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Chief of War is a historical drama series co-created by Thomas Paʻa Sibbett and Jason Momoa. Based on true events, the Apple TV+ series is set in the 18th century, and it follows a Hawaiian warrior chief as he unites the warring Hawaiian islands to fight against the colonialists. Chief of War stars Jason Momoa, Luciane Buchanan, Te Ao o Hinepehinga, Te Kohe Tuhaka, Brandon Finn, Siua Ikaleʻo, Mainei Kinimaka, and Roimata Fox. So, if you loved the historical setting, intense story, and compelling characters in Apple TV+’s Chief of War, here are some similar shows you should check out next.

Barkskins (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Nat Geo

Barkskins is a historical drama series created by Elwood Reid. Based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Annie Proulx, the National Geographic series is set in the 1600s,...

Amazon MGM Studios has set “Der Tiger,” an anti-war drama directed by Dennis Gansel, as its first German original movie to get a local theatrical release.

Unfolding in 1943, “Der Tiger” tells the story of the five-man crew of a Nazi army Tiger tank, which is a type of German heavy tank used during World War II. They are sent on a secret mission far behind the fiercely contested Eastern front line. “Stimulated by the Wehrmacht’s methamphetamine, their mission increasingly becomes a journey into the heart of darkness,” says the provided synopsis.

Gansel is a Nazi-themed dramas specialist, having previously helmed “Napola” the 2004 film about an idealistic young boxer who becomes disillusioned with the Third Reich during his elite training, and “The Wave” a locally popular 2008 film about a high school history class experiment that goes awry, raising the question of whether a Third Reich-style regime could emerge again.

“Der Tiger,...

"The enemy knows we're here. Is that not clear to you?" Amazon MGM Studios has revealed the official trailer for a WWII tank movie called Der Tiger, a German movie that will be playing in German cinemas. It'll eventually be streaming on Prime Video, but this trailer (including English subtitles) is announcing that it'll play in movie theaters first in September. The five-man crew of a German Tiger tank is sent on a secret mission far beyond the Nazi's front line. Fueled by the Wehrmacht's drug addiction, their mission becomes a journey into the heart of darkness. As they journey eastward, the soldiers not only find themselves deeper in enemy territory but must also face their own fears and inner demons. Made by Pantaleon Films along with Amazon MGM Germany, from the same director of the German hit The Wave (Die Welle). Starring David Schütter, Laurence Rupp, Leonard Kunz,...

Exclusive: Anti-war film Der Tiger is the first Amazon MGM Studios Germany feature to land a local theatrical release.

We can reveal the original Amazon film will release in select German CineStar cinemas on September 18 before becoming available on Prime Video later in the year.

The feature, set in the Eastern Front of World War II in 1943, follows a five-man crew of a German Tiger tank that’s sent on a secret mission far behind the contested front line. As they go deeper into enemy territories, they have to face their own fears and demons, and stimulated by Wehrmacht methamphetamine, their mission increasingly becomes a journey into the heart of darkness.

David Schütter, Laurence Rupp, Leonard Kunz, Sebastian Urzendowsky and Yoran Leicher star, with Tilman Strauß and André M. Hennicke among the supporting roles.

Pantaleon Films made the German pic in collaboration with Amazon MGM Studios Germany. Frank Kusche and Dan Maag are the producers.

Prime Video Germany has unveiled a major 2025/26 slate at an event at the Balloni Halls in Cologne today.

Set against the backdrop of a mass evacuation of parts of the city following the discovery of unexploded World War II bombs, the Prime Video Presents event revealed a new project with comic actors Anke Engelke and Bastian Pastewka, a remake of adventure reality show The Summit, which we revealed earlier this hour, and Season 7 of Lol: Last One Laughing Germany among its highlights.

A new film from Denis Gansel, The Prototype (working title) was unveiled, and, as we’ve just reported, the premiere date for Maxton Hall – The World Between Us Season 2 was also revealed to be November 7. Several other films and shows were greenlit – read on for full details.

Prime Video provided insights into the quiz game format Yes or No Games with Steven Gätjen, the Dinner For One prequel...

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Domina is a British-Italian historical drama series created by Simon Burke. The Sky Atlantic series chronicles the life of Livia Drusilla, from her early years when Julius Caesar was assassinated to her marriage to the Roman emperor Augustus, which makes way for her to become the most powerful and influential empress in the Roman Empire. Domina stars Nadia Parkes, Tom Glynn-Carney, Enzo Cilenti, Peter Campion, Darrel D’Silva, Tom Forbes, Liam Garrigan, Oliver Huntington, and Alexandra Moloney. So, if you loved the historical drama, a captivating story, and compelling characters in Domina, here are some similar shows you should check out next.

