Check BlickpunktFilm`s Berlinale Special for more

www.blickpunktfilm.de
Februar 2015
The Minister of Culture Monika Grütters reaffirms her commitment to the German film industry
The Grandmasters Wim Wenders and Margarethe von Trotta talk about their new films
The Newcomers Who’s hot and who’s up and coming – an overview of German’s best new talents
presents
UWE OCHSENKNECHT
ARMIN ROHDE
CHRISTOPH LETKOWSKI
ALICE DWYER
KATHARINA MARIE SCHUBERT
TYRON RICKETTS
MATTHIAS WEIDENHÖFER
UND LORENZO GERMENO
TRISTAN GÖBEL
The new film by
Francois Ozon
(»8 Women«, »Swimming Pool«)
»borderline offensive
and improbably sweet …
and funny throughout.«
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
A FILM BY
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Reinventing himself An interview with
Wim Wenders about the challenges
making “Every Thing Will Be Fine”.
7
In wonderland With “Cinderella”
Disney has perfected its approach to
breathe new life in its classic fairy tales.
8
Strong contenders for Golden Bear at the half mark
An excellent
vintage
Berlin – At the halfway mark the 65th edition of the Berlinale shapes up as a
strong entry into the festival’s annals. The front runners for prize consideration at the moment are “El club”, “45 Years” and Germany’s own “Victoria”.
People were expecting for the worst after
Dieter Kosslick rang in his 14th year as festival
director with Isabel Coixet’s disappointing
end of the world drama “Nobody Wants the
Night”. But following this misstep the 65th
Berlinale immediately picked up steam with
Jafar Panahi’s cheeky “Taxi“ which may be
altogether too light as a real contender for
one of the Bears handed out by Darren
Aronofsky’s jury, but certainly proved that
Panahi continues one of the most virtal voices
in world cinema, his official ban from filmmaking by Iranian authorities notwithstanding. While the bigger names among the luminaries in competition like Werner Herzog, Terrence Malick or Benoît Jacquot have turned in
decent films at best that met lukewarm receptions, it’s the younger directors who really shine. Like Andrew Haigh, whose chronicle
of the dissolution of a marriage in “45 Years”
may feel too cramped and suffocating to
some, but at the same time mesmerises with
its tight control over all aspects of filmmaking
and revelatory performances by Charlotte
Blickpunkt:Film
Rampling and Tom Courtenay. Or like Chilean
filmmaker Pablo Larrain who makes good on
the promise of his already exceptional
Pinochet trilogy: His “El club” is the most vicious and unholy attack imaginable on the
Photo: Constantin
Photo: NEUE ROAD MOVIES / D. Wenders
Photo: Jonathan Olley/Disney Enterprises
ENGLISH EDITION FOCUS BERLINALE
Ten to watch Blickpunkt:Film rates
and ranks the ten German films
most likely to succeed at the box office 2015.
17
Catholic church and by extension all forms of
institutionalised authority, a film so dark that
it would be unbearable were it not for its
streak of blackest humor and a genius resolution that totally reshuffles the deck in the very
last scene. And finally there’s Sebastian Schipper and his totally wild stunt of a movie, “Victoria”, which manages to turn from a fun night
out in Berlin to “Bonnie & Clyde” within 140
minutes in a single take. Further noteworthy
additions were “Ixcanul” and “The Pearl Button”. If the Berlinale was ending right now, it
could already pride itself of being a success,
but let’s wait and see what Dieter Kosslick has
saved up for last: There may not be any more
overt heavy hitters among them, but considering that the positive surprises in the first half
came from the yet lesser known talent one
hopes that the second half follow suit. ts
Breathtaking: Sebastian Schipper’s “Victoria”
3
FOCUS BERLINALE ENGLISH EDITION
Festival director Dieter Kosslick (right) welcomes Christian Bale and Natalie Portman at the world
premiere of the “Knight of Cups”, helmer Terrence Malick as usually avoided a public appearance
Berlinale impressions
Parties, premieres & people
It’s a non-stop party in Germany’s capital during the ten wild days of Berlinale. Blickpunkt:Film has compiled a
selection of the best photos of the first five days of Germany’s biggest and most important film festival – with all
the most glamorous stars that help to make it such a huge public event.
“Life” received enthusiastic critical acclaim – Kristian Bruun, Dane DeHaan,
helmer Anton Corbijn, Jasna Vavra (Universum Film), Al Munteanu
(SquareOne Entertainment) Robert Pattinson and Alessandra Mastronardi
4
Good Vibrations – at the European premiere of “Love & Mercy”,
another highlight in the Berlinale Special section: Rodolphe Buet
(of distributor StudioCanal), director Bill Pohlad, actors Elizabeth Banks and Paul Dano and Patrick Wachsberger (Lionsgate)
Blickpunkt:Film
ENGLISH EDITION FOCUS BERLINALE
Paying back regional funding:Til Schweiger (center), director of German box office success
“Honig im Kopf”, turned over a symbolic cheque to the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg CEOs
Elmar Giglinger (left) and Kirsten Niehuus (right) at the Medienboard’s Ritz Carlton reception
Wim and Donata Wenders (center) at the
reception of the North Rhine-Westphalia funding institution with State Premier Hannelore
Kraft (l.), Laura Schmidt (Wim Wenders Foundation) and Petra Müller (managing director)
Ian McKellen, Laura Linney and Milo Parker at
the red carpet at the premiere of “Mr. Holmes”
which runs out of competition
Blickpunkt:Film
"Woman in Gold" with a lady in green: Actors Ryan Reynolds, Helen Mirren and Daniel Brühl
and producer Harvey Weinstein (The Weinstein Company) enjoyed the premiere of the US-British
coproduction, which was shown in the Berlinale Special section
5
Photos: Berlinale
At the reception of the German Film Academy: Alfred Holighaus (Managing Director), Berlin’s
governing mayor Michael Müller, Iris Berben (President of the academy), minister of culture
Monika Grütters, Thomas Kufus (chairman) and Anne Leppin (Managing Director)
FOCUS BERLINALE ENGLISH EDITION
Photo: Warner / Donata Wenders
The thorny road back to
life: Rachel McAdams and
James Franco in Wim
Wenders’ latest film
Every Thing Will Be Fine
After a string of so so dramatic features Wim Wenders is finally back in form
with an intimate drama that deserves this description.
