Oscilloscope Laboratories, the distribution company set up by late Beastie Boys member Adam Yauch, has acquired U.S. rights to The Universal Theory, which recently premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival (as the title The Theory of Everything). A theatrical release is planned for 2024.
From director Timm Kröger, the German drama is set in 1962 at a quantum mechanics conference in an isolated lodge nestled amid the towering landscapes of the Swiss Alps, and is the story of a gifted young physicist, his curmudgeonly mentor and an enigmatic jazz pianist who knows things about our wunderkind scientist that he’s never told another living soul. As the description goes, the film is “driven by astonishing twists, improbable coincidences and Hitchcockian suspense,” and “considers the metaverse theory from a refreshingly intelligent point of view.”
The main cast includes Jan Bülow, Olivia Ross, Hanns Zischler, Gottfried Breitfuss, David Bennent, Philippe Graber and Imogen Kogge.
From director Timm Kröger, the German drama is set in 1962 at a quantum mechanics conference in an isolated lodge nestled amid the towering landscapes of the Swiss Alps, and is the story of a gifted young physicist, his curmudgeonly mentor and an enigmatic jazz pianist who knows things about our wunderkind scientist that he’s never told another living soul. As the description goes, the film is “driven by astonishing twists, improbable coincidences and Hitchcockian suspense,” and “considers the metaverse theory from a refreshingly intelligent point of view.”
The main cast includes Jan Bülow, Olivia Ross, Hanns Zischler, Gottfried Breitfuss, David Bennent, Philippe Graber and Imogen Kogge.
- 10/5/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“Becoming an Astronaut,” an ambitious documentary that will focus on four new astronauts who will be announced by the European Space Agency (Esa) this November, has won the Focal Audience & Market Strategies pitching event at the Zurich Film Festival.
Organized by Focal, the Lausanne-based foundation for film and audiovisual media training, Audience & Market Strategies is a three-part training program that helps producers promote their projects at an early stage. This year’s event showcased eight Swiss projects in various states of development.
The program culminated with the pitching event, in which the producers presented their projects to sales company representatives, industry experts and an international jury comprising Stephen Kelliher of Bankside Films, Netflix’s Lars Wiebe, Olivier Tournaud of Cinephil, Sven Wälti, head of film at Swiss pubcaster Srg Ssr, and Deadline’s Diana Lodderhose.
Produced by Franziska Sonder of Ensemble Film and set to be directed by Roman Hodel,...
Organized by Focal, the Lausanne-based foundation for film and audiovisual media training, Audience & Market Strategies is a three-part training program that helps producers promote their projects at an early stage. This year’s event showcased eight Swiss projects in various states of development.
The program culminated with the pitching event, in which the producers presented their projects to sales company representatives, industry experts and an international jury comprising Stephen Kelliher of Bankside Films, Netflix’s Lars Wiebe, Olivier Tournaud of Cinephil, Sven Wälti, head of film at Swiss pubcaster Srg Ssr, and Deadline’s Diana Lodderhose.
Produced by Franziska Sonder of Ensemble Film and set to be directed by Roman Hodel,...
- 9/24/2022
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
German director Timm Kröger’s mystery thriller “The Universal Theory” has started shooting at the ski resort of St. Jakob in Defereggen, Austria. The film’s first image has been released.
The cast is led by Jan Bülow, who starred in “Lindenberg! Mach dein Ding,” and Olivia Ross, a Paris-born, British actress whose credits include History’s “Knightfall,” Netflix’s “The Old Guard,” and the BBC’s “War and Peace” and “Killing Eve.”
Kröger previously directed Venice Critics Week entry “The Council of Birds.” The screenplay was written by Roderick Warich (“The Trouble with Being Born”) and Kröger.
Shot in Cinemascope, in black and white, the 1960s set story unfolds against the backdrop of the Alps. Johannes, a doctor of physics, travels with his doctoral supervisor to a scientific congress in the Alps. A series of mysterious incidents occur on site. He meets his femme fatale, Karin, a jazz pianist...
The cast is led by Jan Bülow, who starred in “Lindenberg! Mach dein Ding,” and Olivia Ross, a Paris-born, British actress whose credits include History’s “Knightfall,” Netflix’s “The Old Guard,” and the BBC’s “War and Peace” and “Killing Eve.”
Kröger previously directed Venice Critics Week entry “The Council of Birds.” The screenplay was written by Roderick Warich (“The Trouble with Being Born”) and Kröger.
Shot in Cinemascope, in black and white, the 1960s set story unfolds against the backdrop of the Alps. Johannes, a doctor of physics, travels with his doctoral supervisor to a scientific congress in the Alps. A series of mysterious incidents occur on site. He meets his femme fatale, Karin, a jazz pianist...
