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Exclusive: Studiocanal has been rolling out sales on the first instalment of Germany-language film trilogy Woodwalkers in Cannes.

A joint production between Blue Eyes Fiction and Studiocanal Germany, it is one the most ambitious German-language productions to date for both partners.

The franchise is adapted from the best-selling novels by German writer Katja Brandis about a group of teenagers with secret shapeshifting abilities, known as ‘Woodwalkers’.

Blue Eyes Fiction MD and founder Corinna Mehner is lead producing, with Berlin-based Studiocanal exec Sandrine Mattes, EVP German Production & Acquisition, spearheading her company’s involvement.

Mattes says the Woodwalkers ticks a number of boxes for Studiocanal.

“Studiocanal’s DNA is truly European so we’re always looking for European content that can work on the global market. The ‘Woodwalkers’ books are a perfect fit. They’re one of the biggest IPs we have for family and kids in the German market, both in...

Studiocanal and The Picture Company’s new psychological thriller Control is starting up production with its star James McAvoy. Deadline has also revealed the list of actors that will be rounding out the cast for the film. Julianne Moore has been added to the film, starring opposite McAvoy. In addition to McAvoy and Moore, Sarah Bolger, who is known for A Good Woman Is Hard To Find, joins the cast, along with Nick Mohammed from Ted Lasso, Jenna Coleman, whose credits include The Sandman, Rudi Dharmalingam, known for Role Play, Kyle Soller of the Disney+ show Andor, plus August Diehl and Martina Gedeck. The film will be directed by Robert Schwentke, whose resume includes the Bruce Willis action comedy Red.

The synopsis (per Deadline) reads,

“Control is based on the podcast from Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie. The film revolves around a troubled doctor who wakes up one morning to...

Exclusive: Studiocanal and The Picture Company have added seven names to the cast of the James McAvoy starrer Control as the pic enters production in Berlin.

Joining the cast are Sarah Bolger (A Good Woman Is Hard To Find), Nick Mohammed (Ted Lasso), Jenna Coleman (The Sandman), Rudi Dharmalingam (Role Play), Kyle Soller (Andor) August Diehl, and Martina Gedeck.

Directed by Robert Schwentke (Red), Control is based on the podcast from Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie. The film revolves around a troubled doctor who wakes up one morning to the sound of a mysterious voice in his head. With his reality now in question, the voice makes a series of escalating demands he must follow or devastating consequences will unfold.

Rounding out the key crew is director of photography Roman Vasyanov (Fury), and BAFTA-nominated editor Sven Budelmann (All Quiet On The Western Front). Costumes were designed by prolific costume designer...

"You can see how you are a puma..." Studiocanal has revealed a quick teaser for a fantasy adventure thriller movie series called Woodwalkers, set to debut initially in November (at least in Germany). "The bestseller film adaptation based on the successful novels of the same name by Katja Brandis, which has been eagerly awaited by fans, will now start in cinemas from November 21st." Take a look at this "unique and magical world of shapeshifters" in the first look teaser for Woodwalkers. At first glance, Carag looks like a normal boy. But behind his shining eyes hides a secret: Carag is a puma shapeshifter and has only recently started living in the human world. He is accepted into a secret boarding school for shapeshifters called Clearwater High. So this is Harry Potter but with these kids instead of wizards & witches? Starring Emile Cherif as Carag, with Oliver Masucci, Martina Gedeck,...

The in-person event takes place on October 7 at London’s Picturehouse Central.

Campbell X’s Low Rider and Alex Helfrecht’s A Winter’s Journey are among the five features taking part in the third edition of the BFI London Film Festival Works-in-Progress showcase.

The in-person event takes place on October 7 as part of the festival’s UK Talent Days focus, in partnership with the British Council, at London’s Picturehouse Central.

The event will screen extracts from each project, with an introduction from its filmmaker, to an invited audience of international buyers as well as UK sales agents and festival programmers,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is expanding its membership.

According to a press release, the organization that hands out Oscars each year at the Academy Awards has extended invitations to join the Academy to 398 artists and executives who have made notable contributions to the motion picture industry.

“The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership. They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang in a joint statement.

Read More: The Academy Announces 2024 Oscars Date As Well As Submission Deadline

There are some big names and familiar faces among the invitees, including musicians Taylor Swift and David Byrne, and numerous actors, ranging from Selma Blair to Keke Palmer to “Elvis” Oscar nominee Austin Butler.

Those who accept will be only additions to Academy’s membership in 2023.

Vicky Krieps, Paul Mescal, Warner Bros Discovery head David Zaslav, Aftersun writer-director Charlotte Wells, She Said director Maria Schrader, and Kerry Condon are among 398 who have been invited to join the Academy.

Some 40% of the 2023 class identify as women, 34% belong to underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 52% are from 50 countries and territories outside the United States. There are 76 Oscar nominees including 22 winners among the invitees.

Those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy’s membership. Should they all accept, the total number of members...

“Everything Everywhere All At Once” Oscar winners Ke Huy Quan, Daniel Kwan, and Daniel Scheinert, recent acting nominees Austin Butler, Paul Mescal, and Stephanie Hsu, and bold-face names for the extremely online like Taylor Swift, Abel Tesfaye (a.k.a. The Weeknd), and Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav were among the 398 people announced as new members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday.

“The academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership. They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide,” said academy CEO Bill Kramer and academy president Janet Yang in a joint statement.