» Highly remarkable use of 3D in
an unconventional setting
» Star studded cast with James Franco
und Charlotte Gainsbourg as the leads
Distributor: Warner Bros. Year/country Germany/Canada/Sweden/Norway 2015 Genre
Drama Running time 118 minutes Director Wim Wenders Cast James Franco, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rachel McAdams, Marie-Josée Croze, Robert Naylor, Patrick Bauchau German release
date April 2nd
Destiny, chance, fate? It’s one single moment
on a winter evening that turnes the lives of a
group of people on its head. After that, nothing is like it was before. Especially not for author Tomas, whose car hits a sled in the snow
and in the dark. A little boy dies. For his mother the world stops to turn, surviving brother
will still suffer the consequences in the years
to come while growing up. Twelve years and
its seasons are being dissected by Wenders
who follows the evolution of the people involved as with a magnifying glass, the
sturggle with their guilt and their attempts at
being forgiven, their hope for redemption.
6
Nobody is really guilty, but somehow everyone feels as if he were, everyone ponders the
question what if. It’s a long and difficult
process in which they try to forgive each other and find a new lease on life. Working with
an original screenplay by Norwegian Bjorn
Olaf Johannessen, Wenders charts unexplored terrain, the realization of an intimate
family drama in 3D. His dp Benoît Debie has
choreographed steady and intense images,
which succeed to make visible the inner pain,
despite or maybe because of the brilliantly
rendered 3D. He manages to convey an impressive closeness but at the same time they
have depth and keep the necessary distance.
Alexandre Desplat’s score – recorded and
completed with the Göteborg Symphonic Orchestra just a couple of days befroe the world
premiere in Berlin – stresses the changing
emotional landscapes – fear, accusations,
suppression. It’s not only about the possible
guilt having caused the fatal accident, but
about the thorny road back to some semblance of normality – and the question if it’s
tolerable that the author uses this traumatic
event as an impulse to jog his own creativity.
James Franco plays this hermetically sealed
off character with a strong presence and a
large dose of thoughtfulness, showing a completely new side of himself, especially when
the relationships with a group of different
women played by the remarkable Charlotte
Gainsbourg, Rachel McAdams and MarieJosée Croze help him to open up again to reality and finally make his inner peace with the
now 17 year old Christopher. There is nothing
loud or flashy about in the finley tuned “Every
Thing Will Be Fine”, only quiet grief and a
sense of loss, but, all scars nowithstanding,
also hope. Wim Wenders proves that it’s
possible to once more reinvent yourself as a
filmmaker, even after more than four decades
in the business. That is the film’s biggest of its
many achievement. mk
Blickpunkt:Film
ENGLISH EDITION FOCUS BERLINALE
Wim Wenders about 3D, documentaries and feature films
“Our 3D is different”
Director and producer Wim Wenders is one of the most renowned German filmmakers. His current 3D-drama
„Every Thing Will Be Fine“ will be shown in competition at the Berlinale.
How is the use of 3D different in documentary films and feature films?
It is really completely different. With feature
films, what appeals to me is this unresearched
territory as it is all new to me and extremely
exciting. There are a lot of 3D action films out
there, but no intimate dramas in 3D. In “Every
Thing Will Be Fine”, we tell a very intimate
family story over the course of 14 years. From
the very beginning, 3D was planned as an important element to do that. This technology
had to be kept in mind during the writing and
filming.
Doesn’t 3D distract from the content of intimate stories?
When I watch action films with their concentration on special effects, then I agree with
your reservation. But our 3D is different, it’s a
3D more similar to “Pina” – that works unre-
servedly towards our aim, does not impose or
draw attention to itself.
Three years ago, you criticised the American studios for making no effort to develop a language of 3D. Is that still the case?
Apart from “Gravity”, nothing has been done
in that regard, and “The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet” is not an American production. The American studios only use 3D as an
add-on, as a method to generate more money. I fear that the audience will reject it at some
point and say that they do not need 3D if it
does not deliver more.
Germany, Canada, Sweden and Norway
are involved in “Every Thing Will Be Fine”.
Not because of the 3D, but you need major
stars for such an international co-production
so it takes a long time to finance and organJames Franco and
Wim Wenders on
the set of “Every
Thing Will Be Fine”
ise such a project. A 3D production is also a little bit more time-consuming, and if you need
images of all four seasons, then it becomes
even more difficult. We filmed in two major
blocks in Canada. And with the 3D approach,
the audience is much closer to the actors – all
that had to be given a lot of consideration.
Do actors like James Franco and Charlotte
Gainsbourg say yes immediately when
you come calling?
I can’t put it like that. There are actors who
know what they are getting into with me. As
you know my last feature films have not
worked quite so brilliantly at the boxoffice.
But James Franco and Charlotte Gainsbourg
really wanted to work with me and it was a lot
of fun with the two of them.
What is planned for after “Every Thing”?
We are planning a long-term project about
the architect Peter Zumthor; it will probably
need an even longer period than “Salt of the
Earth” with two years of filming and one and
a half for the cut. Architecture is ideal for 3D.
Photo: NEUE ROAD MOVIES GmbH, photograph by Donata Wenders
What interests you about Peter Zumthor?
Perhaps Pina Bausch, Sebastiao Salgado and
Peter Zumthor have something in common:
Their great independence and their distinct
stubbornness.
You are also known for your stubbornness.
Stubbornness in a good sense. mk
Wim Wenders
The Berlinale will honour the director,
who will be celebrating his 70th birthday
next year, with a tribute and an Honorary
Golden Bear award. He operates the
Neue Roadmovies production company
together with Gian-Piero Ringel.
Blickpunkt:Film
7
Photo: Jonathan Olley/Disney Enterprises
Lily James as “Cinderella”
Disney’s enhancement of its animation heritage
In Wonderland
Munich – The success of “Maleficent” has cemented a trend from the house
with the mouse, which is supposed to continue with “Cinderella” – screening in this year competition of the Berlinale. The studio is exploiting its animated movies in live action, but its competitors don’t sleep.
