German cinema looks set for a major boost this year from some of the country’s most commercially successful and critically acclaimed directors tackling such eclectic subject matter as U.S. torture in Guantánamo, the impact of bipolar disorder on family, and a folkloric love story about the Grim Reaper.
The pandemic postponed a number of scheduled 2020 productions, which will likely make 2021 a busy year as production companies make up lost time.
Andreas Dresen, Til Schweiger, Michael Bully Herbig, Hans-Christian Schmid, Sönke Wortmann and the late Joseph Vilsmaier all have high-profile projects in the works or set to hit theaters (when they reopen) this year.
Dresen explores the injustice of America’s war on terror in the tentatively titled “Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush.” Dresen, who enjoyed a major hit with the award-winning 2018 biopic “Gundermann,” reteamed with writer Laila Stieler on the fact-based pic about Rabiye Kurnaz (Meltem Kaptan), a Turkish housewife in Bremen,...
The pandemic postponed a number of scheduled 2020 productions, which will likely make 2021 a busy year as production companies make up lost time.
Andreas Dresen, Til Schweiger, Michael Bully Herbig, Hans-Christian Schmid, Sönke Wortmann and the late Joseph Vilsmaier all have high-profile projects in the works or set to hit theaters (when they reopen) this year.
Dresen explores the injustice of America’s war on terror in the tentatively titled “Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush.” Dresen, who enjoyed a major hit with the award-winning 2018 biopic “Gundermann,” reteamed with writer Laila Stieler on the fact-based pic about Rabiye Kurnaz (Meltem Kaptan), a Turkish housewife in Bremen,...
- 3/2/2021
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
German entertainment giant Ufa is continuing its push into feature films with a slew of high-profile projects, including an upcoming Siegfried and Roy biopic and a sequel to the 2014 historical epic “The Physician,” starring Tom Payne (“Prodigal Son”).
The ramp-up follows the huge box office success last year of Oscar winner Caroline Link’s “All About Me,” based on the childhood memoir of German comedian Hape Kerkeling, which became 2019’s second biggest local box-office hit with €31.25 million ($35.34 million) via Warner Bros.
Other upcoming titles include Leander Haussmann’s highly anticipated Cold War laffer “A Stasi Comedy,” which Constantin Film is set to release next year. Set in the 1980s, the film centers on a young agent of East Germany’s infamous state security service, played by David Kross (“Balloon”), who is sent to infiltrate East Berlin’s counterculture scene and who, years later, is confronted with the possibility of his...
The ramp-up follows the huge box office success last year of Oscar winner Caroline Link’s “All About Me,” based on the childhood memoir of German comedian Hape Kerkeling, which became 2019’s second biggest local box-office hit with €31.25 million ($35.34 million) via Warner Bros.
Other upcoming titles include Leander Haussmann’s highly anticipated Cold War laffer “A Stasi Comedy,” which Constantin Film is set to release next year. Set in the 1980s, the film centers on a young agent of East Germany’s infamous state security service, played by David Kross (“Balloon”), who is sent to infiltrate East Berlin’s counterculture scene and who, years later, is confronted with the possibility of his...
- 6/26/2020
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
German entertainment giant Ufa is continuing its push into feature film with a slew of high-profile projects, including an upcoming Siegfried and Roy biopic and a sequel to the 2014 historical epic “The Physician,” starring Tom Payne (“Prodigal Son”).
The ramp-up follows last year’s huge box-office success of Oscar-winner Caroline Link’s “All About Me,” based on the childhood memoir of German comedian Hape Kerkeling, which became 2019’s second biggest home-grown box-office hit grossing €31.25 million ($35.34 million) via Warner Bros.
Other upcoming titles include Leander Haussmann’s highly anticipated Cold War laffer “A Stasi Comedy,” which Constantin Film is set to release next year. Set in the 1980s, the film centers on a young agent of East Germany’s infamous state security service, played by David Kross (“Balloon”), who is sent to infiltrate East Berlin’s counterculture scene and who, years later, is confronted with the possibility of his secret Stasi past coming to light.