Troy: Fall of a City (Netflix & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Netflix

Troy: Fall of a City is a historical drama miniseries created by David Farr. Based on the Trojan War, the Netflix series revolves around...

She rose to major prominence when she was showcased at the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section with 2022’s Corsage (read review), and now we learn that Austrian filmmaker Marie Kreutzer has been piecing together her next directing gig with Gentle Monster. Produced by Corsage producers Alexander Glehr and Johanna Scherz, we were clued in by a small mention here about the production landing some national coin. Laurence Rupp (Veni Vidi Vici) and Jella Haase (Berlin Alexanderplatz) have been cast for what will likely be a quartet. Production could be lined up soon for a 2026 drop.…...

Austrian filmmaker Daniel Hoesl and German partner Julia Niemann have made a name for themselves by focusing their black comedy and documentary movies on money and capitalism and how the resulting power imbalances cause social inequality. Hoesl’s 2016 film Winwin, for example, is a comedy about a U.S. investment fund that buys Austrian companies but also takes over politics in its capital Vienna. And the 2020 documentary Davos, co-directed by the two and written by Niemann, puts a spotlight on the contrast between the lives of those who live in the Swiss town of Davos year-round and the business and political elite that gathers there for the annual World Economic Forum.

Their latest film, Veni Vidi Vici, which debuted at Sundance 2024 and is getting its U.K. premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival on Saturday, with another screening on Sunday, looks to slay the excesses of capitalism with dark humor.

Barbarians earns an impressive eight out of 10 for historical accuracy with its portrayal of the Battle of Teutoberg Forest. The show features accurate tactics and correct costuming based on what has been found in archaeological digs. Barbarians season 1 was a critical and viewership hit, but season 2 has been less of a success, casting doubt on season 3.

Historian Michael Taylor analyzes a key battle scene from Netflix's Barbarians, praising it for its historical accuracy. First released on Netflix in 2020, Barbarians is a German series that chronicles the Roman Empire's occupation of Germania, and the rebellion this sparks from some key tribes. The Netflix show, which was created Andreas Heckmann, Arne Nolting, and Jan Martin Scharf, earned mostly positive reviews from critics and currently sports an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes.

In a recent video for Insider, Taylor analyzes a scene from Barbarians season 1, episode 6, depicting the events of the Battle of Teutoberg Forest.

If we know anything, it’s that Viking movies and shows can certainly fit into many genres but if we are talking about it seriously, Vikings on its own is a separate genre because there is a different feel to any Viking-related movie or show that can only come from this specific genre. So, if you like Vikings-related movies or shows here are the absolute best movies and shows you can find on Netflix right now.

Norsemen (Series) Credit – Netflix

Norsemen is a Norwegian historical comedy series created by Jon Iver Helgaker and Jonas Torgersen. The Netflix series is set in the 8th century and it follows the Vikings village people as they experience political rivalries, social change, and the deaths of their fellow warriors in a pretty comedic manner. Norsemen stars Jon Iver Helgaker, Silje Torp, Kåre Conradi, Nils Jørgen Kaalstad, Kristine Riis, Trond Fausa Aurvåg, Jon Øigarden, Marian Saastad Ottesen,...

Magnify, formerly Magnolia Pictures International, has announced multiple territories out of EFM on Veni Vidi Vici, the provocative Sundance premiere from Austrian filmmakers Daniel Hoesl And Julia Niemann.

Deals have closed in France (L’atelier d’Images), Central and Eastern Europe (HBO Europe), Poland (Aurora), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Pilot), former Yugoslavia (Five Star Distribution), Middle East (Gulf), Taiwan (Joinstar), Ukraine (Arthouse Traffic), Hungary (Cinefil), and airlines (Spafax).

Magnify’s SVP of global sales, Lorna Lee Torres and director of global sales Austin Kennedy negotiated the deals and are considering offers on Germany, Japan and other territories.

Satire Veni Vidi Vici premiered...

European giant Beta Film, known for ambitious titles such as “Babylon Berlin” and “The Swarm,” has shared with Variety in exclusivity a first-look picture of 1o-part series “Rise of the Raven,” which it hails as “one of the most epic European TV productions of all time.”

“Rise of the Raven” weighs in as a passion project of Hungarian-born and Canada-based producer Robert Lantos, behind “Sunshine,” “The Sweet Hereafter,” “Barney’s Version,” “Eastern Promises” and “Crimes of the Future.”

