections of immigrant communities embody culturally
archaic notions of male-female relationships.
As Die Fremde shows, the truth is that there is nothing at all
honorable about a so-called ’honor killing’’ but “our aim from the
beginning,” Zueli Aladag says, “is to depict all the characters in this
drama as human, with their contradictions, inner struggles and distress.
This is not a polemic about so-called honor killings, otherwise
we’d have written a newspaper article. The first rushes show this will
be a special film.”
SK
Der grosse Kater
Type of Project Feature Film Cinema Genre Drama, Love Story,
Thriller Production Company Neue Bioskop Film/Munich, in
co-production with Abrakadabra Films/Zurich, Barry Films/Berlin
With backing from Hessen Invest, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern,
Eurimages, Zuercher Filmstiftung, Bundesamt fuer Kultur, German
Federal Film Fund (DFFF) Producers Dietmar Guentsche,
Wolfgang Behr, Wolfgang Mueller Co-Producers Claudia Wick,
Benito Mueller Director Wolfgang Panzer Screenplay Claus
Hant, Dietmar Guentsche Director of Photography Edwin
Horak Editor Jean-Claude Piroué Production Design Josef
Sanktjohanser Principal Cast Bruno Ganz, Ulrich Tukur, Marie
Baeumer, Christiane Paul, Edgar Selge, Justus von Dohnányi, Antoine
Monot Jr. Format 35 mm, color, 1:1.85, Dolby Digital Shooting
Language German Shooting in Berne, Munich, Bad Toelz,
August – October 2008 German Distributor Senator Film
Verleih/Berlin
World Sales
TELEPOOL GmbH · Irina Ignatiew
Sonnenstrasse 21 · 80331 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-55 87 60 · fax +49-89-55 87 61 88
email: telepool@telepool.de · www.telepool.de
Principal photography took place between August and October on
Wolfgang Panzer’s Der grosse Kater by Munich-based
Neue Bioskop Film under the new management of Dietmar
Guentsche since he and new producing partner Wolfgang Behr
took the company over from Eberhard Junkersdorf at the beginning
of last year.
At the 2007 Berlinale, the Swiss production house Abrakadabra
Films and its German partner Barry Films approached Neue
Bioskop looking for a partner with production experience to board
the adaptation of Thomas Huerlimann’s 1998 bestselling novel of the
same name.
“Bruno Ganz was already attached and we began the financing on
the German side,” Guentsche recalls, pointing out that the shoot had
to be put back until this summer since the screenplay needed to be
rewritten. “We received the highest sums possible granted by the
Zuercher Filmstiftung and the Federal Office for Culture (BAK) in
Berne along with backing from Germany – FFF Bayern, Hessen Invest
and the new ’German spend’ incentive scheme DFFF – as well as
Eurimages.”
german films quarterly in production
4 · 2008 20
Scene from “Der grosse Kater”
(photo courtesy of Neue Bioskop Film)

In Der grosse Kater, Huerlimann juxtaposes the political work of
a Federal President – his politician father Hans held this position for a
year in 1979 – with the private tragedy of a dying son (Huerlimann’s
brother in real life).
“It is a Swiss story but, at the same time, a local story for global
markets,” Guentsche explains. “We see the politician Kater [Ganz] at
the zenith of his career whose rival [played by Ulrich Tukur] is
planning his downfall out of revenge. He begins intriguing that the
Federal President has arranged a visit to his terminally ill son in the
hospital as part of the official program during the state visit by the
Spanish royal couple. Kater lands up rock bottom, but through a trick
manages to turn the story around to his favor the next day and win
back his wife’s love.”
“The plot is very emotional, has great drama, and is a political thriller
and a love story,” Guentsche says, arguing that “the film has lots of
potential to appeal to different audiences.”
He adds that the novel by Thomas Huerlimann, who is one the best
known living Swiss authors on a par with Max Frisch or Friedrich
Duerrenmatt, has “a half documentary and half fictional form. The
book blurs the distinctions. While the novel was set in 1979, we have
transposed the action [for the film] to the present and put more
emphasis on the fictional elements.”
Meanwhile, the choice of director will ensure that the “behind the
scenes” in this depiction of the world of high politics and diplomacy
will have a particularly authentic feel since Munich-born director
Wolfgang Panzer worked for many years for Swiss television reporting
and directing programs from the Swiss parliament assembly
for the nightly news flagship Tagesschau. “He has an intimate knowledge
of the life of politicians and their habits,” Guentsche explains.
Moreover, the project, which has attracted such top-notch actors as
Marie Baeumer, Christiane Paul, Edgar Selge, and Justus
von Dohnányi, alongside Ganz and Tukur, also enjoyed great support
from the Swiss political establishment at the highest level when
applying for shooting permits for original locations in Berne, including
a last-minute intervention from the Ministry of Defense to ensure that
the Swiss Army could provide a guard of honor for a scene depicting
the state visit of the Spanish royals.
MB
Haus und Kind
Type of Project TV Movie Genre Drama, Comedy Production
Company Kineo Filmproduktion/Potsdam for BR/
Munich, in co-production with ARTE/Strasbourg, Typhoon
Films/Munich Producers Peter Hartwig, Cooky Ziesche
Commissioning Editors Cornelia Ackers (BR), Andreas
Schreitmueller (ARTE) Director Andreas Kleinert Screenplay
Wolfgang Kohlhaase Director of Photography Johann Feindt
Editor Gisela Zick Production Design Gabriele Wolff
Principal Cast Marie Baeumer, Stefan Kurt, Stephanie Schoenfeld,
Lilly Marie Tschoertner, Karin Neuhaeuser Casting Nina Haun
Format Super 16 mm, color, 1:1.77, Stereo Shooting Language
German Shooting in Seegrehna, Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Berlin,
Ahrenshoop, June – August 2008
Contact
Bayerischer Rundfunk · Maike Beba
Floriansmuehlstrasse 60 · 80939 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-38 06 51 62 · fax +49-89-38 06 76 44
email: Maike.Beba@brnet.de · www.brnet.de
Producers Peter Hartwig and Cooky Ziesche embarked this
summer on their third collaboration with veteran screenwriter
Wolfgang Kohlhaase for Andreas Kleinert’s Haus und
Kind (“House and Child”) after previously working together on
Andreas Dresen’s Summer in Berlin and Whisky mit Wodka.
It was particularly after their experiences on Summer in Berlin in 2004
that Hartwig and Ziesche decided to work with Kohlhaase on more
projects in the future. Ziesche developed the story idea for Haus
und Kind together with Kohlhaase before she and Hartwig started
looking for the right director for the project.
Their choice fell on Andreas Kleinert who was last seen in the cinemas
with his surreal grotesque drama Head Under Water which premiered
at the 2007 Venice Film Festival.
“Cooky had made two epiosodes of the series Polizeiruf with
Andreas Kleinert for RBB and he was our first choice as director for
the film,” recalls Hartwig who has served as production manager or
line producer on some 35 TV movies and feature films since 1995,
including many of Andreas Dresen’s films as well as films by Dani Levy
(My Fuehrer) and Oskar Roehler (Angst). “Andreas Kleinert works
very well with the actors and they appreciate his directness and
attentiveness. He is a very passionate director with great attention to
detail. There are many nuances in a Kohlhaase script which one could
german films quarterly in production
4 · 2008 21
Scene from “Haus und Kind”
(photo © Kineo Film/Conny Klein)

easily read over, but Andreas is very precise.”
The project by Hartwig’s Babelsberg-based production company
Kineo Film then found its champions in Cornelia Ackers, a
commissioning editor at BR who had already worked with Kleinert in
the past, and in Andreas Schreitmueller at ARTE in Strasbourg.
The plot of Haus und Kind centers on a professor of Modern
German History (played by Stefan Kurt) who wants to move into
a new house in the country with his wife (Marie Baeumer) and
also have a child with his girlfriend (Stephanie Schoenfeld). A
summer and winter between Berlin and the Baltic coast see the man
getting himself entangled in that old, old story: what does a man do
with two women? Or rather: what do two women do with one man?
As Kohlhaase explains, he sees Haus und Kind as “playing with the
classical love triangle constellation. After all, how can monogamy
prove its worth if it doesn’t have a chance to fall into temptation? The
man confidently dedicates himself to his goal, but we already have a
feeling that things won’t go well. We are dealing here with a serious
subject but it can also be told with irony. Everything can end murderously
or laconically.”
Meanwhile, Kleinert expresses his admiration for Kohlhaase’s skill “of
how he manages to describe, in a few clear sentences, processes that
are much more complex in reality. At first glance, the story appears
to be quite simple, but it has so much to say about our time and that
really touched me. It is not comparable with other films by Kohlhaase.
I wouldn’t describe it as a pure comedy because there are melancholic
and even tragic moments.”
Moreover, Hartwig and Kleinert are both full of praise for lead actor
Stefan Kurt whose recent films have included Dani Levy’s My Fuehrer,
Chris Kraus’ Four Minutes and Justus von Dohnányi’s Bis zum Ellenbogen.
“Stefan Kurt looks a bit like one of those desperate characters from
a Woody Allen film,” Hartwig explains. “He perfectly transports this
desperation of not being able to make a choice between two
women.”
“You can do a lot with Stefan,” Kleinert adds. “Every close-up is exciting.
We are shooting with him every day and he is in every scene, and
yet he is constantly surprising us with new reactions and nuances. It is
a perfect joy!”
As for the personnel behind the camera, it is clearly a case of ’never
change a winning team’ for Kleinert, since he is working on Haus
und Kind with many of his regular family of collaborators from the
past 15 years – ranging from the DoP Johann Feindt (who is a
respected documentary filmmaker in his own right) through editor
Gisela Zick to costume designer Dorothee Kriener and production
designer Gabriele Wolff.
“That makes the atmosphere on the set more relaxed and the actors
feel more at ease when they see that we have been working together
for so long,” Kleinert says.
MB
Hilde
Type of Project Feature Film Cinema Genre Biopic Production
Company Egoli Tossell Film AG/Berlin, in co-production
with MMC Independent/Cologne, Pictorion – DAS WERK/
Duesseldorf With backing from Filmstiftung NRW,
Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Filmfoerderungsanstalt (FFA),
German Federal Film Fund (DFFF) Producer Judy Tossell
Director Kai Wessel Screenplay Maria von Heland Director
of Photography Hagen Bogdanski Editor Tina Freitag Production
Design Thomas Freudenthal Principal Cast Heike
Makatsch, Dan Stevens, Monica Bleibtreu, Michael Gwisdek, Hanns
Zischler, Anian Zollner, Trystan Puetter, Johanna Gastdorf, Sylvester
Groth, Roger Cicero Casting Nina Haun, Leo Davis, Nancy Bishop
Format 35 mm, color, cs, Dolby Shooting Languages German
& English Shooting in in Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia,
Magdeburg, South Africa, June – August 2008 German Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures Germany/Hamburg
World Sales
Beta Cinema / Dept. of Beta Film GmbH
Andreas Rothbauer
Gruenwalder Weg 28 d · 82041 Oberhaching/Germany
phone +49-89-67 34 69 80 · fax +49-89-6 73 46 98 88
email: ARothbauer@betacinema.com
www.betacinema.com
Just over two years ago, producer Judy Tossell made two feature
films with Heike Makatsch – Ed Herzog’s Twisted Sister and Almost
Heaven – and was then “looking for a great role and great German
stories” to continue the collaboration with the award-winning actress.
Their attention turned to the life of legendary German diva and international
star Hildegard Knef: “I was amazed that nothing had been
made for the cinema about her because her life is incredible,” recalls
Tossell who then optioned the rights to Knef ’s story from her estate.
Initially, a screenplay was developed charting Knef ’s life between 1943
and 1966 without a director attached until Egoli Tossell Film
brought director Kai Wessel onboard the project in Spring 2007.
As Tossell points out, Wessel’s work on the event TV movie March of
Millions (Die Flucht) with Maria Fuertwaengler and Dagmar Manzel
“showed that Kai can handle high-quality historical drama and very
subtle characterization, often with very strong women characters.”
In a next stage of the screenplay’s development, Swedish-born
Maria von Heland – Tossell had produced her feature film debut
german films quarterly in production
4 · 2008 22
Heike Makatsch as “Hilde”
(photo © Egoli Tossell Film/MMC/Bernd Spauke)

Big Girls Don’t Cry in 2001 – then prepared a new version of the script
which gave a new perspective to the story. “Having not grown up
with Hildegard Knef, neither Maria nor I had any pre-conceptions
about who she was – or indeed who she later became,” Tossell
explains. “Maria was able to take a totally fresh look at her life.”
“Knef ’s life was dictated by the world she was brought up in,” she
continues, stressing that Wessel’s take on the multi-talent is “a human
story and not a walk through German history.”
The 9.5 million Euros production by Berlin-based Egoli Tossell Film in
co-production with Cologne’s MMC Independent and the postproduction
company Pictorion – DAS WERK was filmed over
the summer at original locations in Berlin such as the Philharmonie
(for Knef ’s legendary concert in 1966), Tempelhof Airport, the
Schiller Theater (for the premiere of her 1950 film Die Suenderin), and
at the Babelsberg studios before moving on to locations in
Magdeburg, Bonn and Cologne and interior sets at the MMC studios
in Cologne-Huerth, while locations in South Africa doubled up for
Hollywood and London.
Apart from Makatsch who plays the pivotal role of Hildegard Knef
and has also recorded new arrangements of her songs with the WDR
Big Band for the film, Wessel’s Hilde has put an impressive cast
together for the other parts, ranging from Michael Gwisdek as
Knef ’s beloved grandfather through Monica Bleibtreu as the Ufa
casting director Else Bongers to Sylvester Groth as the theater
director Boleslaw Barlog and Hanns Zischler as the legendary film
producer Erich Pommer.
Shortly before shooting began in June, the production landed a coup
by casting the German jazz and swing musician Roger Cicero in his
first acting role as the musician Ricci Blum, a figure loosely based on a
real-life character who meets Knef at important stages in her life.
In addition, Tossell speaks of “a gift from heaven” in the casting of the
young British actor Dan Stevens (starring in the BBC’s new adaptation
of Sense & Sensibility) in his first cinema role as David Cameron,
the actor and director who was married to Hildegard Knef from 1962
to 1976. “He looks the part and also happens to speak German,” says
Tossell, who is planning to release the film in German cinemas
through Warner Bros. next March.
MB
Hitler vor Gericht
Type of Project Docudrama Genre TV Movie Production
Company Tellux-Film/Munich Producer Martin Choroba
Director Bernd Fischerauer Screenplay Klaus Gietinger, Bernd
Fischerauer Director of Photography Markus Fraunholz
Editor Gaby Kroeber Production Design Rudi Czettl
Principal Cast Johannes Zirner, Alexander Held, Johannes
Silberschneider, Franjo Marincic, Peter Fricke, George Meyer-Goll,
Andreas Nickel, Heinrich Schmieder, Alexander Goebel, Dieter
Fischer Format 16 mm, color, 16:9 Shooting Language
German Shooting in Munich, July – August 2008 German
Distributor TELEPOOL/Munich
World Sales
TELEPOOL GmbH · Ricarda Scherff
Sonnenstrasse 21 · 80331 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-55 87 60 · fax +49-89-55 87 61 88
email: telepool@telepool.de · www.telepool.de
Hitler did once stand trial for his crimes! Obviously, he escaped judgment
at Nuremberg but thirty years earlier he was brought before the
courts following the failure of what is known as the Beer Hall (or
Munich) Coup of November 8, 1923. On that day Hitler, the popular
World War I General Erich Ludendorff and other leaders of the
Kampfbund (a league of “patriotic” fighting societies and the Nazis
in Bavaria) tried unsuccessfully to gain power in Munich, and
Germany.
A painful mixture of melodrama and histrionics continued until the
next day, when the conspirators decided to march – with no clear
plan of where to go! They were met by the police who opened fire.
Ludendorff stood his ground. Hitler fled. Four police and sixteen
putschists were killed.
We cut to Tuesday, February 26, 1924. Hitler stands before the court,
accused of high treason: his guilt is patently clear and the death penalty
appears inevitable. Instead, the presiding judge, Georg Neithardt,
opens the proceedings and gives Hitler the opportunity to make a
four-hour speech denouncing the Weimar Republic and its government!
“To understand how this came about,” producer Martin Choroba
says, “you have to realize that the three most influential politicians in
Bavaria, Gustav von Kahr, Otto von Lossow and Hans Ritter von
german films quarterly in production
4 · 2008 23
Scene from “Hitler vor Gericht”
(photo courtesy of Tellux-Film)

Seisser, who, essentially, controlled the state’s government, police and
military, were under the greatest pressure because they had coup
plans of their own! Hitler’s trial could have brought their connections
and conspiracies into the light!”
Thus, the Bavarian justice system went through even less than the
motions and Hitler had the luckiest of escapes. The murder, or at
least manslaughter, of the four police officers was not even mentioned,
the taking of Jewish hostages passed over and a bank robbery was
reduced to a “confiscation”.
Hitler received the minimum sentence of five years and, in another
travesty of justice, permitted to apply for parole and his deportation
obstructed. Just nine months after his arrest, he was back on the
streets. The rest is sad history.
“The trial is our foreground,” Choroba continues. We take that as the
narrative thread and use flashbacks to witness Hitler’s putsch, first in
the beer hall and then the march through the city the next day. From
the different perspectives of Kahr, Seisser and Lossow we receive different
views of the whole scenario as well as the underlying political
situation.”
“This enables us to examine who was responsible for the failure of
the legal situation, what the chain of events was that enabled Hitler to
escape the fate he deserved and who were the people who supported
him. “It’s important to convey the then-prevailing mood and to
explain the conditions which were the soil in which Hitler flourished
later. He was treated with kid gloves as an instrument of the government.
Then, as well as later, everyone underestimated him.”
Kindersuche
Scene from “Kindersuche”(photo © Ziegler
Film GmbH & Co. KG/Britta Krehl)
Type of Project TV Movie Genre Drama, History Production
Company Ziegler Film/Berlin, in cooperation with
SWR/Baden-Baden, ARD Degeto/Frankfurt, ARTE/Strasbourg,
ORF/Vienna Producers Gabriela Sperl, Wolfgang Hantke
Director Miguel Alexandre Screenplay Gabriela Sperl, based on
an idea by Renate Michel Director of Photography Busso von
Mueller Editor Tobias Forth Production Design Thomas Franz
Principal Cast Felicitas Woll, Wotan Wilke Moehring, Inga
Birkenfeld, Hermann Beyer, Roman Knizka, Magali Greif Casting
Heta Mantscheff Casting Format Super 16, color, 16:9, Dolby 5.1
SK
Shooting Language German Shooting in Sulzburg,
Sperenberg, Wrangelsburg, Berlin, June – August 2008
Contact
Ziegler Film GmbH & Co. KG · Thomas Petersen
Neue Kantstrasse 14 · 14057 Berlin/Germany
phone +49-30-3 20 90 50 · fax +49-30-3 22 73 53
email: petersen@ziegler-film.de
www.ziegler-film.com
A mother searches desperately for her daughter in the confusion and
chaos of post-war Europe. It is summer 1946. Germany lies in ruins.
Millions of displaced persons are on the move. At Gleiwitz/Gliwice
station, Rosemarie Herrmann (Felicitas Woll) and family are trying
to reach the train for western Germany. Among the huge crowds,
her ten-year-old daughter Marie (Magali Greif) becomes separated
and vanishes in the teeming masses. The desperate Rosemarie,
her father, sister and small son end up in Swabia. Rosemarie tries
everything to find her daughter. Official channels prove no use. Then
she meets Harald Bergmann (Wotan Wilke Moehring) who
offers to help her. Rosemarie intensifies her search. Meanwhile, Marie
is now in a children’s home on the Baltic. Her emotional and mental
state is deteriorating.
Gripping drama from Ziegler Film, one of the Germany’s largest
independent film and television producers. Founded in 1973 by
Regina Ziegler, “Our aim,” she says, “is to awaken the interest
and attention of the audience. This has always been a demanding
market and the only way to stimulate an audience is with a profile of
creativity and quality.”
As Ziegler Film’s track record shows, it’s something they’re very good
at! Past honors include the Golden Rose at Montreux, the German
Film Award and the Adolf Grimme Award. “We have always placed
a constant focus on film,” Ziegler continues, “with productions such
as Korczak (screened in Cannes), A Year of the Quiet Sun (Golden Lion
Venice), Fabian (Oscar ® and Golden Globe nomination) and the Erotic
Tales series (Oscar ® -nomination for The Dutch Master)”.
For Kindersuche, the company was able to win two top names,
Felicitas Woll and Wotan Wilke Moehring.
An extremely versatile actress, one who puts the character before
herself, Woll first became a household name in the comedy series
Berlin, Berlin, for which she walked away with the Adolf Grimme
Award and the Bavarian TV Award. And as her various credits show
(Maedchen, Maedchen, Tatort, Dresden), she is equally at home on the
big as well as small screen, able to cross genres with ease.
Wotan Wilke Moehring makes for great onscreen tough guy presence
with depth! A character actor, he’s much in demand for both film
and television. Yet to be seen in the Tom Cruise epic Valkyrie, his previous
and extensive credits include Bang Boom Bang – Ein todsicheres
Ding, Das Experiment, Lammbock, Antikoerper, and Nichts als
Gespenster.
Director Miguel Alexandre can also look back on an award-winning
track record (not that he’s finished by any means!). In 2005 he
won the Adolf Grimme Award for Gruesse aus Kaschmir. Gran
Paradiso (2001) was nominated in the German Film Awards for Best
Film, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. Der Pakt
(1996) was recognized with a Golden Lion in Venice, while his About
german films quarterly in production
4 · 2008 24