This year’s class of new members is heavy on 2022 breakouts, like the aforementioned Kwan and Scheinert – invitees in both the directors’ brand and the producers’ branch. In keeping with academy practice,...

The Academy has invited 398 artists across cinematic disciplines to join its membership, including Taylor Swift, Keke Palmer and this year’s Best Supporting Actor winner Ke Huy Quan.

“The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership. They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang.

Also scoring invitations are actors Selma Blair, Austin Butler, Ram Charan, Kerry Condon, Bill Hader, Nicholas Hoult, Stephanie Hsu, Noémie Merlant, Paul Mescal, Nt Rama Rao Jr. and Paul Reiser, directors Joseph Kosinski, Maria Schrader and Michael Showalter, writers Josh Friedman, Kazuo Ishiguro and Charlotte Wells.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” duo The Daniels (Credit: Getty Images)

Eight people were invited to join the Academy by multiple branches and must choose which...

Austin Butler, Ke Huy Quan, Keke Palmer, Nt Rama Rao Jr and music superstar Taylor Swift are among the 398 artists and executives invited to join the membership of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. If all of this year’s invitees accept membership, it will bring the total number of overall Academy members to 10,817, with 9,375 eligible to vote for the 96th Oscars, set to take place on March 10, 2024.

The 2023 class is 40% women. 34% belong to underrepresented ethnic/racial communities and 52% hail from 51 countries and territories outside the United States. There are many recent Oscar nominees among the invitees, such as Austin Butler (“Elvis”), Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”), Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) and Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”). The list also includes many of the 95th ceremony’s winners, such as Ke Huy Quan (supporting actor for “Everything Everywhere All at Once”) cinematographer James Friend (“All Quiet on the Western Front...

Singer-songwriters Taylor Swift and David Byrne, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria, Everything Everywhere All at Once filmmakers Daniels (Kwan and Scheinert), Nobel Prize-winning writer Kazuo Ishiguro, former SXSW chief Janet Pierson, WME co-chairs Christian Muirhead and Richard Weitz, and actors including Selma Blair, Austin Butler, Bill Hader, Paul Mescal, Nicholas Hoult, Keke Palmer, Ke Huy Quan and Rrr stars Ram Charan and N.T. Rama Rao Jr. are among the 398 artists and executives from around the world who have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this year, the Oscar-dispensing organization announced Wednesday.

“The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang said in a statement. “They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released the names of its newest round of invitees, increasing the number of voting members past 10,000, should everyone accept.

With the addition of the 398 artists and executives that the Academy extended invitations to (totaling one more invite than last year), the Academy now boasts a membership that is 34 percent women, 18 percent from underrepresented ethnic and racial communities, and 20 percent from countries or territories outside of the United States. Though their invites have a rolling deadline, they must accept them and pay dues in order to vote for the Oscars and gain access to benefits like the Academy Screening Room.

Among the list of possible new members are, predictably, many of the filmmakers behind Best Picture winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” including Best Supporting Actor winner Ke Huy Quan, Best Supporting Actress nominee Stephanie Hsu, Best Film Editing winner Paul Rogers,...

It’s that time of year again — the break between Cannes and the fall festivals, when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences makes its membership invitations. The Oscars group said today that it has extended offers to 398 artists and execs — one more than last year — who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to motion pictures.

The list includes actors, directors, writers, producers, musicians, executives, artist reps, publicists and below-the-liners such as casting directors, cinematographers, costume designers, film editors, makeup artists and hairstylists, production designers and sound pros.

“The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said in a statement. “They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide.”

As usual, the invitees include newly minted Oscar winners,...

Germany’s impressive crop of crime drama, mystery, suspense, apocalyptic catastrophe, royal intrigue and tales of the supernatural is certain to attract buyers at this year’s MipTV in Cannes.

The selections of series, TV movies and unscripted shows offer a wide range of content but also remain heavy on crime — a favorite German genre.

Among the new offerings is Beta Film’s fact-based title “I am Scrooge.” Produced by Zeitsprung Pictures, the Cologne-based company behind the hit Netflix spy thriller “Kleo,” “I am Scrooge” chronicles the true story of Arno Funke, a frustrated artist who found fame as a bombmaking extortionist in the early 1990s.

Identifying himself as Dagobert Duck — the German name for the Disney character Scrooge McDuck — Funke targeted some of Germany’s biggest department stores, beginning with Berlin’s KaDeWe in 1988, while continually outwitting police and even becoming a local folk hero. The six-part series stars Friedrich Mücke,...

Non-profit Initiative

Real life husband and wife couple, celebrity cricketer Virat Kohli and Bollywood star Anushka Sharma, are merging their respective foundations – Anushka Sharma Foundation and Virat Kohli Foundation – to launch SeVVA, a joint non-profit initiative aimed at helping those in need.

Sharma and Kohli said in a joint statement: “In the words of Kahlil Gibran ‘for in truth it is life that gives unto life – while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.’ With this sentiment in mind, we have decided to work together through SeVVA aiming to reach out to as many people as possible. SeVVA’s work won’t be confined to a particular issue as it will continue to strive for social good by championing humanity which is the need of the hour today.”

Next up for Sharma is “Chakda Xpress,” a Netflix film inspired by the life of one of women cricket’s all-time greatest players,...

The launch of innovative thrillers like “Glass Onion” and “Bullet Train” has re-ignited the love for this classic genre. These films are a potent concoction of action, suspense, crime, and sci-fi – prepared to keep viewers in an endless loop of anticipation (or fear).