It is the same scenario: Just like in 2014 the finish of the Berlin Film Festival offers the premiere of a grand scale fairytale movie. Still circumstances could not be more different.
While the French German coproduction
“Beauty and the Beast” wound up with a
mediocre boxoffice of $50 million worldwide
– with a budget of $35 million – it should not
come as a surprise when “Cinderella” manages to rake in more than 10 times that sum.
After all, the most recent cinematic version of
the disenfranchised help with the magical
slipper comes from Walt Disney. And the
mouse company has turned such retellings
into a highly lucrative business model. “Sleeping Beauty 2.0” aka “Maleficent” boosted a
worldwide boxoffice of $758,4 million, Tim
8
Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” garnered the
miraculous amount of $1,03 billion.
The studio had always been employing an
elaborate strategy – called the “Disney Vault”
– when it came to marketing its animated
classics. Each title is available for purchase for
a limited period of time before being taken off
the market for several years until the next exploitation loop begins. Now the heirs of
uncle Walt under CEO Bob Iger have complemented this strategy with a live action channel. Strictly speaking, this concept is far from
new. 1996 saw a comparatively successful
version of “101 Dalmatians” – starring multiple Academy Award nominee Glenn Close as
the iconic villain. But what was missing were
the long-range conclusions. It took another
four years for a sequel that grossed substantially less. Other than that, Disney limited
its remakes to live action movies like “Freaky
Friday”.
But in the meantime, the whole film industry
has evolved to a stage where brand identities
count more than ever. And there is hardly any
other studio that keeps pursuing this strategy so constantly as Disney, which also owns
Marvel and Lucasfilm, two of the most franchise-heavy subsidiaries of Hollywood. Perhaps the wave of fantasy movies has also
helped to press home the point that a reboot
of a fabulous story carries more potential than
the new adaptation of a “Flubber”. That is why
Tim Burton completed the shoot for a sequel
Brand identities count
more than ever
to “Alice in Wonderland” last year, that is why
Bill Condon is directing a fresh version of “The
Beauty and the Beast” in 2015, that is why
2016 we will see the release of Jon Favreau’s
vision of “The Jungle Book” and a reincarnation of „Pete’s Dragon”. The fairy tale elements of “Into the Woods” must have been a
reason why Disney ventured into musical
Blickpunkt:Film
ENGLISH EDITION FOCUS BERLINALE
with “Maleficent”. In other words: The studio
looks either for experience or for candidates
that allow for greater control.
This offensive, however, is far from a no-brainer. The plans for “Maleficent” go back as far as
2010 when Tim Burton was attached. The
same is true of “Cinderella”, which was supposed to be directed by Mark Romanek (“Nev-
This offensive is far from
a no-brainer
er Let Me Go”), who had a darker version in
mind than his employers. At the same time
the studio has its rivals breathing down its
neck. Because the stories that served as the
basis of the great animated legends are in the
public domain. The chances of capitalizing
again on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
shrunk in 2012 when the competition released two live action versions – “Mirror Mirror” and “Snow White and the Huntsman”, for
which a prequel is in the works. Universal
commissioned Sofia Coppola to send a new
“Little Mermaid” into the waters. Disney’s
“Jungle Book” will be followed by a version
from Warners, directed by first-time helmer
Andy Serkis. For a while it seemed that Warner Bros. was going to have the edge with their
„Beauty and the Beast”. 2011 Guillermo was
planning to adapt the story, starring Emma
Watson, who has now fittingly signed with
Disney.
The next two years will prove whether this
franchise trend is going to hold. At the current
stage the studio shies away from too much
experimentation. “Descendants”, which confronts the son of Beauty and the Beast with
the kids of iconic villains, was developed for
the Disney Channel, just to be on the safe side.
But in case of doubt, developing original franchises may be the most productive plan.
These may even lend a muscle to the fairytale
protagonists. In combination with “Cinderella”, the short “Frozen Fever” will see its release.
With a boost from the “Frozen” universe this
classic should be completely fail safe. rüst
Photo: Blake Gardner Photography
production – a decision that has been rewarded by a boxoffice of so far $125 million.
When it comes to the creative personnel, the
trend exhibits some constants. True to the old
“Dalmatian” model, the part of the female antagonist in “Maleficent” and “Cinderella” was
cast with actresses of Oscar pedigree, Angelina Jolie and Cate Blanchett, respectively. The
other movies also boast a stellar ensemble:
Robert Redford pays a visit to Pete’s dragon,
“The Jungle Book” employs voice talents like
Scarlett Johansson as the snake Kaa or Bill
Murray as Baloo. As for consistent storytelling,
one of Disney’s go-to persons is script writer
Linda Woolverton, author of the animated
“Beauty and the Beast”, who more recently
penned the scripts for “Maleficent“ and the
new “Alice” movie, after already scripting the
first. When it comes to directors, the studio relies either on established veterans such as
Favreau, Branagh or Burton or relatively unexperienced helmers like David Lowery (“Pete’s Dragon”) or visual effects artist Robert
Stromberg, who made his directing debut
Interview with Kenneth Branagh, director of “Cinderella”
“We don’t offer a copy”
Mark Romanek, who was supposed to
direct “Cinderella” before you, could
not come to terms with the studio. How
did you succeed? Were there any problems?
I never inquire what happened before I become involved with a project. My process
was as follows: I told Disney how much I
liked the script and which elements I wanted to emphasize. I explained for which
parts I wanted to cast unknown people,
how I wanted to influence set and costume design and how I would like to direct
the comedic elements. And the bottom
line was: “If that’s the film you want to
make, then we have an agreement. If not,
we shouldn’t do it because it’s too painful.”
But they seemed to like what I had to say
and then they let me get on with it.
What was your first reaction when you
got offered this film?
