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Oliver Berben, who took the reins of German production and distribution powerhouse Constantin Film on March 1, faces a German media landscape that is “changing radically and quickly,” he says. In response, he is adjusting the company’s approach to the business.

He welcomes the government’s proposed reform of the German Film Law, which will change the country’s production incentives, including for television, and will introduce an obligation on broadcasters and streamers to invest 20% of sales generated in Germany back into European productions, 70% of which would have to be in the German language.

“You have stagnating funding of public broadcasters. You have declining revenues for the private stations. The question is: Is the model functioning altogether? It is not, if we just keep on doing the same thing again and again.”

He adds, “Everything is changing, and these changes, by the way, are good. Us, as producers, we need...

Am Rande des Filmfestes München trafen sich Kino und Verleih auch in diesem Jahr zum offenen Austausch im Rahmen eines Innovation Lab. Bei dem vor allem „Klassiker“ der Branche zur Sprache kamen – darunter die Notwendigkeit, (noch) stärker auf Kooperationen zu setzen.

Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer des Innovation Lab am Rande des Filmfestes München (Credit: Jan Runge)

Man sei „mit einem blauen Auge davongekommen“. So die Einschätzung von Constantin-Geschäftsführer Oliver Koppert zu einem Halbjahr, das programmatisch nicht gerade herausragend aufgestellt war – und in dem man im deutschen Kinomarkt am Ende um gut acht Prozent unter dem Besuchsniveau des Vorjahres blieb. Keine völlig unerwartete Entwicklung – aber eine, die nicht zufriedenstellend sei. Schließlich stünden im Hintergrund „riesige Investitionen“. Von Kino- wie Verleihseite gleichermaßen.

Abgegeben hat Koppert diese Einschätzung bei einem offenen und lebhaften Austausch im Rahmen der jüngsten Auflage des während der Pandemie aus der Taufe gehobenen Innovation Labs Kino-Verleih, einer federführend von...

After four Oscar wins for “All Quiet on the Western Front” last year and the Oscar nomination for “The Teachers’ Lounge” this year, Germany’s film sector seemed to be on the up, but while a government plan to revamp the country’s film funding system is broadly welcomed, its painfully slow progress is also causing some anxiety.

The fact that Cannes’ various sections contain not one feature by a German filmmaker may be seen as a cause for concern, but 13 German productions and co-productions have been selected. This underscores how Germany’s current funding structures nurture co-productions, which in turn benefits local producers. For example, both Karim Aïnouz’s “Motel Destino” and Miguel Gomes’ “Grand Tour” in the Competition section have Germany’s Match Factory Productions as a co-producer.

The Berlinale was a better showcase for German talent, with Matthias Glasner picking up the screenplay award for “Dying,” and...

Picture Tree Intl. has boarded international sales for Constantin Film’s comedy fantasy blockbuster “Chantal and the Magic Kingdom,” which will receive its market premiere in Cannes.

The film has been No. 1 on Germany’s box office charts for four consecutive weeks since its release on March 28, and reached more than 2 million admissions, with a gross of $22.5 million.

“Chantal” is the latest German-language hit from writer-director Bora Dagtekin and producer Lena Schömann. The duo previously delivered “Turkish for Beginners,” the “Fuck You Goehte” franchise and the German remake of “Perfect Strangers,” which have collectively grossed more than $300 million worldwide.

In “Chantal,” the beloved “Fuck You Goehte” character Chantal and her best friend Zeynep are sent on a fantasy adventure into the world of fairytales with a comedic and contemporary twist.

Chantal, an influencer without followers, and Zeynep stumble into the fairytale world through an ancient magic mirror, which they mistake for a social media gimmick.

Fack Ju Göhte spinoff Chantal in Fairyland (Chantal im Märchenland) capitalized on its strong start in Germany last Thursday, turning in a weekend performance for the record books. With $6.2M through Sunday, the time travel adventure from Constantin Film scored the best Easter opening frame ever for a German movie in the home market, as well as the best overall launch for a local title since Chantal filmmaker Bora Dağtekin’s 2019 comedy The Perfect Secret.

In total, the Thursday-Sunday session sold nearly 580K tickets with a 37% share of the market. Including previews and the strong Easter Monday holiday, admissions are at 815K through yesterday for nearly €8.3M ($8.9M) which puts Chantal in line with Barbie at the same point in release. Factoring in numbers from Austria and Switzerland, the movie has clocked a little over 930K admissions.