War (1993) was nominated for an Oscar ® in the category of Best
Foreign Student Film.
Creativity and quality: two givens at Ziegler Film, with
Kindersuche, a gripping emotional drama, set to continue the
trend.”
Maennersache
Gernot Roll, Mario Barth, Oliver Berben
(photo © 2008 Constantin Film Verleih)
Type of Project Feature Film Cinema Genre Comedy
Production Company Constantin Film Produktion/Munich
With backing from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, German
Federal Film Fund (DFFF) Producer Oliver Berben Executive
Producer Martin Moszkowicz Directors Gernot Roll, Mario
Barth Screenplay Mario Barth, Dieter Tappert Director of
Photography Gernot Roll Editor Carsten Eder Production
Design Florian Lutz Principal Cast Mario Barth, Dieter Tappert,
Michael Gwisdek, Anja Kling Casting Emrah Ertem Format HD,
color, 1:1.85, blow-up to 35 mm, Dolby Digital Shooting
Language German Shooting in Berlin, June – August 2008
German Distributor Constantin Film Verleih/Munich
Contact
Constantin Film Produktion GmbH
Feilitzschstrasse 6 · 80802 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-44 44 60 0 · fax +49-89-44 44 60 666
email: kes@constantinfilm.de · www.constantinfilm.de
More than ten years ago, German stand-up comedian Mario Barth
and colleague Dieter Tappert promised each other that when
they hit the big time, they would write a screenplay for a feature film
to star in – and whoever was the first one to get an offer would bring
the other onboard the project.
In the meantime, Barth and Tappert have both become established
figures in the German comedy scene, Barth winning the German
Comedy Award on three occasions and being the author of the bestselling
book Deutsch-Frau/Frau-Deutsch.
As producer Oliver Berben recalls, plans for the duo’s feature film
debut began in earnest two years ago when development of a screenplay
began with Constantin Film in Munich.
SK
“The two had been thinking of a story for their first film for some
time and we worked very closely together, with influence on my part
as far as the film side was concerned and from their side for the
comedy elements. Even before they began writing the screenplay,
Mario had always wanted Michael Gwisdek to play his father and
then we came upon Anja Kling for the girlfriend. The idea of guest
roles for Juergen Vogel and Uwe Ochsenknecht also came
during the development.”
Barth plays the shop assistant Paul in a pet shop in Berlin, who has
dreams of becoming a successful comedian. However, nothing seems
to go right until he starts making jokes about his best mate Hotte
(Tappert) and girlfriend Susi (Kling). The audience goes wild with
excitement, but Hotte and Susi are far from pleased. Paul has to decide
– between friendship or career.
Berben stresses that Maennersache (“A Man’s World”) “isn’t a
standup comedy show, but rather a film with its own plot. Our aim
and desire is to give the audience what they know from Mario and
Dieter, but not just that – we want to give them a little more to make
that difference!”
He admits that humor is a genre which traditionally finds it hard to
travel: “Apart from Jewish humor, this genre is very much a national
concern with its own stars in the comedy and stand-up fields. With
Mario, for example, he is clearly aiming at a German audience by
drawing from his observations from his day-to-day life and what he
sees around him.”
“But that doesn’t mean that this humor can’t appeal to other people
internationally. The story here in Maennersache isn’t a purely
German topic as the logline – ’two men and a woman, she’s the problem’
– shows. On the one hand, you have the humor dealing with the
differences between men and women and then there is a form of selfdeprecating
humor that is able to laugh about oneself. That’s something
that one doesn’t see that often in Germany.”
With two greenhorns in front of the camera, Berben made sure that
he had someone experienced behind the camera – and who better
than director/DoP Gernot Roll, whose career has managed to
combine work on such varying productions as Heimat, Robber
Hotzenplotz and Ballermann 8.
“It was my wish from the outset that we had a director with extensive
experience both of film und comedy, who was also someone
prepared to work with a person like Mario who knows exactly what
he wants, but is not necessarily conversant with the technical side,”
Berben says, explaining the decision of picking Roll as a co-director
for Barth.
MB
german films quarterly in production
4 · 2008 25

Romy
Jessica Schwarz as “Romy”
(photo © SWR/Phoenix/Joachim Gern)
Type of Project TV Movie Genre Biopic, Drama Production
Company Phoebus Film/Huerth, in co-production with
SWR/Baden-Baden & Stuttgart, WDR/Cologne, Degeto/Frankfurt,
ORF/Vienna, NDR/Hamburg With backing from Filmstiftung
NRW, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg,
Land Salzburg Producers Markus Brunnemann, Nicole Galley
Commissioning Editors Carl Bergengruen (SWR), Michael
Schmidl (SWR), Michael André (WDR), Hans-Wolfgang Jurgan
(Degeto), Klaus Lintschinger (ORF), Doris Heinze (NDR) Director
Torsten C. Fischer Screenplay Benedikt Roeskau Director of
Photography Holly Fink Editor Benjamin Hembus Music by
Annette Focks Production Design Martin Schreiber Principal
Cast Jessica Schwarz, Thomas Kretschmann, Guillaume Delorme,
Maresa Hoerbiger, Heinz Hoenig Casting Ingrid Cuenca Format
16 mm, color, 16:9, Stereo Shooting Language German
Shooting in Paris, French Riviera, North Rhine-Westphalia,
Bavaria, Salzburg, Berlin, September – November 2008 German
Distributor Phoebus Film/Huerth
World Sales
Beta Film GmbH · Dirk Schuerhoff
Gruenwalder Weg 28d · 82041 Oberhaching/Germany
phone +49-89-67 34 69 80 · fax+49-89-67 34 69 888
email: dirk.schuerhoff@betafilm.com
www.betafilm.com
“I must always go the most extreme, even if it’s not good. I love going
to the limits of the possible, professionally as in my private life. I
regret nothing” – Romy Schneider.
How many stars, in whichever field, are instantly recognizable from
just their first name? Elvis Presley, from the world of music, of
course. But actors? Romy Schneider is one of the very few to have
earned a place among that elite pantheon and in this, a biopic whose
title says it all, the award-winning the Jessica Schwarz, demonstrates
that behind her beauty lie great acting chops.
Romy, the film, depicts the most important events and passages in
the life of this world star, a life that was lived both passionately and
intensively and fascinates still to this very day.
Romy Schneider was a woman, an artist, who remained a puzzle to
the world as well as herself. There was the myth and reality of the
celebrated and sought-after actress, and the sad reality of a woman
who achieved such great success and yet searched unceasingly for the
happiness and love that were to elude her.
She spent her childhood years in a boarding school, far from her
parents. She fell deeply in love with French superstar Alain Delon, had
what is best-termed a difficult marriage to Harry Meyen, suffered
great personal loss and tragedy (including the death of her son) and,
last but not least, fought constantly to escape her image as Sissi (the
role of the empress Elisabeth of Austria she played in the 1955, 1956
and 1957 films of the same title). It was this struggle, just one of the
many which defined her, that was to take her to France and there,
finally, enable her rise to become a great international and awardwinning
star.
Alongside Jessica Schwarz, Thomas Kretschmann (who has
already made a name for himself both in German as well as
Hollywood cinema) plays Harry Meyen, Romy’s first husband, whilst
French shooting star Guillaume Delorme plays Alain Delon.
Maresa Hoerbiger appears as Magda Schneider and Heinz
Hoenig plays her stepfather, Herbert Blatzheim. The younger Romy
is portrayed by Alicia von Rittberg and Stella Kunkat,
respectively.
Romy is not a kiss and tell piece of sensationalism for scandalmongers,
but a respectful depiction of this unique and deservedly venerated
woman who lived her life, as she herself said, to the extreme. But
as to her regrets? She surely had a great many.
SK
Rosamunde Pilcher:
Vier Jahreszeiten
Type of Project Mini-Series Genre Drama, Love Story
Production Company Tele Muenchen/Munich, in cooperation
with Gate Television Production/Munich & London Producers
Herbert Kloiber, Rikolt von Gagern Director Giles Foster
Screenplay Matthew Thomas, Trevor Bowen Director of
Photography Tony Imi Editor Catherine Creed Music by
Richard Blackford Production Design Martyn John Principal
Cast Senta Berger, Tom Conti, Michael York, Paula Kalenberg,
Franco Nero, Max V. Pufendorf Casting Beth Charkham Format
16 mm, color, 16:9, Dolby 5.1 Shooting Language English
Shooting in Cornwall & Bath/UK, June – August 2008
german films quarterly in production
4 · 2008 26
From the set of “Vier Jahreszeiten”
(photo © TMG/ Stephen Morely)

World Sales
TMG International · Carlos Hertel
Kaufingerstrasse 24 · 80331 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-29 09 30 · fax +49-89-29 09 31 09
email: sales@tmg.de · www.tmg.de
An internationally acclaimed, star studded, cast brings yet another of
the more than prolific Rosamunde Pilcher’s great romantic works to
the small screen. What is here not to like?!
This time, the tried and tested combination of the Tele Muenchen
Gruppe and Gate Film Television proudly presents Vier
Jahreszeiten (“The Four Seasons Collection”). The drama unfolds,
as the title has it, over the course of one year in the lives of the aristocratic
Combe family.
Endelion, their magnificent country seat, the crown of Cornwall’s
rugged coast (a setting no stranger to millions of Pilcher’s fans), sets
the scene for this sweeping saga which revolves around three women
of three generations. There is Julia, previously banished from Endelion
for “crimes” to be revealed, whose return is the trigger for the turbulent
events. Abby, her grand-daughter, wants to know the secrets
of her past so that she can face the future. There is Charlotte, Julia’s
daughter and Abby’s mother who supposedly killed herself but is still
very much alive in the hearts of the Combe family – and is maybe not
quite as dead, or as far away from Endelion, as some would believe.
All of which would mean nothing without the right cast to bring Vier
Jahreszeiten to life.
Senta Berger (who plays Julia) has received numerous awards,
including a Bambi and an Adolf Grimme Award garnered over a
career that started in 1955 and has not slowed since. Tom Conti
has been nominated for Golden Globes, the Bafta and an Oscar ® .
Michael York, whom even Queen Elizabeth II decorated with an
OBE, has an Emmy nomination to his hugely extensive credits. And
last but not least in the line-up, Franco Nero (whom many will
remember as one of the nasties in Die Hard 2) was once nominated
for a Golden Globe.
Directing Vier Jahreszeiten is British TV-movie and mini-series
stalwart, Giles Foster, whose credits include Foyle’s War, Relative
Strangers, Bertie and Elizabeth and Talking Heads, all or most of which
would be instantly familiar to British audiences and then some.
Rounding up the top level technical credits is writer (and also actor)
Trevor Bowen, who is at home wherever the drama calls for characters
to say and do something and actors to act, as opposed to
standing in front of blue or green screens and having special effects
added in post-production.
But this is really preaching to the converted.
Vier Jahreszeiten is another piece of classic Pilcher that pushes
all the right buttons, both before and behind the camera. Romantic
fiction does not come any better than this.
SK
Schwerkraft
Type of Project Feature Film Cinema Genre Drama
Production Company FRISBEEFILMS/Berlin, in co-production
with ZDF Das kleine Fernsehspiel/Mainz, dffb/Berlin, in cooperation
with ARTE/Strasbourg With backing from Filmfoerderungsanstalt
(FFA), Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Mitteldeutsche
Medienfoerderung, German Federal Film Fund (DFFF) Producers
Alexander Bickenbach, Manuel Bickenbach, Valeska Bochow
Director Maximilian Erlenwein Screenplay Maximilian Erlenwein
Director of Photography Ngo The Chau Editor Toni
Froschhammer Production Design Petra Albert Principal
Cast Fabian Hinrichs, Juergen Vogel, Nora von Waldstaetten, Uwe
Bohm Format 35 mm, color, cs, Dolby Digital 5.1 Shooting
Language German Shooting in Halle, Leipzig, November –
December 2008 German Distributor Farbfilm Verleih/Berlin
World Sales
TELEPOOL GmbH · Anja Uecker
Sonnenstrasse 21 · 80331 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-55 87 60 · fax +49-89-55 87 62 29
email: cinepool@telepool.de · www.telepool.de
A mild mannered bank clerk experiences trauma in the workplace and
goes rogue in this latest production from Berlin-based FRISBEE-
FILMS. That’s the premise for Frederik Feinermann’s radical and not
so gradual change from would-be employee of the month, if anybody
really noticed him, to career criminal as his dark side takes over.
Everyday rules and regulations lose their value, he finally begins a
relationship with the woman, Nadine, whom he has until now observed
only from afar. He hooks up with Vince, an ex-convict, and,
together, they undertake a series of burglaries, by using insider information
from the bank where Frederik works. But what begins as an
adrenaline-fuelled hobby soon turns violent and both men spiral
deeper into dangerous places. It can only be a matter of time before
someone ends up dead. But who?
“Schwerkraft (“Gravity”) is a strange story,” writer-director
Maximilian Erlenwein admits with a grin. “Frederik is trapped in
the prison of his own life, lonely and unhappy. The more rogue he
goes, the freer he becomes. But he is also a disturbed man who acts
unmorally. So how should we empathize with someone like this?”
For Alexander Bickenbach, producer and co-founder (with
brother Manuel Bickenbach) of FRISBEEFILMS, it’s because
“there’s a Frederik in each one of us! We all have lurking depths, a
german films quarterly in production
4 · 2008 27
Scene from “Schwerkraft”
(photo courtesy of FRISBEEFILMS)

secret desire to do things outside common sense and the norm.”
Despite the protagonist’s sick behavior, it’s a tribute to all concerned
that he becomes increasingly likeable as the film unfolds.
“Which is also the tragedy,” Manuel Bickenbach says, “because it’s
only when he crosses the lines of society that he finds himself savoring
genuine human warmth. He’s a person in need of love, just as we
all are.”
Schwerkraft, which has Erlenwein and DoP Ngo The Chau
continuing their ongoing cooperation, draws its tension from audience
fears that Frederik will become a victim of himself. But here the
director has chosen “not to expose or make fun of him, but to take
him seriously and allow him his dignity. The story may sound dark and
tragic, but it’s told with tempo, humor and scurrility, very much in the
vein of, say, Taxi Driver, Fight Club and Trainspotting.”
The film was written especially for actor Fabian Hinrichs (66/67,
Sophie Scholl – The Final Days, Blackout) with whom Erlenwein shared
an apartment for two years and co-developed the character of
Frederik. Playing his buddy in crime is Juergen Vogel whose many
credits include such smash hits as The Free Will, The Wave, and Rabbit
Without Ears.
Founded in 2006 by Alexander and Manuel Bickenbach, FRISBEE-
FILMS places its values on strong emotionality, working with outstanding
talents to become an important player in the international independent
film business. Their greatest successes to date are
Nevermore, Berlin – 1 st of May, and Let the Cat Out of the Bag: the first
of which won the Student Oscar ® 2007.
SK
This Is Love
Type of Project Feature Film Cinema Genre Drama
Production Company Badlands Film/Berlin, in co-production
with Schwarzweiss Filmproduktion/Berlin, cine plus Filmproduktion/
Berlin, WDR/Cologne, ARTE/Strasbourg With backing from
Filmstiftung NRW, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, BKM,
Filmfoerderungsanstalt (FFA), German Federal Film Fund (DFFF)
Producers Matthias Glasner, Lars Kraume, Juergen Vogel
Director Matthias Glasner Screenplay Matthias Glasner
Director of Photography Sonja Rom Editor Mona Braeuer
Music by Christoph Kaiser, Julian Maas Production Design
Frank Pruemmer Principal Cast Corinna Harfouch, Jens Albinus,
Duyen Pham, Juergen Vogel, Katja Danowski, Devid Striesow
Shooting Language German Format HD, blow-up to 35 mm,
color, 1:1.85, Dolby SR Shooting in Vietnam, Berlin, North Rhine-
Westphalia, July – September 2008 German Distributor
Kinowelt Filmverleih/Leipzig
World Sales
TrustNordisk · Susan Wendt
Filmbyen 12 · 2650 Hvidovre/Denmark
phone +45-36-86 87 88 · fax +45-36-77 44 48
email: post@trust-film.dk · www.trust-film.dk
Principal photography wrapped in September on This Is Love
which is the first project of the Berlin-based production company
Badlands Film director Matthias Glasner set up last year with
fellow filmmaker Lars Kraume and actor Juergen Vogel.
“The film’s title comes from the song This Is Always,” Glasner explains.
“I found this romantic text also to be so threatening because there is
that level about the obsession of love. It’s like The Police’s song Every
Breath You Take, which one can see both ways. It is a seemingly
romantic film which also looks at the dark sides of love, of suffering
and breaking down, and everything love can do to us and change our
personality.”
Set in Vietnam and Germany, This Is Love centers on Chris and
the nine-year-old Jenjira on the run from the mafia. Together with his
friend Holger, Chris bought the young Vietnamese girl’s freedom from
human traffickers – without actually being able to pay. Meanwhile, the
female detective Maggie learns after 16 years why her husband up and
left her without a word. These two worlds come together when Chris
is accused of murder and Maggie is charged with interrogating him …
german films quarterly in production
4 · 2008 28
“This Is Love” producers Lars Kraume,
Matthias Glasner, Juergen Vogel
(photo courtesy of Just Publicity)