Blickpunkt:Film
I was not desperate to make another big
movie but I was trying to be open and responsive. And this story has an universal
appeal. When I talked about the project
amongst my friends, everybody was excited. Everyone identified strongly with the
title character. Personally I like people,
who just hang in there. Right at the beginning I said to Disney: This story has a
strong message, particularly for little girls:
Believe in yourself, be kind. There will be
people who call you nasty names, but you
can find your way through that.
Did you take the original movie as a
guideline?
There are occasional references and we
have kept some classical elements that do
not appear in the fairytale like Gus, the voracious mouse. But it’s quite different as a
feature film. It was important that Cinderella and the prince meet before the
ball. We are addressing the death of the
parents. At the same time we are not as
fantastical. On top, I was quite pleased to
add some nods to great literary figures like
Shakespeare or Cervantes. We offer a bit
of a reflection of the original movie but not
a copy. rüst
9
FOCUS BERLINALE ENGLISH EDITION
Margarethe von Trotta
was born 1942 in Berlin. After having
worked as a scriptwriter and co-director
with then-husband Volker Schlöndoff
she started her own career as a director.
With her films she established herself as
one of the most prominent protagonists
of the New German Film.
Consolation and support have always come
from abroad. I have made so many films since
then. But off course, one is always anxious.
Music plays a big role in your films.
I have been living with music for a long, long
time, especially with classical music. This time
I’ve emphasised the music because I also
wanted to give the two actresses the opportunity to present themselves as singers. Katja
even had her own band and Barbara has been
involved with music for 20 years.
Q&A with Margarethe von Trotta
Boxes of the
Subconscious
Paris – Margarethe von Trotta is back in Berlin. Her “The Misplaced
World”, a fascinating family story, will be celebrating its world premiere
in the Berlinale Special program.
The film is inspired by your biography,
why did you wait so long before making it?
I had already written the script a few years
ago, Markus Zimmer always wanted to make
the film, but then came “Hannah Arendt” with
Bettina Brokemper as producer, which took
eight years to complete, and that project had
priority of course.
Hannah Arendt, Rosa Luxemburg and
Hildegard von Bingen are historical figures, whereas for “The Misplaced World”
you had very personal access. Is that present an even greater challenge?
It makes no difference. With historical figures
you have to do a great deal of research and
get closer to them gradually. Here, with fic10
tion based upon facts, I was able to draw upon my subconscious a lot. Every film is personal, especially when you write the script
yourself. And with Katja Riemann and Barbara
Sukowa I had two wonderful actresses.
Because of that, although it was my story,
I was able to see it from the outside as well.
Your previous films at the Berlinale competition didn’t get particularly positive notices from the German critics.
I certainly didn’t want to be in the competition this time; I was quite relieved when Dieter
Kosslick offered me a slot at the Berlinale Special. “Sheer Madness” was ripped to shreds in
Germany in a sexist way, and in America it was
listed among the ten best films of the year.
You have once again gathered your film
family around you. Does that give you the
necessary safety and feeling of security?
Absolutely. Every director tries to create a
network around himself. You know what you
can expect from the others, but can also be
stricter because you value each other.
Almost all the characters are keeping a secret, little boxes with letters, photos and
very personal things. What does that
mean?
People used to keep such treasures in boxes,
nowadays letters and photos are on the computer. I also see that as a metaphor for each
of us carrying a “box” with us in our subconscious; it is some sort of psychoanalytical
symbolism.
Did you, as the director, have to hold yourself back emotionally, particularly because of the personal component?
For me, “The Misplaced World” is a highly
emotional work about wounds inflicted by
life, about invisible wounds that at some
point tear open. At the same time, I didn’t
want to make it too much of a tearjerker or to
sink into kitsch. I give the audience room for
their own experiences, for their own interpretations and feelings. mk
Blickpunkt:Film
Young talents to watch
New German
Diversity
Photo: Peter Jeschke
ENGLISH EDITION FOCUS BERLINALE
Dramas about personal and social issues, light comedy and thrillers, even
mixtures of them, low-budget arthouse and mainstream, there’s virtually
nothing the up and coming talent Germany doesn’t have up its sleeves.
German Cinema is in an interesting situation
just right now: Television has played a key role
in financing Cinema for decades, but with
new ways of distribution being an undeniable
reality, the motivation to experiment is growing – within and outside established structures. The German Film Prize Lola is no longer
necessarily dominated by well-funded, big
productions, more and more independents
do make the cut for the nominations, or win
big as it was the case with “Oh Boy” (international title: “A coffee in Berlin”) in 2013 who
went on to become a global phenomenon.
While Director Jan-Ole Gerster is preparing
his new film “Imperium” based on the novel
by Christian Kracht, other young directors are
trying to make that big a
difference. The following twelve names are
very worthy remem-
Axel Ranisch
bering, as they made an impression just recently, hit the Berlinale right now or will be
ready to find their audiences in the upcoming
months. One thing is clear: German Cinema
is more diverse than ever, and suddenly even
its humor hits a stride with international audiences. Interesting times, indeed.
» Axel Ranisch is working as a director for
only a few years now, but has already made
four films. Famously, the budget of his first
feature-length endeavour, “Dicke Mädchen”
(“Heavy Girls”), was no more than 600 Euros.
It went on to become a festival hit and got distributed in France. Right now he has just finished “Alki Alki” and once again a harsh topic
(alcoholism) is treated in wonderfully comic
and freewheeling way. This fall it will hit German cinemas. At the same time, his previous
film “Reuber” is on the shortlist for this year’s
German Film Prize. Ranisch is a principal protagonist of new low budget developments in
German film that are currently discussed as
“German Mumblecore”. He runs his own
production shingle, Sehr gute Filme,
works in the field of opera as well – and
doesn’t want to get dependent, a lesson the 1983 born director has learned
well from his teacher, Rosa von Praunheim.
Aron Lehmann
Wolf: His next step is a project with a GermanBlockbuster-production shingle Pantaleon
(which normally produces Matthias
Schweighöfers films) and a major distribution
by Warner. “Highway to Hellas” stars
Christoph Maria Herbst and Adam Bousdoukos. As a European bureaucrat and a
Greek guide they go on a trip fueled by the
European financial crisis. Lehmann’s original
humor presumably will persist at the shores
of Greece. The film is soon to be released, and
two more independent films by Lehmann’s
own Little Film Company are in development.