Written and directed by the Göhte franchise’s Dağtekin, Chantal in Fairyland plays...

Worldwide box office March 29-31 RankFilm (distributor)3-day (world) Cume (world)3-day (int’l)Cume (int’l)Territories 1. Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire (Warner Bros) $194m $194m $114m $114m 64 2. Kung Fu Panda 4 (Universal) $53.8m $347.2m $43.6m $195.6m 74 3. Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros) $29.5m $626m $18.4m $373.7m 74 4. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Sony) $26.9m $108.5m $11.2m $35.1m 28 5. Chantal im Marchenland (Constantine) $6.8m $6.8m $6.8m $6.8m 2 6. Immaculate (Black Bear) $4.8m $16.5m $1.6m $5.4m 24 7. Exhuma (various) $4.3m $83.8m $3.9m $82.5m 7 8. Viva La Vida (various) $4.1m $22.3m $4.1m $22.1m 1 9. Haikyu!! The Movie: Decisive Battle At The Garbage Dump (Toho) $3.7m $58.7m $3.7m $58.7m 1 10. Troll Factory...

Worldwide box office March 29-31 RankFilm (distributor)3-day (world) Cume (world)3-day (int’l)Cume (int’l)Territories 1. Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire (Warner Bros) $194m $194m $114m $114m 64 2. Kung Fu Panda 4 (Universal) $53.8m $347.2m $43.6m $195.6m 74 3. Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros) $29.5m $626m $18.4m $373.7m 74 4. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Sony) $26.9m $108.5m $11.2m $35.1m 28 5. Chantal im Marchenland (Constantine) $6.8m $6.8m $6.8m $6.8m 2 6. Immaculate (Black Bear) $4.8m $16.5m $1.6m $5.4m 24 7. Exhuma (various) $4.3m $83.8m $3.9m $82.5m 7 8. Viva La Vida (various) $4.1m $22.3m $4.1m $22.1m 1 9. Haikyu!! The Movie: Decisive Battle At The Garbage Dump (Toho) $3.7m $58.7m $3.7m $58.7m 1 10. Troll Factory...

Exclusive: Chantal in Fairyland (Chantal im Märchenland) is off to a fantastic start at the German box office. A spinoff of the hugely successful Fack Ju Göhte comedies, the Constantin Film title banked the best Easter holiday launch day ever for a local movie and the best opening day of the year for all films, teeing it up for a strong debut session.

Thursday amassed 160K admissions ($1.73M) and took a 43% share of the market. The result is 40% higher than the launch day of Barbie. Including Wednesday previews, Chantal has grossed $2.8M through Thursday. Factoring in yesterday’s previews in Austria, the running cume from both markets is $3.12M.

Written and directed by the Göhte movies’ Bora Dağtekin, Chantal in Fairyland centers on one of the two principal female characters from the franchise, now an eternal influencer without followers. A time travel story that plays around with movie princess tropes,...

2023’s American Film Market may be shaping up for “a rather quiet year,” says Martin Moszkowicz, chairman of the executive board at Germany’s Constantin Film. That said, Moszkowicz will stay in Los Angeles for around 10 days. “We have so much business there – and much of it is not related directly to the market,” he says.

That seems very natural for one of Europe’s not only biggest but most ambitious and successful production-distribution companies, producer of “Resident Evil,” which has diversified fast, consolidating a robust domestic production-distribution business while shaping major plays for the international market and ramping up TV revenues.

Moszkowicz hits the AFM just weeks after “Dear Child: Limited Series” has hit Netflix’s Top 10 of most-watched non-English language TV series in the global streamer’s history. For 2024, Constantin has “Hagen von Tronje,” a revisionist retelling of the Nibelungen saga, which weighs in as one of its biggest movies ever.

In a broad-based deal, Netflix and Germany’s Constantin Film, one of Europe’s biggest production-distribution companies behind the “Resident Evil” film franchise and TV series “Shadowhunters,” have struck an exclusive long-term partnership.

The powerful alliance sees Netflix acquiring pay distribution rights pay to Constantin Film’s theatrical productions in the German-speaking region. These include national and international original and co-produced films, as well as films acquired for cinema or straight-to-video (Stv) release, German and international theatrical productions.

Titles will be made available to Netflix subscribers on an SVOD basis 10-12 months after their theatrical release. In return, Netflix will contribute significantly to the financing of these productions, Constantin Film announced this week. The new agreement grants Netflix licensed access to Constantin Film’s existing film and series catalog, it added.