IMDb makes it a breeze for thriller fanatics to find the cream of the crop. From award-winning classics like “Witness for the Prosecution” that form this genre’s identity to worldwide successes such as “Parasite.” It even includes two dark superhero movies from “The Dark Knight” franchise among its top-rated gems.

Ranked Best Thriller Movies [Sortable Table] Rank Title Year IMDb Metascore 18 Witness for the Prosecution 1957 8.4 76 17 The Lives of Others 2006 8.4 89 16 Rear Window 1954 8.5 100 15 Oldboy 2003 8.4 77 14 Psycho 1960 8.5 97 13 Aliens 1986 8.4 84 12 Parasite 2019 8.5 96 11 The Usual Suspects 1995 8.5 77 10 Léon: The Professional 1994 8.5 64 9 Memento 2000 8.4 81 8 Joker 2019 8.4 59 7 The Departed 2006 8.5 85 6 The Prestige 2006 8.5 66 5 The Silence of the Lambs 1991 8.6 85 4 Se7en 1995 8.6 65 3 The Dark Knight Rises 2012 8.4 78 2 Inception 2010 8.8 74 1 The Dark Knight 2008 9 84 More About the Best Thriller Movies List...

A Winter’s Journey

As with any animated film (this one has live action with CG and painted animation) it’s difficult to pinpoint a targeted release but this is why they employed the Loving Vincent army of artists to push and paint this new SPC film into orbit. Alex Helfrecht paired with Jörg Tittel on her feature debut The White King (2016) which was a popular item on the genre fests, and she moved into her sophomore feature in June of last year in Wrocław, Poland. A Winter’s Journey sees John Malkovich, Jason Isaacs, Marcin Czarnik, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Martina Gedeck star and with Gabriella Moran playing the part of Therese.…...

Trioscope, the company behind “The Liberator” (Netflix) and George R.R. Martin-produced “Night of the Cooters,” has launched its patented Trioscope Platform to license its proprietary technology to third-party content creators.

London-based production house Oiffy and Poland-based BreakThru Films are the first to license the Trioscope Platform for sequences in director Alex Helfrecht’s upcoming love story “A Winter’s Journey,” based on Franz Schubert’s song cycle. The film stars John Malkovich, Jason Isaacs, Martina Gedeck and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson and has been acquired by Sony Pictures Classics for major territories with MK2 Films handling international sales. Trioscope Europe will provide CG and VFX services for the film.

The Platform offers a suite of practical production tools and software that marries human performance with computer-generated (CG) environments and will provide filmmakers the opportunity to forge stylized final pictures that boast a broad array of imaginative looks, including graphic novel, painterly imagery and more.

A film festival is about more than just the films and the festival center. It is about the location, the journey, the experience. Here on Deadline we’ll be bringing you updates on what it’s like to be on the ground at the 72nd Berlin Film Festival.

What’s it like on the ground on the eve of the Berlin Film Festival? Quieter.

“Much quieter,” in the words of the receptionist at my hotel. A walk around the Berlinale Palast festival center this morning confirmed that assessment. The streets and hotels are sparse. As expected.

The in-person festival and online market officially get underway tomorrow two years after their last in-person edition. Ordinarily the main festival areas would be bustling by now but attendance will be significantly diminished as a result of the pandemic. Covid rates remain high in Germany and in Europe even if there is hope that...

Alex Helfrecht directing 1812-set tale of lovelorn poet.

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired North America and multiple territories from mk2 Films to the upcoming Bavaria-set European animation co-production A Winter’s Journey featuring John Malkovich, Jason Isaacs, Marcin Czarnik, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson and Martina Gedeck.

SPC has also boarded the project for Latin America, Middle East, Scandinavia, Australia/New Zealand, Turkey, India, South Africa, Southeast Asia, Japan, Thailand, and worldwide airlines.

Alex Helfrecht, who directed 2016 sci-fi and Edinburgh International Film Festival premiere The White King, will helm the story set in 1812 about an itinerant, lovelorn poet who undertakes a cross-mountain trek...

Sony Pictures Classics has taken North America, Latin America, Middle East, Scandinavia, Australia/New Zealand, Turkey, India, South Africa, Southeast Asia, Japan, Thailand rights and global airlines to Alex Helfrecht’s animated movie A Winter’s Journey.

Set in Bavaria in 1812, A Winter’s Journey follows an itinerant lovelorn poet who undertakes a hazardous walk across mountains, ice, and snow – a journey which will bring either death or a new life.

Painted by the animation artists behind the Oscar-nominated Loving Vincent, A Winter’s Journey is a romantic and epic tale which blends live action with CG and painted animation. The world of the film is the first to be built using PlayStation’s “Dreams”, developed by PlayStation Studios’ multiple-bafta-winning games studio Media Molecule. The pic is an adaptation of Franz Schubert’s timeless masterpiece “Winterreise”, the most performed classical song cycle in the world.

The cast includes John Malkovich,...

MK2 has boarded Alex Helfrecht’s “A Winter’s Journey,” a feature blending live-action, CGI and hand-painted backgrounds made by the creative teams behind “Despicable Me” and “Loving Vincent.”

Adapted from Franz Schubert’s “Winterreise,” the film stars Gaspard Ulliel, John Malkovich, Martina Gedeck, Charles Berling and newcomer Gabriella Moran.

Set in 1812 Bavaria, the film tells the story of a lovelorn young poet who, banished from society, is forced to wander across mountains, ice and snow on a dangerous journey that will either lead him to death or to a new life.