» The way into the film biz can be bumpy, and
things lit up for talented helmer Oliver Haffner when he decided to talk exactly about
that in his second feature: Precarity in general and especially in the cultural field. His comedy “Ein Geschenk der Götter” (“A Godsend”)
sees a young actress lose her job and stumble
across other unemployed people as a
Aron Lehmann’s “Kohlhaas
oder die Verhältnismäßigkeit der
Mittel” got widely discussed in
Germany as a both humorous
and poetic no-budget- mockumentary about the film industry. Things have changed a
bit for the 1981 born director Lehmann, who was
trained at the HFF Konrad
Photo: If…productions
Photo: MDR/Edith Held
»
Oliver Haffner
11
Photo: Peter Hartwing/Komplizen Film
Photo: Joachim Blobel
Photo: Lancelot von Naso
FOCUS BERLINALE ENGLISH EDITION
Philipp Leinemann
Philip Koch
Mara Eibl-Eibesfeldt
trainer at the unemployment exchange. The
social comedy played extremely well on German festivals, nabbing a Bavarian Film Prize
for main actress Katharina Marie Schubert
lately. It’s also on the shortlist of the German
Film Prize. While a common thing in British
cinema, a sensibility for social issues combined with humor is a rare thing in German
cinema. Haffner is not letting go of social issues planning his next project “Wackersdorf”
– about the protest against a nuclear reprocessing plant in the 1980s.
ting Heiss further on the map of talented German directors.
might well be one of the adrenaline directors
in the coming years – and will return to cinema work later this year.
» Sonja Heisshad her second film in the
making for quite a long time after “Hotel Very Welcome” premiered in 2006
at the Berlinale. Amongst other
things, she wrote a novel in between. Now “Hedi Schneider steckt
fest” (“Hedi Schneider is stuck”) will
be playing at the Forum with the
fascinating Laura Tonke in full
form. Main character Hedi Schneider, young mother and poetic individual, is searching for inner peace. But a
very German Weltschmerz is taking its toll.
Sonja Heiss has always been very comfortable with showing the uncomfortable absurdity of
life. In earlier works
there was often a
kind of documentaristic
approach,
this time camerawork and production design go for
stark colors and fantastic elements, set12
» Philipp Leinemanns second feature “Wir
waren Könige” (“We Were Kings”) has been
compared quite widely to Dominik Graf’s cop
films. Leinemann’s highly complex thriller follows different police squads and youth gangs
bringing their testosterone driven feuds to a
bloody end. The film won national as well as
international praise after its festival start in
Munich last summer, e.g. playing in Austin
and Torino. No wonder German television is after the
talent of the moment:
Leinemann is now in
the middle of helming two thriller/crime
dramas for TV. Born
in Braunschweig in
1979 and trained at
the HFF Munich, he
Sonja Heiss
» Philip Koch’s second feature is highly anticipated after his first one scored big with a
slot at the Quinzaine in Cannes. The harsh
prison-cell-drama “Picco” won him international acclaim. After writing scripts he is back
at the helm with “Outside the box”, a dark
comedy about greed, career and teambuilding. Born in 1982 in Munich, the dark side of
human beings is a constant attraction to
Koch, who has reteamed with producers
Walker & Worm and combined a big cast for
the film, which focus on white-collar workers
getting wild. Postproduction is under way,
the film will hit German theatres later this
year.
» Mara Eibl-Eibesfeldts“Im Spinnwebhaus”
(“Spiderwebhouse”) is quite idiosyncratic for
a German debut: Shot in black-and-white and
boasting Sylvie Testud in the leading role of
an overtly nervous mother that leaves her
kids alone. But beware of thinking harsh social realism lingers ahead. The film dives
deep into the territory of fairytales, the
house where the kids are left alone gets literally covered in cobwebs as time moves
on. Fantasy as a child’s way to cope with reality – Mara Eibl-Eibesfeldt, trained at Munich film school, has found a cinematic
form that brought her an invitation to
this year’s Perspektive section in Berlin.
» Jan Zabeil won many prizes around
the festival circuit for “Der Fluß war
Blickpunkt:Film
Photo: Meike Sieveking
Photo: Sebastian Woithe
Photo: Teresa Rothwangl
ENGLISH EDITION FOCUS BERLINALE
einst ein Mensch” (“The River Used To Be A
Man”). For now, the trained director of photography studying at the HFF Potsdam has
finished the short “We Will Stay in Touch
About it” that premiered in the short film
competition of the Max-Ophüls-Prize only
weeks ago. Every quality seen in his feature is
here, too: Long shots, existentialist use of
landscape to portray a man, and Alexander
Fehling again in the leading role. Zabeil and
Fehling are about to embark on a new featurelength project. This time it’s not about
soul searching in Africa, but in the mountains.
As Zabeil puts it: “As in my last film the characters will be set into a region where nature
plays the part of a main character: Where man
loses security of his path, where values of
strength and weakness may shift from one
character to the other within seconds. High
up in the mountains, I find the circumstances
that inner conflicts transform likely into actions and images, rather than into dialogue.”
» “Wanja” is one of two films in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino nominated for the best
first feature at Berlinale. Carolina Hellsgård
is the writer, director as well as producer with
her company Flickfilm. Anne Ratte Polle is
playing the lead: a 40 year old woman getting
out of prison after a long time and trying to
stay away from trouble. The drama is about
“people like I know them from real life. They
struggle, they struggle on, they try to do the
right thing, and yet they fail. They can’t escape
themselves”, explains the director who
founded her production company in 2011
after having studied at the UDK Berlin and receiving a grant for Cal Arts.
Blickpunkt:Film
Jakob M. Erwa
» Austria-born Jakob M. Erwa is a graduate
from Munich Film School and proves that
crowdfunding and ambitious cinema can
meet in a successful way in Germany. The result is “Homesick”, an impressively calm paranoia drama/thriller that has its world premiere in the Berlinale Perspektive. A young
talented musician is losing herself when she
moves into a new flat and the pressure at the
music school is rising constantly. Erwa is
already working on his next film, “Transmorphosis”, challenging classic notions of
gender.
