Berlin Unveils Co-Pro Market Books Showcase & Forum, Perspektive Deutsches Kino Titles

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItaly’s Vision Distribution has boarded Berlin Panorama title “Swing Ride,” directed by Chiara Bellosi, and will launch sales at the upcoming EFM on the pic about an overweight teenager named Benedetta who is pining for attention.“Swing Ride” (“Calcinculo”) is set in a tiny southern Italian town where Benedetta meets Armando, aka Amanda, a young transvestite who runs the carousel and sells drugs.

Christopher Vourlias Heretic, the Athens-based boutique production company and sales agent, has acquired world sales rights for “Working Class Heroes,” by director Miloš Pušić, which will have its premiere in the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama strand. Variety has also been given exclusive access to the film’s trailer.Starring award-winning Serbian actress Jasna Đuričić, who played the lead role in Jasmila Žbanić’s Oscar-nominated “Quo Vadis, Aida?,” “Working Class Heroes” follows a cold-hearted businesswoman working for a construction investor of dubious morals.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorWorld War II refugee drama “The Path” (Der Pfad) has debuted its international trailer (above) ahead of its market premiere at the European Film Market in Berlin. Warner will release the film theatrically in Germany, while Global Screen is handling international rights.“The Path,” directed by Tobias Wiemann, is based on Rüdiger Bertram’s novel and is inspired by true events.

EXCLUSIVE: Eric Bana (Munich) and Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina) have been set to star in Ridley Scott-produced thriller Berlin Nobody, which Protagonist and Augenschein will be launching sales on at the virtual EFM next month.

Berlin Film Festival organizers on Wednesday said they have further updated their Covid regulations ahead of the fest, which kicks off February 10.

The team behind the European Film Market (EFM), the industry wing of the Berlin Film Festival, had been busy preparing for a return to an in-person event in 2022 after they were forced to put last year’s edition online due to Covid.

The 72nd Berlin International Film Festival has confirmed its various juries, including who will be joining M. Night Shyamalan to award the International Competition prizes.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorBerlin-based outfit M-Appeal has acquired world sales rights to “Lonesome,” from Australian director Craig Boreham, who won the Berlinale Teddy Award for his short film “Transient.” Sales on the film will commence at the upcoming European Film Market, which was moved online due to the ongoing pandemic.The feature follows Casey, a young man from the countryside running from a small-town scandal, finding himself down and out in Sydney. When he meets Tib, a young city lad, struggling with his own isolation, both men find something they have been missing, but neither of them knows quite how to navigate their feelings.According to a statement, “‘Lonesome’ explores the adventures and sexuality of young gay men in a world that has never been more connected.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterSundance Film Festival has revealed a mystery movie on its 2022 lineup.“Navalny,” a fly-on-the-wall documentary about Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, has been a late addition to the festival’s agenda. The film will debut on Jan. 25 at 6 p.m.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThough the Berlin Film Festival’s European Film Market has been forced by the omicron variant to go online, the fact that the fest itself will instead be held in person means that, as anticipated by Variety, some industry players are planning to make the trek to Germany.This has prompted the EFM –- after some deliberation with local health authorities –- to set up separate industry screenings for films launching in the Berlinale’s 2022 official selection.“Even with the EFM going online, a number of industry delegates confirmed their intention to come to Berlin to visit the festival in person and the Berlinale offers industry accreditation even in its revised format,” EFM director Dennis Ruh (pictured) tells Variety. All festival accreditation holders will have access to tickets allocated for all public screenings.

Meikincine has dropped the trailer for “Sublime,” a film by Argentinian Mariano Biasin, which will world premiere at next month’s Berlinale, playing in Generation 2022.The trailer comes as “Sublime” has sealed its first major territory sales deal, selling to Salzgeber for Germany and Austria.  Produced by Juan Pablo Miller at Tarea Fina, the film follows Manuel, 16, as he prepares for his band’s upcoming show while navigating a challenging love triangle.“Sublime” deals with friendship and love, and how they intermingle during a time when emotions and hormones run high.

