Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Following its world premiere in the competition section of the Berlin Film Festival, Beta Cinema has revealed first sales across Europe and to Australia and New Zealand for Andreas Dresen’s “From Hilde, With Love.” The drama about anti-Nazi activists in Berlin, which is led by “Babylon Berlin’s” Liv Lisa Fries and introduces Johannes Hegemann in his first big screen appearance, will be released in France by Haut et Court, in Italy by Teodora and throughout Scandinavia by Angel Films. Beta Cinema also closed deals for Benelux (September Film), Portugal (Outsider), former Yugoslavia (Discovery), Hungary (Cirko) and Czech Republic (Film Europe). Palace Film picked up the film for Australia and New Zealand.
Birgitte Stærmose’s Berlin Panorama Title ‘Afterwar’ Launches Trailer of a Film Which Asks What It Means to Grow Up in a Post-War Society (EXCLUSIVE)
10.02.2024 - 15:17 / variety.com
Annika Pham Seasoned Danish writer-director Birgitte Stærmose, recently credited for the Netflix show “In From the Cold,” Starz’s “The Spanish Princess” and Göteborg 2023 closing pic “Camino,” is due to bow at the Berlin Film Festival’s Dokument program her hybrid pic “Afterwar”. Variety has secured in exclusivity the trailer for the helmer’s anti-war pamphlet produced by Magic Hour Films in Denmark (“Burma VJ”) in co-production with Sweden’s Vilda Bomben Film (“Excess Will Save Us”), Finland’s Bufo (“Fallen Leaves”) and Kosovo’s Kabineti.
A meditation on the long-term effects of war, “Afterwar” is the feature-length spinoff of Stærmose’s short film “Out of Love.” The story of a bunch of street kids in Pristina trying to survive in the aftermath of the Kosovo war, snagged multiple awards in 2010, including a Berlinale Generation 14Plus Special Mention. 15 years in the making, “Afterwar” was co-created with four of the amateur actors in “Out of Love”– Gëzim Kelmendi, Xhevahire Abdullahu, Shpresim Azemi and Besnik Hyseni.
Through a similar fusion of documentary and fiction, built on staged performance and raw realism, the helmer provides a closer look at the lives of the kids turned adults, as they still struggle to survive. Haunted by their past, they dream of a better future, for themselves, their families and humanity as a whole.
“Making the short film with them as children was an experience that changed me as a human, and as a filmmaker,” says Stærmose who kept contact with some of them over the years, and followed others on social media. “I was very curious to find out how their fate as children affected them as young adults,” she tells Variety, while expanding on the genesis of “Afterwar.” “What does it mean to grow
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MHz Choice and Topic Merge Streaming Services, ‘Babylon Berlin’ Featured in Combined Offering
Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Kino Lorber’s MHz Choice and Topic will merge into one streaming service, parent company Kino Lorber announced Thursday. The combined product will become the exclusive U.S. streaming home of hit German series “Babylon Berlin” in April.
Berlinale Competition Titles ‘Dying’ and ‘Architecton’ Score Multiple Deals With the Match Factory
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Match Factory has revealed multiple distribution deals for two Berlinale competition titles: German director Matthias Glasner‘s “Dying,” which won the festival’s Silver Bear for best screenplay, and Russian director Victor Kossakovsky‘s documentary “Architecton.” “Dying,” which stars Lars Eidinger, Lilith Stangenberg and Corinna Harfouch, also picked up the Guild of German Arthouse Cinemas and the Berliner Morgenpost Readers’ Jury Award. Variety‘s review describes the film as “a profoundly affecting exploration of life and loss.” The Match Factory closed deals for the film in France (Bodega Film), Italy (Satine Film), Benelux (September Film Distribution), Norway (Selmer Media), Poland (Aurora), CIS (Provzglyad), Ex-Yugoslavia (MCF MegaCom Film), Hungary (Cirko Films), Greece (Cinobo), Romania (Freealize), Taiwan (Andrews Film) and South Korea (Pancinema).
The Match Factory Locks Multiple Deals On Berlin Competition Titles ‘Dying’ And ‘Architecton’
The Match Factory has locked multi-territory deals on Berlinale titles Architecton by Victor Kossakovsky and Dying by Matthias Glasner, which picked up the festival’s Silver Bear for Best Screenplay.