Marc Brummund
up the possibilities. Özgür Yildirim’s third
film, this time with David Kross in the lead as
a boy suffering from amnesia and being
chased for murder. A frantic rhythm persists,
a thing that Yildirim has been good at from his
beginnings. Based on a Dutch bestseller, the
film is set to hit cinemas in summer and reaching out for young audiences. Yildirim’s taste
for flashy angles and his extreme care for the
right tone in dialogue should help the film’s
success. chg
» Marc Brummundhit a Student Oscar nomination for “Land gewinnen” in 2007, a few
days ago his long feature “Freistatt” debuted
at Max-Ophüls-Prize, winning the audience
award at the festival for young German speaking films. He studied at the HMS in Hamburg
after already having worked as a director for
commercials before. His imagery is expressive, his approach in “Freistatt” a larger-thanlife one. The “house of correction” it is based
on became a symbol of abuse, where many
people were ruined for life. Louis Hofmann as
a rebellious young guy in Freistatt is a energetic revelation, and while many international films have tackled the subject of “bad education”, production value and landscapes
are remarkable for a young German film.
Özgür
Yildirim
» When it comes to home grown action and genre films, the German
boxoffice is a tough patch. “Who
Am I” has opened up that door
again last year, and “Boy 7” might
well be the film to further open
13
Photo: NDR/Sandra Hoever
Carolina Hellsgård
FOCUS BERLINALE ENGLISH EDITION
Monika Grütters on core funding issues for film
“Greater planning
dependability”
Berlin – While she couldn’t fulfill producers‘ wishes for the DFFF budget,
Germany’s minister for culture Monika Grütters won’t let herself be doubted in her commitment for German cinema.
tution, we not least complied with producers’
demands for greater planning dependability.
But can this be enough to maintain Germany’s attractiveness as an international
production location?
The attractiveness of a production location
can hardly depend on the sole question of
federal funding. Currently, only one German
studio – namely Studio Babelsberg – can offer production conditions that are on par with
those of the major international studios. Even
so, they repeatedly struggled in the past. This
certainly can’t be exclusively attributed to the
DFFF budget, there rather have to be increased efforts made by Berlin and Brandenburg. We all know the survey conducted by
Roland Berger, which repeatedly highlights
the very sound frame conditions one can find
in England for example. But it also emphasizes why big productions will gladly travel to
Germany: Because we not only score with
outstanding crews and smooth organization,
but also because Germany compares very fa-
Photo: Bundespresseamt
For a little over a year now, you’ve held the
position of Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. Has it
been a good year for German cinema – and
its funding?
It’s been an excellent year for German cinema.
Preliminary figures show that compared to
2013, German movies have even increased
their market share. We were able to celebrate
several projects that attracted more than one
million moviegoers each. And right now, locally produced movies are filling up theatres.
Germany is also well positioned in regard to
production conditions – and the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF) is an indispensable and
very effective means to that end. Therefore,
I’m very happy indeed that I was not only able
to avert the budget cuts that were originally
part of the medium-term financial planning,
but that an annual sum of 50 million Euros is
now a permanent position in my ministry’s
budget. Up until now, this has not been the
case, the DFFF had to be renegotiated each
year. By making the DFFF a permanent insti-
Hollywood in Germany: Chancellor Angela Merkel (3rd f.l.) on the Berlin set of „St. James Place“
with Steven Spielberg (3rd f.r.), Tom Hanks (2nd f. l.) and Mark Platt (l.), as well as Henning
Molfenter and Carl Woebcken from Studio Babelsberg (f. r.)
14
vorably to other countries in terms of incidental costs, like those for accommodation.
Having said that, strengthening our funding
structure as a whole is of utmost concern
to me.
You refer to the fragmented funding structures?
It is owed to our federal system that film productions increasingly become subject to
some kind of ‘traveling circus’. There are good
reasons for that – and offering incentives in a
host of separate regions can in fact be of benefit. Despite that, we have to investigate
whether overall funding couldn’t be organized more efficiently, whether circumstances that threaten to paralyze projects can
be identified and rectified. I’ve already kicked
off this process by hosting two round tables
with representatives of the federal government, the German Federal Film Board (FFA),
the individual states’ funding institutions, the
broadcasters and the producers. One thing is
for certain: This is a very complex undertaking
that will occupy us in the course of amending
the film funding act (FFG) as well.
Blickpunkt:Film
ENGLISH EDITION FOCUS BERLINALE
Monika Grütters
Photo: Christof Rieken
The professor and member of the CDU
party has been appointed as Federal
Government Commissioner for Culture
and the Media by chancellor Angela
Merkel in December of 2013.
Going back to the DFFF once more: The
Federal Assembly has spoken out for a
budget increase, starting in 2016. What
chance do you see for that?
The federal government is in no way legally
bound by this resolution – but for their part,
the individual states would be very welcome
to increase their film funding! I appreciate
that the Federal Assembly carries on a debate
in favor of Germany as a production location.
However, one must not overlook the fact that
the 70 million Euros, which were uniquely
made available in 2013, were not fully utilized.
50 million Euros are no small amount to keep
German cinema competitive, and I’ve rigorously negotiated for that sum. With it, we can
sufficiently fund local productions. More
money would always be welcome of course,
especially when we talk about attracting international Productions. In my opinion however, the discussion about our general funding structures is just as important.
Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Sigmar Gabriel has announced that his ministry will contribute another ten million EuBlickpunkt:Film
ros to federal funding. Is there already an
understanding as to how these funds
should be distributed?
I certainly appreciate that my colleagues from
the ministry of economics are just as focused
as I am on the cultural and economic asset
which is film. And I would be truly delighted,
if those ten million Euros could be made avail-
The DFFF has become a
permanent institution
able to our common initiative for culture and
the creative industry, in which film plays a significant role as well.
Domestically, German cinema is very well
received. However, there are those who
see it losing significance abroad – especially concerning its presence at major
international festivals. Does the funding
debate need to focus more on the cultural
aspect?