A highlight at Beta Film’s showcase this Tuesday at the London TV Screenings, “Rise of the Raven” turns on the extraordinary feat of Hungarian army commander Janos Hunyadi, played by discovery Gellért L. Kádár, who in 1456 won a bloody, brutal Battle of Belgrade against a vast Ottoman force twice the size of his troops who were often farm labourers armed with just slings and patriotic fervor.

Hunyadi largely halted a full Ottoman...

The Heartbreak Agency is a romantic movie directed by Shirel Peleg starring Rosalie Thomass and Laurence Rupp. It is based on the book by Elena-Katharina Sohn.

“The Heartbreak Agency” is a humorous comedy that, at its core, tells the same old story: a love story that begins and fills the characters with hope. With its drops of comedy, realism, and even bitterness, but with an overall cheerful and lighthearted tone.

Is it the same old story? Yes and no, because “The Heartbreak Agency” has a good script and the characters don’t seem like they were taken from a preconceived design. They are well-crafted and, although they ultimately tell the same story, they are constructed with enough intelligence and creativity to say that this movie has an original, intelligent, and even creative point.

Despite being, at its core, a romantic comedy about the eternal battle of the sexes.

Plot

A...

There’s a striking dissonance between the serene and realistic surface of Daniel Hoesel and Julia Niemann’s Veni Vidi Vici and the way it bludgeons its points home using the exaggerated methods of social critiques common to such genre pieces as Snowpiercer or Infinity Pool. How effective this will be depends in part on the viewer. Some will appreciate this class satire’s grim portrait of a venal polo-playing billionaire class who explain away their amoral behavior with self-aggrandizing business-speak. Others may thrill to the dark comedy of a serial killer operating so in the open that he’s practically begging to be caught. Either way, the message of Hoesel’s screenplay is blunt: Everyone not at society’s pinnacle is only prey.

The film’s serial killer is Amon (Laurence Rupp), a chipper Austrian billionaire with a thing for picking off strangers with a sniper rifle. He pursues his targets carefully,...

One of my favorite categories of Reddit posts (don’t judge) are those where people who have worked for or near the super-rich share stories that people “wouldn’t believe.” From ordering private jets like they were pizza to hosting children’s parties where A-list performers sing to indifferent toddlers, these stories make it quite clear that the 1% lives on a planet most of us will never visit. “Pharaoh-level shit,” as one of my favorite Reddit reactions of all time said.

The craziest thing about Veni Vidi Vici, Daniel Hoesl and Julia Niemann’s pitch-black satire about a wealthy family with a predilection for human-hunting, is that it doesn’t seem that crazy.

The Ulrich Seidl-produced film opens with a quote from The Fountainhead, which can never mean a good thing unless we’re in store for a comedy. “The point is who will stop me”––a quote part...

“Veni Vidi Vici” — a jaw-dropping Austrian shocker that’s part of this year’s Sundance Film Festival – came, saw and conquered at its Thursday premiere.

The film follows a ruthless and charismatic billionaire family whose patriarch guns down innocent citizens in his free time, and left many speechless at the Egyptian Theater in Park City. Directed by Daniel Hoesl and Julia Niemann, the movie features intensely provocative moments including infanticide and brutal public shootings. The family, it turns out, is simply too powerful to face consequences from local police, national defense agents and even their prime minister.

“The problem is that he’s so charming,” director Hoesl said of his leading man Laurence Rupp (whose appeal practically demands a Tom Hiddleston-esque introduction to the American market). “The sunlight is blinding us. We know people like him and we let them get away with it.”

Perhaps not quite like this.

Hailing from the country that gave us such grim social critics as Michael Haneke and Ulrich Seidl, Vantablack Austrian satire “Veni Vidi Vici” opens with a senseless homicide. It’s a startling scene, no less upsetting than the Scorpio killing that kick-starts “Dirty Harry” — except that in this case, the incident is calibrated as the darkest sort of comedy. Rather than picking off an unsuspecting rooftop swimmer, the serial killer does his hunting out in the open, without shame or any pretense of covering his tracks.

The movie makes no mystery of the sniper’s identity, revealing it right from the jump, the way a “Columbo” episode might. And yet the authorities show zero interest in arresting the guilty party, even going so far as to toss an eyewitness out of the police station (that man winds up offing himself in exasperation). That’s because the person responsible, Amon Maynard (Laurence Rupp), is a millionaire,...

Veni, vidi, vici: “I came, I saw, I conquered,” reportedly said Julius Caesar after an especially swift victory. Now, his words echo in Daniel Hoesl and Julia Niemann’s satire about a family so powerful it can get away with murder. Literally.