- 1/21/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Visions du Reél world premiere feature “The Bubble,” playing in the festival’s International Competition, provides a candid look at the often-surreal senior citizen life within The Villages, America’s largest retirement community, in Central Florida. More than 150,000 retirees call The Villages home, and have access to its 96 recreation centers, 54 golf courses, 70 pools, three town squares and nearly 3,000 recognized social clubs.
Beneath the surface, however, the film asks important questions of class – according to one resident in the film 80% of the nation’s private wealth belongs to people over 65 years old, race – the overwhelming majority of retired people in the U.S. are white, and the impact The Villages has on surrounding communities. The film also examines how society treats those who age out of the workforce. Often neglected by family and their communities at home, many who settle in The Villages rediscover their own agency and find a new...
Beneath the surface, however, the film asks important questions of class – according to one resident in the film 80% of the nation’s private wealth belongs to people over 65 years old, race – the overwhelming majority of retired people in the U.S. are white, and the impact The Villages has on surrounding communities. The film also examines how society treats those who age out of the workforce. Often neglected by family and their communities at home, many who settle in The Villages rediscover their own agency and find a new...
- 4/17/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
In “Spagat,” his feature film debut, Swiss director Christian Johannes Koch tells the story of a high school teacher whose double life begins to come apart while also examining the difficult life of an immigrant laborer with no papers.
Set in rural Switzerland, the film follows Marina, a married mother and teacher who is having an affair with Ukrainian immigrant Artem. Their secret relationship is threatened when the man’s daughter, Ulyana, is arrested for stealing — an incident that has far-reaching consequences for all of them. “Spagat,” a German and Russian word that means both “balancing act” and “the splits,” reflects the situation Marina finds herself in as she tries to find a solution to an increasingly growing problem as well as that of the ambitious Ulyana, an aspiring young gymnast.
Speaking to Variety about the film, Koch, who wrote the script with Josa Sesink, said several factors led to the making “Spagat,...
Set in rural Switzerland, the film follows Marina, a married mother and teacher who is having an affair with Ukrainian immigrant Artem. Their secret relationship is threatened when the man’s daughter, Ulyana, is arrested for stealing — an incident that has far-reaching consequences for all of them. “Spagat,” a German and Russian word that means both “balancing act” and “the splits,” reflects the situation Marina finds herself in as she tries to find a solution to an increasingly growing problem as well as that of the ambitious Ulyana, an aspiring young gymnast.
Speaking to Variety about the film, Koch, who wrote the script with Josa Sesink, said several factors led to the making “Spagat,...
- 9/20/2020
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
From Thomas Imbach’s “Nemesis” and Michele Pennetta’s “Il Mio Corpo” to a 13-title National Competition – featuring Nick Brandestini’s section winner “Sapelo,” celebrated French screenwriter Antoine Jaccoud’s directorial debut “Back to Visegrad” and Tribeca world premiere “Wake Up on Mars – ” this year’s Visions du Réel festival proved, as ever, a notable launchpad for Swiss documentaries.
Held online on May 4, a Swiss Films presentation of five upcoming doc features added to this impact, and suggested much about the nature of Switzerland documentary scene.
A power in movie production – in 2018 only Europe’s “big five” territories and Russia produced more features – Switzerland is also a European doc talent hub. The five docs presented Monday were all produced by Swiss companies. Only one, Roland Colla’s “W. What Remains of the Lie” was directed by a Swiss director, though at least there of the other helmers have either studied...
Held online on May 4, a Swiss Films presentation of five upcoming doc features added to this impact, and suggested much about the nature of Switzerland documentary scene.
A power in movie production – in 2018 only Europe’s “big five” territories and Russia produced more features – Switzerland is also a European doc talent hub. The five docs presented Monday were all produced by Swiss companies. Only one, Roland Colla’s “W. What Remains of the Lie” was directed by a Swiss director, though at least there of the other helmers have either studied...
- 5/4/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
A Good Wife won best film in the Balkan competition, while the best pitch prize went to The Witch Hunters, but the festival faces an uncertain future.
Kosovo’s Pristina Film Festival (April 22-29) has revealed the winners for its 8th edition, after bouncing back from last year’s government funding cuts, which saw the festival held in exile in Albania.
The jury overseeing the festival’s Balkan competition, dubbed the Honey & Blood program, awarded its best film prize to A Good Wife (Dobra Zena), which Serbian actress Mirjana Karanović wrote, directed and also starred in.