In its important decision regarding the film
funding act, the Federal Constitutional Court
has done away with a long-standing doubt:
Film is both a cultural as well as an economic
asset – so even within the framework of economically-centered funding, the cultural aspect should not be ignored. However, it all
comes down to the question of predictability: When making funding decisions, we are
limited in our ability of forecasting what the
precise end result will be, and how it will be received by audiences. Generally speaking, German cinemas’ reputation abroad is not to be
underestimated, particularly because festivals certainly aren’t the sole benchmark.
Do you think that broadcasters are sufficiently living up to their responsibilities
for German cinema?
Broadcasters are in fact a major factor in the
film business. There are several topics which
need to be addressed – not least in light of the
cuts made by WDR and NDR in their contributions to the respective regional funding institutions. And there are other things to consider, like the in parts almost indecent contracts with the script writers. The script is a
fundamental success factor for film. In general, I would wish for greater production commitment – at least Degeto head Christine
Strobl wants to make some adjustments
there. Above all, there is the question of
broadcasting schedules. Why is there no permanent, attractive slot for German cinema? In
France this is handled quite differently:
French films are broadcast on a regular basis
there – except for Saturday, so that people visit cinemas on that day. What a way to create
enthusiasm for film and cinema! mm
This article is an abbreviated translation
of an interview which you can find in its
entirety (albeit in German language)
under www.blickpunktfilm.de/
gruetters_berlinale15
15
FOCUS BERLINALE ENGLISH EDITION
Young German talent making waves overseas
Speaking English
Munich – The Germans are coming: A new wave of German filmmakers is
looking forward to show Hollywood that they are ready for the big league.
tures with high production values and a keen
sense to dazzle their audiences. Take Dennis
Gansel who has been leaving calling cards for
Hollywood for a while. His classroom thriller
“The Wave” was the most successful German
film of 2008. And while his two follow-ups, the
sexy vampire flick “We Are the Night” and the
paranoia thriller “The Fourth Power”, did not
exactly set the boxoffice on fire, they certainly established Gansel as a promising stylist
with a good sense of timing and atmosphere.
He’s in post production of his first American
feature right now, the action thriller “The Mechanic: Resurrection” with Jason Statham and
Jessica Alba in the leads. Also setting sails for
the new world is Swiss born Baran bo Odar
who left quite a mark at last year’s Toronto
Film Festival with the world premiere of
his sensationally looking cyber thriller “Who
Am I” where he immediately drew the attention of American producers. Odar’s now on
board for an English language remake of the
excellent French thriller “Sleepless Night”
which dazzled audiences with its fast pace
Photo: NFP (Warner)
Photo: UFA Cinema
It’s been a while since Germany had to rely on
Roland Emmerich and Wolfgang Petersen as
the only two German filmmakers of note
working successfully in the Hollywood studio
system. While Til Schweiger, Michael Bully
Herbig, Matthias Schweighöfer and Bora
Dagtekin as the currently commercially most
successful German filmmakers might look like
natural choices for the jump over the big
pond, all of them are reluctant to make that
move: They have a high level of autonomy
over the films they can make back home and
despite certain budgetary constraints that
come with making German language entertainment they feel comfortable working here
shaping films they really want to make
instead of forsaking their independence to
become attached to some studio property
they have no particular control over.
So it’s rather a new breed of young German
filmmakers that has answered Hollywood’s
call recently – a new generation of directors
who have already left their mark in German
cinema with commercial, slick looking fea-
and tight storyline at the Toronto Film Festival in 2012. Odar’s aiming for a production
start in June; Jamie Foxx and Michelle
Monaghan are already on board as stars of the
Vertigo Entertainment production which had
its market premiere at this year’s EFM.
Simon Verhoeven is following an altogether
dfifferent approach. Together with his producers Max Wiedemann and Quirin Berg
(who were also behind Odar’s “Who Am I”) he
did not wait for Hollywood to knock on his
door but rather decided to make his own Hollywood movie: “Defriend”, a smart shocker
drawing on influences of J-horror as well as
contempo creepy fare like “The Conjuring”,
was filmed last year in English in South Africa
and is now awating its rollout. Warner Bros.
distributes in Germany. It’s an exciting time
for young German film makers who have
gained from the surge of professionalism in
German production in the last couple of
years. And while these guys probably may not
become the new Emmerichs over night, they
have every chance to establish themselves internationally as go to guys for solid commercial feature entertainment – like Robert
Schwentke who went to Hollywood ten years
ago after making two smaller features in Germany – beginning with “Flight Plan” he has
carved out a nice niche for himself as a pro
with a deft feel for good looking, well produced commercial features, helming “Insurgent” lately, a surefire blockbuster, coming on
the heels of the successful “Detergent”. ts
Hollywood, here they come: Dennis Gansel, Baran bo Odar and Simon Verhoeven
16
Blickpunkt:Film
ENGLISH EDITION FOCUS BERLINALE
Photo: Warner Bros
Führer to life right in the middle of Berlin, almost 70 years after his supposed devise, and
following him on his media backed campaign
to win back the hearts and minds of his people. Shot by director David Wnendt partially
with a candid camera approach, the film has
Der Führer riding around Germany’s streets in
a coupe and recording the hilarious reactions
of people in the streets: It’s direct cinema like
never before!
4 Windstorm 2
Coming attractions 2015
Set to invade
German theatres
Blickpunkt:Film is breaking down the hottest German productions of the
year outside of the Berlinale sections and ranks them according to their
commercial potential.
1 Suck Me Shakespeer 2
Director: Bora Dagtekin
Director: Bora Dagtekin
Release date: September 10th; Constantin
Hot on the heels of the sensationally successful first part from 2013 which turned out to be
the most successful German film since 2001
with a boxoffice of close to 55 million euros
comes the follow up which of course reunites
writer/driector Bora Dagtekin and his star
Elyas M’Barek for more madcap classroom
fun. Currently still shooting, everything about
the sequel is hush hush. But first glimpses of
the film revealed at Munich’s film week in January suggest that this time around unconventional teacher Zeki Müller will take his
class of misfits on a roadtrip, opening up all
sorts of comedic possibilities.