“Imagine you are above the law. You can do anything. It’s frustrating, because sometimes you want the world to wake up and yet nothing happens. It’s really funny and really sad,” Hoesl tells Variety.

“These people want to be stopped. They leave all these traces, so why does no one speak up? There is more than one Jeffrey Epstein out there.”

Premiering at Sundance and Rotterdam – and produced by Ulrich Seidl for Ulrich Seidl Film Produktion, with Magnify handling sales – “Veni Vidi Vici” takes a closer look at the Maynard clan where “family is everything,” but human life means nothing.

“Our main character always wins. It...

"Go ahead and run! I know what you look like!" Magnify Films has revealed the first look teaser trailer for a Sundance film called Veni Vidi Vici, from filmmakers Daniel Hoesl & Julia Niemann. This Austrian film is premiering in the "World Cinema Dramatic Competition" section at Sundance 2024 this month. Apparently it's commentary on the uber-rich, using a familiar idea in The Hunt and/or the classic "The Most Dangerous Game". The Maynards and their children lead an almost perfect billionaire family life. Amon is a passionate hunter, but doesn’t shoot animals, as the family's wealth allows them to live totally free from consequences. So he hunts humans. The cast includes Laurence Rupp, Ursina Lardi, Olivia Goschler, Kyra Kraus, Tamaki Uchida, and Dominik Warta. The filmmaker explains why: "The situation is serious... To create a parable, you have to exaggerate, paradoxically enough." This looks disquieting, with much more stronger commentary...

For those missing the billionaire voyeurism of “Succession,” Sundance film “Veni Vidi Vici” is poised to be a more sinister remedy.

Directed by Julia Niemann and Daniel Hoesl (and written by Hoesl), the film centers on the Maynard family, who live an “almost perfect” billionaire lifestyle, per the official synopsis. Patriarch Amon is a passionate hunter, but doesn’t shoot animals, as the family’s wealth allows them to live totally free from consequences, as the logline for the social satire dark comedy teases.

“Destructive strength is creative strength,” a character says in the trailer. “But don’t predatory cats belong in the wild?”

The hunt for whomever the dangerous hunter with no regard for human life is takes over a community, as all fingers seem to point to the elite family at the center of the drama. Yet the whodunit takes on another social issue: When the presumed wealthy “madman” killer is revealed,...

Sales talks to commence in Park City and continue in Berlin.

Magnify, the company formerly known as Magnolia Pictures International, has made its first acquisition since the rebrand, taking global sales rights to upcoming Sundance premiere Veni Vidi Vici.

Daniel Hoesl and Julia Niemann (Davos) directed the Austrian social satire about a billionaire family and their children’s almost perfect life without consequences.

Laurence Rupp (Barbarians), Ursina Lardi (Lore), Dominik Warta (L’Animale), and newcomer Olivia Goschler star. Ulrich Seidl (Goodnight Mommy) of Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion served as producer.

“Daniel and Julia have crafted an exquisite, sophisticated and timely satire...

Magnify, which was formally known as Magnolia Pictures International, has acquired global and U.S. sales rights to “Veni Vedi Vici,” an Australian social satire from directors’ Daniel Hoesl and Julia Niemann. Written by Hoesl, the film will debut in the World Dramatic Competition section of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. It marks the first title acquired for sales under the newly rebranded Magnify label.

In “Veni Vedi Vici,” the Maynards and their children lead an almost perfect billionaire family life. Amon is a passionate hunter, but doesn’t shoot animals, as the family’s wealth allows them to live totally free from consequences.

“Daniel and Julia have crafted an exquisite, sophisticated and timely satire that delves into the dynamics of privilege. Fuelled with dark humor, psychotic absurdity, and hyper-realistic violence, ‘Veni Vedi Vici’ promises a captivating watch in Park City, that we are thrilled to launch under the freshly rebranded Magnify label,...

Barbarians season 2 explores the tensions between the Romans and the Germanic tribes, with the Roman Empire launching a full-scale invasion to end the rebellion once and for all. Arminius forms an alliance with Marbod, the leader of the Macromanni tribe, but their conflicting principles on dealing with the Romans create further conflict between them. Thusnelda and her son Thumelicus are taken as prisoners of war to Rome, while Arminius's brother Flavus and son Gaius seek revenge by plotting against him.