“A Winter’s Journey’ is a passionate love story with epic visuals. It’s an animated film… putting performance at its core and speaking the international language of music and art,” said Helfrecht.

MK2 Films has acquired international sales rights and will begin pre-sales at the Efm. “Helfrecht’s unique vision for this adaptation of Franz Schubert’s...

Production is underway on German period drama “Empire Oktoberfest,” set in Munich in 1900 and starring Mišel Maticevic (“Babylon Berlin”), Martina Gedeck (“The Lives of Others”), Klaus Steinbacher (“Das Boot”), and Mercedes Mueller (“Passenger 23”). Beta Film, which successfully brought “Babylon Berlin” to market, will launch it internationally at Mipcom in October.

“Empire Oktoberfest” (working title) will follow a fierce battle between two family breweries and shed light on the history of the world-famous festival, where Munich’s powerful secretly carry out their affairs. The story revolves around a young girl who falls in love with a poor brewer’s son. Their relationship is opposed by the girl’s father, a rich mobster who has come to town to try to bully his way into the inner circle of Munich’s brewery dynasties.

Shooting is underway and will take in Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia and Prague. Production wraps in mid-August. Zeitsprung and Violet Pictures are on production duty.

Shoot is underway on Beta Film’s high-end drama series Empire Oktoberfest (working title) by Hannu Salonen (Arctic Circle).

The six-hour series about the fierce battle between two family breweries, set in Munich in 1900, stars Mišel Maticevic (Babylon Berlin), Martina Gedeck (The Lives Of Others) and up-and-coming talents Klaus Steinbacher (Das Boot) and Mercedes Mueller (Passenger 23).

The drama sheds light on a chapter in the history of the world-famous, iconic German beer festival, where Munich’s powerful secretly carry out their affairs. The show portrays two beer-brewing dynasties fight for domination of the famous event and revolves around a young girl who falls in love with a poor brewer’s son. Their feelings are against her father’s wishes – a rich mobster, who has come to town to try and bully his way into the inner circle of Munich’s brewery dynasties. Soon, blood is being shed and the young...

TBS has snagged German comedy-drama “Arthur’s Law” from its Turner stablemate TNT in Germany. The U.S. channel has taken the finished show subtitled in English, as well as the option to remake it locally.

TNT has been moving into originals in Germany with the acclaimed drug-trafficking drama “4 Blocks” on TNT Serie and “Arthur’s Law” on the TNT Comedy channel. “Arthur’s Law” follows unemployed Arthur Ahnepol (Jan Josef Liefers), who wants his obnoxious wife to die to claim the life insurance and start a new life with his mistress, which sets off a series of disastrous events.

The series, which is directed by Christian Zübert (“Lommbock”), has been nominated for several TV awards in Germany. Martina Gedeck (“The Lives of Others”) and Nora Tschirner (“Rabbit Without Ears”) star alongside Liefers in the German series.

“The tale of our anti-hero Arthur can be applied universally, and we are...

TBS is set to remake German comedy Arthur’s Law – the first original comedy from Turner’s German network TNT Comedy.

The U.S. cable network has secured the rights to the project, which is known locally as Arthurs Gesetz, from its parent company. It has picked up the format rights to the series as well as the rights to run the German version with subtitles.

The comedy follows unemployed Arthur Ahnepol, played by Jan Josef Liefers, who ekes out a bleak existence. Drawn from the strains of his unhappy marriage and bored to death, he makes a morbid plan: he wants his obnoxious wife to die. With the money from the life insurance there’s no obstacle for a restart with his beloved mistress. But an unwritten law dominates the life of the unlucky fellow: every problem solved by Arthur has a far worse effect. And so, he sets...

Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer for Sven Taddicken’s “The Most Beautiful Couple,” which has its world premiere in the Contemporary World Cinema section of the Toronto Film Festival.

In the film Liv and Malte are forced to revisit their past when Malte spots the man who sexually assaulted Liv two years ago. While Liv yearns for acceptance and healing, Malte is trying to fight the urge for revenge. But will their love survive?

Taddicken says: “The premise of ‘The Most Beautiful Couple’ felt like a worst-case scenario for any loving couple. It was like a nightmare that kept haunting my thoughts. So I finally sat down and started to think it through, while wondering if there is a cure for that couple. I guess it’s that same energy that kept me writing that also keeps the audience tied to the film.”

Taddicken’s first feature,...

International trailers revealed for Hot Dog, Fack Ju Goethe 3, Dark Almost Night.

Source: Hot Dog

Hot Dog

German sales outfit Picture Tree International has revealed key international marketing material for titles including German box office smash Fack ju Göhte 3 (aka Suck Me Shakespeer 3), Til Schweiger action-comedy Hot Dog and Polish crime-drama Dark Almost Night.

Watch the exclusive English-language trailers for these films below.

Like its two predecessors, Fack ju Göhte 3 has proven a huge hit in Germany where it has sold six million tickets.

Hot Dog has also gone down well at home, debuting in first position at the local box office two weeks ago for Warner Bros Germany.

The company’s Efm slate will also comprise Swedish comedy Kingdom Of Sweden - Not Of This World, which is currently in post-production and could get a festival launch in summer or autumn; Austrian drama What You Win On The Swings; German comedy A Jar Full Of Life, which...

“It’s your restaurant, but her kitchen. Without her, it’s just a pile of metal. It’s for her to decide.”