Berlin Competition Title ‘La Cocina,’ Starring Rooney Mara, Sells Nearly Worldwide for HanWay (EXCLUSIVE)
Alex Ritman “La Cocina,” the Rooney Mara-starring drama that recently bowed in competition at the Berlinale, has been acquired for most international territories. HanWay Films has closed sales for France (Originals Factory), Australia and New Zealand (Vendetta), Spain (Avalon), Italy (Teodora Film), Benelux (Cherry Pickers), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Scandinavia (Mis.
‘Anatomy Of A Fall’ Producer Marie-Ange Luciani Talks Berlin Film ‘Langue Étrangère’ & Future Projects
Anatomy of a Fall French producer Marie-Ange Luciani put in a flying appearance at the Berlinale this week with Claire Burger’s coming-of-age drama Langue Étrangère which received a warm reception in competition.
Helicopter Rescues, Motorbike Accidents, Altitude Sickness: How Nepal’s Min Bahadur Bham Overcame the Odds to Shoot Berlin Competition Title ‘Shambhala’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Naman Ramachandran Nepali filmmaker Min Bahadur Bham‘s journey to make Berlin competition title “Shambhala” was arduous but an ultimately rewarding one. Bham’s 2012 short “Bhansulli” debuted at Venice. His debut feature “Kalo Pothi” (aka “The Black Hen,” 2015) won the Fedeora best film award at Venice Critics’ Week and became Nepal’s official Oscar entry.
Listen to Perfume Genius cover Dinah Washington’s “What A Difference A Day Makes”
Apple TV's new prestige drama series The New Look features a soundtrack that's assembled and produced by Jack Antonoff, the in-demand pop savant who just won at the 2024 Grammys for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical (his third Grammy in that category and 10th overall). The soundtrack collects covers of classic songbook standards from modern pop giants, and today's track comes from Perfume Genius, the singer-songwriter born Mike Hadreas.
How Locarno Winner Nele Wohlatz Explores Migrants’ Loss of a Sense of Belonging in Berlinale Film ‘Sleep With Your Eyes Open’
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor German filmmaker Nele Wohlatz‘s “Sleep With Your Eyes Open,” which had its world premiere on Saturday in the Encounters section of the Berlin Film Festival, tells a story about the search for a sense of belonging in a foreign country. It starts with Kai, a young Taiwanese woman with a broken heart, arriving at a Brazilian beach resort for a holiday. Here, her life crosses paths with a group of Chinese migrants living in a luxury tower block, and in particular a young woman called Xiaoxin, who accepts her fate, and Fu Ang, who is working in an umbrella store when we meet him but harbors ambitions to become wealthy.
Berlin: Taiwan’s ‘Shambhala,’ ‘Sleep With Your Eyes Open’ Producers Join Forces for Film, TV Venture
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Two Taiwan-based production companies with features in this week’s Berlin Film Festival have joined forces to launch new venture, Long Hu Bao × An Attitude. Taiwan’s Yi Tiao Long Hu Bao International Entertainment, is one of eight co-producers on main competition film “Shambhala,” from Nepal’s Min Bahadur Bham.
SixTONES’ Matsumura Hokuto Makes Acting Splash in ‘All the Long Nights’ Berlin Forum Title
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The route from idol group member to TV and film acting is a well-trodden one for multiple Japanese performers as they mature and attempt to broaden and extend their career. Few, however, can have received the plaudits of SixTONES member Matsumura Hokuto, who flies in to the Berlin Film Festival for the international premiere of two handed drama feature “All the Long Nights.” Derived from a novel by Seo Maiko and directed by Miyake Sho, the narrative features a woman (portrayed by Kamishiraishi Mone) whose pre-menstrual tension is so intense that it changes her character and disrupts her career. She is befriended by a younger, somewhat solitary man who, in turn, suffers from panic attacks.
