News

Disney+ has ordered “Call My Agent Berlin,” a German remake of the hit French series revolving around the world of talent agents.

Directed by Boris Kunz, Laura Lackmann and Johann Buchholz, the German version of “Call My Agent” tells the story of the “Stern” actors agency and its agents.

The local cast is headlined by Moritz Bleibtreu, Nilam Farooq, Iris Berben, Veronica Ferres, Katja Riemann, Heiner Lauterbach, Frederick Lau, Heike Makatsch, Emilia Schüle, Kostja Ullmann, Jürgen Vogel, Alicia von Rittberg, Max von der Groeben and Florence Kasumba. The series just finished filming and will launch in the fall.

It’s produced by Johann Buchholz and Henning Kamm at haFriday Film GmbH, together with Wild Bunch Germany GmbH.

“Call My Agent Berlin” starts after the sudden death of founder Richard Stern. “Everything is at stake: the agency is on the verge of bankruptcy, so the staff must attract new talent in the shortest possible time,...

A who’s who of German on-screen talent, including actors Daniel Brühl, Jella Haase, Birgit Minichmayr, Jürgen Vogel and Sonja Heiss, have signed an open letter protesting Wednesday’s vote in the German parliament that saw an anti-immigration policy passed with the support of the far-right AfD party.

A proposal from the conservative Cdu party to introduce new measures, including permanent border controls at Germany’s borders with its European Union neighbors, a de-facto entry ban for anyone without valid documentation, and immediate detention for individuals facing deportation, narrowly passed the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, on Wednesday but only with the support of the AfD. The proposals still have to be put to a formal vote before becoming law.

The conservatives and all other parties in the Bundestag had pledged not to work with the AfD, which is widely considered to support extremist and anti-democrat positions. The pledge is colloquially...

BBC Acquires Aussie Spin-Off Of ‘Death In Paradise’

The BBC will air Return to Paradise, an Australia-set spin-off of the long-running series Death in Paradise. Filming next year, the six-part series will be produced by BBC Studios Productions Australia alongside Death in Pardise maker Red Planet Pictures for the ABC, in association with the BBC. Set in the idyllic, beachside hamlet of Dolphin Cove,the series will be a “gripping, twisting and fiendishly clever murder mysteries – all against the spectacular backdrop of the Australian coastal landscape.” The plot follows Australian ex-pat Mackenzie Clarke, the seemingly golden girl of the London Metropolitan police force, who is suddenly forced to up sticks and move back to her childhood home of Dolphin Cove. When a murder takes place in Dolphin Cove, Mack can’t help but put her inspired detective brilliance to good use. The series is created and executive produced by Peter Mattessi,...

BBC drama “Informer,” which originally starred Paddy Considine, Bel Powley and Nabhaan Rizwan, is getting a German adaptation.

Production has begun in Hamburg, Germany, on “Informant,” an adaptation of the All3Media International scripted format, which was BAFTA-nominated. The BBC One show was executive produced by Sam Mendes, who produced via his production outfit Neal Street Productions.

The six-part German thriller is being produced by filmpool fiction (part of All3Media Deutschland) for Ndr, Ard Degeto, Arte and Nrk (Norway). The show is expected to debut in fall 2024.

Starring Jürgen Vogel (“Trust Me”), Elisa Schlott (“Das Boot”) and Ivar Wafaei (“Rheingold”), “Informant” tells the story of how the ‘war on terror’ and indications of an attack on the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg plunges people into a maelstrom of fear, prejudice and hysteria.

The cast also includes Gabriela Maria Schmeide, Bayan Layla, Claudia Michelsen, Sabrina Ceesay, Nico Holonics, Ali Reza Ahmadi and Majid Bakhtiari.

Picture Tree Intl. has taken global sales rights for “The Peacock” by Lutz Heineking Jr. The black comedy is based on the best-selling novel of the same title by German author Isabel Bogdan, which has been published in key European territories. Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer (below).

The film’s cast is filled with German stars including Lavinia Wilson, Tom Schilling, David Kross and Jürgen Vogel. Tobis Film releases the film in Germany on March 9.

When investment banker Linda Bachmann and her team arrive at the country estate of Lord and Lady McIntosh for a team building seminar, the prospects for having a relaxing weekend in Scotland are not good: the annual balance sheet is lousy, the team is keeping a suspicious eye on each other and their boss, and there are rumors that a compliance officer will soon be restructuring the department.

To make matters worse,...

Sophie Lowe, Louisa Krause star in survival thriller, set to shoot later summer in Malta, Germany.

Augenschein Sales and Protagonist Pictures have struck a worldwide sales partnership on select films from Augenschein’s slate of English-speaking films and will kick off virtual Cannes market talks on survival thriller The Dive.

Protagonist will serve as executive producers on the projects and will help augenschein source additional financing.

The companies will invest a portion of the funds generated by the non-exclusive partnership into co-development of select projects as they assemble a co-production slate.

The Dive is scheduled to commence production in mid-August...

Berlin-based sales company Picture Tree Intl. has picked up international rights to Ufa Fiction’s family drama “God You’re Such a Prick”, which features Til Schweiger and Heike Makatsch leading a star-studded cast.

