‘Cliffhanger’ Director Renny Harlin’s New Horror Project ‘The Refuge’ Unveiled at EFM

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentAmazon Studios has revealed its first Italian original film, the young adult comedy “Anni da cane” (Dog Years), directed by Fabio Mollo, whose Mafia drama “South is Nothing” went to Berlin. The film, which has just started production, is written and produced by Mary Stella Brugiati and Alessandro Bosi, and produced by Notorious Pictures.

Mr. Bachmann and His Class took director Maria Speth years to research, six months to shoot, and another three years to edit.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorBerlinale Competition entries from two actors turned directors, Maria Schrader and Daniel Brühl, were among titles on the Beta Cinema slate at the European Film Market to prove popular among international distributors.Schrader, an Emmy Award winner as the director of “Unorthodox,” premiered comic-tragic tale “I’m Your Man,” starring Dan Stevens (“Downton Abbey”), Maren Eggert (“I Was At Home, But…”) and Sandra Hueller (“Toni Erdmann”), at the virtual

Hours after his Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn won the Golden Bear for best film at the first-ever virtual Berlin International Film Festival, Romanian director Radu Jude took aim at what he called the "bullshit of red carpets" and the false glamour of in-person film festivals.Jude said he was "quite happy" not to have had to attend a fancy awards gala in Berlin on Friday to receive his Golden Bear.

EXCLUSIVE: Indie stalwart Cassian Elwes is making a move into management via his Elevated banner, kicking off with signing Best Sellers director Lina Roessler, whose debut feature starring Michael Caine and Aubrey Plaza screened in the Berlin Film Festival’s Special Gala section this week. It’s the first time the film producer and former co-head of William Morris Independent has moved into the management space.

BERLIN -- One of Germany's best-known TV directors and scriptwriters has been formally charged with raping an aspiring actress almost 25 years ago, Munich prosecutors said Friday.Dieter Wedel was the first prominent figure in the country named when the #MeToo movement targeting alleged sexual abusers in the media and the arts gathered pace in Germany three years ago.Wedel, 81, has denied claims by several women that he pressured them for sex.The 20-page indictment against Wedel claims that in

La Mif (The Fam), a coming-of-age drama from Swiss director Fred Bailif, has won the top prize for best film in the Generation 14Plus sidebar of the 2021 Berlin International Film Festival. Bailif'sfictional look inside a residential care facility housing teenage girls "pulls you in, never lets you go, and hits straight to the heart," according to the Generation jury.

Late Wednesday night there was a sliver of good news for the German film industry —and for anyone trying to sell films into Germany at this week's virtual European Film Market: Germany plans to re-open cinemas. Sort of.

Ben Croll Playing in Berlin’s Encounters sidebar, the French documentary “We” spins a tapestry of small moments and personal recollections, finding connections in the lives of migrants, immigrants, lovesick teens and retirees without downplaying their hardships.

Christopher Vourlias One year ago, as thousands of global film and TV industry reps descended on Berlin for the European Film Market, executives from Nigerian production and distribution powerhouse FilmOne Entertainment had good reason to feel optimistic. The company had recently unveiled a $1 million film fund with China’s Huahua Media and South Africa’s Empire Entertainment, an unprecedented pact for the Nigerian movie industry.

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar-winner Allison Janney, Schitt’s Creek Emmy winner Annie Murphy and Dear Evan Hansen star Ben Platt are set for The People We Hate At The Wedding. Emmy winner Claire Scanlon (Set It Up) is directing an adaptation of the Grant Ginder novel that is a character-driven wedding comedy that aspires to be a next generation Four Weddings and a Funeral. UTA Independent Film Group is introducing it today at the Virtual Berlin Market.

Emiliano Granada One thing’s clear from the 2021 Berlin Film Festival’s get-go:  Its Berlinale Series strand grows stronger every year, and features for the first time two Latin America series which underscore the creative excitement of the limited miniseries format.“The Last Days Of Gilda,” Gustavo Pizzi and star Karine Teles’ adaptation of the same-titled stage play by Rodrigo de Roure is in its style, a playful portrayal of a woman trapped in a political and social tsunami now storming

1980s action legend Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger), will shift into horror mode for his next feature as a director, The Refuge, which has just gotten the green light. The Finnish filmmaker will direct the horror-thriller from a script by Ben Sztajnkrycer (Kaw).Principal photographer is set to start in April at Nu Boyana Film Studios in Bulgaria.

EXCLUSIVE: New York-based distributor FilmRise has struck a deal with sales firm WaZabi Films for U.S. rights to TIFF 2020 and Berlin 2021 drama Beans.

Naman Ramachandran Cold War spy drama “Baloton Brigade” has been selected to pitch at Series Mania in Lille as part of the Berlinale-Series Mania Project Exchange.Under the terms of the partnership, now in its seventh year, one project pitched at Series Mania at Lille is invited to pitch again at the ongoing Berlin Series Market’s Co-Pro Series (March 1-5). In return, Series Mania invites a Berlinale project to pitch in Lille as part of the Series Mania Forum (Aug.

Ed Meza @edmezavarIn his latest work, “Fabian — Going to the Dogs,” Dominik Graf adapts a work that defines the tragic, hedonistic and dysfunctional era of the Weimar Republic from a writer widely known for his children’s books.Set in 1931 Berlin, the story, based on Erich Kästner’s novel of the same name, is seen through the eyes of Jakob Fabian (Tom Schilling), a fatalistic writer who finds solace in his love for Cornelia, played by Saskia Rosendahl (“Never Look Away”) and his best friend

Sarah Y. Wu is a beauty writer in Berlin.

Berlinale Encounters hated to Variety about his latest feature before its world premiere on March 3. Cote, in interview, flows.

2020 may have been something of an "annus horribilis" for vast swathes of the film industry, but that didn’t stop the buzzy new packages from landing. Even at the virtual Cannes market in June, when much of the world was still under some form of lockdown from the first COVID-19 wave and most film sets and studios were gathering dust, major A-list-heavy projects were popping in all directions (ok, mostly via Zoom pitches), with buyers not shying away.

EXCLUSIVE: In what shapes up as a hot package for the upcoming European Film Market in Berlin, Ryan Gosling has committed to star in The Actor, with Duke Johnson directing a script he wrote with Stephen Cooney, based on Donald E. Westlake’s hard boiled novel Memory.