Mostly Martha (aka Bella Martha – German – 2001) screens Thursday September 14th at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (470 East Lockwood). The movie starts at 7:30pm.

Martha Klein (Martina Gedeck), a workaholic chef, has difficulty relating to the world other than through food. Her obsession leads to unpleasant confrontations with customers. Frida (Sibylle Canonica), the restaurant owner, requires her to see a therapist to work out her poor interpersonal skills. Martha’s therapy sessions, however, turn into monologues on food, and her approach to stress management usually involves briefly retreating to the restaurant’s walk-in refrigerator. Martha’s life and priorities change when her sister dies and she takes on the responsibility of caring for her niece.

Admission is:

$6 for the general public

$5 for seniors, Webster alumni and students from...

X Filme board Josef Bierbichler’s adaptation of his 2011 novel Mittelreich.

Berlin-based X Filme Creative Pool Entertainment has recruited Beta Cinema to handle international sales on veteran Bavarian actor-director Josef Bierbichler’s adaptation of his 2011 novel Mittelreich.

The chronicle of a rural Bavarian community facing the challenges of technological and social change during the last century began shooting in Thuringia a week ago with Bierbichler directing as well as playing the central role of the village innkeeper.

The cast includes Bierbichler’s son Simon Donatz who plays the innkeeper character as a young man and had appeared with his father in Tom Tykwer’s Winter Sleepers 20 years ago as father and son, as well as Martina Gedeck, known to international audiences from The Lives of Others and last year’s Original Bliss.

On the eve of this year’s Berlinale, X Filme and Beta Film announced a strategic partnership between the two companies as they unveiled the first...

X Filme board Josef Bierbichler’s adaptation of his 2011 novel Mittelreich.

Berlin-based X Filme Creative Pool Entertainment has recruited Beta Cinema to handle international sales on veteran Bavarian actor-director Josef Bierbichler’s adaptation of his 2011 novel Mittelreich.

The chronicle of a rural Bavarian community facing the challenges of technological and social change during the last century began shooting in Thuringia a week ago with Bierbichler directing as well as playing the central role of the village innkeeper.

The cast includes Bierbichler’s son Simon Donatz who plays the innkeeper character as a young man and had appeared with his father in Tom Tykwer’s Winter Sleepers 20 years ago as father and son, as well as Martina Gedeck, known to international audiences from The Lives of Others and last year’s Original Bliss.

On the eve of this year’s Berlinale, X Filme and Beta Film unveiled the first footage of the 16-part high-end TV series Babylon Berlin which...

Picture Tree International line-up also includes Jakob Lass’ Tiger Girl.

Picture Tree International (Pti) has confirmed its line-up for the upcoming edition of Efm at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival (February 9 - 19, 2017).

In its fourth year, the Berlin-based sales and distribution company returns with a slate including Jakob Lass’ Tiger Girl, which will receive its world premiere as a Panorama Special in Berlin; action-comedy Hot Dog, starring Til Schweiger and Matthias Schweighöfer; and Zaza Urushadze’s (Oscar nominated for 2013 drama Tangerines) The Confession.

Tiger Girl, for which Pti has acquired international rights, is Lass’ second feature, following Love Steaks (2013).

In Hot Dog, Schweiger and Schweighöfer will play two friends who make it their mission to free the daughter of the Moldovan ambassador from her kidnappers.

The film is currently being shot in Berlin and is expected to be released in autumn 2017 by Warner Bros. Pictures Germany.

The Confession (formerly titled Monk) centres on a former film director...

The final film of Jan Nemec, who died in March, to play in the main competition.Scroll down for competition line-ups

The 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (July 1-9) has unveiled the competition titles in its Official Selection, East of the West and Documentary sections.

The 12-strong main competition will comprise eight world premieres and four international premieres, including the last film from renowned Czech director Jan Nemec, who died in March.

The Czech filmmaker was a notable voice of the country’s New Wave movement of the 1960s with titles such as Diamonds Of The Night (1964). His final film, The Wolf From Royal Vineyard Street, will world premiere at Kviff and is an adaptation of his own quasi-autobiographical short stories.

Other titles include Slovak-Czech drama The Teacher from Jan Hrebejk while Roberto Andò is returning to Kviff with The Confessions, three years after his hit Viva la Libertà.

Debut features...

Our countdown of the top 100 films of the 21st Century (so far) concludes here with the top 25.

Click here for Part 1! (#100-76)

Click here for Part 2! (#75-51)

Click here for Part 3! (#50-26)

The first decade and a half of the 21st century has brought a lot of changes to the landscape of film. The advancement and sophistication of computers has made realistic computer generated effects a mainstay in both big-budget and small-budget films. The internet and streaming technologies have given big Hollywood new competition in films produced independently and by non-traditional means. We went from purchasing films on yards of tape to plastic disks, and now we can simply upload them to the cloud. Advertisements for films have reached a higher, more ruthless level where generating hype through trailers and teasers is crucial for a film’s commercial success. Movie attendance has fluctuated along with the economy, but that hasn...

Bahman Ghobadi’s Life On The Border, Hans Steinbichler’s The Diary Of Anne Frank join Generation special screenings.

Hans Steinbichler’s The Diary Of Anne Frank is among two special screenings added to the Berlin Film Festival’s (Feb 11-21) Generation strand, aimed at teenagers and children.

The film, which will be distributed by co-producers Universal Pictures International in Germany and gets its world premiere in the strand, stars Lea van Acken (Heil) as Anne Frank, alongside Martina Gedeck (The Lives Of Others) and Ulrich Noethen (Downfall).

