‘The Ordinaries’ Director Sophie Linnenbaum on ‘Mechanisms of Exclusion’

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorProduction companies ConradFilm and Bavaria Fiction are following their German ratings and international sales hit “Dark Woods” with new high-octane police drama franchise “Sonderlage,” which has been ordered by German broadcaster RTL.Crime drama “Dark Woods” was the most-watched program on German broadcaster ARD’s streaming service in 2020, and was sold last year to numerous territories, including North America, the U.K., France, Spain, the Nordic region, Japan and India.Filming of the first two 90-minute “Sonderlage” films has just begun in Hamburg and Berlin. Inspired by true events, “Sonderlage” (a working title whose literal translation is “special situation”) focuses on police work in exceptional situations such as terrorist attacks, hostage taking and high-scale extortion.

in an Instagram video. “I’m honestly speechless and blown away.”“It’s very VIP and very exclusive,” Fineman said in a thick accent mimicking Delvey showing one of the drawings.The drawing refers to one scene in the roughly four-minute sketch where Fineman, channeling her inner-Delvey, demands an NBC page to order food using a MetroCard.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorDark comedy-drama “My Neighbor Adolf,” which will world premiere in Piazza Grande at the Locarno Film Festival, has debuted its trailer. The film stars David Hayman, Udo Kier and Olivia Silhavy, and is directed by Israeli helmer Leon Prudovsky. Beta Cinema is handling world sales.The film, which Prudovsky has described as a cross between “Rear Window” and “Grumpy Old Men,” is set in Colombia in May 1960, just after Israel’s abduction of Adolf Eichmann in Argentina.

Marta Balaga Following the success of Ofir Raul Graizer’s debut feature “The Cakemaker,” acquired by Netflix in the U.S. and already optioned for a Hollywood remake, securing financing for his second film “America” was much easier. But then the pandemic came.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAlex Law, one of Hong Kong’s most accomplished filmmakers died on Saturday. He was 69.Law (aka Law Kai-yui) died in hospital with his life partner and long-time filmmaking partner Mabel Cheung by his side.

Ground-breaking France-based British theater director Peter Brook, who revolutionized 20th-century theater, has died at the age of 97-years-old in Paris.

Ezra Miller began wearing out their welcome in Iceland.The actor — best known for playing the DC superhero the Flash in several films for Warner Bros. — was set to start filming the studio’s latest entry in the “Harry Potter” franchise, “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” in London when the shoot was halted on March 15, 2020, due to COVID. In the weeks after, Miller, who identifies as nonbinary and uses “they/them” pronouns, became a regular at bars in Iceland’s capital, Reykjavík, where locals came to know and even befriend them.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentAlbert Serra’s “Pacifiction” has lured major distributors around the world following its critically acclaimed world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Berlin-based Films Boutique (“Lunana, a Yak in the Classroom,” “Charlatan”) is representing the film in international markets.“Pacifiction” stars Cesar-winning French actor Benoit Magimel (“Peaceful”) as a calculating French government official working in the French Polynesian island of Tahiti.

Manori Ravindran International EditorA cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that pulled in an estimated $4 billion worldwide is getting the documentary treatment.Sky Germany, the U.K.’s Channel 4 and super-indie Fremantle are backing a three-part doc series about the con, which was spearheaded by the mysterious Dr. Ruja Ignatova, who is still on the run from law enforcement officials.“Crypto Queen” (working title) promises to shed exclusive new light on one of the biggest digital scams of the last decade.

An apocalyptic drama from the makes of Deutschland 83, a retelling of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and an emotionally-driven series set in Alabama are European giant Sky Deutschland’s latest trio of original dramas.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorTomasz Wasilewski’s “Fools” (Głupcy) has debuted its trailer ahead of its world premiere at Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Proxima Competition. World sales are being handled by Jan Naszewski’s New Europe Film Sales.Wasilewski won the best script award for “United States of Love” at the Berlin Film Festival in 2016, and the East of West Award at Karlovy Vary in 2013 for “Floating Skyscrapers.”“Fools” follows Marlena and Tomasz, hidden away from the world in a small seaside town, who have been in a happy relationship for many years.