Ahead Of His Berlinale Honor, Martin Scorsese Talks Career Collaborations, Film Festivals & The Future Of Cinema: “It Will Be Quite A Bit Tougher, But Cinema Will Survive: It’s Not Something That Can Be Destroyed”
EXCLUSIVE: Martin Scorsese is returning to the Berlin Film Festival tomorrow for the first time in a decade. The cinema legend, currently on the awards circuit with latest epic Killers Of The Flower Moon, will be feted with the Berlinale‘s highest honor, its lifetime achievement Golden Bear.
Sports Broadcaster ISB Launches ISB Films Unit Headed by U.S. Producer Paul Miller (EXCLUSIVE)
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent International Sports Broadcasting, which specializes in broadcasting and distribution of live sports events including the Olympics, is officially launching a standalone film shingle called ISB Films at the EFM. The CEO of Madrid-based ISB Films is ISB managing director Ursula Romero.
Kristen Stewart Says the ‘Era of Queer Films Being So Pointedly Only That Is Done’: I Shouldn’t ‘Have to Stand on a F—ing Soapbox’
Ellise Shafer At the Berlin Film Festival press conference for her new film “Love Lies Bleeding,” Kristen Stewart said she thinks the era of queer films “being so pointedly only that is done,” adding that it’s time for films to focus on “sidelined perspectives” while “not making it all about the reasons that they’re sidelined.” “Love Lies Bleeding” stars Stewart as reclusive gym manager Lou, who “falls hard for Jackie (Katy O’Brian), an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to Las Vegas in pursuit of her dream,” the film’s synopsis reads. “But their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the web of Lou’s criminal family.” When asked if filming the gory and twist-filled “Love Lies Bleeding” had changed her perspective on how queer stories are centered in cinema, Stewart sounded off on the topic.
Gael García Bernal On Reviving Romantic Films With Berlin Competition Title ‘Another End:’ “There Aren’t So Many Around Anymore”
“This is a very, very romantic film,” Gael García Bernal said of his Berlin competition title, Another End.
Sam Rockwell, Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz & Juno Temple To Star In Gore Verbinski’s ‘Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die’ With Constantin Producing; North.Five.Six, CAA & Gersh Launching For EFM
EXCLUSIVE: The EFM packages aren’t done just yet. Pirates Of The Caribbean director and Oscar winner Gore Verbinski has pulled together a strong cast for his fun-sounding next movie, titled Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die.
‘Transition,’ a Documentary About a Trans Man Who Embeds With the Taliban in Afghanistan, Premieres Trailer (EXCLUSIVE)
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Variety is premiering the trailer (below) for feature documentary “Transition,” which follows Australian filmmaker Jordan Bryon, a trans man, as he embeds with a Taliban unit as they retake control of Afghanistan. The film, directed by Monica Villamizar and Bryon, will be released in the U.S. on March 26 by Gravitas Ventures.
Theater Veteran Annie Baker Turns to Film With Berlin Festival Title ’Janet Planet’ Starring Julianne Nicholson
Shayeza Walid MacArthur Fellow Annie Baker is an acclaimed playwright and theater director, winning the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for drama for “The Flick,” among other accolades. Now, with the release of the delicate mother-daughter drama “Janet Planet,” both written and directed by Baker, the esteemed theater veteran makes her directorial film debut. Baker began writing “Janet Planet” in the early days of the pandemic, completing it in December 2020.
Seann William Scott, Rob Riggle, Chance Perdomo & Lovi Poe Among Cast For ‘Bad Man’, The Syndicate & UTA Independent Film Group Launching Sales For EFM
EXCLUSIVE: Production has wrapped on indie feature Bad Man, starring Seann William Scott (American Pie) alongside Johnny Simmons (The Perks of Being a Wallflower), Rob Riggle (21 Jump Street), Chance Perdomo (After We Fell), Andre Hyland (Barry), and Lovi Poe (Chelsea Cowboy).
Berlin Film Festival 2024: All Of Deadline’s Movie Reviews
The Berlin Film Festival kicks off its 74th edition Thursday with the opening-night world premiere screening of Small Things Like These, the Irish drama starring Oscar-nominated Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy. It kicks of 10 days of movie debuts including for ones starring Rooney Mara, Isabelle Huppert, Gael García Bernal, Kristen Stewart and more.