Inspired by the true story of Stefanie Pape and the book of the same name written by her father Frank Pape, the film follows a 16-year-old girl, played by Sinje Irslinger, whose world is turned upside down when she finds out she has terminal cancer right before a school graduation trip to Paris. When Steffi’s parents, portrayed by Schweiger and Makatsch, decide she should stay home instead, she runs away with a young motorcycle daredevil, played by Max Hubacher, who promises to take her to Paris. Driven by deep longing and a lust for life, Steffi learns it’s easier to let go of life when you’ve really loved it.

Speaking to Variety, director...

The greatest challenge for anyone seeking vengeance for a savage act that was committed against their family is not to turn to that same violence themselves when they finally face their relatives’ attackers. That’s certainly the case for actor Jürgen Vogel’s protagonist, Kelab, in the new thriller, ‘Iceman.’ In honor of Omnibus Entertainment distributing the […]

The post Jürgen Vogel’s Iceman is On the Trail in Thriller’s Exclusive Clip appeared first on Shockya.com.

"At first, the man was believed to be a hiker. Later, his stone age origins were revealed..." Film Movement has debuted a new official Us trailer for Iceman, a stone age survival thriller set in the snowy Ötztal Alps (located on Austria / Italy border). This premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in 2017, and we originally posted a trailer for it back then. This could be described as an early Neolithic man version of The Revenant, about one man who angrily seeks revenge but must first survive the brutal Ötztal Alps. Jürgen Vogel stars as Kelab, with the full cast including Susanne Wuest, André Hennicke, Violetta Schurawlow, Sabin Tambrea, Martin Schneider, and an appearance by Franco Nero. The film uses an early version of the Rhaetic language. This actually looks pretty damn good, with some epic footage and plenty of gnarly beards. Here's the new official Us trailer (+ another poster) for Felix Randau's Iceman,...

Current Berlin director Dieter Kosslick will step down next year.

Torsten Neumann, co-founder and director of the Oldenburg International Film Festival since 1994, has become the latest name to be connected with the ongoing quest for a successor to Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick from May 2019.

Neumann, who is currently planning the 25th anniversary edition of his festival for this September, has hosted such international guests as Nicolas Cage, Mira Sorvino, Jim McBride, Matthew Modine, Alexandre Rockwell and Lou Diamond Phillips as well as leading lights from the local German industry – from Nicolette Krebitz through Jürgen Vogel and Oskar Roehler to Corinna Harfouch...

"They found a man, but not his story..." A trailer has debuted for a film titled Iceman, which is premiering at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland kicking off this week. This film could be described as an ancient Neolithic man version of The Revenant, about one man who angrily seeks revenge but must first survive the brutal Ötztals Alps. Jürgen Vogel stars as Kelab, with the full cast including Susanne Wuest, André Hennicke, Violetta Schurawlow, Sabin Tambrea, Martin Schneider, and an appearance by Franco Nero. The film uses an early version of the Rhaetic language. This actually looks damn good, with some impressive hair + beards and an intense story set entirely in the wilderness. I'm intrigued enough to watch. Here's the first official trailer (+ German poster) for Felix Randau's Iceman, direct from YouTube: 5000 years ago: A man lives with his woman and their children in the Ötztals Alps.

Ufa Distribution teams up with Global Screen to sell So Viel Zeit, based on Frank Goosen novel.

The newly launched Ufa Distribution is teaming up with Munich-based Global Screen to handle international sales on SS-gb director Philipp Kadelbach’s new feature So viel Zeit (translated as So Much Time).

The adaptation of Frank Goosen’s eponymous novel about the rock band Bochums Steine, who make a comeback after 30 years when a band member learns that he is terminally ill, features a stellar cast including Jan Josef Liefers (Vier gegen die Bank), Jürgen Vogel (The Wave), Armin Rohde (Taxi), Matthias Bundschuh (Wir sind die Neuen) and Richy Müller (Schlussmacher) as the boys in the band.

In addition, Kadelbach and the producers of Ufa Fiction and Feine Filme have landed Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker, Matthias Jabs of the legendary band Scorpions to make a cameo appearance.

Backing for the co-production with public broadcaster Ard Degeto and Sky has come...

Rebecca Clough Jan 13, 2017

Samuel L Jackson, Colin Farrell, Kirk Douglas, Denzel Washington and more, as we explore underrated political thrillers...

Ask someone for their favourite political thrillers and you’re likely to get a list of Oscar-winning classics, from JFK to The Day Of The Jackal, Blow Out to Argo. But what about those electrifying tales that have slipped under the radar, been largely forgotten or just didn’t get the love they deserved? Here are 25 political thrillers which are underappreciated but brilliant.

See related Star Wars: Episode IX lands Jurassic World director 25. The Amateur (1981)

Generally, the first hostage to get shot in a heist movie is considered insignificant; luckily this time the young woman killed by terrorists has a devoted boyfriend who vows to avenge her death. Charles Heller (John Savage) already works for the CIA, so he’s able to use secret information to blackmail his bosses into...