Snezana Penev [pictured right] produced the film, which was a Serbia-Bosnia-Croatia co-production and premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
The competition’s jury, comprised of Pluto Film’s Jana Wolff, Belgian actor Jehon Gorani and Swiss producer Dario Schoch, awarded best director to Turkish film-maker Kaan Müjdeci [pictured top] for his feature debut Sivas, while best actor went to Assen Blatechki for Bulgarian...
Kosovo’s Pristina Film Festival (April 22-29) has revealed the winners for its 8th edition, after bouncing back from last year’s government funding cuts, which saw the festival held in exile in Albania.
The jury overseeing the festival’s Balkan competition, dubbed the Honey & Blood program, awarded its best film prize to A Good Wife (Dobra Zena), which Serbian actress Mirjana Karanović wrote, directed and also starred in.
Snezana Penev [pictured right] produced the film, which was a Serbia-Bosnia-Croatia co-production and premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
The competition’s jury, comprised of Pluto Film’s Jana Wolff, Belgian actor Jehon Gorani and Swiss producer Dario Schoch, awarded best director to Turkish film-maker Kaan Müjdeci [pictured top] for his feature debut Sivas, while best actor went to Assen Blatechki for Bulgarian...
- 5/3/2016
- ScreenDaily
A Good Wife won best film in the Balkan competition, while the best pitch prize went to The Witch Hunters, but the festival faces an uncertain future.
Kosovo’s Pristina Film Festival (April 22-29) has revealed the winners for its 8th edition, after bouncing back from last year’s government funding cuts, which saw the festival held in exile in Albania.
The jury overseeing the festival’s Balkan competition, dubbed the Honey & Blood program, awarded its best film prize to A Good Wife (Dobra Zena), which Serbian actress Mirjana Karanović wrote, directed and also starred in.
Snezana Penev [pictured right] produced the film, which was a Serbia-Bosnia-Croatia co-production and premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
The competition’s jury, comprised of Pluto Film’s Jana Wolff, Belgian actor Jehon Gorani and Swiss producer Dario Schoch, awarded best director to Turkish film-maker Kaan Müjdeci [pictured top] for his feature debut Sivas, while best actor went to Assen Blatechki for Bulgarian...
Kosovo’s Pristina Film Festival (April 22-29) has revealed the winners for its 8th edition, after bouncing back from last year’s government funding cuts, which saw the festival held in exile in Albania.
The jury overseeing the festival’s Balkan competition, dubbed the Honey & Blood program, awarded its best film prize to A Good Wife (Dobra Zena), which Serbian actress Mirjana Karanović wrote, directed and also starred in.
Snezana Penev [pictured right] produced the film, which was a Serbia-Bosnia-Croatia co-production and premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
The competition’s jury, comprised of Pluto Film’s Jana Wolff, Belgian actor Jehon Gorani and Swiss producer Dario Schoch, awarded best director to Turkish film-maker Kaan Müjdeci [pictured top] for his feature debut Sivas, while best actor went to Assen Blatechki for Bulgarian...
- 5/3/2016
- ScreenDaily
Oscar-winning actor will also hold a keynote conversation at the Zurich Summit and present a screening of Inglourious Basterds.
German-Austrian actor Christoph Waltz has been named as the president of the Swiss jury at the upcoming Zurich Film Festival (Sept 24 - Oct 4).
The two-time Academy Award winner will attend the festival on its opening day to and over the jury for the inaugural Filmmaker Award, which comes with a prize of more than $100,000 (100,000Chf) open to Swiss filmmakers whose projects are currently in the late production or post-production phase.
The star of Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained and upcoming James Bond movie Spectre will also take part in a keynote conversation at the Zurich Summit - the industry sidebar of the festival which runs Sept 26-27.
In addition, Waltz will walk Zurich’s green carpet before presenting a screening of Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, which proved his breakthrough performance and earned him a Best Supporting Actor at the...
German-Austrian actor Christoph Waltz has been named as the president of the Swiss jury at the upcoming Zurich Film Festival (Sept 24 - Oct 4).
The two-time Academy Award winner will attend the festival on its opening day to and over the jury for the inaugural Filmmaker Award, which comes with a prize of more than $100,000 (100,000Chf) open to Swiss filmmakers whose projects are currently in the late production or post-production phase.
The star of Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained and upcoming James Bond movie Spectre will also take part in a keynote conversation at the Zurich Summit - the industry sidebar of the festival which runs Sept 26-27.
In addition, Waltz will walk Zurich’s green carpet before presenting a screening of Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, which proved his breakthrough performance and earned him a Best Supporting Actor at the...
- 9/2/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
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.