As Glasner recalls, the idea for the new film came during his research
for his previous feature film The Free Will which was shown in the
Berlinale Official Competition in 2005: “I came across a story which
moved me a lot about a man falling in love with a child and suffering
because he knows that he can never live this love, that he will never
be able to really fall in love. The other story around the Maggie character
played by Corinna Harfouch was about being left and not
knowing the reason why. These were issues which were of interest to
me and people in my circle of friends, so I decided to address the
question of love and suffering.”
While he had Corinna Harfouch in mind from the outset for the part
of Maggie whilst writing the screenplay – she had appeared in two of
his feature films Sexy Sadie and Fandango and several TV movies – a
happy coincidence brought him to the choice of the lead actor, the
Dane Jens Albinus.
“I was working on the screenplay in Hong Kong and happened to see
Lars von Trier’s The Boss of It All where Jens has the lead. I was quite
impressed by his performance and then learned by chance that he is
also represented by my agency in Berlin. I liked the idea of writing a
part for someone I didn’t know in the same way as I did with Sabine
Timoteo for The Free Will.”
Actor Juergen Vogel, who won a Silver Bear at the 2005 Berlinale for
his work as lead actor/co-screenwriter and producer of The Free Will,
notes that the success of this film nationally and internationally was a
great help when they were putting the financing together for This Is
Love.
“Stylistically and formally, it is a quite different film from The Free Will,”
Vogel explains. “The story offers an insight into a world that one is not
aware of, it is quite an adventure.”
The shoot began with two days of filming on location in Saigon – with
the local service producer Star Film handling the logistics on the
ground – before moving back to Berlin and then interiors in North
Rhine-Westphalia.
Vogel adds that the decision to use the new RED digital camera had
financial and artistic reasons: “When you are shooting with an elevenyear-old
child who is appearing in front of the camera for the first
time, it is much easier to work with two cameras rather than having
to have a 35 mm setup. Moreover, we found that you can create a
very interesting aesthetic for the special kind of world where this film
plays.”
“Using the RED was ideal for Matthias so that he could improvise on
set,” adds executive producer Joerg Schulze of cine plus
Filmproduktion whose previous credits include Philip Groening’s
Into Great Silence. “We had only two days of shooting in Vietnam,
which was important because you can’t capture that atmosphere of
the Saigon streets and clubs in the studio in Germany, but using the
RED meant that we had plenty of material to work from.”
“That’s certainly an advantage of the RED that you have lots of material,”
Glasner agrees, “and I also like the fact that what you see directly
on the HD monitor is the final result.”
MB
Transfer
Type of Project Feature Film Cinema Genre Fantasy/Science
Fiction Production Company Schiwago Film/Berlin, in co-production
with ZDF Das kleine Fernsehspiel/Mainz, ARTE/Strasbourg
With backing from MFG Baden-Wuerttemberg, Medienboard
Berlin-Brandenburg, Filmfoerderungsanstalt (FFA), German Federal
Film Fund (DFFF) Producers Marcos Kantis, Martin Lehwald, Michal
Pokorny Commissioning Editor Christian Cloos Director
Damir Lukacevic Screenplay Damir Lukacevic, Gabi Blauert,
Gerald Klein Director of Photography Francisco Dominguez
Editor Frank Brummundt Music by Gerd Wilden Production
Design Tom Hornig Principal Cast B.J. Britt, Regine Nehy, Hans
Michael Rehberg, Ingrid Andree, Jeanette Hain, Mehmet Kurtulus,
Ulrich Voss Casting Lisa Hamill Format 4K HD, blow-up to 35
mm, color, 1:1.85, Dolby Digital Shooting Languages German &
English Shooting in Ueberlingen, Stuttgart, and Berlin, August –
September 2008 German Distributor Novapool Pictures/Berlin
Contact
Schiwago Film GmbH
Gneisenaustrasse 66 · 10961 Berlin/Germany
phone +49-30-69 53 98 10 · fax +49-30-69 53 98 50
email: info@schiwagofilm.de · www.schiwagofilm.de
Man’s dream of eternal youth and life – as old as humanity itself – is
the subject of Damir Lukacevic’s second feature film Transfer
which wrapped on location in Berlin in mid-September.
Originally, Croatian-born Lukacevic, who studied Directing at the
German Film & Television Academy (dffb) in Berlin, had planned to
adapt a short story entitled Thousand Euros, One Life by veteran
Spanish authoress Eli Barcelo as one of the films in a series planned by
ZDF’s Das kleine Fernsehspiel under the banner of “2020”, presenting
different visions of how the future might look.
Realizing that Lukacevic’s proposed adaptation could not be made for
2020’s budget of 100,000 Euros, commissioning editor Christian
Cloos accompanied the young filmmaker in further developing the
project and actively looking for a production company to come onboard.
Berlin’s Schiwago Film was one of the producers approached by
Cloos and Lukacevic and decided to take on the job of further
development of the screenplay and raising the financing.
german films quarterly in production
4 · 2008 29
Scene from “Transfer”
(photo © Schiwago Film/Novapool Pictures)

“We had a very positive reaction from the film funders to Damir
because they knew his last feature, Homecoming, and were impressed
by the screenplay for Transfer,” producer Marcos Kantis
recalls.
The film’s plot centers on the elderly couple Hermann and Anna who
have the dream of beginning anew at the end of their lives. In a sanatorium,
they buy the young bodies of Apolain and Sarah for a million
Euros and, in a personality transfer developed in Germany, the
couple received control over these bodies for 20 hours each day.
Apolain and Sarah are only themselves again for four hours each
night …
“I don’t think there is really anything comparable to this film in
German cinema,” says Kantis. “It is a very modern, futuristic story and
a love story. There is a lot of tongue-in-cheek here, but it is also a subject
which can be discussed in ethical and moral terms in all seriousness.
Moreover, we are medically and technologically up-to-date, and
even a bit further.”
While the elderly couple of Hermann and Anna were cast relatively
quickly, finding the two African actors took a lot more time.
“I hadn’t known Ingrid Andree before, but I was fascinated by her
visually and what I read about her,” Lukacevic explains. The veteran
actress had been a big star in German cinema during the 1950s in such
films as Rolf Thiele’s Primanerinnen, Wolfgang Becker’s Peter Voss, Der
Millionendieb and Helmut Kaeutner’s Der Rest ist Schweigen, but had
concentrated on stage work for the theater in the past 20 years. “I
wrote to her about my project without knowing her, and two days
later she replied that she would like to be part of the film and that she
had fallen in love with the script,” he says.
“And it was her suggestion that we approach Hans Michael Rehberg
– with whom she had often appeared on stage – for the part of
Hermann,” adds Kantis.
Finding the right actors for Apolain and Sarah led the director and
producers to casting sessions in Germany, France, South Africa,
London, and, finally, Los Angeles. Thanks to casting director Lisa
Hamill they could cast B.J. Britt – whose past credits include Victor
Salva’s Peaceful Warrior, Tammi Sutton’s Sutures and the CSI Miami TV
series – and Regine Nehy who appeared this year opposite Samuel L.
Jackson in Neil LaBute’s Lakeview Terrace.
“The story was so structured that we needed young actors between
20 and 30, who are attractive, have a great body and are so good as
actors that they can portray the difference between an African and a
white man or woman,” Lukacevic says.
And Mehmet Kurtulus, who appears with his dark locks bleached
peroxide blonde and wearing blue contact lenses, gives an otherworldly
dimension to the film by speaking his lines in English (he will
dub himself into German for the theatrical release in Germany by
Novapool Pictures next year).
After Matthias Glasner’s This Is Love, Transfer is the second
German feature film this summer to deploy the RED One 4K HD
camera as an alternative to 35 mm. “We did some tests with the
camera beforehand and were extremely convinced,” Lukacevic
recalls. “It has another finish instead of the grainy look of 16 mm.
Everything is a little bit more perfect and that is ideal for this futuristic
story. Nevertheless, there is always a risk with such a camera and the
occasional teething troubles.”
“You have a needle-sharp picture with this camera,” Kantis adds. “At
the same time, it all remains a little artificial, but that’s something
which supports the production design and the actors in the frame.”
Unter Bauern
Type of Project Feature Film Cinema Genre History
Production Company FilmForm/Cologne, Pandora Film/
Cologne, 3L Filmproduktion/Dortmund, in co-production with
Acajou Films/Paris, WDR/Cologne, ARTE/Strasbourg With
backing from Filmstiftung NRW, Eurimages, Filmfoerderungsanstalt
(FFA), German Federal Film Fund (DFFF) Producers
Joachim von Mengershausen, Karl Baumgartner, Werner Wirsing
Co-Producers Gebhard Henke & Michael Andre (WDR), Pascal
Judelewicz (Acajou Films) Director Ludi Boeken Screenplay
Otto Jaegersberg, Imo Moszkowicz, Heidrun Schleef Director of
Photography Dani Schneor Editor Susan Fenn Music by David
Greilsamm Production Design Agnette Schloesser Principal
Cast Veronica Ferres, Armin Rohde, Margarita Broich, Martin Horn,
Lia Hoensbroech, Louisa Mix Casting Filmcast Sabine
Schwedhelm/Duesseldorf Format S16 mm, color, 1:1.85, blow-up
to 35 mm, Dolby SR Shooting Language German Shooting in
Duelmen, Wadersloh, Lippstadt, August – October 2008 German
Distributor 3L Licensing/Dortmund
World Sales
Beta Cinema / Dept. of Beta Film GmbH
Andreas Rothbauer
Gruenwalder Weg 28 d · 82041 Oberhaching/Germany
phone +49-89-67 34 69 80 · fax +49-89-6 73 46 98 88
email: ARothbauer@betacinema.com
www.betacinema.com
“It is about people rather than ideology,” says producer Joachim
von Mengershausen about Unter Bauern (“Among
Farmers”) which is based on the memoirs of Marga Spiegel that were
published in book form under the title of Retter in der Nacht in 1969
and have been adapted for the screen by Otto Jaegersberg, Imo
Moszkowicz and Heidrun Schleef.
german films quarterly in production
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MB
Ludi Boeken
(photo © Petra Seeger/FilmForm Koeln)

The German-French co-production is – after the documentary In
Search of Memory by Petra Seeger – the second foray into production
for Mengershausen’s Cologne-based company FilmForm, although
the former commissioning editor at WDR can look back on an extensive
career in broadcasting with involvement in such prestige projects
as Edgar Reitz’s Heimat family chronicles.
Unter Bauern recounts how some courageous farmers in the
Muensterland region gave refuge to Marga Spiegel’s husband Menne,
herself and her daughter under false names in their farmhouse between
1943 and 1945. The farmers succeeded in achieving the
seemingly impossible: protecting the whole family for two years and
saving them from deportation to the death camps without themselves
having to pay with their own lives or being punished in other ways by
the German government in those days.
The leads are taken by Veronica Ferres (who appeared in Paul
Schrader’s Adam Resurrected which premiered at the Telluride and
Toronto film festivals), Armin Rohde (Mr. Woof) and child actor
Louisa Mix, with Margarita Broich (Four Windows), Martin
Horn (Buddenbrooks) and child actor Lia Hoensbroech playing
the Aschoff family of farmers in front of the camera of the Israeli DoP
Dani Schneor. Other parts are taken by Marlon Kittel (Summer
Storm) and Veit Stuebner (The Counterfeiters).
As Mengershausen notes, the actors approached during the casting
for the film were immediately enthusiastic about being involved in the
project: Veronica Ferres and Armin Rohde both accepted without
hesitation to play the Spiegels. Interestingly, these two roles were cast
with German actors of non-Jewish origin, while there are some Jewish
actors cast for non-Jewish roles.
The veteran writer-director Imo Moszkowicz had given Mengerhausen
Marga Spiegel’s memoirs to read in 1999 as this had been a
pet project of his to direct. In the meantime, Moszkowicz’s state of
health prevented him from being in the director’s chair himself.
“I was very moved by what I read because it is an extraordinary story
about the persecution of the Jews during the Nazi terror,”
Mengershausen says. “The farmers’ decision to save the Spiegel family
was their reaction to the excesses of the Nazi party to drive the
Jews out of Germany. It was a unique incident to save a whole Jewish
family and it was never found out. The people who saved them did
not have to pay for their actions.”
“The farmers had decided in all humility that somebody like Menne
Spiegel, their former horse dealer, should be saved from this injustice,”
Mengershausen continues. “This human feeling of solidarity
was very rare in those days, like a light in the darkness.”
Shooting of Unter Bauern has been done in the original
Muensterland locations, some of which have hardly changed since the
1940s. “It is as if time has stood still,” the producer says, adding that
the locals in the Muensterland region are proud that this story is now
being told at last for the big screen.
The project also has a personal resonance for the film’s Dutch-born
director Ludi Boeken who was the producer of another film about
this particular chapter of recent history, Radu Mihaileanu’s awardwinning
film Train of Life in 1998.
“Ludi was really shocked when he received the screenplay for Unter
Bauern,” Mengershausen recalls. “His German grandmother had
married a Jew in Amsterdam and was so outraged during the Second
World War about the German occupation of the Netherlands and
the persecution of the Jews that she helped bring hundreds of Jews
to safety by hiding them in the countryside outside of Amsterdam.
Our film’s story is a German variation of what Ludi’s family went
through.”
german films quarterly in production
4 · 2008 31
MB

9to5 – Days in Porn
“When you are fucking for a living, not everyone is going to
understand it – and even less are they going to like it.”
9to5 – Days in Porn is a portrait about people who work
in adult entertainment, a business bigger than the music
industry. Filmed over a period of more than a year, ten different
stories unfold, delivering insight into the personal
lives of people in the adult movie business, their hopes
and their dreams. However, the demands of the job can
take a toll; and a short time in this world can be the start,
a part or the end of both a career and a normal life.
Genre Portrait Category Documentary Cinema Year of
Production 2008 Director Jens Hoffmann Screenplay Jens
Hoffmann Editor Christopher Klotz, Kai Schroeter Original
Score Alex McGowan, Michael Meinl Music by Brant Bjork,
Martina Topley-Bird, The Dwarves, Sweet Machine, and others
World Sales
Media Luna Entertainment GmbH & Co. KG · Ida Martins
Aachener Strasse 26 · 50674 Cologne/Germany
phone +49-2 21-8 01 49 80 · fax +49-2 21-80 14 98 21
email: info@medialuna-entertainment.de · www.medialuna-entertainment.de
Producer Cleonice Comino Production Company F24
Film/Munich With Tom Herold, Belladonna, Sasha Grey, Mia
Rose, Katja Kassin, Roxy Deville, Otto Bauer, Audrey Hollander,
Mark Spiegler, Jim Powers, John Stagliano, Dr. Sharon Mitchell
Length 90 min Format 16 mm, color, 1:1.85 Original
Version English & German Subtitled Versions English,
German Sound Technology Dolby Digital Festival
Screenings Montreal 2008, Rio 2008
Jens Hoffmann first started making films in the 1990s, filming
himself and friends at mountain sports. After numerous years experience
in television and film projects, he founded his own production
company, F24 Film, in 2000 and produces and directs not only commercials
and corporate films, but also feature documentaries including
Fatima’s Hand 2006), 20 Seconds of Joy (2007), and
9to5 – Days in Porn (2008).
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 32
Scene from “9to5 – Days in Porn” (photo © F24 Film)

88 – pilgern auf japanisch
88 – PILGRIMAGE IN JAPANESE
There’s a nearly unknown Buddhist pilgrimage in Japan: a
circle along 88 temples. It’s strange. It’s older and longer
than the Spanish pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.
It’s probably the longest of all marked pilgrim-routes of the
world: the hachiju-hakkasho!
It circles the island of Shikoku. According to the temples,
shrines and monks, Shikoku is called the “holy island”.
Pilgrims have been going here for 1,200 years, along a
route of 1,300 km, marked by 88 temples.
Normally only Japanese Buddhists walk the route. Some
of them have done it over 300 times. Only by exception
does a foreigner participate here. Like in the spring of
2007: A German pilgrim was on the road, on his own,
joined by his camera. He was searching for “henro boke”,
the special state of mind of a pilgrim. That’s the aim of this
amusing and self-ironic documentary.
World Sales (please contact)
Koll Filmproduktion · Gerald Koll
Sredzkistrasse 44 · 10435 Berlin/Germany
phone +49-30-41 71 58 16
email: gerald.koll@gmx.de · www.88-pilgrimage-in-japanese.de
Genre Adventure, Religion, Road Movie Category Documentary
Cinema Year of Production 2008 Director Gerald
Koll Screenplay Gerald Koll Director of Photography
Gerald Koll Editor René Perraudin Music by Arpad Bondy
Production Design Gerald Koll Producer Gerald Koll
Production Company Koll Filmproduktion/Kiel Principal
Cast Gerald Koll, Hideo Fujikawa, Hira Yusaku, Kajitani Shigetsugu,
Kosho Omoto, Makoto Sato, Masahiko Monzen, Nobuo Morikawa,
Ogawa Masaki, Osamu Ohno, Shigeo Ishikawa, Taiten Kouyama,
Yuki Kawamura, Yves La Rose Durand Length 88 min Format
Mini DV, color, 16:9 Original Version German/Japanese/English
Subtitled Version English Sound Technology Stereo
Festival Screenings Hof 2008 With backing from
Filmfoerderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, Kulturelle Filmfoerderung
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern German Distributor
Salzgeber & Co. Medien/Berlin
Gerald Koll was born in Kiel in 1966 and studied German
Literature, completing his PhD on “Erotics in Silent Movies”. Since
1989 he has been a freelance journalist and independent filmmaker.
His films include: Among Gauchos (1998), Dangerous
Affections (2000), Weekend on Wannsee (2000), A
Fancy in the Orient (2001), The Silence of Gods –
Portrait of Theo Angelopoulos (2001), Harry Piel –
The Unleashed (2004), Brave Little Bride (2007), and 88
– pilgrimage in japanese (2008).
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 33
Scene from “88 – pilgrimage in japanese” (photo © Gerald Koll)