EXCLUSIVE: Kids TV specialist Sinking Ship Entertainment (SSE) has appointed Paris-based exec Karine Rubin as Director of Sales for Europe.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentNetflix and ‘Spencer’ director Pablo Larraín have gone into production on “El Conde,” a black comedy picturing bloody Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet as a 250-year-old vampire.Larraín will share screenwriting credits with Guillermo Calderón, Chile’s foremost playwright and Larraín’s writing partner on “Neruda” and Berlin Grand Jury Prize winner “The Club,” the movie which persuaded Natalie Portman to play the lead in the Larraín-directed “Jackie.”“El Conde” is produced by Juan de Dios Larraín at Fabula, the Larraín brothers’ Chile-based film-TV production house whose credits include “Spencer” and “Jackie,” all Larrain’s Chilean movies, and Sebastian Lelio’s 2018 Academy Award winning “A Fantastic Woman.” Moving from fest-winning straight-arrow arthouse fare such as “Tony Manero” to movies with a wider audience appeal from 2012 Cannes Directors Fortnight winner “No,” starring Gael García Bernal and then into English-language titles from “Jackie,” Pablo Larrain has established himself in the vanguard of Latin American cinema.Whatever the setting, his movies combine an acute sense of character and big ideas, on power dyanamics, the fate of women in traditional worlds, the lure and hell of fame and also the multiple hostages left to fortune by Augusto Pinochet’s far right and bloody dictatorship.In a review of “Jackie” Variety’s Guy Lodge hailed Larraín as “the most daring and prodigious political filmmaker of his generation,”“El Conde” looks to drive deeper into some of the themes, mixing character analysis, drama and comedy and a trenchant analysis of the makings of the modern world – not only in Chile but in global terms.The historical black comedy revolves around Augusto

Christopher Vourlias Boutique German sales agent Patra Spanou Film has acquired international sales rights to “Men of Deeds,” the fourth feature by Romanian director Paul Negoescu (“Two Lottery Tickets”), which will be presented in a closed screening for industry guests on June 24 at the Transilvania Film Festival.The film tells the story of llie (Iulian Postelnicu), a small-town police chief who wants to build a modest, comfortable life for himself but makes all the wrong choices. Middle-aged and alienated, he feels the need to be a part of something – to build an orchard, even a home.

Manori Ravindran International EditorWhite Pine Pictures executive Andrew Munger has re-launched his outfit Ultramagnetic Productions with a slate of drama and documentary projects.Munger first operated Ultramagnetic Productions from 1997 to 2004, producing non-fiction projects including “Walmart Nation,” “Campaign: The Making of a Candidate,” “Xanadu: In Search of Domestic Perfection” and “Make Some Noise!” for networks such as the CBC, Discovery, History and Life/Slice. He shuttered the company in 2005 to run television production at World Vision, Canada’s largest non-profit organization, before moving to Toronto’s White Pine Pictures in 2014.After eight years, Munger is stepping down from his role as director of unscripted development at White Pine in order to restart Ultramagnetic.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentParis-based Cottonwood Media and the Paris National Opera are re-teaming with U.S. streamer Hulu, Germany’s ZDF and  ZDF Studios and France Televisions, all partners on “Find Me in Paris,” for another premium live action tween series, “Spellbound.”Scheduled to commence production this summer in Paris, moving later to Brussels, “Spellbound” is created by Jill Girling and Lori Mather (“Ride”), the same original executive produces and showrunners of “Find Me in Paris.”Renaud Mathieu serves as line producer, a position he also held on “Emily in Paris.”Series lead director is Alexander Jacob (“Theodosia,” “4 O’clock Club,” “Hollyoaks”). Directors include Annie Bradley (“The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Expanse”), as well as Robert Burke (“Find Me in Paris,” “Free Rein”).

