Berlinale Competition Title ‘Dying’ by Matthias Glasner Acquired by the Match Factory
22.01.2024 - 12:51
/ variety.com
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Match Factory has secured the rights for Berlinale Competition title “Dying,” by German director Matthias Glasner. Wild Bunch will be distributing the film in Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland. Glasner credits include Golden Bear nominees “Gnade” (2012) and “Der Freie Wille” (2006).
The ensemble cast is led by Lars Eidinger (“All the Light We Cannot See,” 2023, “Irma Vep,” 2022, “My Little Sister,” 2020), and also includes Corinna Harfouch (Berlinale Camera winner, 1993), Lilith Stangenberg (“Orphea,” 2020, “I Was at Home, But,” 2019, “Wild,” 2016) and Ronald Zehrfeld (“Ingeborg Bachmann,” 2023, “Phoenix,” 2014, “Barbara,” 2012). “Dying” follows the very individual members of the Lunies family, who haven’t been a family for a long time. Lissy (Harfouch) is quietly happy about her demented husband Gerd (Hans-Uwe Bauer) slowly wasting away in a home.
But her new freedom is short-lived: Diabetes, cancer and kidney failure mean that she doesn’t have much time left either. Son Tom (Eidinger), a conductor in his early 40s, is working on a composition called “Dying,” while at the same time being made the surrogate father of his ex-girlfriend’s child. Tom’s sister Ellen (Stangenberg) starts an affair with the married Sebastian (Zehrfeld), with whom she shares a love for alcohol.