Adems Sohn
ADEM’S SON
“You could have had a day out a long time ago. Now, just
before your release, you take advantage of this opportunity.
Why?” asks the prison director. Ali’s answer is short
and decisive: “To talk.”
Ali, who has been sitting in a juvenile detention center for
six years, finished his training course as a chef with accolades.
But he never spoke about his past. Today, on the
very day of his brother Ibo’s wedding, he wants to visit his
family and talk.
Like a silent bomb, Ali bursts into the traditional wedding
preparations and opens up old wounds in a matter of
seconds. He is looking for common ground, but finds out
that it is impossible now. When he meets his father in a
small side room, he notices that there is nothing left to discuss.
His actions have cut him off from his family – with no
chance of return.
World Sales (please contact)
Deutsche Film- & Fernsehakademie Berlin GmbH (dffb) · Jana Wolff
Potsdamer Strasse 2 · 10785 Berlin/Germany
phone +49-30-25 75 91 52 · fax +49-30-25 75 91 62
email: wolff@dffb.de · www.dffb.de
Genre Drama, Family, Melodrama Category Short Year of
Production 2008 Director Hakan Savas Mican Screenplay
Hakan Savas Mican, Max Honert Director of Photography
Sebastian Lempe Editors Hakan Savas Mican, Sebastian Lempe
Music by Devil Inside, Daria Marschinina Production Design
Petra Schlie Producers Hartmut Bitomsky, Christin Geigemueller
Production Company Deutsche Film- & Fernsehakademie
Berlin (dffb), in co-production with RBB/Potsdam-Babelsberg
Principal Cast Tamer Yigit, Murat Seven, Erden Alkan, Sema
Poyraz, Nilam Farooq, Lars Pape, Burak Yigit, Katja Sieder, Vedat
Kaygan Casting Greta Amend Length 30 min Format 16 mm
Blow-up 35 mm, color, cs Original Version German/Turkish
Subtitled Version English Sound Technology Dolby SR
Festival Screenings Film Festival Turkey-Germany Nuremberg
2008 German Distributor Deutsche Film- & Fernsehakademie
Berlin (dffb)
Hakan Savas Mican was born in 1978 in Berlin and grew up in
Turkey. In 1997 he returned to Berlin to study Architecture and
began shooting his first films. Also active as a journalist for radio
broadcasters, he has been a student at the German Academy of
Television & Film (dffb) since 2004. His films include: Mother’s
Mark (Muttermal, 2006), Foreign (Fremd, 2007), and
Adem’s Son (Adems Sohn, 2008).
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 34
Scene from “Adem’s Son” (photo © dffb/Thomas Vesper)

Anonyma — Eine Frau in Berlin
A WOMAN IN BERLIN
April 1945. The Red Army is invading Berlin. Women fall
victim to rape in a half-destroyed house. One of them is
Anonyma, who had been a journalist and photographer.
In her desperation she decides to look for an officer who
can protect her. What happens is what she had least been
prepared for. A relationship develops with the Russian
officer Andrej that would feel like love were it not for the
barrier that keeps them enemies till the end.
Genre Drama Category Feature Film Cinema Year of
Production 2008 Director Max Faerberboeck Screenplay
Max Faerberboeck Director of Photography Benedict
Neuenfels Editor Ewa J. Lind Music by Zbigniew Preisner
Production Design Uli Hanisch Producer Guenter Rohrbach
Production Company Constantin Film Produktion/Munich, in
co-production with Tempus Film/Lodz, in cooperation with
ZDF/Mainz Principal Cast Nina Hoss, Evgeny Sidikhin, Irm
Herrmann, Ruediger Vogler, Ulrike Krumbiegel, Rolf Kanies, Joerdis
Triebel, Roman Gribkow, Juliane Koehler Casting Simone Baer
World Sales
Beta Cinema / Dept. of Beta Film GmbH · Andreas Rothbauer
Gruenwalder Weg 28 d · 82041 Oberhaching/Germany
phone +49-89-67 34 69 80 · fax +49-89-6 73 46 98 88
email: ARothbauer@betacinema.com · www.betacinema.com
Length 131 min, 3,591 m Format 35 mm, color, cs Original
Version German Subtitled Version English Sound
Technology Dolby Digital Festival Screenings Toronto 2008
With backing from Filmstiftung NRW, Medienboard Berlin-
Brandenburg, Filmfoerderungsanstalt (FFA), German Federal Film
Fund (DFFF) German Distributor Constantin Film Verleih/Munich
Max Faerberboeck produced plays at theaters in Hamburg,
Heidelberg, and Cologne before writing and directing several episodes
of the TV series Der Fahnder. He then wrote and directed
four award-winning TV films (Schlafende Hunde, Einer zahlt
immer, Bella Block – Die Kommissarin, and Bella Block
– Liebestod) before making his feature film debut with Aimée
& Jaguar, which was nominated for the Golden Globe Award
2000. His other films include: Jenseits (2002), September
(2003), and A Woman in Berlin (Anonyma – Eine Frau
in Berlin, 2008)
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 35
Scene from “A Woman in Berlin” (photo © Constantin Film Verleih GmbH)

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex
THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX
Germany in the 1970s: Murderous bomb attacks, the
threat of terrorism and the fear of the enemy inside are
rocking the very foundations of the yet fragile German
democracy. The radicalized children of the Nazi generation
led by Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof and Gudrun
Ensslin are fighting a violent war against what they perceive
as the new face of fascism: American imperialism
supported by the German establishment, many of whom
have a Nazi past. Their aim is to create a more human
society, but by employing inhuman means they not only
spread terror and bloodshed, they also lose their own
humanity. The man who understands them is also their
hunter: the head of the German police force Horst Herold.
And while he succeeds in his relentless pursuit of the
young terrorists, he knows he’s only dealing with the tip of
the iceberg.
Genre Drama Category Feature Film Cinema Year of
Production 2008 Director Uli Edel Screenplay Bernd
Eichinger, based on the book by and in consultation with Stefan
Aust, in cooperation with Uli Edel Director of Photography
Rainer Klausmann Editor Alexander Berner Music by Peter
Hinderthuer, Florian Tessloff Production Design Bernd Lepel
Producer Bernd Eichinger Production Company Constantin
Film Produktion/Munich, in co-production with Les Nouvelles
World Sales
Summit Entertainment Group
1601 Cloverfield Boulevard, Suite 200, South Tower
Santa Monica, California 90404/USA
www.summit-ent.com
Editions de Films/Paris, G.T. Film Production/Prague,
NDR/Hamburg, BR/Munich, WDR/Cologne, Degeto Film/
Frankfurt Principal Cast Martina Gedeck, Moritz Bleibtreu,
Johanna Wokalek, Nadja Uhl, Heino Ferch, Bruno Ganz, and others
Length 149 min, 4,090 m Format 35 mm, color, 1:1.85
Original Version German Subtitled Version English Sound
Technology Dolby Digital Festival Screenings Zurich 2008,
Rome 2008, London 2008 With backing from FilmFernsehFonds
Bayern, Bayerischer Bankenfonds, Filmfoerderungsanstalt
(FFA), Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, German Federal Film Fund
(DFFF) German Distributor Constantin Film Verleih/Munich
Uli Edel was born in 1947. He studied German Language Studies
and Theater Sciences before enrolling at the Munich University of
Television & Film, where he first met Bernd Eichinger, whom he
worked with on numerous films. A selection of his award-winning
films include: Christiane F – Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof
Zoo (1981), Letzte Ausfahrt Brooklyn (1989), an episode
of the series Twin Peaks (1990) and numerous other US event
movies and mini-series, Body of Evidence (1993), Der kleine
Vampir (2000), Die Nebel von Avalon, (TV, 2001), King of
Texas (2002), Julius Caesar (TV, 2003), Die Nibelungen
(TV, 2004), and The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008),
among others.
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 36
Scene from “The Baader Meinhof Complex” (photo © Constantin Film Verleih 2008)

Die Bienen – Toedliche Bedrohung
KILLERBEES
Killerbees involves a race against time as young doctor
Karla searches for the serum to save her desperately ill father
who has been stung by one of the little buzzers.
Aided by the charming biologist Ben, they stumble upon
the origins of the deadly creatures, the work of entomologist
Dr. Alvarez, who now uses all means possible to stop
them from revealing what he’s done. To make matters
worse, Karla and Ben are also now wanted by the police,
who are about to take some drastic and potentially catastrophic
action of their own …
Genre Adventure, Ecology, Thriller Category TV Movie Year
of Production 2008 Director Michael Karen Screenplay
Nicole & Uli Bujard, Annette Simon Director of Photography
Jochen Staeblein Editor Stefan Essl Music by Siggi Mueller
Production Design Ina Kirchhoff Producers Martin Kircher,
Hendrik Feil Production Company Wasabi Film/Munich, in coproduction
with SAT.1/Berlin Principal Cast Janin Reinhardt,
Stephan Luca, Sonja Kirchberger, Klaus J. Behrendt, Rolf Kanies,
Patrick von Blume, Paula Schramm Length 92 min Format Super
16 mm, color, 1:1.85 Original Version German With
backing from FilmFernsehFonds Bayern German Distributor
SevenOne International/Unterfoehring
World Sales
SevenOne International GmbH
Medienallee 7 · 85774 Unterfoehring/Germany
phone +49-89-95 07 23 20 · fax +49-89-95 07 23 21
email: info@sevenoneinternational.com · www.sevenoneinternational.com
Michael Karen began his career as an actor and radio reporter
before making his first short Die Loosers in 1986. He followed
this with various jobs on documentaries, a six-month stay in Los
Angeles, and directing for television in the late 1980s and early
1990s. He attended the Frank Daniel script workshop and Robert
McKee’s story structure seminar and directed the musical The Little
Shop of Horrors in Duesseldorf in 1995. Apart from writing many
scripts for film and television, a selection of his directing credits
include: Im Namen des Gesetzes (TV, 1994), So ist das
Leben – Die Wagenfelds (TV, 1995), Parkhotel Stern
(TV, 1996), Die Diebin (TV, 1997), Verfuehrt – Eine gefaehrliche
Affaere (TV, 1998), Alarm fuer Cobra 11 – Die
Autobahnpolizei (TV, 1999), Flashback (1999), SOS – The
Bunnyguards on Board (Erkan & Stefan – Der Tod
kommt krass, 2005), Arme Millionaer (TV, 2006),
Summerhill (2007), Pro7 Funny Movies – Halloween
Horror Hostel (2007), and Killerbees (Die Bienen –
Toedliche Bedrohung, 2008).
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 37
Scene from “Killerbees” (photo © Sat.1/Wasabi Film/Trixter)

Buddenbrooks
BUDDENBROOKS – THE DECLINE OF A FAMILY
Buddenbrooks – The Decline of a Family is the gripping
cinematic adaptation of Thomas Mann’s Nobel Prizewinning
novel of 1900, starring Academy Award ® -
nominee Armin Mueller-Stahl in the lead role. In loving,
compassionate detail and cinematic scope, Emmy ® Awardwinner
Heinrich Breloer portrays the rise and decline of a
merchant family in the bourgeois aristocracy in Luebeck in
their fight and sacrifice for the economic survival of the
family and their pursuit of happiness and impossible love.
While Thomas is willing to fill the void of their father,
Consul Jean, and to steer the firm through the times of
modernization and rising competition, his brother
Christian is trying to break away from any responsibility.
We find him in dubious company, marrying a woman
from a vaudeville show, rebelling against everything their
father stood for. It is left to their sister, Tony, who sacrifices
her true love for the sake of the family’s fortune, to hold
the family ties together. But when their competitor
Hagenstroem proves to have the better instinct for the
changing needs of the market, even her influence seems
to vanish …
World Sales
Bavaria Film International / Dept. of Bavaria Media GmbH · Thorsten Ritter
Bavariafilmplatz 7 · 82031 Geiselgasteig/Germany
phone +49-89-64 99 26 86 · fax +49-89-64 99 37 20
email: international@bavaria-film.de · www.bavaria-film-international.com
Genre Drama, Literature Category Feature Film Cinema Year
of Production 2008 Director Heinrich Breloer Screenplay
Heinrich Breloer, Horst Koenigstein, based on the novel by Thomas
Mann Director of Photography Gernot Roll Editor Barbara
von Weitershausen Music by Hans P. Stroeer Production
Design Goetz Weidner Producers Matthias Esche, Michael
Hild, Jan S. Kaiser, Uschi Reich, Winka Wulff Co-Producer
Burkhard von Schenk Production Company Bavaria Film/
Munich, in co-production with Pirol Film Production/Munich,
Colonia Media/Cologne, WDR/Cologne, NDR/Hamburg, SWR/
Baden-Baden, BR/Munich, Degeto Film/Frankfurt, ORF/Vienna,
ARTE/Strasbourg Principal Cast Armin Mueller-Stahl, Jessica
Schwarz, August Diehl, Mark Waschke, Iris Berben, Léa Bosco,
Fedja van Huêt, Raban Bieling, Justus von Dohnányi Casting An
Dorthe Braker Length 150 min Format 35 mm, color, cs
Original Version German Subtitled Version English Sound
Technology Dolby Digital With backing from Filmstiftung
NRW, German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), Filmfoerderung Hamburg
Schleswig-Holstein, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Filmfoerderungsanstalt
(FFA), MEDIA German Distributor Warner Bros.
Pictures Germany/Hamburg
Heinrich Breloer was born in 1942 in Gelsenkirchen. Active as
a writer and director, a selection of his films includes: Das Beil
von Wandsbek (TV, 1982), Kampfname: Willy Brand
(TV, 1984), Todesspiel (TV, 1997), the Emmy ® award-winning
Die Manns – Ein Jahrhundertroman (2001), Speer and
Hitler (2005), and Buddenbrooks (2008).
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 38
Scene from “Buddenbrooks” (photo © Bavaria Film/Stefan Falke)

Dem kuehlen Morgen entgegen
INTO THE COLD DAWN
Into the Cold Dawn recounts the life of the composer
Dimitri Shostakovich from the perspective of a film director
who is shooting a movie about him. In 1961 the song
Into the Cold Dawn, composed by Shostakovich for the film
Der Gegenplan and sung by Yuri Gagarin, was the first
music in space.
While editing the film, the director shifts through scenes
from feature films for which Shostakovich wrote the music
during Stalin’s rule. The director meets and interviews
family members and companions of the composer, such as
Mstislav Rostropovich. Key moments in the life of
Shostakovich are re-enacted with marionette puppets.
At the end of his investigation, the director realizes that he
is unable to draw a clear-cut portrait of the composer –
what his interview partners tell him is just too contradictory.
Genre Art, Music Category Documentary Cinema Year of
Production 2008 Directors Oliver Becker, Katharina Bruner
Screenplay Oliver Becker, Katharina Bruner, Dietrich Mack
Director of Photography Joerg Jeshel Editor Bernd Euscher
Original Music by Dimitri Shostakovich Production
Design Katharina Bruner Producer Manfred Frei Production
Company LOFT music/Gauting, in co-production with ZDF/
Mainz, 3sat/Mainz Principal Cast Armin Mueller-Stahl
World Sales (please contact)
LOFT music GmbH · Manfred Frei
Wessobrunner Strasse 4 · 82131 Gauting/Germany
phone +49-89-89 34 08 94 · fax +49-89-89 34 08 60
email: LOFTmusic@t-online.de · www.loft-music.com
Special Effects Georg Jenisch Format HD Cam Blow-up 35
mm, color, 1:1.66 Original Version German Subtitled
Version English Sound Technology Dolby Digital With
backing from MFG Baden-Wuerttemberg
Oliver Becker was born in 1967 and started making short films
at the age of 14. In 1995, he made his first television documentary,
followed by numerous other classical music documentaries and
international concert recordings. A selection of his films includes:
Dem Licht entgegen – Alexander Skrjabin: Kalkuel
und Ekstase (1996), Portrait Peter Michael Hamel
(1997), Verschlossene Heimat – Prokofjiews Sowjetisches
Tagebuch 1927 (1998), Protest der Stille – der
9. Oktober 1989 in Leipzig (1999), Die Jagd nach dem
Blech – ein musikalischer Spass mit German Brass
(2000), Longing for Germany – The Conductor
Wilhelm Furtwaengler (Wilhelm Furtwaengler –
Sehnsucht nach Deutschland, 2003), Enlightened Love
– Laughing Death (Wagner: The Staging of a Family
Drama) (Leuchtende Liebe – Lachender Tod: Das
Familientheater der Wagners, 2004), Kent Nagano –
Seeking New Shores (2006), Klangfarbe Zukunft – Das
Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester (2007), and Into the
Cold Dawn (Dem kuehlen Morgen entgegen, 2008), in
co-direction with Katharina Bruner.
Katharina Bruner was born in 1975 in Uzbekistan and has been
living and working in Germany since 1988. She studied Art History,
Theater and Film in Paris and Duesseldorf. Also active in the areas
of stage and costume design, she has directed numerous short films
and has been working with Oliver Becker since 2005.
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 39
Scenes from “Into the Cold Dawn” (photos © Oliver Becker)

Finnischer Tango
FINNISH TANGO
Finnish Tango tells the story of a man, who – on his quest
of finding the easy way out – discovers his own humanity.
Alex is a passionate but unsuccessful musician. Nothing
more, nothing less. He is neither the nice guy, nor a good
friend, not even a reliable partner, and definitely no one
who takes responsibility in life. After a tragic accident,
Alex suddenly finds himself without a band and without a
plan, but with a mountain of debt and raging metal players
breathing down his neck.
While searching for a job, he comes across a theater group
of handicapped people, who are searching for another
actor for an upcoming play. Alex invents a handicap,
steals a handicap ID, gets the part and moves in with the
group, who open their arms, hearts and minds to him. He
wins them over, most of them at least, with his music –
heartbreaking tango melodies. But Rudolph, a highly intelligent,
suicidal and fatally ill misanthropist, doesn’t really
trust him and puts Alex to the test.
Genre Tragicomedy Category Feature Film Cinema Year of
Production 2008 Director Buket Alakus Screenplay Marcus
Hertneck, Jan Berger Director of Photography Daniela
Knapp Editor Andreas Radtke Music by Christoph Blaser,
World Sales
Media Luna Entertainment GmbH & Co. KG · Ida Martins
Aachener Strasse 26 · 50674 Cologne/Germany
phone +49-2 21-8 01 49 80 · fax +49-2 21-80 14 98 21
email: info@medialuna-entertainment.de · www.medialuna-entertainment.de
Steffen Kahles Production Design Ralf Mootz, Sabine Rudolph
Producer Eike Besuden Production Company Geisberg
Studios/Bremen, in co-production with Pinguin Film/Wolfsburg,
NDR/Hamburg, Radio Bremen Principal Cast Christoph Bach,
Mira Bartuschek, Fabian Busch, Nele Winkler, Michael Schumacher,
Christian Naethe, Daniel Zillmann Casting Mai Seck Length 90
min, 2,511 m Format Super 16 mm Blow-up 35 mm, color,
1:1.85 Original Version German Subtitled Version English
Sound Technology Dolby Surround Festival Screenings
Emden 2008 (In Competition/Opening Film), Festival des
Deutschen Films Ludwigsburg 2008 (In Competition) Awards
Audience Award Ludwigsburg 2008 With backing from
Nordmedia, Filmstiftung NRW, German Federal Film Fund (DFFF)
German Distributor Neue Visionen Filmverleih/Berlin
Buket Alakus was born in 1971 in Istanbul and grew up in
Hamburg. After finishing her studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in
Berlin in 1995, she studied Film Directing at Hamburg University’s
Institute of Theater, Music and Film from 1996-1998. Her films
include: the shorts Martin (1995), Schluessel (1996), Tango
(1997), Kismet (1998), her award-winning feature debut Anam
(2000), Offside (Eine andere Liga, 2004), Freundinnen
fuers Leben (TV, 2005), the children’s series Kinder.de (2006),
and Finnish Tango (Finnischer Tango, 2008).
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 40
Scene from “Finnish Tango” (photo © Geisberg Studios)