Afternoon subscribers, Max Goldbart here. It’s been a busy week but International Insider has you covered. Read on for in-depth analysis of the biggest international headlines of the week.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentNew York-based Visit Films has swooped on world sales rights to “Robe of Gems” (“Manto de Gemas”) which will world premiere in main competition at next’s month’s Berlinale.Produced by some of the best known producers on the art film and crossover scene in Mexico and Argentina, “Robe of Gems” marks the directorial debut feature of  Natalia López Gallardo who has edited some of the most acclaimed and challenging films coming out of Latin America in the last decade, such as Lisandro Alonso’s “Jauja,” starring Viggo Mortensen,  and Carlos Reygadas’ “Post Tenebras Lux” and Amat Escalante’s “Heli,” the latter two both best director award winners at the Cannes Festival.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentBerlin Film Festival artistic director Carlo Chatrian on Wednesday unveiled the full lineup for the fest’s 72nd edition which he is hellbent on holding as an in-person event despite the global spread of the omicron variant, even after other top fests such as Sundance and Rotterdam have thrown in the towel and gone online.Chatrian spoke to Variety about the selection and what he expects his “exercise in resistance,” as he has called it, to be like on the ground in Berlin.Yes. Despite everything that is happening, the willingness and desire to be part of the festival on the part of production companies, sellers, actors and directors is very strong. I was even moved a couple of weeks ago when they told me that Paolo Taviani, who is 91, really wants to come at any cost. I think filmmakers are pining to be reconnected [with audiences] and the Berlinale even more than other festivals gives that sense, because you are at the center of a city.

It feels like yesterday that I was on the phone to Berlinale directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian following their pre-recorded video announcement of the 2021 festival program, the three of us casting an eye forward to the following year with the hope that this pandemic would finally be behind us.

While somewhat arbitrary and beholden to what’s finished, what’s available, and what’s ready, film festivals tend to have good years and bad years, depending. And well, after several good years, where the Berlin Film Festival has re-established itself as a significant player in the world cinema film festival sweepstakes, the Berlinale has really upped the ante in 2022 with a terrific line-up.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefLeading indie sales agent Finecut has picked up international rights to “The Novelist’s Film.” The picture marks the third year in a row that South Korean director Hong Sang-soo has had a film selected for competition in Berlin.Hong, who works on low budgets, controls much of the production process and makes repeated use of a small pool of actors, is one of the most prolific feature directors in the world. Although his works divide critics, he appears to have been recently rehabilitated among selectors (and juries) at the major European festivals.Hong’s 2020 “The Woman Who Ran” earned Berlin’s silver bear for best director.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorThe German-based sales outfit M-Appeal has acquired world sales rights to “Return to Dust,” from Chinese director Li Ruijun. The film was selected Wednesday to receive its world premiere in Competition at next month’s Berlinale (Feb. 10-16).The film follows the humble, unassuming Ma and timid Cao who have been cast off by their families and forced into an arranged marriage.

The 72nd Berlin International Film Festival is revealing its Competition line-up this morning from 11am CET, refresh this page for updates.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentFrench auteur Alain Guiraudie’s political drama “Nobody’s Hero” has been set as the opener of the 2022 Berlin Film Festival’s multifaceted Panorama strand, which has announced its full lineup.The latest feature from Guiraudie, who is best known for his 2016 “Staying Vertical,” takes place in Clermont-Ferrand, central France, where a terrorist attack triggers some paranoid dynamics involving a young homeless man, a middle-aged sex worker and her married lover who have taken refuge in a building. The film’s cast comprises actor-director Noémie Lvovsky, Jean-Charles Clichet and Doria Tillier.The ten-title Panorama Dokumente strand, which runs concurrently with the feature films, comprises previously announced transgender-themed doc “Nel Mio Nome” (“Into My Name”) by Italian director and producer Nicolò Bassetti.