Following the success of its first season, Barbarians season 2 expands upon the characters while also adding more tension between the Romans and the Germanic tribes. Streaming on Netflix, Barbarians is a fictionalized retelling of Germanic tribes' rebellion, led by Arminius, during the Roman Empire's occupation of Germania. The show has established itself as an epic drama that, like other great historical TV shows, intertwines history and myth. The Romans have...

Thusnelda in Netflix's Barbarians is based on a real-life Germanic noblewoman from the Cherusci tribe, but her portrayal as a warrior and powerful figure is fictionalized for the series. Barbarians incorporates real historical figures like Thusnelda, Arminius, Segestes, and Segimer to bring authenticity to the story, despite some inaccuracies in the facts. Though the real Thusnelda was a victim of war and violence, her fictional counterpart in Barbarians portrays her as a strong and influential character, playing a significant role in the depicted history and relationships.

The Germanic warrior Thusnelda (Jeanne Goursaud) in Netflix’s Barbarians is actually based on a real-life figure. Barbarians is a German-language historical war drama that takes a fictionalized look at the Roman Empire’s invasion of Germania at the start of the first millennium. Arminius (Laurence Rupp) is a member of the Cherusci tribe but was sent to Rome as a hostage when he was young.

Veni Vidi Vici

After checking in with the powerful elite with the ’20 docu Davos, Daniel Hoesl moved into a screenplay that is not that far removed. Working with a satire template on his third fic feature – his latest (a Les Arcs Film Festival Wip winner) is about an Austrian billionaire family with a penchant for hunting. Hoesl once again reteams with cinematographer Gerald Kerkletz on what was formerly titled “Vikinger” but now goes by the more aptly title of Veni Vidi Vici. Produced by Ulrich Seidl, this stars Laurence Rupp, Ursina Lardi, Dominik Warta, Johanna Orsini, and filmmaker Markus Schleinzer.…...

Making its debut on History back in 2013, "Vikings" delivered a visceral, bone-crunching journey to the eighth-century Scandinavia and the age of the Vikings. The gritty, violent saga told the story of Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel), a farmer who became a warrior and, ultimately, a king. Another part of the series' ongoing storylines involved his first wife, the shieldmaiden Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick), their son Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig), and various other characters who were introduced over the course of the show's six seasons.

As "Vikings" creator Michael Hirst explained to Looper, the writer enlisted a Viking historian to explore some of the most notable figures from that era. He wound up honing in on Ragnar because he was "the first great Viking leader to emerge from the myth and legend, and that was perfect in many ways because it was the beginning of the Viking age." While the series concluded in 2021, fans...

Season Two of  action drama series "Barbarians", starring Laurence Rupp, Jeanne Goursaud and David Schütter, set during the 'Roman Empire' occupation of 'Germania', streams October 21, 2022 on Netflix:

"...in 9 Ad, Germanic tribes are oppressed by the empire's heavy taxes and demands for tribute. 

"Attempts to form a unified resistance are hampered by petty in-fighting between the tribal chieftains...

"...and aspirations of tribesmen desiring peace with Rome...

"...until events culminate in a massive ambush of three Roman legions at the 'Battle of the Teutoburg Forest'..." 

Click the images to enlarge...

History is full of mighty empires on every side of the globe. So mighty were these empires that they blessed their men and women with more privileges in life as compared to their conquered foes. None had arguably as much of an effect on present-day life as the Roman Empire. Season 1 of Barbarians showed off the brutality of the Roman legions and the eventual rebellion by the Germanic tribes of the Germania Magna – called barbarians by the Romans – against Rome. Centered around Arminius (Laurence Rupp), a former barbarian in service of Rome who would eventually rise to inflict one of the empire’s most famous defeats at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest with the ambush of three Roman legions. Now once again, new legions are coming. Rome is coming.

Austria’s Orf Joins Big Budget Central Europe Drama Series ‘Rise Of The Raven’

The shoot for big-budget Central European drama Rise of the Raven (working title) is underway near Budapest in Hungary, with Austrian pubcaster Orf the latest to join the series as a co-producer. Produced by Robert Lantos, the multi-million dollar series is being billed as “the most epic Central European television production of all time.” It stars Hungary’s Gellért L. Kádár as Janos Hunyadi, the army commander who defeated the vast Ottoman troops in the Battle of Belgrade in 1456. Vivien Rujder plays his life partner Elizabeth Szilagyi in a widely international cast. Also featuring are Austria’s Laurence Rupp (Babarians), Cornelius Obonya (Maria Theresa), Murathan Muslu (Breaking Point), Czech actor Karel Roden, Serbia’s Rade Serbedzija and Italian actors Italy’s Francesco Acquaroli, Thomas Trabacchi (Studio Battaglia) and Elena Rusconi (6 Underground). Balázs Lengyel (HBO’s Golden Life) is showrunner and writer along with George Mihalka, Balázs Lovas, Zsófia Ruttkay, Attila Veres, and Bán Mór, whose best-selling series of novels the series is based on. Serendipity Point Films, Twin Media, Hg Media, Mr Film and Beta, which distributes the show, are the co-producers. TV2 will air it in Hungary and Slovenia, with Orf broadcasting it in neighboring Austria.