2 Der Nanny
Director: Matthias Schweighöfer
Release date: March 26th; Warner Bros.
Matthias Schweighöfer’s first three directing
efforts have all been hugely successful, his
Blickpunkt:Film
most recent one, “Joy of Fatherhood”, drawing 2.4 million admissions. His new one is another comedy, but instead of putting the
emphasis on romantic trials and errors
this one is more along the lines of the
meanest of black comedies like
“The War of the Roses”. Reunited
with his “Break Up Man” costar Milan Peschel, a hapless male nanny is
being confronted with two kids
straight out of hell. The rest is like
the last half hour of “Home
Alone”, condensed into a
nonstop barrage of really
out there humor.
Director: Katja von Garnier
Release date: May 14th; Constantin
Two years ago Katja von Garnier returned to
flimmaking in Germany after a 17 year leave
of absence, scoring a a major sleeperhit with
“Windstorm” the story of one rebellious
teenage girl with flaming red hair and her loyal steed. The sequel picks up right where the
first film left off, reuniting the whole original
cast and sticking to the well established tone,
while this time adding first love as a potent
ingredient for the female target audience to
the mix.
5 Rico, Oskar und das
Herzgebreche
Director: Wolfgang Groos
Release date: June 4th; Fox
Presenting his fifth movie in as many
years, Wolfgang Groos has become
the go to guy when it comes to
fast paced, witty family entertainment. Here he takes over
from Nele Leana Vollmar
who launched this
Photo: Constantin
Laugh riot: On the set of Matthias Schweighöfer’s new comedy “Der Nanny”
3 He’s back again
Director: David Wnendt
Release date: October
8th; Constantin
Finally, the film to end all films
about Hitler. Based on the outrageous satirical bestseller by
Timur Vermes this comedy has
the guts to bring back Der
Back with a bang:
“Suck Me
Shakespeer 2” sets
out to reclaim the
box office throne
17
FOCUS BERLINALE ENGLISH EDITION
Comedies filmed in regional accents have
been on the upswing in Germany ever since
Marcus H. Rosenmüller’s charming Bavarian
romp “Grave Decisions” broke the 1,000,000
admissions barrier in 2006. The first spinoff of
the successful Swabian tv series took the
whole industry by surprise when it hauled in
more than 500,000 admissions back in 2012.
So director Ulrike Grote and her female stars
Natalia Wörner, Karoline Eichhorn and Julia
Nachtmann are back once more to tell of the
further adventures of two small villages at
odds with each other.
Photo: Constantin
10 Halfbrothers
“Windstorm 2” is
aiming to take
its audience by
storm again
new franchise based on the successful kids’
book series by Andreas Steinhöfel just one
year ago with “Rico, Oscar und die Tieferschatten”. This time around the precocious
Berlin tyke and his best buddy stumble into
another adventure when they try to help
Rico’s mom out of a bind.
could. Close to 500,000 admissions and a
healthy life in home entertainment ensured
the return of the irreverent hero and his band
of brothers which again is aimed at the smallest moviegoers. This movie too will offer up a
disarming mix of charming adventures and
droll episodes. The titular hero will be voiced
by German pop superstar Jan Delay again.
Director: Christian Alvart
Release date: March 19th; Universal
When German rapstar Sido first took to the
big screen in 2012 with “Blutzbrüdaz” he won
over audiences with a surprisingly charming
and sweet comedy that was far removed from
his tough guy stage persona. Directed by
Christian Alvart who scored big with his
“Tatort” tv thrillers with Til Schweiger, “Halfbrothers” promises to continue in this vein by
throwing together three seemingly incompatible guys who have to find a way to get
along with each other in order to obtain a substantial heritage. Farhi Yardim and Tedros
Teclebrhan costar.
6 Czech It Out
8 Heidi
Director: Tim Trachte
Release date: May 21st; Constantin
Designed as a mix of „“merican Pie”, “The
Hangover” and “Hostel”, this no holds barred
teen comedy will follow a school class on its
graduation trip to Prague where the kids encounter a world of seemingly limitless debauchery. An extended clip of the production
by Rat Pack and Viafilm starring Max von der
Groeben (“Suck Me Shakespeer”) shown at
the Munich film week was met with cheers
and lots of applause. Could be a sleeper.
7 Der kleine Rabe Socke –
Das große Rennen
Director: Ute von Münchow-Pohl, Sandor
Jesse
Release date: August 20th
Three years ago the little raven called Socke
embarked on his fist animated adventure and
on the way turned out to be the little film that
18
Director: Alain Gsponer
Release date: December 3rd; Studiocanal
„Heidi“, one of the best known literary properties in the German language, originally published by Swiss author Johanna Spyri in 1879,
makes its comeback to the big screen, in a totally revamped version that will stick close to
the source material. Shot on location in the
Swiss alps by director Alain Gsponer who
struck boxoffice gold two years ago with “The
Little Ghost”, the new “Heidi” will reintroduce
the famous heroine to a new generation of
moviegoers, aiming to emphasise its timeless
qualities. Bruno Ganz plays Heidi’s grandfather.
EDITORIAL DETAILS
Publisher Busch Entertainment Media GmbH
Managing directors Timo Busch, Michael Bamberger
Editor-in-chief Ulrich Höcherl (resp.)
Deputy editor-in-chief Thomas Schultze
Concept & editorial Stefanie Zimmermann (zim)
Editorial Marc Mensch (mm), Barbara Schuster (bas)
Contributors Christoph Gröner (chg, fr.), Margret Köhler (mk, fr.),
Rüdiger Sturm (rs, fr.)
Sub-Editors Gundel Ruschill (Ltg.), Johannes Bucej (fr.)
Picture editing Dr. Michael Kühn, Cornelia Hellenschmidt
Managing layout David Serjoscha Wolf
Layout Reiko Mizutani
Production Silvia Domakowski
Head of advertising Susanne Hübner (resp.)
Advertising Consultant Peter von Schall-Riaucour
9 Täterätää! – Die Kirche bleibt
im Dorf 2
Director: Ulrike Grote
Release date: June 25th; Camino
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Address Weihenstephaner Straße 7, 81673 Munich,
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