The deal takes in future productions involving standout talent in front of and behind the camera, such as Bora Dagtekin,...

Netflix and Constantin Film are expanding their business relationship.

The pair has entered into an exclusive long-term partnership for Constantin’s theatrical releases in German-speaking Europe.

This includes national and international Constantin originals and co-produced films, as well as films acquired for cinema or straight-to-video release.

Big-ticket German and international productions will be made available to Netflix subscribers 10-12 months after their theatrical release. In return, Netflix will contribute “significantly” to their financing financing of these productions.

Additionally, the agreement also grants Netflix access to Constantin Film’s existing film and series catalog, including German blockbusters such as Chantal im Märchenland.

Constantin’s upcoming slate features on- and off-screen talent such as Bora Dagtekin, Tim Fehlbaum, Jella Haase, Peter Saarsgard, Ben Chaplin, John Magaro, Leonie Benesch, Mads Mikkelsen and Vanessa Hudgens.

“Constantin Film is a fantastic and important partner for Netflix, and we are excited to take our collaboration to the next level,...

As the physical edition of the Berlin Film Festival kicks off today and with the virtual edition of the European Film Market well underway, a number of key talking points such as Covid, the uncertainty of the theatrical sector and satisfying the demand for streaming platforms are likely to be hot button topics amongst buyers and sellers alike.

While the volume of business in what is looking like a rather compact market remains to be seen (with a host of sales agents admitting it’s harder to create buzz around titles at a virtual market rather than a physical one), there’s a few packages out there likely to whet the appetite of international buyers.

But before the deal-making commences, Deadline asked some of Germany’s major players in the film world to give us a sense of the lay of the land in their territory at the moment, highlighting...

Constantin Inks Rtl Licensing Deal

German mini-major Constantin Film has inked a multi-year licensing deal with local TV giant Rtl that covers exclusive free-tv and streaming rights for all of Constantin’s theatrical productions. The pact covers all of the producer’s in-house and co-productions that begin filming from January 1. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. The deal will cover upcoming titles from filmmakers such as Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil), David Wnendt (Look Who’s Back), Til Schweiger (Rabbit Without Ears), and Doris Dörrie (Cherry Blossoms). Among highlights is the new film from Bora Dagtekin, whose Suck Me Shakespeer school comedy trilogy is the most successful German-language franchise of the last decade. Constantin and Rtl have previously partnered on films and series including limited series The Allegation, comedy Weil wir Champions sind (Because We’re Champions), and Strafe (Punishment).

Zinc Appoints Former Shine TV MD

UK factual outfit...

In today’s Global Bulletin, Constantin extends its deal with German hitmaker Bora Dagtekin, San Sebastian finalizes its Perlak section, upstart training program Creative Producer Indaba share details, Endemol Shine sells “Deadwater Fell” in France, and Channel 5 commissions eight new historical programs.

Content Deal

Constantin Film has extended its exclusive deal with Bora Dagtekin, one of Germany’s most prolific local filmmakers, to 2025.

The writer-director is responsible for several local-language hits in German-speaking territories such as “Suck me Shakespeer” (pictured), $77.6 million worldwide; “The Perfect Secret,” last year’s biggest local draw in Germany, where it grossed $52.3 million; and “Turkish for Beginners,” almost $24 million in 2012. In total, his films have grossed a quarter-billion in Germany, selling nearly 30 million tickets.

Under the deal, Constantin will get Dagtekin’s next three features, each to be produced by his long-time production partner Lena Schömann.

Festivals

San Sebastian announced that this year’s Perlak section,...

Bora Dagtekin, Germany’s most consistent hitmaker, has extended his exclusive deal with local mini-major Constantin Film through to 2025.

Under the deal, announced Wednesday, Dagtekin will deliver three more features for Constantin, all of which will be produced by his long-term production partner Lena Schömann.

“I’m really looking forward to working together on the next Bora Drachtkin films, which will continue to be produced by Lena Schömann,” said Constantin Film executive chairman Martin Moszkowicz, noting the deal paved the way for “further productions that will shape German cinema and reach an audience of millions.”...

The ceremony was conducted from a largely empty Berlin soundstage.

Nora Fingscheidt’s System Crasher was the big winner at this year’s German Film Awards which celebrated their 70th edition in a ceremony reflecting the new reality of the coronavirus pandemic.