Germany’s Sat.1 Remakes Italian Format ‘Back To School’

German broadcaster Sat.1 has remade Mediaset Distribution’s Italian format Back to School. Local producer Cheerio Entertainment has produced the German show, titled Zurück in die Schule, ahead of a debut on August 24. German presenter Jörg Pilawa will host the primetime entertainment show. Back to School sees four celebrities face real elementary school exams, one they have prepared for during a summer camp with students taking on the role of no-nonsense teachers and another ‘surprise’ subject. Mediaset Group’s distribution arm launched the format at MipTV after it debuted in Italy on Italia 1 and secured an above average share. “Everyone likes the idea of mini-teachers having to do with celebrities in an entertaining reversion of roles. After lockdown and sad things continuing to happen, a show that reunites family and target groups of all ages for a good moment of relax and fun. I guess we really need it,” said Claudia Marra, who handles the format rights for Mediaset Distribution.

Principal photography is underway near Budapest on “Rise of the Raven,” an epic drama series produced by veteran Canadian producer Robert Lantos’ Serendipity Point Films (“Crimes of the Future”) and Beta Film (“Gomorrah”) that marks the most lavish TV production in Hungary’s history.

Adapted from author Bán Mór’s bestselling novels, the 10-episode series tells the story of the Hungarian warrior Janos Hunyadi, who defeated the Ottoman army in 1456 at the Battle of Belgrade, halting its march across Europe.

Lantos, whose producing credits include “The Sweet Hereafter,” “Johnny Mnemonic” and “Eastern Promises,” spoke exclusively with Variety about a passion project more than a decade in the making. He was joined by Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning director Robert Dornhelm and Hungarian directors Attila Szász and Orsi Nagypal, who joined the conversation fresh off shooting an epic battle sequence outside Budapest.

The Hungarian-born Lantos, who was in Cannes this year with David Cronenberg...

Exclusive: The fight against Rome continues. Good news for Barbarians fans, cameras are now rolling on the second season of the historical action show, which is Netflix’s most successful German series.

Six 45-minute episodes will be filmed in Krakow, Poland, and its surroundings. Stefan Ruzowitzky (The Counterfeiters) is acting and showrunner and will direct episodes 1-3 and 6.

Returners in the cast include leads Jeanne Goursaud, Laurence Rupp and David Schütter. Joining in new roles are Daniel Donskoy, Murathan Muslu, Cynthia Micas, Katharina Heyer, Giovanni Carta and Alessandro Fella.

As per last season, Gaumont’s managing director, Sabine de Mardt, is in charge of the production, together with Andreas Bareiss and Rainer Marquass.

Barbarians was Netflix’s most successful German content, series or film, before it was recently topped by the feature Blood Red Sky, which was watched by north of 50 million households in its first 28 days.

Top of this...

Exclusive: Sky’s German original Souls has wrapped production and producer Geißendörfer Pictures has dropped first-look images of the eight-part series.

Souls tells the story of Allie, Hanna, and Linn, three women whose lives are turned upside down when Hanna’s son, Jacob, is involved in a serious car accident and claims he remembers his earlier life as a pilot of a lost passenger plane.

Premiering next year, the series stars Brigitte Hobmeier as Hanna; Aaron Kissiov as Jacob; Julia Koschitz as Allie; Lili Epply as Linn; Aleksandar Jovanovic as Sebastian; Selam Tadese as Eddie; Godehard Giese as Vincent; Abak Safaei-Rad as Emma; Derya Dilber as Mathilda; and Laurence Rupp as Leo.

Souls is directed by Alex Eslam and Hanna Maria Heidrich. The writers are Eslam, Lisa van Brakel, Erol Yesilkaya, and Senad Lisa Halilbašić. Executive producers for Sky are Lucia Vogdt, Frank Jastfelder, and Marcus Ammon.

Vogdt said: “Souls extraordinary premise,...

"Barbarians", renewed for Season Two, is the historical TV series starring Laurence Rupp, Jeanne Goursaud and David Schütter, set during the 'Roman Empire' occupation of 'Germania' and the resulting rebellion of tribes led by 'Arminius:

"...in 9 Ad, Germanic tribes are oppressed by the empire's heavy taxes and demands for tribute. 