Freche Maedchen
CHEEKY GIRLS
Mila, Hanna, and Kati are best friends – always there for
each other, be it stress at school or boy trouble. And they
have plenty of that: A gifted singer, Hanna wants to participate
in a casting show, which leads to an argument with
her boyfriend Branko; Kati develops a huge crush on
Brian, the coolest boy at school. When he turns a poem
written by Mila into his band’s new song, Kati becomes
jealous. Mila though thinks Markus is kind of cute, but
nothing else. She is actually relieved that her first relationship
is taking its sweet time because, as she puts it, she has
no time for boys right now. But then she falls head over
heels for Pit Winter, a young trainee teacher, who of all
people happens to be the new boyfriend of her mom, a
charming, but chaotic hairdresser … Talk about stress!
Cheeky Girls is based on Germany’s most popular book
series for girls, Cheeky Girls – Cheeky Books, which has
been published in 22 languages and sold over 7 million
copies total.
Genre Youth, Comedy Category Feature Film Cinema Year of
Production 2008 Director Ute Wieland Screenplay Maggie
Peren, based on the series of novels Cheeky Girls – Cheeky Books by
Bianka Minte-Koenig Director of Photography Peter
Przybylski Editor Dunja Campregher Music by Oli Biehler
World Sales
Atlas International Film GmbH · Philipp Menz, Susanne Groh, Dieter Menz
Candidplatz 11 · 81543 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-2 10 97 50 · fax +49-89-21 09 75 81
email: mail@atlasfilm.com · www.atlasfilm.com
Production Design Frank Polosek, Elena Wegner Producer
Ulrich Limmer Production Company collina Filmproduktion/
Munich, in co-production with Constantin Film Produktion/Munich,
B.A. Produktion/Munich Principal Cast Emilia Schuele, Selina
Shirin Mueller, Henriette Nagel, Anke Engelke, Armin Rohde, David
Rott Casting Stefany Pohlmann, Nicole Fischer Special Effects
Juergen Schopper Length 97 min, 2,650 m Format 35 mm,
color, cs Original Version German Subtitled Version
English Sound Technology Dolby SRD With backing from
German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), Filmstiftung NRW, Filmfoerderungsanstalt
(FFA), FilmFernsehFonds Bayern German
Distributor Constantin Film Verleih/Munich
Ute Wieland was born in Grossbottwar near Stuttgart. She initially
studied German Language Studies and Theater Sciences before
enrolling at the Munich University of Television & Film. Her awardwinning
films include: Im Jahr der Schildkroete (1988),
Polizeiruf 110 – Hetzjagd (TV, 1997), Wie angelt man
sich seinen Chef? (TV, 1999), Morgen gehoert der
Himmel mir (TV, 1999), Dich schickt der Himmel (TV,
2000), Die Mutter meines Mannes (TV, 2001), Eiskalte
Freunde (TV, 2002), Italiener und andere Suessigkeiten
(TV, 2003), Miss Texas (TV, 2004), FC Venus – Women
with Balls (2006), Fettkiller (TV, 2007), and Cheeky Girls
(Freche Maedchen, 2008).
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 41
Scene from “Cheeky Girls” (photo © Constantin Film 2008)

Geliebte Clara
CLARA
In 1850, Robert, his wife Clara and their five children settle
down in Duesseldorf where he has accepted a position
as musical director. For the resourceful musician, considered
more as one of the world’s greatest composers than a
conductor, it turns out to be a bad decision. Nor is it a
happy period for Clara, who is reduced to the role of
housewife instead of acclaimed concert pianist performing
throughout Europe to sold-out halls. That is, until she
meets the young, brilliant Johannes Brahms. Clara and
Johannes fall for one another. Robert, who is sick and
suffering from severe depression, attempts to drown himself
in the Rhine River. His life is saved and he commits
himself to a sanatorium. The relationship between Brahms
and Clara grows even more intense. When Robert dies
two years later, all the obstacles seem to have disappeared
for them. Clara, however, refuses to marry again. Robert’s
shadow still weighs too heavy on her. But she will go on
playing his and Johannes’ music in the world’s concert
halls, expressing her feelings for him and for the moments
of darkness they both experienced with Robert.
Genre Biopic, Drama Category Feature Film Cinema Year of
Production 2008 Director Helma Sanders-Brahms
Screenplay Helma Sanders-Brahms Director of Photography
Juergen Juerges Editor Isabelle Devinck Original Music
by Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, Johannes Brahms
Production Design Uwe Szielasko Producers Alfred
World Sales
ARRI Media Worldsales · Antonio Exacoustos
Tuerkenstrasse 89 · 80799 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-38 09 12 88 · fax +49-89-38 09 16 19
email: aexacoustos@arri.de · www.arri-mediaworldsales.de
Huermer, Helma Sanders-Brahms Production Companies
Integral Film/Berg, Helma Sanders-Brahms Filmproduktion/Berlin,
in co-production with Mact Productions/Paris, Objektiv Film
Studio/Budapest, B.A. Produktion/Munich Principal Cast
Martina Gedeck, Pascal Greggory, Malik Zidi Length 110 min,
3,173 m Format 35 mm, color, 1:1.85 Original Version
German Subtitled Version English Sound Technology
Dolby SRD With backing from Filmstiftung NRW, German
Federal Film Fund (DFFF), Eurimages, Filmfoerderungsanstalt (FFA),
Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, BKM, Kulturstiftung der Deutschen
Bank, CNC, Motion Picture Public Foundation of Hungary,
Hungarian Ministry of Education and Culture German Distributor
Kinowelt Filmverleih/Leipzig
Helma Sanders-Brahms was born in Emden in 1940. She
attended the drama school for music and theater in Hanover, and
studied German and English Languages in Cologne. She worked as a
television announcer for WDR and from 1976-1969 became a guest
student with both Pier Paolo Pasolini and Sergio Corbucci. In 1970,
she founded her own production company. Under the Pavement
Lies the Beach became her breakthrough in 1975.
Heinrich (1976), her film on the life and death of the German
poet Heinrich von Kleist, was awarded the German Film Award in
1977. Her film Germany, Pale Mother (1980) remains an
international success today and is one of the classics of German
cinema. Her other films include: Shirin’s Wedding (1975), No
Mercy No Future (1981), The Future of Emily (1984),
Laputa (1986), Manouevres (1989), Apple Trees (1991),
My Heart is Mine Alone (1997), Colour of Soul (2003),
and Clara (2008).
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 42
Scene from “Clara” (photo © Integral Film)

Hinter Kaifeck
KAIFECK MURDER
A job brings the photographer Marc and his son Tyll to the
remote and mysterious village of Kaifeck in Bavaria. Marc
is strangely fascinated by a tale of gruesome murders on a
nearby farm in 1922, and, suddenly, inexplicable things
start happening to him at night. He feels a weird connection
to the events from back then and is drawn ever
deeper into the dark past. So deep that it is not only his
own life that is in danger, but also that of his son.
One of Germany’s most intriguing unsolved murder
mysteries has provided inspiration for this atmospheric
mystery thriller, starring Benno Fuermann (Merry
Christmas) and Alexandra Maria Lara (Control, Youth
Without Youth) in the lead roles. Director Esther
Gronenborn (alaska.de) weaves an absorbing tale of guilt
and superstition based on the real case, where six people
found a grim death in a village called Kaifeck in the forests
near Munich in 1922.
Genre Thriller Category Feature Film Cinema Year of Production
2008 Director Esther Gronenborn Screenplay
Christian Limmer, Soenke Lars Neuwoehner Director of
Photography Chris Valentien Editors Moune Barius, Dirk Grau
Music by Alexander Hacke Production Design Tom Hornig
World Sales
Bavaria Film International / Dept. of Bavaria Media GmbH · Thorsten Ritter
Bavariafilmplatz 7 · 82031 Geiselgasteig/Germany
phone +49-89-64 99 26 86 · fax +49-89-64 99 37 20
email: international@bavaria-film.de · www.bavaria-film-international.com
Producers Monika Raebel, Stefan Gaertner, Christian Balz, Boris
Schoenfelder, Nikolaus Lohmann, Tilo Seiffert Production
Company 24 Frames Film/Gruenwald, in co-production with
SevenPictures/Munich, Neue Kinowelt Filmproduktion/Berlin,
Cinemendo/Munich Principal Cast Benno Fuermann, Alexandra
Maria Lara, Michael Gwisdek, Erni Mangold, Henry Stange Casting
Hanna Hansen Length 86 min Format 35 mm, color, cs
Original Version German Subtitled Version English Sound
Technology Dolby Digital With backing from
FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Mitteldeutsche Medienfoerderung,
Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, German Federal Film Fund
(DFFF), Filmfoerderungsanstalt (FFA) German Distributor
Kinowelt Home Entertainment/Leipzig
Esther Gronenborn studied at the University of Television &
Film in Munich, specializing in documentaries and shorts. Her films
include: I Wonder in Pornoland (short, 1990), The Road to
Happiness (Die Strasse zum Glueck, 1995), Sie
schaemen sich ihrer Traenen nicht, Morgengrauen
(1992), alaska.de (2000) winner of the German Film Award,
Adil geht (2005), Berlin Stories (Stadt als Beute, 2005),
and Kaifeck Murder (Hinter Kaifeck, 2008), as well as
numerous music videos.
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 43
Scene from “Kaifeck Murder” (photo © 24 Frames Film)

Hotel Sahara
Viewed from above, the Sahara is oddly gentle; the small
sand hills, chains of dunes, dried out wadis and sand ripples
all lend the desert their special charm. An unbroken
yellow surface that occasionally segues into brownish and
sometimes shines blazing yellow, it is impossible to remain
unaffected by its beguiling beauty. Africa begins directly
behind it – or in front of it, depending on the direction
one comes from.
Hotel Sahara is a film journey to the last invisible border
from the West-African coast to Europe: Hotel Sahara is a
metaphor, a point of arrival, of departure, of broken
dreams. A melting pot. A place of gathering, of right and
wrong recitals, of split personalities. It is, above all, a noman’s
land, a place of endless waiting, and endless hoping.
In the beginning Nouadhibou looks like any other West
African city, but entering the colorful lives of the people
who live there, we discover what it means to be on transit,
on the road, stuck in a desert city next to the Atlantic
Ocean, between hope and despair, between homelessness
and the search for a home. Hotel Sahara offers a new
perspective on the actual situation of migrants attempting
a new life in “the North”.
World Sales (please contact)
Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion · Christian Beetz
Heinrich-Roller-Strasse 15 · 10405 Berlin/Germany
phone +49-30-69 56 69 10 · fax +49-30-69 56 69 15
email: info@gebrueder-beetz.de · www.gebrueder-beetz.de
Genre Society Category Documentary Cinema Year of Production
2008 Director Bettina Haasen Screenplay Bettina
Haasen Director of Photography Jacko Vant’Hof Editor
Kristine Langner Music by Karsten Hoefer Producer Christian
Beetz Production Company Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion/Berlin
Length 85 & 52 min Format HD Blow-up
35 mm, color Original Version French/Bambara/English/
Bamileke/Ibo/Hassaniya Subtitled Versions German, English,
French Sound Technology Stereo DTS Analog Festival
Screenings DOK Leipzig 2008 With backing from Filmfoerderungsanstalt
(FFA), German Federal Film Fund (DFFF),
Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, MEDIA, SCAM, UNESCO, EU
Awareness Raising in the Field of Development German
Distributor GMfilms/Berlin
Bettina Haasen was born in 1969. She studied African
Languages and Political Sciences in Hamburg and Paris. She was a
producer for Egoli Films/Berlin and Wueste Film/Hamburg and
lived and work in Niger/Africa. Her films include: Between Two
Worlds (1999), Nomads Don’t Kiss (2000), Sisters of a
Long Night (2004), Fremde Liebe (2004), Schatten der
Wueste (2006), Ma Vie – Irene Dische (2007), Malick
Sidibé (2007), Chily Gonzales – A Thousand Faces
(2007), Between Illusion and Reality, the Life of Victor
Vasarely (2007), and Hotel Sahara (2008).
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 44
Scene from “Hotel Sahara” (photo © Bettina Haasen)

In jeder Sekunde
AT ANY SECOND
“The angels who proclaim love will extinguish the fire, and
you will be punished,” screams the mentally ill patient in
Dr. Frick’s ward. Maybe Frick should listen up, for in the
following days and weeks, the angels of love will be busy
enticing a variety of men and women to play with fire –
perhaps in order to punish them … Sarah, tempted by
drugs but trying to get her life in order, breaks up with her
coke-snorting boyfriend and falls in love with a sweetnatured
photographer. Dr. Frick himself, married and the
father of a terminally ill child, succumbs to the charms of
a strong, self-assured woman. With her, Frick finds a welcome
relief from his all-consuming role as dedicated
caretaker of his daughter, his patients, and his marriage.
Each of them is on the verge of a major change, each of
them ready to head off in a new direction and take the risk
of burning themselves on love. Until one moment of egotism
and thoughtlessness provokes a near-tragedy and sets
off a chain reaction that will leave no one unscarred.
Director Jan Fehse brings his years-long experience as a
sought-after cinematographer to bear on the poignant
story of a handful of individuals caught in the grid of
modern urban relationships. By the producers of Sophie
Scholl — The Final Days, starring Sebastian Koch (The Lives
of Others).
World Sales
Bavaria Film International / Dept. of Bavaria Media GmbH · Thorsten Ritter
Bavariafilmplatz 7 · 82031 Geiselgasteig/Germany
phone +49-89-64 99 26 86 · fax +49-89-64 99 37 20
email: international@bavaria-film.de · www.bavaria-film-international.com
Genre Drama Category Feature Film Cinema Year of
Production 2008 Director Jan Fehse Screenplay Jan Fehse,
Christian Lyra Director of Photography Philipp Kirsamer
Editor Dirk Goehler Music by Andreas Helmle Production
Design Annette Ingerl Producers Sven Burgemeister, Andreas
Schneppe, Bernd Burgemeister Production Companies TV60
Film/Munich, Goldkind Film/Munich, in co-production with BR/
Munich Principal Cast Sebastian Koch, Mina Tander, Wotan
Wilke Moehring, Ronald Zehrfeld, Jenny Schily, Barbara Auer
Casting Lore Bloessel Length 99 min, 1,354 m Format 35 mm,
color, 1:1.85 Original Version German Subtitled Version
English Sound Technology Dolby Digital Festival
Screenings Hof 2008 With backing from FilmFernsehFonds
Bayern, Bayerische Staatsregierung, German Federal Film Fund
(DFFF), Filmfoerderungsanstalt (FFA) German Distributor X
Verleih/Berlin
Jan Fehse was born in 1968 and is one of Germany’s most renowned
DoPs. After working as a camera assistant, he was a DoP
on feature and television productions as well as commercials and
music videos with such directors as Ben Verbong (Es ist ein Elch entsprungen,
Sams in Gefahr), Peter Thorwarth (Goldene Zeiten), Robert
Schwentke (Tattoo), Esther Gronenborn (alaska.de) and Andreas
Thiel (Kismet). At Any Second (In jeder Sekunde, 2008)
marks his directorial debut.
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 45
Scene from “At Any Second” (photo © Philipp Kirsamer)

Jerichow
Off the beaten path of life, three people stumble into a
fateful encounter. Thomas, young and strong, has been
dishonorably discharged from the army. Ali, an affable
Turkish businessman, has seen some hard times but now
his primary concern is making sure the employees of his
snack-bars don’t cheat on him. Laura, an attractive woman
with a dark past, seems to find refuge in the shadows of
her marriage to Ali.
Thomas, Ali, and Laura keep an eye on each other and
keep their secrets to themselves. They want love but also
security. They consider themselves independent, and what
they desire can only be achieved by betrayal.
Jerichow is a love-triangle in which yearning evaporates
into even bigger dreams. This drama unfolds on the country
roads in desolate northeast Germany, where thick
forests suddenly end on cliffs overlooking the Baltic Sea.
The story is a classic cinematic constellation but with a daring
new interpretation: caught between guilt and freedom,
between passion and reason, there are wishes whose fulfillment
can only mean escape.
Genre Drama Category Feature Film Cinema Year of Production
2008 Director Christian Petzold Screenplay
Christian Petzold Director of Photography Hans Fromm
Editor Bettina Boehler Music by Stefan Will Production
World Sales
The Match Factory GmbH · Michael Weber
Balthasarstrasse 79-81 · 50670 Cologne/Germany
phone +49-2 21-5 39 70 90 · fax +49-2 21-5 39 70 910
email: info@matchfactory.de · www.the-match-factory.com
Design Kade Gruber Producers Florian Koerner von Gustorf,
Michael Weber Production Company Schramm Film Koerner
+ Weber/Berlin, in co-production with BR/Munich, ARTE/
Strasbourg Principal Cast Benno Fuermann, Nina Hoss, Hilmi
Soezer Casting Simone Baer Length 93 min, 2,545 m Format
35 mm, color, 1:1.85 Original Version German Subtitled
Version English Sound Technology Dolby SR/Dolby Digital
Festival Screenings Venice 2008 (In Competition), Toronto
2008 With backing from BKM, German Federal Film Fund
(DFFF), Filmfoerderungsanstalt (FFA), Medienboard Berlin-
Brandenburg German Distributor Piffl Medien/Berlin
Christian Petzold is one of the leading directors of recent
German cinema. The German Film Critics Association has twice
awarded him Best Film awards, for Ghosts (Gespenster, 2005)
and The State I Am In (Die Innere Sicherheit, 2000). He
was twice named Best Director at the German Film Awards, for
Wolfsburg (2002) and The State I Am In, which also won
Best Screenplay at Thessaloniki and the Grand Prize at
Valenciennes. Petzold has also received much acclaim for his other
films, including: Something to Remind Me (Toter Mann,
2002), Die Beischlafdiebin (1998), Cuba Libre (1995),
Yella (2007), and Jerichow (2008). Born in 1960, Petzold studied
German and Theater Studies at the Free University in Berlin, then
graduated from the German Film & Television Academy (dffb) in
1994.
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 46
Scene from “Jerichow” (photo © Schramm Film/Christian Schulz)