Nominated in 10 categories, Fingscheidt’s debut feature took home statuettes for best film (the Lola in Gold), best screenplay, best direction, lead actor (to Albrecht Schuch), lead actress (to Helena Zengel), supporting actress (to Gabriela Maria Schmeide), editing and sound design.

Burhan Qurbani’s Berlin Alexanderplatz, which premiered in Berlin Competition in February and had 11 nominations, was awarded...

“System Crasher,” Nora Fingscheidt’s social drama about a troubled young girl, swept the 70th German Film Awards on Friday, winning a total of eight Lolas, including best film, director, actress and actor.

Forced to revamp this year’s ceremony due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the German Film Academy did away with its traditional gala event and instead produced a stripped-down show tailor-made for television that proved uniquely spontaneous, innovative and entertaining.

Hosted by actor Edin Hasanovic (“Skylines”), the show, broadcast live from Berlin and airing on Ard’s Das Erste, featured guest entertainers, actors and presenters in the studio as well as filmmakers, award winners and musicians taking part via video feed from their homes, including a musical performance by Gregory Porter from Los Angeles.

In addition to best film and director awards, “System Crasher” won Fingscheidt the screenplay Lola, best actress for Helena Zengel, supporting actress for...

The director of the blockbusting Suck Me Shakespeer trilogy is back with a new, star-studded comedy, set to be released in Germany on 31 October. Writer-director Bora Dagtekin, a favourite among the German public ever since his first feature, Türkisch für Anfänger, and now wildly famous for the Suck Me Shakespeer high-school comedy trilogy, will soon be presenting audiences with his latest giggle-inducing effort, Das perfekte Geheimnis (lit. "The Perfect Secret"), shot this spring and set to go on general release in Germany on 31 October this year, courtesy of Constantin Film Verleih. The script of Das perfekte Geheimnis, written by the director himself and based on the concept behind the hit Italian movie Perfect Strangers, revolves around three women, four men, seven telephones and how blurry the truth can get, even when it comes to our nearest and dearest. Taking this as the premise, a star-studded cast – including...

The second frame of Disney-Marvel’s latest MCU installment, 'Captain Marvel,' is set to top the box office with an estimated $70 million.

The superhero film already pushed past the $200 million mark domestically after taking in $19 million on Friday for a total of about $215 million. It’s also generated $378 million overseas after jolting the domestic box office out of a slump that had seen it down 27% from last year.

“Captain Marvel’s” second weekend will mark the second-highest in March box office history with “Beauty and the Beast” having taken in $90 million in its second frame in 2017. “Captain Marvel’s” weekend take will mark a 54% drop from its debut.

Paramount’s animated adventure film “Wonder Park” should drop into second place with about $17 million from 3,838 North American locations, while CBS Films and Lionsgate’s “Five Feet Apart” is estimated to bring in about $13 million from 2,803 domestic sites for third place.

Bavaria Studios — often described as the heart of the Bavaria Film group — may be one of Europe’s largest and most state-ofthe-art film and television production facilities, but it also boasts an illustrious past that long ago cemented its place in cinematic history.

Film pioneer Peter Ostermayr founded the studios, originally known as Münchener Lichtspielkunst, in 1919. Six years later, a young Alfred Hitchcock arrived at the site in Grünwald, south of Munich, to shoot his first film, “The Pleasure Garden.”

It was renamed Bavaria Film in 1932 by new owners. A decade later, Germany’s Nazi government merged it into the Ufa-Film group along with several other companies. Productions continued at the studios in the post-war era and Bavaria was eventually reprivatized in 1956.

A number of high-profile U.S. pics shot there during that time, including Stanley Kubrick’s “Paths of Glory” with Kirk Douglas in 1957. Douglas returned the following...

Berlin sales agent Picture Tree Intl. has closed additional sales on “Fack Ju Goehte 3,” the latest installment in the German high-school comedy franchise that has grossed more than $250 million in total.

Distribution deals on the third film include M6 in France, Palace Entertainment in Australia, 2i Film D.O.O. for former Yugoslavia, A-z Films for French Canada, Big Bang Media in Hungary, Cinemart A.S. in Czech Republic/Slovakia, Voxell Baltic Sia in the Cis countries, and HBO in Poland.

Picture Tree is in talks with buyers for China, the U.S., Latin America, Italy, Spain and Southeast Asia. The company is aiming to sell the rest of the world on all three films in the franchise as a package.