"Attempts to form a unified resistance are hampered by petty in-fighting between the tribal chieftains...

"...and aspirations of tribesmen desiring peace with Rome...

"...until events culminate in a massive ambush of three Roman legions at the 'Battle of the Teutoburg Forest'..." 

Click the images to enlarge...

Recently renewed for Season Two on Netflix, "Barbarians" is the German-produced historical TV series created by Andreas Heckmann, Arne Nolting and Jan Martin Scharf, starring Laurence Rupp, Jeanne Goursaud and David Schütter, set during the 'Roman Empire' occupation of 'Germania' and the resulting rebellion of tribes led by 'Arminius:

"...in 9 Ad, Germanic tribes are oppressed by the empire's heavy taxes and demands for tribute. 

"Attempts to form a unified resistance are hampered by petty in-fighting between the tribal chieftains...

"...and aspirations of tribesmen desiring peace with Rome...

"...until events culminate in a massive ambush of three Roman legions at the 'Battle of the Teutoburg Forest'..." 

Click the images to enlarge...

Warning: contains Barbarians spoilers

Barbaren – to give Barbarians its original German title appears to have been a massive hit for Netflix. It came out of nowhere in the last week of October and whipped straight into the streaming service’s Top 10.

It would be unusual then, if Barbaren weren’t renewed for a second season. Though there’s no official word yet – and Netflix has been slashing and burning through a pile of single season new commissions of late – fans should be hopeful about the chances of a return for the German-language historical drama.

Based on real-but-jazzed-up historical events, season one concluded with the climactic Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 Ce. Luckily for us, history kept going after that, and Barbarians co-leads Arminius and Thusnelda (played by Laurence Rupp and Jeanne Goursand) feature in several subsequent chapters that would provide ample inspiration for more TV drama.

Season one focused...

Warning: contains Barbarians spoilers

The story told by Netflix’s Barbarians – the Germanic tribes rising up to take a sizeable chunk out of the invading Roman Empire in the Battle of Teutoburg Forest, also known as the Varian Disaster – is a key historical event that took place in 9 Ce.

The battle’s events are related in several historical sources, among them ‘Germania’ by Roman historian Tacitus. The tribes’ victory dealt Rome a heavy blow which is now seen as a turning point in the history of the Roman Empire, which lost up to 20,000 soldiers over the three-to-four-day battle, effectively halting its advance across what is now mainland Europe.

If you visit the city of Detmold in modern-day Germany, you’ll see a towering, 50-metre high monument of a warrior in a winged helmet, with his sword held aloft. Erected in the 19th century, the statue celebrates ‘Hermann’, the German name for Arminius,...

Just because Netflix viewers don’t live in a world where it’s acceptable to strip to the waist, smear ourself in blood and send a spear whistling through the neck of our enemy, doesn’t mean that we don’t want to watch other people doing it. We very much do.

Brutal historical TV drama is a holiday from our small lives. Olden-days mud and guts are an antidote to hours spent worrying about whether we offended Justin in accounts with that .gif, or if our dog is eating a sufficiently iron-rich diet. To the modern person, the life of a warrior has an attractive simplicity: Fight. Drink. Orgy. Usurp Enemy’s Throne. Drink. Fight. Die on your feet, in the rain, screaming in slow-motion. None of us, with our daily step goals and Deliveroo orders, can dream of such an existence. When we die, we know it’ll be at normal speed.

Barbarians Trailer — Netflix‘s Barbarians (2020) teaser trailer has been released and stars Gaetano Aronica, Bence Ferenczi, Jeanne Goursaud, Tibor Milos Krisko, Jeremy Miliker, Laurence Rupp, David Schütter, Bernhard Schütz, Eva Verena Müller, and Sergej Onopko. Crew Barbara Eder and Steve Saint Leger directed the episodes for this TV series. Plot Synopsis Barbarians‘ plot synopsis: “During the [...]

Continue reading: Barbarians (2020) Teaser Trailer: The Teutoburg Forest Battle between Germanic Tribes & Rome is Brought to Life [Netflix]...

An exchange of letters between two notable German-language poets is recreated in a simple but beguiling way

The letters exchanged between the poets Ingeborg Bachmann and Paul Celan form the basis for this intriguing exercise. The correspondence details their love, jealousy, passion and destruction over the 20-year period after they met in postwar Vienna.