Exclusive: The European Commission (EC) is planning changes to its Creative Europe programme from 2016.

In preparation for the forthcoming Creative Europe Programme Committee meeting in Brussels, the EC’s Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (Eacea) has drawn up revised and updated guidelines for the Culture and Media sub-programmes based on the experience of Creative Europe’s first year of operations from January 1, 2014.

Innovation and the use of the latest digital technologies will be given greater emphasis in the guidelines for training under the Media sub-programme, according to the Eacea’s proposals.

In future, eligible training activities will include those offering training in “new modes of distribution and exploitation using the latest digital technologies including social media” as well as training in “knowledge sharing and networking capabilities”, while the award criteria will now also take “the deployment of digital technologies” and “the technical and management experience of the [project] team” into account.

Level playing...

Following last week’s first wave of programming announcements, the Fantasia International Film Festival has revealed its second wave of programming, which includes a screening of Ju-On: The Beginning of the End and a 40th anniversary screening of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, where Tobe Hooper will be presented with a lifetime achievement award:

“Official Closing Film – Abel Ferrara’s Welcome To New York

Fantasia will close its 2014 edition with the North American Premiere of Abel Ferrara’s Welcome To New York, the controversial latest from the legendary filmmaker behind such landmarks as Bad Lieutenant, King Of New York, New Rose Hotel and the recently re-released Ms 45.

Welcome To New York is loosely based on the Dsk scandal and stars the iconic Gérard Depardieu in one of the bravest performances of his career. Co-starring is the equally sensational Jacqueline Bisset.

Abel Ferrara will be on hand to host this special evening,...

We're back with more titles heading to the 2014 Fantasia Film Festival as well as a few new images and word on a Lifetime Achievement Award for Tobe Hooper. Read on for all the details!

From the Press Release:

Following last week’s first wave of programming announcements, the Fantasia International Film Festival is proud to unveil additional highlights to rev you up for our July 10th Press Conference, where our full 2014 film lineup will be revealed.

Official Closing Film - Abel Ferrara’s Welcome To New York

Fantasia will close its 2014 edition with the North American Premiere of Abel Ferrara’s Welcome To New York, the controversial latest from the legendary filmmaker behind such landmarks as Bad Lieutenant, King Of New York, New Rose Hotel and the recently re-released Ms 45.

Welcome To New York is loosely based on the Dsk scandal and stars the iconic Gérard Depardieu in one of...

The 18th Fantasia International Film Festival’s second lineup of films was unveiled Thursday, and it features the closing night film on August 5, Welcome to New York directed by Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant, Ms. 45).

Ferrara will be present to talk about his latest film, starring Gérard Depardieu and Jacqueline Bisset. The film was received with warm reviews after appearing out of competition at Cannes and at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

The Fantasia Film Fest runs July 17 to August 5 in Montreal, and the full lineup of films, in addition to the ones already announced, will be released July 10.

View the whole press release of second wave lineup announcements below.

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Fantasia Announces Second Wave

Of 2014 Programming Montreal, Thursday June 26, 2014 – Following last week’s first wave of programming announcements, the Fantasia International Film Festival is proud to unveil additional highlights to rev you up for our July 10th Press Conference, where...

Efm: Brisk business for Beta Cinema; Pandastorm buys five.

Beta Cinema’s two Competition titles – Dietrich Brüggemann’s Stations Of The Cross and Edward Berger’s Jack – were the Munich-based sales company’s top-selling titles at this year’s European Film Market (Efm).

Stations Of The Cross has been sold to France (Memento), Italy (Satine Film), Spain (Caramel), Poland (Aurora), Benelux (Wild Bunch), Portugal (Vendetta Films), Greece (7 Films), Scandinavia and the Baltic States (Nonstop), Ex-Yugoslavia (Discovery) and Hungary (Circo).

As reported by ScreenDaily yesterday, the UK (Arrow) has also taken the drama, which had been the top-rated film of the Screen jury before Richard Linklater’s Boyhood was screened.

Further interest has been shown from the Us and Australia for the Ufa Fiction production, which received the Silver Bear for Best Script and the Ecumenical Jury’s prize for the best film in the Competition..

Jack has been acquired for France (Diaphana), Japan (Showgate), Norway (Europa...

John Michael McDonagh’s Calvary and new films by Michel Gondry, Kutlug Ataman and Robert Lepage are to feature in the Berlinale’s Panorama strand, which will open with Jalil Lespert’s Yves Saint Laurent.Scroll down for first batch of titles

A total of 50 features will be chosen for the Panorama section of the 2014 Berlinale (Feb 6-16), films that “provide insight on new directions in art house cinema”, and the first 19 have been announced. A total of 11 of those selected are world premieres.

The opening film will mark the international premiere of Jalil Lespert’s Yves Saint Laurent, a look at the life of the French designer from the beginning of his career in 1958 when he met his lover and business partner, Pierre Berge.

The opening screening on Feb 7 will see Berlin’s flagship cinema, the Zoo Palast, re-inaugurated as a Berlinale venue after extensive renovations.

Also in the line-up are new films from Michel Gondry, Kutluğ...