The ramp-up follows last year’s huge box-office success of Oscar-winner Caroline Link’s “All About Me,” based on the childhood memoir of German comedian Hape Kerkeling, which became 2019’s second biggest home-grown box-office hit grossing €31.25 million ($35.34 million) via Warner Bros.
Other upcoming titles include Leander Haussmann’s highly anticipated Cold War laffer “A Stasi Comedy,” which Constantin Film is set to release next year. Set in the 1980s, the film centers on a young agent of East Germany’s infamous state security service, played by David Kross (“Balloon”), who is sent to infiltrate East Berlin’s counterculture scene and who, years later, is confronted with the possibility of his secret Stasi past coming to light.
- 6/24/2020
- by Shalini Dore
- Variety Film + TV
Andreas Dresen’s biopic wins six prizes from 10 nominations.
Andreas Dresen’s biopic Gundermann was the big winner at this year’s German Film Awards, taking home six Lolas at the weekend’s gala in Berlin after receiving a record 10 nominations.
The production by Pandora Film Produktion and Kineo Filmproduktion received the evening’s top award, the Lola in Gold for best feature film, as well as the Lolas for best director (Dresen), screenplay (Laila Stieler), lead actor (Alexander Scheer), production design (Susanne Hopf) and costume design (Sabine Greunig).
Accepting his Lola for best director - his third win in...
Andreas Dresen’s biopic Gundermann was the big winner at this year’s German Film Awards, taking home six Lolas at the weekend’s gala in Berlin after receiving a record 10 nominations.
The production by Pandora Film Produktion and Kineo Filmproduktion received the evening’s top award, the Lola in Gold for best feature film, as well as the Lolas for best director (Dresen), screenplay (Laila Stieler), lead actor (Alexander Scheer), production design (Susanne Hopf) and costume design (Sabine Greunig).
Accepting his Lola for best director - his third win in...
- 5/8/2019
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Picture Tree Intl. has picked up sales rights to “The Boy Needs Some Fresh Air” (Der Junge muss an die frische Luft), directed by Oscar-winner Caroline Link. The film, which was released by Warner Bros. on Dec. 25 at more than 700 locations across Germany, has garnered a box office of €10.6 million ($12.1 million) to date. Pti will launch it as a market premiere at Berlin’s European Film Market in February.
Based on an autobiographic novel by German comedian Hape Kerkeling, the film is set in Ruhrpott, a West German coal and iron ore mining area, in 1972. It centers on chubby nine-year-old Hans-Peter who is blessed with a talent to make others laugh and grows up in a loving and cheerful family. “Unfortunately, dark shadows attach to the boy’s everyday life as his mother becomes more and more depressed after a failed surgery,” according to a statement from Pti. “For Hans-Peter...
Based on an autobiographic novel by German comedian Hape Kerkeling, the film is set in Ruhrpott, a West German coal and iron ore mining area, in 1972. It centers on chubby nine-year-old Hans-Peter who is blessed with a talent to make others laugh and grows up in a loving and cheerful family. “Unfortunately, dark shadows attach to the boy’s everyday life as his mother becomes more and more depressed after a failed surgery,” according to a statement from Pti. “For Hans-Peter...
- 1/7/2019
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
German films have continued to perform strongly at the box office this year despite record high temperatures over the summer, usually a death knell for local cinemas, and not to mention World Cup soccer, which kept many potential moviegoers at home or in sports bars across the country.
Local pics have benefitted from a strong mix of comedy, children’s fare and drama. German productions accounted for some 11.3 million admissions in the first half of the year, compared with 10.6 million in the first six months of 2017, resulting in a 22.4% market share, up from 18.2%.
“German films have been able to increase both their revenue and market share in a difficult market environment, which is already a special achievement,” Peter Dinges, CEO of the German Federal Film Board (Ffa), tells Variety. “And with some high-profile movie launches in the second half of the year, I am extremely confident that this trend will...