Ruth Beckermann’s playful approach is simple but strikingly effective. She films two young actors, Anja Plaschg and Laurence Rupp, recording the missives in a sound studio. Gradually, the rich emotional content of the writing bleeds into the relationship between the pair, in an unexpectedly beguiling echo of the past.

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Two young actors become involved with Paul Celan and Ingeborg Bachmann’s letters in this intriguing study of a famous relationship

Austrian film-maker Ruth Beckermann has created a cerebral chamber piece from the love letters of postwar poet Paul Celan, whose parents perished in a Nazi concentration camp, and Ingeborg Bachmann, the author whose father had been a Nazi party member. Performers Laurence Rupp and Anja Plaschg play versions of themselves, reading out selections of the letters into studio microphones, apparently for a radio programme. We see them taking a thoughtful cigarette break together, or getting lunch. Maybe their own relationship is being influenced by Celan and Bachmann’s? Most of the film consists of their faces in closeup, reading the text. It is an intriguing exchange, like a controlled but dreamily unhappy dialogue which can’t represent the length and rhythm of the silences that existed between each letter:...

Quick takes from the 60th London Film Festival, with public screenings from October 5th-16th, 2016.

A Date for Mad Mary

Mary’s not crazy-mad, she’s angry-mad, in that incoherent way that young people floundering around to figure themselves out often fall into. After a short stint in prison — for a violent crime that was surely an expression of that rage — she returns home to her Irish town to find that her disconnect to friends and family has grown even wider, and it’s a real struggle to fulfill her duties as maid of honor to her best friend, Charlene, in the run-up to her wedding. No longer able to rely on others to define her, Mary must decide for herself who she is, a task she approaches with snark to cover up her terror and her confusion. The things that make Mary a misfit create a portrait of female...

This was a busy year at Tiff, where I was a juror for Fipresci, helping to award a prize for best premiere in the Discovery section. Not only did this mean that some other films had to take a back burner—sadly, I did not see Eduardo Williams’ The Human Surge—but my writing time was a bit compromised as well. Better late than never? That is for you, Gentle Reader, to decide.Austerlitz (Sergei Loznitsa, Germany)So basic in the telling—a record of several days’ worth of visitors mostly to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Oranienberg, Germany—Austerlitz is a film that in many ways exemplifies the critical theory of Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin. What is the net effect for humanity when, faced with the drive to remember the unfathomable, we employ the grossly inadequate tools at our disposal?Austerlitz takes its name from W. G. Sebald’s final novel.

DaguerrotypeDear Fern,I've heard a lot of mixed things here about Terrence Malick's Voyage of Time, so I'm very pleased at your enraptured praise. Did you know from the first moment that you liked it so much? Sometimes, in those rare special occasions, you know right off that a film is great. From the first shot of Kelly Reichardt’s Certain Women, a grainy Montana landscape grayed by winter, with hills so soft in they could be painted on, and a train arcing its way towards the camera, it is clear this film is special. Based on stories by author Maile Meloy, the film takes the unusual form of a sequence of three stories, all set in small town Montana, and each foregrounded on a woman and her conflicted yearning.Laura Dern is a lawyer whose client (Jared Harris) in a dead-end malfeasance lawsuit gets increasingly dejected and unhinged...

As fragile and trembling as it is delicately clear, Ruth Beckermann's The Dreamed Ones revolves around a young woman (musical artist Anja Plaschg) and a young man (Laurence Rupp) reading part of the nearly two decades lasting correspondence between the poets and lovers Paul Celan and Ingeborg Bachmann in a recording studio of the Vienna Radio House. What gently unfolds from this perhaps sterile sounding situation is of perplexing subtlety and, indeed, beauty. The read love story between Paul Celan and Ingeborg Bachmann is reflected in the faces of the actors, in their glistening eyes and in the sleek undulation of their voices, the actors as if possessed by the refined language of the letters and invaded by the almost unbearably dense emotional cargo of...

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Chicago – The Round-Up, HollywoodChicago.com’s famous recurring column about lesser Blu-Ray and DVD titles that may have slipped through your fingers at the store recently, is in clean-up mode this week. With a DVD collection for a famous young actress, an old cartoon, a straight-to-video horror movie, and three movies with the word “Mountain” in the title, the only word that comes to mind to tie these titles together is “random”.

You know those bins of “impulse buy” items you’ll see in stores near the cash register? Stuff that you may not have put on your shopping list and that you may not even know you want until you see them? That’s what this week’s Round-Up column is like. Peek in the bin and take a look at “Jonny Quest,” “The Scarlett Johansson Collection,” “Dead in 3 Days,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Escape to Witch Mountain,” and “Return to...