Krabat
The Thirty Years’ War has brought much death and
destruction to central Europe, and has left 14-year-old
Krabat an orphan. Lost and devastated, Krabat’s keen survival
instincts lead him to a remote valley, where he finds
a mysterious mill run by an ominous figure known as the
Master. The lure of a safe haven, hot meals and an apprenticeship
under the Master is hard to resist … But gradually
Krabat uncovers a horrifying secret: the mill is in fact a
school of black magic and the Master is in league with
satanic powers. While Krabat and his young colleagues
revel in the teachings of the Master, they realize there is a
price to pay: complete submission to the Master and even
death. After Krabat witnesses Tonda, his closest friend at
the mill, perish at the Master’s hands, the fire of rebellion
starts raging within the young boy. Krabat is able to find
strength through the lovely Kantorka. Armed with nothing
but courage and their united love, together the young couple
brave the Master …
Krabat is a dark yet uplifting fantasy based on a worldwide
best-seller. A soul-stirring adventure for all ages,
Krabat seizes the viewer with its atmospheric power and
emotional truthfulness, starring Daniel Bruehl (Good Bye,
Lenin!, The Edukators) and David Kross as Krabat.
Genre Coming-of-Age Story, Fantasy Category Feature Film
Cinema Year of Production 2008 Director Marco
World Sales
Bavaria Film International / Dept. of Bavaria Media GmbH · Thorsten Ritter
Bavariafilmplatz 7 · 82031 Geiselgasteig/Germany
phone +49-89-64 99 26 86 · fax +49-89-64 99 37 20
email: international@bavaria-film.de · www.bavaria-film-international.com
Kreuzpaintner Screenplay Michael Gutmann, Marco
Kreuzpaintner, based on the novel by Otfried Preussler Director
of Photography Daniel Gottschalk Editor Hansjoerg
Weissbrich (BFS) Music by Annette Focks Production Design
Christian M. Goldbeck (SFK) Producers Uli Putz, Thomas
Woebke, Jakob Claussen, Bernd Wintersperger, Nick Hamson, Lars
Sylvest Production Companies Claussen+Woebke+Putz
Filmproduktion/Munich, Krabat Filmproduktion/Munich, in co-production
with SevenPictures Film/Munich, B.A. Produktion/Munich,
in association with Brass Hat Films/London Principal Cast David
Kross, Daniel Bruehl, Christian Redl, Robert Stadlober, Paula
Kalenberg, Anna Thalbach, Hanno Koffler Casting An Dorthe
Braker Length 120 min, 3,279 m Format 35 mm, color, cs
Original Version German Subtitled Version English
Sound Technology Dolby Digital/SRD/DTS Festival
Screenings Toronto 2008 With backing from Filmstiftung
NRW, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Filmfoerderungsanstalt (FFA),
Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, MFG Baden-Wuerttemberg,
BKM, Kuratorium junger deutscher Film, MEDIA Plus German
Distributor 20th Century Fox (Germany)/Frankfurt
Marco Kreuzpaintner was born in Rosenheim in 1977. After
studying Art History, he worked as an assistant to Edgar Reitz and
Peter Lilienthal. His films include: Entering Reality (short,
1998), Der Atemkuenstler (short, 2000), REC –
Kassettenmaedchen/Kassettenjungs (TV, 2001),
Breaking Loose (Ganz und Gar, 2003), Summer Storm
(Sommersturm, 2004), Trade (2007), and Krabat (2008).
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 47
Scene from “Krabat” (photo © CWP-Film/Marco Nagel)

Ma’rib
Ma’rib is part two of a tetralogy dealing with cities that
had been destroyed in their history. Each film of the series
is connected to one of the four elements. Ma’rib is
connected to the element "earth" in the form of sand, soil
and stone. The city is situated 150 km east of the capital
Sana’a where the Yemeni mountains meet the Rhub al-
Khali desert. 4000 diesel pumps irrigate the oasis and a
new power station will supply Sana’a with electricity. With
no dialogues or narration, Ma’rib proposes an exploration
of particular habits, rhythms and gestures of an arid region
in a rugged country – until it transforms immediate register
into unfamiliar everyday life, in a constant zigzag between
sociological observation and sudden poetry.
Genre Portrait Category Documentary Short Year of Production
2008 Director Rainer Komers Screenplay Rainer
Komers Director of Photography Rainer Komers Editor
Bert Schmidt Producer Rainer Komers Production
Company Rainer Komers Film/Muelheim an der Ruhr Length
30 min Format Super 16 mm Blow-up 35 mm, color, 1:1.85
World Sales (please contact)
Rainer Komers Film
Moritzstrasse 102 · 45476 Muelheim an der Ruhr/Germany
phone +49-2 08-77 94 38 · email: r.komers@t-online.de
Original Version no dialogue Festival Screenings Big Sky
Missoula 2008, Oberhausen 2008, Planet In Focus Toronto 2008,
FeSanCor Santiago de Chile 2008, Leipzig 2008, Invideo Milan 2008
With backing from BKM, Filmstiftung NRW German
Distributor Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen
Rainer Komers was born in 1944 in Guben. He studied Film at
the Art Academy Duesseldorf and Photography at Essen University.
His films have been shown by numerous international festivals and
broadcasters and he lectures in Film in Berlin, Duesseldorf,
Muenster and Vienna. His films as a director include: 2211
Buettel (1974), Zigeuner in Duisburg (1978-1980), 480
Tonnen bis viertel vor zehn (1981), Wer bezahlte fuer
Hitler? (1983), Die Sterne der Heimat (1985),
Erinnerung an Rheinhausen (1987-1989), Lettischer
Sommer (1992), Ofen aus (1993-1995), Ein Schloss fuer
alle (1998), B 224 (Earthmoving) (1999), NH 2 (Earthmoving)
(2004), Nome Road System (Earthmoving)
(2004), Kobe (2006), and Ma’rib (2008).
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 48
Scene from “Ma’rib” (photo © Rainer Komers Film)

Mike Figgis – The Seduction of the Eye
“I’ll tell you everything I know. Then it’s up to you, because
in fact, knowledge is just a tool. It gives you the ability
to do something. It doesn’t actually create anything, it
just facilitates it. That’s all. So, I always give away everything,”
says Mike Figgis in his most extensive interview
ever.
Mike Figgis – musician, actor, photographer, screenwriter,
theater director and filmmaker – is the creative mastermind
behind numerous projects.
Undoubtedly, his most popular film is Leaving Las Vegas,
which earned him two Academy Award nominations and
won Nicolas Cage the Oscar ® for the Best Male Lead.
Nonetheless, Figgis never allowed himself to get lost in the
commercial world of Hollywood, but rather chose to stay
true to his experimental way of telling stories.
What makes Mike Figgis so intriguing is his exceptional
spiritual, inner freedom. This film sets out to uncover the
secret behind this mastermind of filmmaking.
World Sales (please contact)
Ina Borrmann Filmproduktion
Niebuhrstrasse 56 · 10629 Berlin/Germany
phone/fax +49-30-50 18 12 30
email: post@inaborrmann.de · www.inaborrmann.de
Genre Art, Interview Category Documentary Year of
Production 2007 Director Ina Borrmann Screenplay Ina
Borrmann Directors of Photography Nikolaus Summerer, Ina
Borrmann Editor Georg Soering Producer Ina Borrmann
Production Company Ina Borrmann Filmproduktion/Berlin
With Mike Figgis Length 75 & 58 min Format DV, color, 16:9
Original Version English Sound Technology Stereo
Festival Screenings Hof 2007, Gothenburg 2008
Ina Borrmann was born in Freiberg in Saxony. She studied
Theater Sciences and German Language Studies at the Ludwig-
Maximilan-University in Munich, followed by studies at Munich’s
University of Television & Film. Active as a freelance writer, director
and director of photography, her films as a director include:
Glotzt nicht so romantisch (short, 1997), Haende Hoch
(short, 1999), Versuchte Naehe (2000), Texas (part of the
MEXartes Berlin exhibit, 2002), Das Verschwinden der Zeit,
documentary essay, 2004-2008), and Mike Figgis – The
Seduction of the Eye (documentary, 2007).
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 49
Mike Figgis (photo © Max S. Gerber)

Das Morphus-Geheimnis
MYSTERY OF MORPHUS
What happens when all of a sudden everyone else falls
asleep and you are the only one who stays awake? This is
what ten-year-old Nicki involuntarily experiences when
the last composition called Morphus by the great composer
Ludwig van Beethoven accidentally ends up in his schoolbag.
The melody holds magic powers because everybody
who listens to it falls asleep. Only a few people know
about this secret, like the gangsters Max and Kwapisch.
On a trip with his dad into the snowy mountains, the
gangsters follow them to steal the Morphus score. They
want to use the magic force of the music for their racketeering.
For the shy boy this is the start of a turbulent
adventure. After arriving at the hotel Nicki learns about
the magic powers of the melody when he starts to play it
on his trumpet. He experiences that suddenly everyone
around him falls asleep, except for Max and Kwapisch.
Now he is completely alone and has to face the attacks
and intrigues of the two gangsters. He has to fight for the
Morphus score to save himself, his dad and everyone else
from the evil doings of the villains. In this difficult situation,
he makes substantial progress and changes from an
anxious child into a self-confident boy.
World Sales
Progress Film-Verleih GmbH · Christel Jansen
Immanuelkirchstrasse 14b · 10405 Berlin/Germany
phone +49-30-24 00 32 25 · fax +49-30-24 00 32 22
email: c.jansen@progress-film.de · www.progress-film.de
Genre Adventure, Children and Youth, Family Entertainment
Category Feature Film Cinema Year of Production 2008
Director Karola Hattop Screenplay Andrzej Maleska
Director of Photography Sebastian Richter Music by Eike
Hosenfeld, Moritz Denis Producer Juergen Haase Production
Company Provobis Film/Berlin, in co-production with RBB/
Potsdam-Babelsberg, MDR/Leipzig, BR/Munich, Langfilm/Zurich,
Teleclub Switzerland/Zurich Principal Cast Jonas Haemmerle,
Michael Roll, Oliver Korittke, Arndt Schwering-Sohnrey, Magali
Greif, Charlotte Crome Casting Britt Beyer, Jacqueline Rietz
Length 96 min, 2,616 m Format 16 mm Blow-up 35 mm,
color, 1:1.78 Original Version German Subtitled Version
English Sound Technology Stereo, Dolby Digital With
backing from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, German
Federal Film Fund (DFFF) German Distributor Central Film
Vertrieb/Berlin
Karola Hattop was born in 1949 in Berlin and studied at the
"Konrad Wolf" Academy of Film & Television (HFF/B) in Potsdam-
Babelsberg. Since then, she has been working as a director for film
and television. A selection of her films includes: Eine schoene
Bescherung (1984), Elefant im Krankenhaus (1991), Ich
schenk Dir meinen Mann (1998), Secondhand Child
(Wer kuesst schon einen Leguan?, 2003), Unsere zehn
Gebote (2007), Wie verfuehr’ ich meinen Ehemann
(2007), and Mystery of Morphus (Das Morphus-
Geheimnis, 2008).
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 50
Scene from “Mystery of Morphus” (photo © Provobis/Annegret Plehn)

Narrenspiel
FOOL’S GAME
Stefan and Claudia plan a trip to the coast in a camper as
a last attempt to save their troubled relationship. Along the
way, they pick-up a hitchhiker, Uli, who also happens to
be a professional puppeteer. Uli tries to “entertain” them
with his puppet, but something just doesn’t seem right.
The situation becomes more serious as the puppet seems
to develop a life of its own. As Stefan thinks he might
recognize Uli from somewhere, a mysterious game begins
which becomes more and more dangerous for Stefan and
Claudia.
Genre Drama, Thriller Category Feature Film Cinema Year of
Production 2008 Director Markus F. Adrian Screenplay
Heiko Martens Director of Photography Anna Maria Hora
Editor Sabine Strunk Music by Nicolas Nohn, Emannuel Hoisl
Production Design Andreas Braun Producer Oliver Eitner
Production Company Hochschule fuer Film & Fernsehen
World Sales (please contact)
Hochschule fuer Film & Fernsehen “Konrad Wolf” · Cristina Marx
Marlene-Dietrich-Allee 11 · 14482 Potsdam-Babelsberg/Germany
phone +49-3 31-6 20 25 64 · fax +49-3 31-6 20 25 69
email: distribution@hff-potsdam.de · www.hff-potsdam.de
’Konrad Wolf ’/Potsdam-Babelsberg, in co-production with ARTE/
Strasbourg Principal Cast Wolfgang Menardi, Stefanie
Schoenfeld, Norman Schenk Length 82 min Format
DigiBeta/Betacam SP Blow-up 35 mm, color, 1:1.85 Original
Version German Subtitled Version English Sound
Technology Dolby Stereo SR Festival Screenings Munich
2008 Awards Best Screenplay Munich 2008
Markus F. Adrian was born in 1979. He was a trainee at the
public broadcasters NDR, SFB and WDR and worked as an assistant
unit manager and assistant director for Hallmark Entertainment,
Studio Hamburg, Sat1 and Pro7 from 2000-2002. Since 2002, he has
been a student at the “Konrad Wolf ” Academy of Film & Television.
His films include: Der Schenker (2003), Energie (2004),
Dame (2005), Heute ist der Tag (2005), Nachtwandler
(2007), Verflucht (2007), and Narrenspiel (2008).
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 51
Scene from “Fool’s Game” (photo © Anna Maria Hora/HFF Potsdam)

Neben der Spur
TOUR EXCESS
Julie (22) is traveling with her boyfriend Marcel (28) in his
old Porsche towards the south of France, intending to stay
at the cottage of her artist mother Susan for a couple of
days. Marcel is keeping his drug addiction secret from
Julie. Julie, on the other hand, has a hidden matter rumbling
within; she doesn’t know her father Heinrich who is
said to be living near Goa.
After a fight with Marcel, Julie gets in the caravan of the
much older Greenpeace activist Dieter. She spends the
night with him at the beach and they have sex. The next
morning Julie wakes up at the beach on her own, Dieter
and his caravan having disappeared.
But Julie’s father actually isn’t as far away as assumed. To
the contrary, he is a successful manager residing around
the corner and he is being observed by Dieter who is
following a perfidious plan.
Genre Drama Category Feature Film Cinema Year of Production
2007 Director Detlef Bothe Screenplay Detlef
World Sales
Media Luna Entertainment GmbH & Co. KG · Ida Martins
Aachener Strasse 26 · 50674 Cologne/Germany
phone +49-2 21-8 01 49 80 · fax +49-2 21-80 14 98 21
email: info@medialuna-entertainment.de · www.medialuna-entertainment.de
Bothe Director of Photography Luis de Maia Editor
Constantin Brodt Music by Peer Raben, Fauna Flash Production
Design Oliver Hoese Producer Detlef Bothe Production
Company B-Filme/Munich, in co-production with
BR/Munich Principal Cast Axel Milberg, Tom Schilling, Mia
Florentine Weiss, Detlef Bothe, Gabrielle Scharnitzky, Wotan Wilke
Moehring, Leslie Malton, Pierre Kiwitt, Dominik Raacke, Oliver
Korittke Casting Stefany Pohlmann, Nina Haun, An Dorthe Braker
Length 90 min Format HD, color, 1:1.66 Original Version
German Subtitled Version English Sound Technology
Dolby SR Festival Screenings Montreal 2007 With backing
from FilmFernsehFonds Bayern
Detlef Bothe was born in 1965 in Braunschweig and trained as
an actor from 1989-1992. Since 1990, he has been acting for film,
television and theater and debuted as a director in 2002 with
Feiertag, which won the Special Jury Prize at the Filmfest Munich
in the same year. Also active as a writer for film, television and the
theater, his other films include: My Wife, My Friends and Me
(Meine Frau, meine Freunde und ich, 2004) and Tour
Excess (Neben der Spur, 2007).
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 52
Scene from “Tour Excess” (photo © B-Filme)

NoBody’s Perfect
The documentary NoBody’s Perfect follows Niko von
Glasow as he looks for eleven people who, like him, were
born disabled due to the disastrous side-effects of
Thalidomide, and who are prepared to pose for a book of
photos. And to pose naked – to allow those who regularly
throw furtive glances at Thalidomiders and other physically
disabled people, to take a good, long look. In the process,
Niko discovers many fascinating characters who work
in such diverse areas as politics, the media, sport, astrophysics
and acting. Characters who have learned to live
with their disability to an impressive level of “normality”.
With a darkly humorous touch, and no deference to political
correctness, NoBody’s Perfect explores the specific
problems which these twelve extraordinary people have
faced during childhood, adolescence and adulthood, and
shows them reacting with curiosity, enthusiasm or (like
Niko himself) horror towards the project. As the film
approaches its climax – the photoshoots – von Glasow
completes the picture with scenes showing his unsuccessful
attempts to make contact with the chemical company
Gruenenthal, to talk about Thalidomide and its effects.
Von Glasow presents an impressive portrayal of the sensitivities
and feelings of disabled people, and our society’s
reactions to them.
Genre Society Category Documentary Cinema Year of
Production 2008 Director Niko von Glasow Screenplay
Andrew Emerson, Niko & Kiki von Glasow Director of
Photography Ania Dabrowska Editor Mechthild Barth
Production Design Henrike Mueller Producer Niko von
Glasow Production Company Palladio Film/Cologne, in coproduction
with WDR/Cologne With Stefan Fricke, Sofia Plich,
Bianca Vogel, Sigrid Kwella, Doris Pakendorf, Theo Zavelberg, Petra
Uttenweiler, Andreas Meyer, Kim Morton, Fred Dove, Mat Fraser,
Niko von Glasow, Mandel von Glasow Length 84 min, 2,376 m
Format 35 mm, color, 1:1.85 Original Version German/
English Subtitled Version English Sound Technology Dolby
SR Festival Screenings Locarno 2008, Prix Europa 2008, Sao
Paulo 2008 With backing from German Federal Film Fund
(DFFF), Filmstiftung NRW German Distributor Ventura Film/
Berlin
Niko von Glasow was born in 1960 in Cologne. He began his
career with Rainer Werner Fassbinder as a production assistant, followed
by work with various film distributors, studios and festivals.
He studied Directing at New York University and at the Film
Academy in Lódz/Poland. His films include: Wedding Guests
(Hochzeitsgaeste, 1990), Marie’s Song (Maries Lied,
1994), Edelweiss Pirates (Edelweisspiraten, 2004),
Schau mich an (TV, 2007), and NoBody’s Perfect (2008).
World Sales
Autlook Filmsales
Zieglergasse 75/1 · 1070 Vienna/Austria
phone +43-1-7 20 55 35 70 · fax +43-1-7 20 55 35 72
email: welcome@autlookfilms.com · www.autlookfilms.com · www.nobodysperfect-film.de
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 53
Kim Morton in “NoBody’s Perfect” (photo © Palladio Film, 2008)

Der Pfad des Kriegers
THE WAY OF A WARRIOR
Michael N. is a wild child. On his sleigh, he races down the
snowy slopes of the forest, almost unable to brake. He
leaves his home in South Tyrol in the early 80s, determined
to become a Catholic priest. Eventually he turns his
back on Europe and joins the Jesuits in South America,
where the Catholics priests have sided with the powerless
and humiliated.
Eight years later, as the head of the Bolivian guerilla troop,
he commits terrorist attacks and kidnaps Bolivia’s Coca-
Cola boss. Several months later, he dies in a hail of police
bullets, taking with him the kidnapee and almost every
commando member. He leaves behind letters addressed
to his family, audio recordings of religious and Bolivian
folk songs, and a stunned and speechless family, along
with the diary of a kidnapping.
1990. The Wall has come down. The Cold War and all the
ardent visions that went with it are declared over and forgotten.
No one is interested in the boy who wanted to
become a priest and bring God’s Kingdom to one of the
poorest countries in the world. Ten years later, Europe is
confronted with a new generation of educated idealistic
young men: men who are deadly serious about God’s
Kingdom on Earth.
World Sales
Deckert Distribution · Heino Deckert
Marienplatz 1 · 04103 Leipzig/Germany
phone +49-3 41-2 15 66 38 · fax +49-3 41-2 15 66 39
email: info@deckert-distribution.com · www.deckert-distribution.com
The Way of a Warrior is a documentary about the mortality
of ideologies and the immortality of the dead. A film
about Michael N. and those who mourn him.
Genre History Category Documentary Year of Production
2008 Director Andreas Pichler Screenplay Andreas Pichler
Director of Photography Susanne Schuele Editors Marzia
Mete, Andreas Zitzmann Music by Paul Lemp Producer
Thomas Tielsch Production Company Filmtank/Hamburg, in
co-production with Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion/Zurich,
Miramonte Film/Bolzano, ZDF/Mainz, DRS-RAI/Bolzano Length
52 & 88 min, 2,587 m Format DigiBeta Blow-up 35 mm, color,
1:1.85 Original Version German Dubbed Version English
Subtitled Version English Sound Technology Dolby SR
Festival Screenings Saarbruecken 2008, Solothurn 2008, Docs
Barcelona 2008, Al Jazeera Film Festival 2008, Bolzano 2008,
Innsbruck 2008, Bellaria Film Festival Anteprima Doc Rimini 2008
Awards Audience Award Bolzano 2008, 2nd Prize Vela d’Argento
& UCCA 20 Città Rimini 2008 With backing from
Filmfoerderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, BKM, Zuercher
Filmstiftung, Land Suedtirol, MEDIA
Andreas Pichler was born in 1967 in Bolzano/Italy and studied
Film, Cultural Science and Philosophy in Bologna and Berlin. A selection
of his films includes: Mirabella – Return Ticket to
Germany (2001), Music as a State of Mind – The Composer
Max Reger (2002), Call Me Babylon (2003),
Antonio Negri – A Revolt That Never Ends (2004), My
3 Peaks (2005), Franco D’Andrea – Jazz Pianist (2006),
and The Way of a Warrior (2008).
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 54
Scenes from “The Way of a Warrior” (photo © filmtank)