The latest project from Kurdish filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi (Turtles Can Fly) will have its European premiere in the strand.

The documentary, produced by Ghobadi, sees eight children from Syrian refugee camps handed cameras and given the encouragement to tell their personal stories.

The juries for the Generation programme’s two sections - Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus – have also been revealed.

The Generation 14plus International Jury - which presents...

The Throne of Loneliness: Kaurismaki Cartoons Christina

Considering it’s been forty years since her last notable on screen incarnation, the time has come for a new biopic on that other famous ‘virgin’ queen, Christina of Sweden. Iconically portrayed by Great Garbo in 1933’s Queen Christina, and then again in 1974 by Liv Ullmann in The Abdication, these are significant footsteps to follow, especially considering these productions are best remembered for their female leads and not their directors (Rouben Mamoulian and Anthony Harvey, respectively). Finnish director Mika Kaurismaki, the brother to world renowned auteur Aki Kaurismaki, aims to resuscitate her provocative legacy with The Girl King, though its use of archaic language concepts (such as ‘girl’ and ‘virgin’) hint at a certain ignorance of both femininity and lesbianism despite a screenplay penned by Michel Marc Brousard (Lilies; Tom at the Farm). A handsome costume drama, this international co-production is more often distracting than relevant,...

Mika Kaurismaki’s costume epic is set in 1633.

Us distributor Wolfe Releasing has snapped up all rights to Mika Kaurismaki’s costume epic The Girl King. A theatrical release is planned for the autumn of 2015 followed by VOD, DVD, and Svod dates.

The film is a co-production between Finland, Canada, Germany, and Sweden. It is scripted by Canadian writer Michel Marc Bouchard (Tom at the Farm, Lilies). The film stars Malin Buska (Easy Money) in the title role alongside Sarah Gadon, Michael Nyqvist, Lucas Bryant, Laura Birnand Martina Gedeck.

The Girl King is the story of Queen Christina of Sweden. Crowned in 1633 at the age of six and raised as a prince, Queen Christina was an enigmatic and brilliant young leader who fought conservative forces to revolutionize Sweden while falling in love and exploring her awakening sexuality.

The deal was negotiated by Jim Stephens, president of Wolfe Releasing, and Miira Paasilinna, CEO of international...

Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson on the Oscars' Red Carpet Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson at the Academy Awards Eli Wallach and wife Anne Jackson are seen above arriving at the 2011 Academy Awards ceremony, held on Sunday, Feb. 27, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. The 95-year-old Wallach had received an Honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards in November 2010. See also: "Doris Day Inexplicably Snubbed by Academy," "Maureen O'Hara Honorary Oscar," "Honorary Oscars: Mary Pickford, Greta Garbo Among Rare Women Recipients," and "Hayao Miyazaki Getting Honorary Oscar." Delayed film debut The Actors Studio-trained Eli Wallach was to have made his film debut in Fred Zinnemann's Academy Award-winning 1953 blockbuster From Here to Eternity. Ultimately, however, Frank Sinatra – then a has-been following a string of box office duds – was cast for a pittance, getting beaten to a pulp by a pre-stardom Ernest Borgnine. For his bloodied efforts, Sinatra went on...

17 year old Scottish actor John Bell leads the cast in WWII drama The Man in the Box which started filming on location near Innsbruck in Tirol (Austria) in mid-December, with filming now recommencing on location in Austria and Germany, as well as in Italy, near Bressanone.

The Man in the Box is a screen adaptation of Thomas Moran's novel by the same name, set in August 1944 in a small village in the Austrian Tyrol.

John (represented by Independent Talent) plays 15 year old Niki, who's family, with some reluctance, take into hiding a Jewish doctor who saved the boy's life before the war. A member of Hitler Youth, Niki is appalled by the idea, his mother frightened, but his father insists. Combined with the growing attraction between him and an almost blind neighbour girl (Sigi), a relationship gradually evolves between the boy and Doctor Weiss, the 'man in the box',...

The German film and TV industries were mourning on Monday the death of director, writer and producer Helmut Dietl from lung cancer. He was 70.

Once described as “the German answer to Woody Allen”, Dietl was known to international audiences largely for his send-up of the fake Hitler diaries saga in the 1992 film Schtonk!, which was subsequently nominated for a best foreign language film Academy Award.

Bavarian-born Dietl had already made a name for himself before Schtonk! on German TV with critically praised audience favourites such as Münchner Geschichten (1974/5), Der Ganz Normale Wahnsinn (1979/80), Monaco Franze and the six-part series Kir Royal, a biting satire on Munich high society and tabloid journalism.

According to the late TV commissioning editor Jörn Klamroth of Cologne’s Wdr, the inspiration for Kir Royal came to Dietl in 1984 when he and the director saw a photo in a cafe showing Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict) sitting together with the conservative Bavarian politician...

The German film and TV industries were mourning on Monday the death of director, writer and producer Helmut Dietl from lung cancer. He was 70.

Once described as “the German answer to Woody Allen”, Dietl was known to international audiences largely for his send-up of the fake Hitler diaries saga in the 1992 film Schtonk!, which was subsequently nominated for a best foreign language film Academy Award.

Bavarian-born Dietl had already made a name for himself before Schtonk! on German TV with critically praised audience favourites such as Münchner Geschichten (1974/5), Der Ganz Normale Wahnsinn (1979/80), Monaco Franze and the six-part series Kir Royal, a biting satire on Munich high society and tabloid journalism.