Local pics have benefitted from a strong mix of comedy, children’s fare and drama. German productions accounted for some 11.3 million admissions in the first half of the year, compared with 10.6 million in the first six months of 2017, resulting in a 22.4% market share, up from 18.2%.
“German films have been able to increase both their revenue and market share in a difficult market environment, which is already a special achievement,” Peter Dinges, CEO of the German Federal Film Board (Ffa), tells Variety. “And with some high-profile movie launches in the second half of the year, I am extremely confident that this trend will...
- 11/2/2018
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Global Screen is to handle international sales on a reboot of the successful German Hanni & Nanni franchise based on Enid Blyton’s classic St Clare’s book series.
The latest adventures of the twins Hanni and Nanni Sullivan at the boarding school Lindenhof have been co-written by Katrin Milhahn and Antonia Rothe-Liermann, who previously collaborated on children’s film Ente gut! Mädchen allein zu Haus.
The $5.2m (€4.6m) German language production by Ufa Fiction with Hermann Florin’s Feine Filme, which will be distributed theatrically in Germany, Austria and Switzerland by Universal Pictures International, is being directed by Babelsberg Film University graduate Isabelle Suba, who made her feature debut in 2014 with the satire Men Show Films and Women Their Breasts.
“It has been our policy on the Hanni & Nanni films to give newcomers an opportunity to direct these films,” Florin explained. “That’s why we had Christine Hartmann for the first film, Julia von Heinz for the...
The latest adventures of the twins Hanni and Nanni Sullivan at the boarding school Lindenhof have been co-written by Katrin Milhahn and Antonia Rothe-Liermann, who previously collaborated on children’s film Ente gut! Mädchen allein zu Haus.
The $5.2m (€4.6m) German language production by Ufa Fiction with Hermann Florin’s Feine Filme, which will be distributed theatrically in Germany, Austria and Switzerland by Universal Pictures International, is being directed by Babelsberg Film University graduate Isabelle Suba, who made her feature debut in 2014 with the satire Men Show Films and Women Their Breasts.
“It has been our policy on the Hanni & Nanni films to give newcomers an opportunity to direct these films,” Florin explained. “That’s why we had Christine Hartmann for the first film, Julia von Heinz for the...
- 8/19/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
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...
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...
- 7/15/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Angela Merkel did well in Germany's elections two days ago. But a few hours before, a bogus poll showed the German electorate has another face. The results of the fake online poll - whose final message should not be underestimated - clearly showed a different result: the winner was a comedian disguised as a rabble-rousing and scatterbrained politician, followed by Germany's pirate party, whose members think culture - music, books, movies, etc. - should be made accessible to all for free on the Internet, much to the dismay of the movie and music industry. By promising anything and everything - from free plastic surgery to smoking in airplanes - during his campaign, which coincided with the movie "Isch kandidiere!", the crackpot literally conquered 36% of German voters thanks to the wonderful slogan 'Yes, weekend'! And ever better: if the elections had gone the way of the poll, the two parties could have formed a coalition,...
- 10/2/2009
- by Constantin Xenakis (Cineman)
- Cineman.ch/en
Due giorni fa, Angela Merkel ha vinto nuovamente le elezioni politiche in Germania. Tuttavia, qualche ora prima della sua vittoria, un sondaggio fittizio ha svelato l'altra faccia dell'elettorato tedesco... Stando infatti a questo finto sondaggio on line, la vittoria netta sarebbe andata ad un politico demagogo e farfallone, interpretato da un comico tedesco, seguito a ruota dal partito pirata tedesco il cui motto è cultura accessibile e gratuita per tutti attraverso Internet, alla faccia dell'industria cinematografica e discografica. Promettendo di tutto e di più nel corso della sua delirante campagna illustrata in dettaglio nel film "Isch kandidiere!" - dalla chirurgia estetica inclusa nel servizio sanitario pubblico al diritto di fumare a bordo degli aerei - questo personaggio ha letteralmente conquistato il popolo tedesco che gli avrebbe accordato il 36% dei voti, grazie anche al suo irresistibile slogan: «Yes, weekend»! Non solo: se il sondaggio non fosse stato creato ad arte e...