Schattenwelt
LONG SHADOWS
After two decades in prison, Widmer, a former German
RAF-terrorist, is released. He meets Valerie, his next door
neighbor. The young woman tries to get her life back on
track after she lost custody of her little son. She shows
some interest in Widmer, the two of them seem to have
something in common. They discreetly enter into the
secrets of their lives. Until the truth comes between them.
Genre Drama Category Feature Film Cinema Year of
Production 2008 Director Connie Walther Screenplay Uli
Herrmann, in cooperation with Connie Walther and Peter-Juergen
Boock Director of Photography Birgit Gudjonsdottir Editor
Karen Loenneker Music by Rainer Oleak Production Design
Agi Dawaachu Producers Clementina Hegewisch, Michael
Jungfleisch Production Companies NextFilm/Berlin, Gambit
Film/Ludwigsburg, in co-production with BR/Munich, ARTE/
Strasbourg Principal Cast Franziska Petri, Ulrich Noethen, Tatja
Seibt, Uwe Kockisch, Christoph Bach, Mehdi Nebbou, Eva Mattes
Casting Sabine Schwedhelm Length 92 min, 2,704 m Format
16 mm Blow-up 35 mm, color, 1:1.85 Original Version
German Subtitled Version English Sound Technology DTS
Digital Festival Screenings Rome 2008 (Cinema 2008
World Sales
Sola Media GmbH · Solveig Langeland
Osumstrasse 17 · 70599 Stuttgart/Germany
phone +49-7 11-4 79 36 66 · fax +49-7 11-4 79 26 58
email: post@sola-media.net · www.sola-media.net
Competition) With backing from MFG Baden-Wuerttemberg,
BKM, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, German Federal Film Fund
(DFFF), Filmfoerderungsanstalt (FFA) German Distributor
Salzgeber & Co. Medien/Berlin
Connie Walther studied Sociology and Spanish before switching
over to Photography. After gathering experience as a lighting gaffer
and production and directing assistant, she studied at the German
Film & Television Academy (dffb) in Berlin and landed her first success
with her graduation film Das erste Mal (1996), which was
named Best Graduation Film from a German film academy in that
year. Since then, she has demonstrated her talents with various
genres and formats with films such as: Boersday Blues (short,
1992), Der Clown II (TV, 1997), Tic Tac Toe (TV documentary,
1998), Hauptsache Leben (1998), Offene Rechnung
(TV, 1999), Never Mind the Wall (Wie Feuer und
Flamme, 2001), Im falschen Leben (TV, 2001), Und
Tschuess, ihr lieben (TV, 2002), Ei in Japan (documentary,
2005), Mord in aller Unschuld (TV, 2006), 12 Means: I
Love You (TV, 2007), and Long Shadows (Schattenwelt,
2008).
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4 · 2008 55
Scene from “Long Shadows” (photo © Olaf Aue)

Short Cut to Hollywood
John F. Salinger’s real name is Johannes Friedrich Selinger.
He’s a technician working for a local phone company in
Berlin, who, at the ’not so tender’ age of 35, has to admit
that his life hasn’t quite turned out the way he imagined.
Just when it becomes abundantly clear to him that time is
running out in terms of achieving fame and fortune and
that he most likely won’t be leaving anything behind for
future generations to behold, he has a brilliant idea! He
will make a film! A film that will earn him his place in
history.
His two best friends, a medical school dropout who now
works as an ambulance driver and a failed used cars salesman,
are stoked! What a terrific idea! And so the three
underdogs head to the United States to shoot their documentary-style
road movie, convinced that, despite the
many obstacles they will most likely have to face,
Hollywood will soon be at their beck and call.
Singing, they hit the road traveling across the United States
on endless highways with nothing but the most unbelievable
ideas in the history of filmmaking on their minds. At
first people just sneer at them but then the “bomb explodes”
and it all starts to happen: the conquest of a new
continent begins. A media frenzy ensues. America goes
wild. The three succeed and become world famous. But
for Johannes the price of fame is high …
World Sales
Bavaria Film International / Dept. of Bavaria Media GmbH · Thorsten Ritter
Bavariafilmplatz 7 · 82031 Geiselgasteig/Germany
phone +49-89-64 99 26 86 · fax +49-89-64 99 37 20
email: international@bavaria-film.de · www.bavaria-film-international.com
Genre Road Movie, Black Comedy Category Feature Film
Cinema Year of Production 2008 Directors Marcus
Mittermeier, Jan Henrik Stahlberg Screenplay Jan Henrik
Stahlberg Director of Photography David Hofmann Editors
Christian Lonk, Sarah Clara Weber Music by Rainer Oleak
Production Design Peter Naguib Producers Marcos Kantis,
Martin Lehwald, Matthias Esche, Philipp Kreuzer, Marcus Mittermeier,
Jan Henrik Stahlberg Production Companies Schiwago
Film/Berlin, Bavaria Pictures/Geiselgasteig, Bavaria Film/Geiselgasteig,
Muxfilm/Pentling, in co-production with Artdeluxe/Vienna,
Capture Film/Los Angeles Principal Cast Jan Henrik Stahlberg,
Marcus Mittermeier, Christoph Kottenkamp Casting Astrid
Rosenfeld Length 95 min, 1,300 m Format 35 mm, color, 1:1.85
Original Version German Subtitled Version English Sound
Technology Dolby Digital With backing from Medienboard
Berlin-Brandenburg, Filmfoerderungsanstalt (FFA), BKM, German
Federal Film Fund (DFFF), Kuratorium junger deutscher Film
German Distributor Senator Film Verleih/Berlin
Marcus Mittermeier is an actor, director and producer. His
films include: Quiet as a Mouse (Muxmaeuschenstill,
2004) and Short Cut to Hollywood (2008).
Jan Henrik Stahlberg is an actor and director. His films include:
Bye Bye Berlusconi! (2005) and Short Cut to
Hollywood (2008).
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 56
Scene from “Short Cut to Hollywood” (photo © Bavaria Pictures/Stefan Falke)

Standesgemaess
NOBLE COMMITMENTS
Noble Commitments portrays three aristocratic single
women, torn between traditional expectations and everyday
life, between manor house and pre-fab high-rise buildings.
Unable to live up to their parents expectations, they
have to scale down their standards and re-orientate themselves.
Within the nobility, the male family line is valid. To
belong to noble society, they have to either marry a man
with a title or lead a solitary life.
Countess Alexandra von Bredow lived a fast life of glittering
feasts and balls. Currently she lives in a small apartment
and earns her livelihood by assembling gemstone
necklaces. At the age of 48, having suffered several setbacks
and severe depression, she finally meets the love of
her life.
Baroness Alexandra von Beaulieu-Marconnay, oboist and
teacher, developed a very close relationship with her
mother after her father died. After moving to another
town, her noble connections benefit her while settling in.
But she is incapable of stepping out of a mighty line of
ancestors in order to lead her own life.
Verena von Zerboni di Sposetti received an elitist education
in a girls’ boarding school, followed by law studies.
World Sales (please contact)
Kings&Queens Filmproduktion · John Quester
Rehmstrasse 29 · 82211 Herrsching/Germany
phone +49-81 52-9 69 88 48 · email: johnquester@gmx.de
After working as a solicitor for more than two years, she
resigned from her profession. The career change had devastating
effects on her social life.
A film depicting three outsiders in the bizarre and eccentric
microcosm of German nobility.
Genre Tragicomedy Category Documentary Cinema Year of
Production 2008 Director Julia von Heinz Screenplay John
Quester, Julia von Heinz Director of Photography Marcus
Winterbauer Editor Frank Brummundt Music by Matthias
Petsche Producers John Quester, Julia von Heinz Production
Company Kings&Queens Filmproduktion/Hersching, in cooperation
with BR/Munich, SWR/Baden-Baden Length 87 min Format
HD, color, 1:1.85 Original Version German Subtitled
Version English Sound Technology Dolby SR, Stereo
Festival Screenings Hof 2008
Julia von Heinz was born in 1976 in Berlin where she studied
Audio Visual Media. She lectures in Film Directing at several universities
and is currently working on her PhD. Her award-winning films
include: Doris (short, 2002), Lucie & Vera (short, 2003),
Nothing Else Matters (2007), and Noble Commitments
(2008).
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4 · 2008 57
Countess Alexandra von Bredow in “Noble Commitments”
(photo © Kings&Queens Filmproduktion)

U-900
Atze Schroeder knows what makes his customers on the
black market happy. Otherwise, he and his buddy Samuel
are keeping a low profile, waiting for the Americans to
arrive – it is the year 1944 and World War II is not over
yet. But before things get that far, the two pals get caught
up in a mad adventure with the actress Maria; one that
leaves even big-mouth Atze speechless: the Germans want
to send their last available submarine, the U-900, on a
secret mission from Toulon to Warnemuende. But when
Atze gets into it with the responsible General, he and
Samuel and Maria have to flee. The trio captures the U-
900 and Atze pretends to be the legendary Lieutenant
Commander Roenberg. Even though he has no clue about
the high seas, Atze wouldn’t be Atze if he didn’t have a solution
to every problem. But the crew gets suspicious
when their commander starts issuing unconventional
orders …
Genre Comedy Category Feature Film Cinema Year of
Production 2008 Director Sven Unterwaldt Screenplay
Michael Gantenberg, Oliver Ziegenbalg Director of Photography
Stephan Schuh Editor Stefan Essl Music by Karim
Sebastian Elias Production Design Ari Hantke Producers
World Sales
TELEPOOL GmbH · Anja Uecker
Sonnenstrasse 21 · 80331 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-55 87 60 · fax +49-89-55 87 62 29
email: cinepool@telepool.de · www.telepool.de
Quirin Berg, Max Wiedemann Production Company
Wiedemann & Berg Film/Munich, in co-production with Andante
Film/Groebenzell, Film & Entertainment VIP Medienfonds/Munich
Principal Cast Atze Schroeder, Oliver K. Wnuk, Yvonne
Catterfeld, Juergen Schornagel, Goetz Otto, Christian Kahrmann,
Maxim Mehmet Casting Die Besetzer/Cologne Special
Effects Harald Ruediger Length 99 min, 2,726 m Format 35
mm, color, cs Original Version German Subtitled Version
English Sound Technology Dolby Digital With backing
from FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, German Federal Film Fund
(DFFF), Filmfoerderungsanstalt (FFA), Medienboard Berlin-
Brandenburg, Malta Film Commission German Distributor
Warner Bros. Entertainment/Hamburg
Sven Unterwaldt was born in Luebeck in 1965. A well-known
name in the German comedy scene, his films include Antrag vom
Ex (TV, 1999), the TV series Switch (1997-1997), Anke (1999-
2001), Alles Atze (2002), and Berlin, Berlin (2002), as well as
the features Wie die Karnickel (2002), 7 Dwarves (7
Zwerge – Maenner allein im Wald, 2004), Siegfried
(2005), 7 Dwarves – The Wood is Not Enough (7
Zwerge – Der Wald ist nicht genug, 2006), and U-900
(2008).
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4 · 2008 58
Scene from “U-900” (photo © Wiedemann & Berg Film/Rolf von der Heydt)

Warten auf Angelina
WAITING FOR ANGELINA
Two young men have to spend five days and five nights
together on a rooftop in Berlin’s Mitte district to get an
exclusive view of the most famous couple of the universe.
They are as far apart from each other as the Odd Couple,
but they need to get along with each other for 120 hours.
One is Maik Tremper, a professional paparazzo with residences
in London and Monte Carlo; the other is Momme
Ulmer, a lifeguard and film projectionist from a small
island in the North Sea. Two worlds collide and tension
mounts between the hard-nosed photographer and the
love-stricken fan. Could this really be the beginning of a
wonderful friendship?
During the course of their 120 hours together, the two
young men accidentally meet six very different women
and everything turns out differently than Maik and
Momme had expected or hoped for. They both have
changed by the end of their summer adventure.
Waiting for Angelina is a contemporary urban comedy
of manners and a satiric look at the current international
celebrity cult and the hardships of surviving one week in
Berlin.
Genre Romantic Comedy Category Feature Film Cinema Year
of Production 2008 Director Hans-Christoph Blumenberg
World Sales (please contact)
Feuerland Filmproduktion · Hans-Christoph Blumenberg
Dorotheenstrasse 143 · 22299 Hamburg/Germany
phone/fax +49-40-4 60 13 34 · email: feuerlandfilm@aol.de
Screenplay Hans-Christoph Blumenberg Director of
Photography Klaus Peter Weber Editor Florentine Bruck
Production Design Hans-Christoph Blumenberg Producer
Hans-Christoph Blumenberg Production Company Feuerland
Filmproduktion/Hamburg Principal Cast Florian Lukas, Kostja
Ullmann, Barbara Auer, Anna Brueggemann, Gudrun Landgrebe,
Leslie Malton, Jana Pallaske, Joerdis Triebel Length 90 min
Format 35 mm, color, 1:1.85 Original Version German
Sound Technology Dolby SR Festival Screenings Hof
2008 With backing from Filmfoerderung Hamburg Schleswig-
Holstein German Distributor Farbfilm Verleih/Berlin
Hans-Christoph Blumenberg was born in Lychen/Mark
Brandenburg in 1947 and studied History and German in Cologne
and Washington, D.C. He worked for many years as a film critic for
Die Zeit and Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger and has written books on
Howard Hawks, Robert Siodmak and cinema under the Third
Reich. He also directed 23 documentaries for television from 1970-
1982 about cinema. In 1984, he made his feature directorial debut
with Tausend Augen and set up the production company
Rotwang Film with Patrick Brandt in 1993 and his own production
company Feuerland Film in 2007. His other films include: Der
Sommer des Samurai (1986), Operation Madonna (Der
Madonna-Mann, 1987), Rotwang muss weg! (1994),
Beim naechsten Kuss knall ich ihn nieder (1995),
Deutschlandspiel (TV, 2000), Hirnschal gegen Hitler (TV,
2000), Planet der Kannibalen (2001), Die letzte
Schlacht (TV, 2004), and Waiting for Angelina (Warten
auf Angelina, 2008).
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 59
Scene from “Waiting for Angelina”
(photo © Feuerland Filmproduktion/Barbara Schramm)

Weltstadt
CITY OF THE WORLD
In the night of June 16th 2004, in a picturesque East
German town, two drunken teenage boys attacked a
homeless man in the streets. When they realized that he
had no valuables, they bashed him and set him on fire.
City of the World portrays five characters, 24 hours prior
to the crime: the drunken teenagers Karsten and Till, Till’s
girlfriend Steffi, the policeman Guenter, and the snack bar
owner Heinrich. Based on a true story, the film depicts an
aspect of German society that is often overlooked. The
media only treats it with lurid headlines and fake contempt.
But what is really going on?
Karsten, Till, Steffi, Guenter and Heinrich are average
Germans, living a small-town life, in a state of mediocrity
and apathy. But sometimes indifference turns into aggression,
boredom into violence. The film shows an aspect of
small-town banalities, social brutalization and a deeply
aggressive youth sub culture.
Genre Drama Category Feature Film Cinema Year of Production
2008 Director Christian Klandt Screenplay Christian
Klandt Director of Photography René Gorski Editor Joerg
Schreyer Music by Paul Rischer Production Design Tanja
World Sales (please contact)
Hochschule fuer Film & Fernsehen “Konrad Wolf” · Cristina Marx
Marlene-Dietrich-Allee 11 · 14482 Potsdam-Babelsberg/Germany
phone +49-3 31-6 20 25 64 · fax +49-3 31-6 20 25 69
email: distribution@hff-potsdam.de · www.hff-potsdam.de
Baumgartner Producer Martin Lischke Production Company
Hochschule fuer Film & Fernsehen ’Konrad Wolf ’/Potsdam-
Babelsberg, in co-production with ARTE/Strasbourg Principal
Cast Florian Bartholomaei, Gerdy Zint, Karoline Schuch, Justus
Carriére Length 104 min Format DigiBeta/Betacam SP Blowup
35 mm, color, 1:1.85 Original Version German Subtitled
Versions English, French, Spanish Sound Technology Dolby
Stereo SR, Dolby Digital Festival Screenings Achtung Berlin
2008, Montreal 2008 (In Competition), Ourense 2008 (In
Competition) Awards Best Editing & Best Film Achtung Berlin
2008, Silver Zenith Montreal 2008
Christian Klandt was born in 1978 in Frankfurt/Oder and grew
up in Brandenburg. Before beginning his studies at the Film &
Television Academy (HFF) “Konrad Wolf ”, he worked as an assistant
director, camera assistant and production assistant for various
cinema, television and theater projects. In 2001 he founded the production
company nttcfilm Prod. A selection of his films includes:
PIX (short, 2003), Senses & Expiation (silent short, 2005),
The Last Dance (short, 2005), Infinity Loop (short, 2006),
The Cleaner (documentary, 2006), Last Escort (documentary,
2006), Bad Life (short, 2007), Schaustein’s Final Film
(2008), and City of the World (2008).
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Scene from “City of the World” (photo © René Gorski/HFF Potsdam)