According to the late TV commissioning editor Jörn Klamroth of Cologne’s Wdr, the inspiration for Kir Royal came to Dietl in 1984 when he and the director saw a photo in a cafe showing Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict) sitting together with the conservative Bavarian politician...

Hot projects new to Screenbase include Nicolas Winding Refn feature The Neon Demon, Pope Francis biopic Francisco, Brady Corbet’s directorial debut The Childhood Of A Leader and a new adaptation by Wim Wenders.Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon

Elle Fanning, Keanu Reeves, Christina Hendricks, Abbey Lee, Bella Heathcote and Jena Malone have signed on to co-star in Nicolas Winding Refn’s next feature.

“After making Drive and falling madly in love with the electricity of Los Angeles, I knew I had to return to tell the story of The Neon Demon,” Winding Refn said.

Principal photography will begin in Los Angeles on March 30. Gaumont and Wild Bunch are co-selling the title.

Wim Wenders’ Les Beaux Jours D’Aranjuez

This adaptation of the play by Peter Handke was announced by Alfama’s Paulo Branco during the Efm. It will star Reda Kateb and Sophie Semin. Wenders is expected to shoot in June.

Brady Corbet’s [link...

Exclusive: First look at Arsen A. Osojic’s drama.

An exclusive first look at German star Martina Gedeck (The Lives of Others) in Arsen A. Osojic’s drama The Man in a Box, which has begun shooting.

Thomas Kretschmann co-stars in the story of a family who take into hiding a Jewish doctor who saved their son’s life. Parkland Pictures are selling.​...

The Valley of Love

Director: Guillaume Nicloux // Writer: Guillaume Nicloux

Even with eleven feature films under his belt, director Guillaume Nicloux remains the least recognizable name on our top ten list, but his last two features have significantly elevated his international status, including his 2013 remake of the Jacques Rivette film The Nun (based on the novel by Denis Diderot, which starred Isabelle Huppert, Martina Gedeck, Louise Bourgoin and newcomer Pauline Etienne. While that film never received Us distribution, his 2014 title, The Kidnapping of Michel Houllebecq was picked up by Kino Lorber after winning Best Screenplay at Tribeca and will receive a theatrical release in the Us next spring. Nicloux’s latest promises to be his most anticipated to date, reuniting film stars Isabelle Huppert and Gerard Depardieu, who last worked together in the excellent Maurice Pialat film, Loulou (1980). Filming in California, the film concerns the story revolves around Isabelle and Gérard,...

The Girl King

Director: Mika Kaurismaki // Writer: Michel Marc Bouchardt

Swedish director Mika Kaurismaki, brother of famed auteur Aki Kaurismaki, has often resided in the shadows of his sibling. Directing a steady output of films since the late 1980s, he doesn’t seem to snag international distribution, but his latest is a profile international co-production, The Girl King, penned by award winning Canadian writer Bouchard. German and Swedish backers also explain the presence of names like Nyqvist and Gedeck, plus throw in some French faces, such as Hippolyte Girardot. Swedish actress Malin Buska will bear the brunt of expectation, as the film revisits the tale of Swedish Queen Christina, portrayed famously in 1933 by Greta Garbo in the Rouben Mammoulien directed film. Here’s to openly being able to discuss her sexuality in this version, famously coded in the Garbo picture often championed as one of the first defiant examples of acknowledged homosexuality in the cinema.

Coverage of International Sales Agents (ISAs) has resumed for the Toronto International Film Festival. This segment covers inspirational companies that have officially selected films in the festival. SydneysBuzz features ISAs, as they play an instrumental and necessary role in helping filmmakers to share their visions and voices with the world.

The Yellow Affair, based in Stockholm and Helsinki, will be at the Toronto International Film Festival with two official selections: "They Have Escaped" (Vanguard Selection) and "The Grump" (Contemporary World Cinema). The company has two additional new films including Big News From Grand Rock" and "Fell".

The Yellow Affair has been around for nearly five years, and 2014 was its fifth year at the Cannes Film Festival as well. The Yellow Affair's CEO and International Sales Agent Miira Paasilinna started the company with Aleksi Bardy, a producer at Helsinki Filmi, a Finnish production company.

Miira shares her company’s nontraditional 50/50 profit model, her background, and her views on changes in the industry:

How did you start The Yellow Affair?

I founded the company together with the chairman of the board, Aleksi Bardy, who’s a producer at Helsinki Filmi. From the beginning, we’ve worked very closely with them. Before that, I was working at Non-Stop Sales, a Swedish sales outfit.

When I was working with Aleksi, he proposed this new type of business plan for international sales. I thought it was appealing, as it benefitted the producers much more than the traditional model. That was the reason we started the company.

How is your model different?

Basically, we call it the 50/50 model. The idea is that the producers get money from the first penny, so there’s no cost off the top. There’s no hidden cost, and things that can be allocated to films without producers having any control. They immediately get 50% of everything. As the sales agent, we get 50% up to a certain level. Let’s say the film does really well - we can’t demand 50% of sales forever. We don’t play with costs as other sales agents do, so that’s been a very important principle for us. Our producers really like that, because it’s a transparent model. We are proud to work with our producers and work very closely with them, rather than just doing it on our own.

We do work with the traditional model with some of our bigger films. It's often up to the producers and what they’re most comfortable with, but once they look at the numbers, they really like the 50/50 model.

Were you always in sales?