- 10/1/2009
- by Constantin Xenakis (Cineman)
- Cineman.ch/en
"Inglourious Basterds" is off to a rousing start on the international circuit.
Quentin Tarantino's World War II opus starring Brad Pitt blasted its way to $27.5 million during the weekend from 2,630 locations in 22 markets, claiming the No. 1 spot with a muscular $10,456 per-screen average.
"Basterd's" international opening was the biggest ever for Tarantino, who has had a mixed record overseas. 1994's "Pulp Fiction" grossed a total of $101.9 million offshore, and 2003's "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" made $111.4 million, per Weinstein Co. figures. But "Kill Bill: Vol 2" in 2004 grossed $86.6 million, while 2007's "Death Proof" logged only $28.7 on the foreign circuit.
The film opened No. 1 in the U.K. with $5.8 million drawn from 441 screens, nearly a quarter of the market.
In France, "Basterds" also opened in the top spot with $6.1 million from 500 situations, or 30% of the market, per Universal figures. The first-place Germany intro produced $4.3 million from 443 sites and a 26% market share. Australia also provided a No.
Quentin Tarantino's World War II opus starring Brad Pitt blasted its way to $27.5 million during the weekend from 2,630 locations in 22 markets, claiming the No. 1 spot with a muscular $10,456 per-screen average.
"Basterd's" international opening was the biggest ever for Tarantino, who has had a mixed record overseas. 1994's "Pulp Fiction" grossed a total of $101.9 million offshore, and 2003's "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" made $111.4 million, per Weinstein Co. figures. But "Kill Bill: Vol 2" in 2004 grossed $86.6 million, while 2007's "Death Proof" logged only $28.7 on the foreign circuit.
The film opened No. 1 in the U.K. with $5.8 million drawn from 441 screens, nearly a quarter of the market.
In France, "Basterds" also opened in the top spot with $6.1 million from 500 situations, or 30% of the market, per Universal figures. The first-place Germany intro produced $4.3 million from 443 sites and a 26% market share. Australia also provided a No.
- 8/23/2009
- by By Frank Segers
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cologne, Germany -- Constantin Film is continuing its formula of making cinematic adaptations of hit TV comedians with a new film featuring Horst Schlammer, the popular character created by veteran TV funny guy Hape Kerkeling.
The new film, "Isch kandidiere!" (I'm running!) features Schlammer -- sort of a kinder, gentler and German version of Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat -- running for the post of German Chancellor. Constantin, together with co-producers Telemaz and public broadcaster Zdf, plan to shoot in August, just before real national elections in September. Similar to Cohen, Kerkeling's comedy features impromptu, on-the-street interviews with real politicians, celebrities and ordinary people.
"Isch kandidiere!" is the latest project in Constantin's German slate to feature the TV-to-cinema formula. Earlier this year, Constantin scored a major hit with "Mannersache," featuring stand-up star Mario Barth and has signed TV comedian Kaya Yanar to a three-picture deal to translate his cross-culture joking for the big screen.
The new film, "Isch kandidiere!" (I'm running!) features Schlammer -- sort of a kinder, gentler and German version of Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat -- running for the post of German Chancellor. Constantin, together with co-producers Telemaz and public broadcaster Zdf, plan to shoot in August, just before real national elections in September. Similar to Cohen, Kerkeling's comedy features impromptu, on-the-street interviews with real politicians, celebrities and ordinary people.
"Isch kandidiere!" is the latest project in Constantin's German slate to feature the TV-to-cinema formula. Earlier this year, Constantin scored a major hit with "Mannersache," featuring stand-up star Mario Barth and has signed TV comedian Kaya Yanar to a three-picture deal to translate his cross-culture joking for the big screen.
- 6/19/2009
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.