Zweier ohne
COXLESS PAIR
The film tells the story of the friendship between Johann
and Ludwig as they strive for the ultimate “buddy”
relationship. Going beyond, well beyond, what would be
considered good and healthy, the pair attempt to become
the ideal twins, driving their relationship based on their
partnership in competitive rowing (coxless pairs) to the
ultimate: to perfect harmony in mind, word, thought and
deed.
But their symbiotic relationship is thrown out of balance:
Ludwig strives to tighten the bonds ever closer, but Johann
discovers happiness in the form of love for Ludwig’s sister,
Vera. But because Ludwig hates her, the couple keeps
their relationship secret. But secrets have a way of coming
out and Ludwig is wounded to the core. As the finals of
the rowing competition draw closer, Ludwig has already
set his sights on a greater goal: to preserve their friendship
forever, no longer in life, but in death.
Genre Drama Category Feature Film Cinema Year of Production
2008 Director Jobst Christian Oetzmann Screenplay
Jobst Christian Oetzmann Director of Photography Tomas
Erhart Editor Cosima Schnell Music by Dieter Schleip Pro-
World Sales
Media Luna Entertainment GmbH & Co. KG · Ida Martins
Aachener Strasse 26 · 50674 Cologne/Germany
phone +49-2 21-8 01 49 80 · fax +49-2 21-80 14 98 21
email: info@medialuna-entertainment.de · www.medialuna-entertainment.de
duction Design Peter Menne Producer Joachim Ortmanns
Production Company Lichtblick Film- & Fernsehproduktion/
Cologne, in co-production with Filmpool Film- & Fernsehproduktion/Cologne
Principal Cast Tino Mewes, Jacob Matschenz,
Sophie Rogall, Peter Harting, Lena Stolze, Alexandra Schalaudeck,
Nora Quest Casting Maria Schwarz, Susanne Ritter Length 93
min, 2,500 m Format 35 mm, color, cs Original Version
German Subtitled Version English Sound Technology
Dolby Digital With backing from Filmstiftung NRW, German
Federal Film Fund (DFFF), Hessen Invest German Distributor
Stardust Filmverleih/Munich
Jobst Christian Oetzmann was born in Hanover and studied
drama at the University of Television & Film in Munich. His first film,
Der Condor opened the Turin Film Festival in 1988. Since then he
has made a name for himself primarily as a director of television
crime movies, including episodes of SOKO 5133 (1994) and the pilot
to the series SK-Babies (1995). A year later he directed Der Neue,
the pilot for the crime series Kommissare Suedwest, for which he also
directed numerous episodes. His features include: The Loneliness
of the Crocodiles (Die Einsamkeit der Krokodile,
2000) and Coxless Pair (Zweier ohne, 2008).
german films quarterly new german films
4 · 2008 61
Scene from “Coxless Pair” (photo © Lichtblick Film/Uwe Stratmann)

Das deutsch-französische Filmtreffen
Les Rendez-vous franco-allemands du cinéma
Académie franco-allemande du cinéma · Deutsch-französische Filmakademie
A Meeting for German
and French Filmmakers,
Producers, Distributors,
Exhibitors
Hamburg
20 – 22 November
2008
French contact: contact@das-rendez-vous.org
German contact: filmtreffen@german-films.de
photos: Hamburg Marketing Medienserver

GERMAN FILMS
SHAREHOLDERS & SUPPORTERS
Arbeitsgemeinschaft
Neuer Deutscher Spielfilmproduzenten e.V.
Association of New Feature Film Producers
Zentnerstrasse 42, 80796 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-2 71 74 30, fax +49-89-27 77 71 77
email: mail@ag-spielfilm.de, www.ag-spielfilm.de
Filmfoerderungsanstalt
German Federal Film Board
Grosse Praesidentenstrasse 9, 10178 Berlin/Germany
phone +49-30-27 57 70, fax +49-30-27 57 71 11
email: presse@ffa.de, www.ffa.de
Verband Deutscher Filmexporteure e.V. (VDFE)
Association of German Film Exporters
Tegernseer Landstrasse 75, 81539 Munich/Germany
phone +49- 89-6 42 49 70, fax +49-89-6 92 09 10
email: mail@vdfe.de, www.vdfe.de
Verband Deutscher Filmproduzenten e.V.
Association of German Feature Film Producers
Muenchner Freiheit 20, 80802 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-33 08 80 31, fax +49-89-33 08 81 93
email: mail@filmproduzentenverband.de
www.filmproduzentenverband.de
Bundesverband Deutscher Fernsehproduzenten e.V.
Association of German Television Producers
Brienner Strasse 26, 80333 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-28 62 83 85, fax +49-89-28 62 82 47
email: post@tv-produzenten.de, www.tv-produzenten.de
Deutsche Kinemathek
Museum fuer Film und Fernsehen
Potsdamer Strasse 2, 10785 Berlin/Germany
phone +49-30-30 09 03-0, fax +49-30-30 09 03-13
email: info@deutsche-kinemathek.de, www.deutsche-kinemathek.de
Arbeitsgemeinschaft Dokumentarfilm e.V.
German Documentary Association
Schweizer Strasse 6, 60594 Frankfurt am Main/Germany
phone +49-69-62 37 00, fax +49-61 42-96 64 24
email: agdok@agdok.de, www.agdok.de
Arbeitsgemeinschaft Kurzfilm e.V.
German Short Film Association
Foerstereistrasse 36, 01099 Dresden/Germany
phone +49-3 51-4 04 55 75, fax +49-3 51-4 04 55 76
email: info@ag-kurzfilm.de, www.ag-kurzfilm.de
Der Beauftragte der Bundesregierung
fuer Kultur und Medien
Federal Government Commissioner
for Culture & the Media
Referat K 35, Europahaus, Stresemannstrasse 94,
10963 Berlin/Germany
phone +49-18 88-6 81 49 29, fax +49-18 88-68 15 49 29
email: K35@bkm.bmi.bund.de
FilmFernsehFonds Bayern GmbH
Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Medien
in Bayern
Sonnenstrasse 21, 80331 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-54 46 02-0, fax +49-89-54 46 02 21
email: filmfoerderung@fff-bayern.de, www.fff-bayern.de
Filmfoerderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein GmbH
Friedensallee 14–16, 22765 Hamburg/Germany
phone +49-40-398 37-0 fax +49-40-398 37-10
email: info@ffhsh.de, www.ffhsh.de
Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen GmbH
Kaistrasse 14, 40221 Duesseldorf/Germany
phone +49-2 11-93 05 00, fax +49-2 11-93 05 05
email: info@filmstiftung.de, www.filmstiftung.de
Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH
August-Bebel-Strasse 26-53, 14482 Potsdam-Babelsberg/Germany
phone +49-3 31-74 38 70, fax +49-3 31-7 43 87 99
email: info@medienboard.de, www.medienboard.de
MFG Medien- und Filmgesellschaft
Baden-Wuerttemberg mbH
Breitscheidstrasse 4, 70174 Stuttgart/Germany
phone +49-7 11-90 71 54 00, fax +49-7 11-90 71 54 50
email: filmfoerderung@mfg.de, www.mfg-filmfoerderung.de
Mitteldeutsche Medienfoerderung GmbH
Hainstrasse 17-19, 04109 Leipzig/Germany
phone +49-3 41-26 98 70, fax +49-3 41-2 69 87 65
email: info@mdm-online.de, www.mdm-online.de
nordmedia – Die Mediengesellschaft
Niedersachsen/Bremen mbH
Expo Plaza 1, 30539 Hanover/Germany
phone +49-5 11-1 23 45 60, fax +49-5 11-12 34 56 29
email: info@nordmedia.de, www.nordmedia.de
german films quarterly shareholders & supporters
4 · 2008 63

German Entry for the 81st Academy Awards
in the category “Best Foreign Language Film”

ASSOCIATION OF GERMAN FILM EXPORTERS
Verband deutscher Filmexporteure e.V. (VDFE) · please contact Lothar Wedel
Tegernseer Landstrasse 75 · 81539 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-6 42 49 70 · fax +49-89-6 92 09 10 · email: mail@vdfe.de · www.vdfe.de
Action Concept Film- &
Stuntproduktion GmbH
please contact Wolfgang Wilke
An der Hasenkaule 1-7
50354 Huerth/Germany
phone +49-22 33-50 81 00
fax +49-22 33-50 81 80
email: wolfgang.wilke@actionconcept.com
www.actionconcept.com
ARRI Media Worldsales
please contact Antonio Exacoustos
Tuerkenstrasse 89
80799 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-38 09 12 88
fax +49-89-38 09 16 19
email: aexacoustos@arri.de
www.arri-mediaworldsales.de
Atlas International Film GmbH
please contact
Philipp Menz, Susanne Groh, Dieter Menz
Candidplatz 11
81543 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-21 09 75-0
fax +49-89-21 09 75 81
email: mail@atlasfilm.com
www.atlasfilm.com
ATRIX Films GmbH
please contact Beatrix Wesle,
Solveig Langeland
Aggensteinstrasse 13a
81545 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-64 28 26 11
fax +49-89-64 95 73 49
email: atrixfilms@gmx.net
www.atrix-films.com
Bavaria Film International
Dept. of Bavaria Media GmbH
please contact Thorsten Ritter
Bavariafilmplatz 7
82031 Geiselgasteig/Germany
phone +49-89-64 99 26 86
fax +49-89-64 99 37 20
email: international@bavaria-film.de
www.bavaria-film-international.com
Beta Cinema
Dept. of Beta Film GmbH
please contact Andreas Rothbauer
Gruenwalder Weg 28d
82041 Oberhaching/Germany
phone +49-89-67 34 69 80
fax +49-89-6 73 46 98 88
email: ARothbauer@betacinema.com
www.betacinema.com
cine aktuell Filmgesellschaft mbH
please contact Ralf Faust, Axel Schaarschmidt
Werdenfelsstrasse 81
81377 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-7 41 34 30
fax +49-89-74 13 43 16
email: mail@cine-aktuell.de
www.cine-aktuell.de
EEAP Eastern European
Acquisition Pool GmbH
please contact Alexander van Duelmen
Alexanderstrasse 7
10178 Berlin/Germany
phone +49-30-25 76 23 30
fax +49-30-25 76 23 59
email: info@eeap.de
www.eeap.eu
Exportfilm Bischoff & Co. GmbH
please contact Jochem Strate,
Philip Evenkamp
Isabellastrasse 20, 80798 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-2 72 93 60
fax +49-89-27 29 36 36
email: exportfilms@exportfilm.de
www.exportfilm.de
german united distributors
Programmvertrieb GmbH
please contact Silke Spahr
Breite Strasse 48-50
50667 Cologne/Germany
phone +49-2 21-92 06 90
fax +49-2 21-9 20 69 69
email: silke.spahr@germanunited.com
www.germanunited.com
Kinowelt International GmbH
Futura Film Weltvertrieb
im Filmverlag der Autoren GmbH
please contact Stelios Ziannis
Karl-Tauchnitz-Strasse 10
04107 Leipzig/Germany
phone +49-3 41-35 59 60
fax +49-3 41-35 59 64 19
email: sziannis@kinowelt.de
www.kinowelt-international.de
Media Luna Entertainment
GmbH & Co.KG
please contact Ida Martins
Aachener Strasse 26
50674 Cologne/Germany
phone +49-2 21-8 01 49 80
fax +49-2 21-80 14 98 21
email: info@medialuna-entertainment.de
www.medialuna-entertainment.de
Progress Film-Verleih GmbH
please contact Christel Jansen
Immanuelkirchstrasse 14b
10405 Berlin/Germany
phone +49-30-24 00 32 25
fax +49-30-24 00 32 22
email: c.jansen@progress-film.de
www.progress-film.de
SOLA Media GmbH
please contact Solveig Langeland
Osumstrasse 17, 70599 Stuttgart/Germany
phone +49-7 11-4 79 36 66
fax +49-7 11-4 79 26 58
email: post@sola-media.net
www.sola-media.net
TELEPOOL GmbH
please contact Anja Uecker
Sonnenstrasse 21, 80331 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-55 87 60
fax +49-89-55 87 62 29
email: cinepool@telepool.de
www.telepool.de
Transit Film GmbH
please contact Loy W. Arnold, Mark Gruenthal
Dachauer Strasse 35
80335 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-59 98 85-0
fax +49-89-59 98 85-20
email: loy.arnold@transitfilm.de,
mark.gruenthal@transitfilm.de
www.transitfilm.de
uni media film gmbh
please contact Michael Waldleitner
Bavariafilmplatz 7
82031 Geiselgasteig/Germany
phone +49-89-59 58 46
fax +49-89-54 50 70 52
email: info@unimediafilm.com
www.unimediafilm.com
german films quarterly association of german film exporters
4 · 2008 65

GERMAN FILMS: A PROFILE
German Films Service + Marketing is the national information
and advisory center for the promotion of German films worldwide.
It was established in 1954 under the name Export-Union of
German Cinema as the umbrella association for the Association of
German Feature Film Producers, since 1966 the Association of New
German Feature Film Producers and the Association of German Film
Exporters, and operates today in the legal form of a limited company.
In 2004, new shareholders came on board the Export-Union which
since then continues operations under its present name: German
Films Service + Marketing GmbH.
Shareholders are the Association of German Feature Film
Producers, the Association of New German Feature Film Producers,
the Association of German Film Exporters, the German Federal Film
Board (FFA), the Association of German Television Producers, the
Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek, the German Documentary
Association, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern and Filmstiftung NRW representing
the seven main regional film funds, and the German Short
Film Association.
Members of the advisory board are: Alfred Huermer (chairman),
Peter Dinges, Antonio Exacoustos, Dr. Klaus Schaefer, Ulrike Schauz,
and Michael Weber.
German Films itself has 14 members of staff:
Christian Dorsch, managing director
Mariette Rissenbeek, public relations/deputy managing director
Petra Bader, office manager
Sandra Buchta, project coordinator/documentary film
Christin Czarnecki, trainee
Simon Goehler, trainee
Christine Harrasser, managing director’s assistant/project coordinator
Angela Hawkins, publications & website editor
Barbie Heusinger, project coordinator/distribution support
Nicole Kaufmann, project coordinator
Michaela Kowal, accounts
Kim Liebeck, PR assistant/festival coordinator
Martin Scheuring, project coordinator/short film
Konstanze Welz, project coordinator/television
In addition, German Films has nine foreign representatives in eight
countries.
German Films’ budget of presently €5.4 million comes from film
export levies, the office of the Federal Government Commissioner
for Culture and the Media, and the FFA. The seven main regional film
funds (FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Filmfoerderung Hamburg Schleswig-
Holstein, Filmstiftung NRW, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, MFG
Baden-Wuerttemberg, Mitteldeutsche Medienfoerderung, and Nordmedia)
make a financial contribution – currently amounting to
€343,000 – towards the work of German Films.
German Films is a founding member of the European Film Promotion,
a network of European film organizations (including Unifrance, Swiss
Films, Austrian Film Commission, Holland Film, among others) with
similar responsibilities to those of German Films. The organization,
with its headquarters in Hamburg, aims to develop and realize joint
projects for the presentation of European films on an international
level.
German Films’ range of activities includes:
Close cooperation with major international film festivals, including
Berlin, Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Locarno, San
Sebastian, Montreal, Karlovy Vary, Moscow, Nyon, Shanghai,
Rotterdam, San Francisco, Sydney, Gothenburg, Warsaw,
Thessaloniki, Rome, and Turin, among others
Organization of umbrella stands for German sales companies
and producers at international television and film markets
(Berlin, Cannes, AFM Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Shanghai)
Staging of ”Festivals of German Films“ worldwide (Madrid,
Paris, London, New York, Buenos Aires, Moscow, Copenhagen,
Stockholm, Tokyo, Sydney, Melbourne)
Staging of the ”German Premieres“ industry screenings in New
York and Rome
Providing advice and information for representatives of the
international press and buyers from the fields of cinema, video,
and television
Providing advice and information for German filmmakers and
press on international festivals, conditions of participation, and
German films being shown
Organization of the annual NEXT GENERATION short film
program, which presents a selection of shorts by students of
German film schools and is premiered every year at Cannes
Publication of informational literature about current German
films and the German film industry (German Films Quarterly),
as well as international market analyses and special festival
brochures
An Internet website (www.german-films.de) offering information
about new German films, a film archive, as well as information
and links to German and international film festivals
and institutions
Organization of the selection procedure for the German entry
for the Oscar ® for Best Foreign Language Film
Collaboration with Deutsche Welle’s DW-TV KINO program
which features the latest German film releases and international
productions in Germany
Organization of the ”German Films Previews“ geared toward
arthouse distributors and buyers of German films
Selective financial Distribution Support for the foreign releases
of German films
Together with Unifrance, organization of the annual German-
French film meeting
In association and cooperation with its shareholders, German Films
works to promote feature, documentary, television and short films.
german films quarterly german films: a profile
4 · 2008 66

FOREIGN REPRESENTATIVES IMPRINT
Argentina
Gustav Wilhelmi
Ayacucho 495, 2º ”3“
C1026AAA Buenos Aires/Argentina
phone +54-11-49 52 15 37
phone/fax +54-11-49 51 19 10
email: wilhelmi@german-films.de
China
Anke Redl
CMM Intelligence
B 621, Gehua Tower
No. 1, Qinglong Hutong
Dongcheng District
Beijing 100007/China
phone +86-10-84 18 64 68
fax +86-10-84 18 66 90
email: redl@german-films.de
Eastern Europe
Simone Baumann
L.E. Vision Film- und
Fernsehproduktion GmbH
Koernerstrasse 56
04107 Leipzig/Germany
phone +49-3 41-96 36 80
fax +49-3 41-9 63 68 44
email: baumann@german-films.de
German Films Quarterly is published by:
German Films
Service + Marketing GmbH
Herzog-Wilhelm-Strasse 16
80331 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-5 99 78 70
fax +49-89-59 97 87 30
email: info@german-films.de
www.german-films.de
ISSN 1614-6387
Credits are not contractual for any
of the films mentioned in this publication.
© German Films Service + Marketing GmbH
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.
Italy
Alessia Ratzenberger
A-PICTURES
Villa Pamphili
Via del Forte Bravetta 4
00164 Rome/Italy
phone +39-06-48 90 70 75
fax +39-06-4 88 57 97
email: ratzenberger@german-films.de
Japan
Tomosuke Suzuki
Nippon Cine TV Corporation
Suite 123, Gaien House
2-2-39 Jingumae, Shibuya-Ku
150-0001 Tokyo/Japan
phone +81-3-34 05 09 16
fax +81-3-34 79 08 69
email: suzuki@german-films.de
Spain
Stefan Schmitz
Avalon Productions S.L.
Pza. del Cordón, 2
28005 Madrid/Spain
phone +34-91-3 66 43 64
fax +34-91-3 65 93 01
email: schmitz@german-films.de
Editor
Production Reports
Contributors for this issue
Translations
Design & Art Direction
Printing Office
Cover Photo
United Kingdom
Iris Ordonez
37 Arnison Road
East Molesey KT8 9JR/Great Britain
phone +44-20-89 79 86 28
email: ordonez@german-films.de
USA/East Coast & Canada
Oliver Mahrdt
Hanns Wolters International Inc.
211 E 43 rd Street, #505
New York, NY 10017/USA
phone +1-212-714 0100
fax +1-212-643 1412
email: mahrdt@german-films.de
USA/West Coast
Corina Danckwerts
Capture Film International
Hollywood Center Studios, Building 5/Loft
1040 N. Las Palmas Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038/USA
phone +1-323-860 5440
fax +1-323-860 5441
email: danckwerts@german-films.de
Angela Hawkins
Martin Blaney, Simon Kingsley
Martin Blaney, Johannes Bohnke, Christoph Groener
Lucinda Rennison
Werner Schauer, www.triptychon.biz
ESTA DRUCK GMBH,
Obermuehlstrasse 90, 82398 Polling/Germany
Printed on ecological, unchlorinated paper.
Scene from “Long Shadows”
(photo © Olaf Aue)
german films quarterly foreign representatives · imprint
4 · 2008 67

LOOKING
FORWARD TO
SEEING YOU
IN BERLIN
05.-15.02.09
www.berlinale.de