I have a background in TV production. I’ve been a producer and a director, and I had a small production company while doing that. I'm also an economist, so I actually have a business background. I have a masters degree in economics, and a bachelor’s degree in media. Sales is a good way to combine creativity with business. That’s one reason why I wanted to do film sales. I first was kind of geared more to becoming a producer, but then I realized that I like the marketing, selling and pitching of films. The tempo is a bit faster, and instead of handling just a few films, you have a big slate of films. I really enjoy that part.

What types of films do you represent?

Our catalog is mostly art house, festival driven films of high production quality. We carry films from about twenty countries, so we’re not just geared up with Scandinavian films, even though we’re based in Helsinki and Stockholm. The combination of good quality film that we can also sell and bring to festivals is important for us.

We’re getting into the bigger budget films at the moment. Our first larger scale film is "The Girl King", an English language period piece by Mika Kaurismäki. Its world-class cast includes Malin Buska, Sarah Gadon, Michael Nyqvist, Hippolyte Girardot and Martina Gedeck. It's in postproduction at the moment.

How do you feel about the changes of business in the industry?

Looking at all my years in sales, the prices have definitely gone down for art house films. I see that it’s difficult for distributors; they're making less money, and so we are making less money as well. From our point of view, it’s important to be really selective and know what type of films to really take in. I think it’s a very difficult market, but I’m happy to say that we’ve been getting income from VOD sales. When there was a drop in DVD sales, VOD sales started to pick up, and there are now some ok deals out there for digital rights.

I think there’s a bit of a lull now, and things are changing. There are some incentives that have been negatively affected in the European film business, and we could already see the reflection of this at Berlin and Cannes this year, as sales for smaller films were more difficult.

The award winning festival films do have a place in the market, and they can have nice theatrical release. The windows are just getting shorter at the same time. It’s an interesting challenge, but one has to be awake and alert all the time to move with the market.

Other festival prize winners include Self Made, Red Leaves and The Decent One.

Gett, the Trial of Vivian Amsalem, by Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz [pictured], the third part of a trilogy about the painfully, never ending process of an Israeli-style divorce; and Princess, the debut picture of Tali Shalom-Ezer about a girl’s troubled rites of passage in a complicated household, shared the Haggiag Award for Best Israeli Feature at this year’s Jerusalem Film Festival.

Gett, which was first unveiled earlier in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, also won the festival’s new audience award.

Gett’s Menashe Noy collected the best actor award while young Shira Hass was crowned best actress for her performance in Princess. Princess was also recognized for best cinematography (Radek Ladzuk) and best music (Ishai Adar). Additional awards went to Self Made (best Script to Shira Geffen, best editing to Nilli Feller), with Bazi Gete’s Red Leaves picked as best first film.

Vanessa Lapa...

The Lives Of Others star Martina Gedeck joins cast of Julia Von Heinz’s Ich Bin Dann Mal Weg (I’m On My Way).

The Lives of Others star Martina Gedeck will join the cast of Julia Von Heinz’s upcoming Spain-set comedy Ich Bin Dann Mal Weg (literal translation: I’m On My Way)

The acclaimed German actress, here in Jerusalem on the Israeli Feature Film Jury, will star alongside Devid Striesow in the cast of the Ufa and Warner Bros Germany production, adapted by Jane Ainscough and Christoph Silber from Hape Kerkeling’s best-selling comedic book about a man’s pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.

Shooting is due to take place later this summer on the German-language feature.

Gedeck is then due to star alongside Thomas Kretschmann in Arsen A Ostojic’s Second World War drama Man In The Box about an Austrian family who take a Jewish doctor into hiding.

Also on the...

Directors are among the high-profile international guests at this year’s festival.

Directors Spike Jonze, Park Chan-wook, Ulrich Seidl, Chantal Akerman and actress Martina Gedeck are among the high-profile international guests due to attend the Jerusalem Film Festival.

The festival said in statement: “Despite the security situation, more than 100 distinguished international guests are on their way to Jerusalem…The Festival’s international guests have expressed their support of the non-cancellation of the Festival and are due to arrive in Jerusalem in the coming days.”

Jonze, who recently won an Academy Award for best original screenplay for his sci-fi romance Her, will give a masterclass following a screening of his Oscar-nominated fantasy comedy Being John Malkovich — which marks its 15th anniversary this year.

It is the first time Jonze, whose father was descended from a German Jewish family, has visited Israel.

Korea’s Park will also give a masterclass and participate in a panel on his country’s cinema...

Telefilm Canada has confirmed its financial support of nearly $13 million of Canadian tax payers' money towards the production of nine English-language feature films through the 'Canada Feature Film Fund', although there doesn't seem to be anything culturally 'Canadian' about most of their selections, other than the crews that will be working on them.

Among the films receiving money include a psycho horror with a demonic 'Santa Claus', a bio pic about a former Queen of Sweden, the 'relationship' between 'James Dean' and a photographer, a thriller involving a Satanic child abuse sex ring, and an inflatable Sex Doll drug smuggling story:

The films are "After the Ball" (Sean Garrity), "A Christmas Horror Story" (Steven Hoban, Grant Harvey, Brett Sullivan), "Aloft" (Claudia Llosa), "A Worthy Companion" (Jason Sanchez, Carlos Sanchez), "Life" (Anton Corbijn), "Regression" (Alejandro Amenabar), "Rest Home" (Michael Rowe), "The Girl King" (Mika Kaurismäki) and "Zoom" (Pedro Morelli...