Crystal Globe Competition“America,” Ofir Raul Graizer (Israel, Germany, Czech Republic)“Chemi otakhi” (“A Room Of My Own”), Ioseb “Soso” Bliadze (Georgia, Germany)“Edna provintsialna bolnitsa” (“A Provincial Hospital”), Ilian Metev, Ivan Chertov, Zlatina Teneva (Bulgaria, Germany)“F—ing Bornholm,” Anna Kazejak (Poland)“Hranice lásky” (“Borders of Love”), Tomasz Wiński (Czech Republic, Poland)“Isihia 6-9” (“Silence 6-9”), Christos Passalis (Greece)“The Ordinaries,”  Sophie Linnenbaum (Germany)“Slovo” (“The Word”), Beata Parkanová (Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland)“Tabestan Ba Omid” (“Summer with Hope”), Sadaf Foroughi (Canada)“Tenéis que venir a verla” (“You Have to Come and See It”), Jonás Trueba (Spain)“Tooi tokoro” (“A Far Shore”), Masaaki Kudo (Japan)“Vesper,” Kristina Buožytė, Bruno Samper (Lithuania, France, Belgium)Proxima Competition“A pak přišla láska…” (“And Then There Was Love…”),  Šimon Holý (Czech Republic)“Los Agitadores” (“Horseplay”), Marco Berger (Argentina)“Au grand jour” (“In Broad Daylight”), Emmanuel Tardif (Canada)“Balaye aseman zire ab” (“Like a Fish on the Moon”), Dornaz Hajiha (Iran)“Głupcy” (“Fools”), Tomasz Wasilewski (Poland, Romania, Germany)“Još jedno proleće” (“Another Spring”), Mladen Kovačević (Serbia, Qatar)“La pietà” (“Piety”), Eduardo Casanova (Spain, Argentina)“Ramona,” Andrea Bagney (Spain)“Stric” (“The Uncle”), David Kapac, Andrija Mardešić (Croatia, Serbia)“Tinnitus,”Gregorio Graziosi (Brazil)“Zkouška umění” (“ART talent show”), Tomáš Bojar, Adéla Komrzý (Czech Republic)“Zoo Lock Down,” Andreas Horvath (Austria)Special Screenings“BANGER.” Adam Sedlák (Czech Republic)“June Zero,” Jake Paltrow (USA, Israel)“The Killing of a Journalist,” Matt Sarnecki (Denmark, USA, Czech

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentAs Paramount+ prepares for its splashy, star-studded U.K. and Ireland launch in London on Monday, Paramount’s president and CEO of streaming Tom Ryan spoke to Variety about the rebranded company’s global streaming biz expansion that, besides being powered by original content, stands out in the field for its diversified model.This model involves a mix of platforms and partnerships, combining direct-to-consumer and a la carte offerings with a market-by-market approach.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentStudiocanal has acquired a majority stake in Dutch FilmWorks, a leading film production and distribution company operating in Benelux.Launched in 1998, Dutch FilmWorks produces and distributes 25 films each year, and has built up a library of over 900 Dutch and international films, including the popular family franchise “The Claus Family.” The acquisition of Dutch FilmWorks is part of Studiocanal’s aim to consolidate its pipeline of premium European content with international potential.Owned by Vivendi-backed Canal+ Group, Studiocanal already operates in all four major European markets — France, U.K., Germany and Spain — as well as in Australia and New Zealand. The banner also produces more than 200 hours of TV series each year at an international level, either in-house with Studiocanal Original, or through its network of European production labels, including Germany’s Tandem Productions, the U.K.’s RED Production Company, the U.K.’s Urban Myth Films and SunnyMarch TV, Spain’s Bambu Producciones or Scandinavia’s SAM Productions.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentStudiocanal has signed a film output deal with Scanbox Entertainment, one of the Nordics’ leading all-rights distribution banner. The pact will see Studiocanal’s current slate of films released in the Nordics, including Cédric Klapisch’s “Rise” (pictured), Claude Zidi Jr.’s comedy “Tenor,” Eric Lartigau’s coming-of-age story “This One Summer” based on the New York Times bestseller graphic novel of the same name, and Isaki Lacuesta’s “One Year, One Night” which was produced by Studiocanal’s Bambú Producciones and world premiered at Berlin.