The films, produced and released in Germany by Constantin Film, have struck a nerve with young moviegoers with their mix of politically incorrect, laugh-out-loud comedy and burning social issues such as poor education,...

Picture Tree International is laughing all the way to the bank, as the German sales outfit closed multiple deals for its slate of local-language comedies at Berlin's European Film Market.

Suck Me Shakespeer 3, the final film in Bora Dagtekin's hit trilogy, sold to Russia (Voxell), Hungary (Big Bang Media) and to the Czech and Slovak Republic (Cinemart) among other deals.

Action-comedy Big Bang Media also grabbed Hungarian rights for action comedy Hot Dog, which features German stars Til Schweiger and Matthias Schweighofer. The title pre-sold at Afm across multiple territories including with China (S&C Pictures), Japan (New Select) and...

Toni Erdmann star Sandra Huller has joined the cast of Fack Ju Gohte 3, the third and final entry in the massively successful German schooldays comedy franchise directed by Bora Dagtekin.

Huller, who played driven businesswoman Ines Conradi in Maren Ade's Oscar-nominated Toni Erdmann, will play a sharp-tongued teacher in Fack Ju Gohte 3, alongside franchise regulars Elyas M'Barek and Corinna Harfouch.

The Fack Ju Gohte films have been huge hits in German-speaking Europe. The first two movies sold 15.1 million tickets, grossing $150 million. The films follow a petty criminal turned schoolteacher (M'Barek) who uses his street smarts...

Nazi hunter thriller wins best film at the annual ‘Lolas’.

Lars Kraume’s Nazi hunter thriller, The People Vs. Fritz Bauer, won six Lola statuettes at this year’s German Film Awards after being tipped as the evening’s hot ticket with nine nominations.

The co-production between Berlin’s zero one film and Cologne-based Terz Film picked up the evening’s top award - the Lola in Gold for Best Film - as well as the statuettes for Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Ronald Zehrfeld), Best Production Design (Cora Pratz), and Best Costume Design (Esther Walz).

Accepting the Gold statuette from the hands of Germany’s State Minister for Culture and Media Monika Grütters, producer Thomas Kufus dedicated the award to the memory of Fritz Bauer.

Kurth knocks out Klaußner

While many thought that it was foregone conclusion that Burghart Klaußner would take the Lola home for his portrayal of the state prosecutor Fritz Bauer, nobody...

The Festival of German Films in China is showing cinema from Germany this year for the second time. 16 internationally successful and award-winning films will be presented to the public and industry in the four Chinese cities of Peking, Chengdu , Shenzhen and Hangzhou in this important film market. Director Doris Dörrie is the event's patron, actor Florian Stetter and director Georg Maas will also be guests. German Films is organising the Festival of German Films in China together with the Goethe-Institut.

The festival will be opened on 14 November 2014 in Peking with a gala and the screening of "Stations of the Cross" (Ufa Fiction, cine plus Filmproduktion) in the presence of the lead actor Florian Stetter and the patron Doris Dörrie at the Broadway Cinema. The film by Dietrich Brüggemann will also open the festival in Hangzhou . "Suck Me Shakespeer" by Bora Dagtekin (Ratpack Filmproduktion, Constantin Film Produktion) will be the opening film in Chengdu and Shenzhen.

Doris Dörrie will be honored in Peking with a retrospective which will open on 15 November 2014 with "Bliss." The film-maker will then travel to Shenzhen to participate in a workshop discussion with the Chinese documentary film-makers Andrew Lone and Zhao Dayo.

Director Georg Maas will be presenting his film "Two Lives" (De/No, Zinnober Film, B&T Film), last year's German Oscar® candidate, in Chengdu , Shenzhen and Hangzhou as well as Peking .

Apart from new German productions, the Peking program will also include a newly restored version of the silent film classic

"The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" by Robert Wiene with musical accompaniment by the Aljoscha Zimmermann ensemble. An accompanying program at the film archive in Peking aims to promote an exchange of views and experiences between Chinese and German film-makers.Christiane von Wahlert, the managing director of Spio, will speak here with Chinese industry representatives about the age rating for feature films, and Stefan Drößler, the director of Munich 's Film Museum , will talk about the digital restoration of films.

All of the films in the program of the Festival of German Films in China :

Peking (14 – 20 November 2014 ) Broadway Cinema:

"Stations of the Cross" (Kreuzweg) by Dietrich Brüggemann (Ufa Fiction, cine plus Filmproduktion) (opening film)

"Home from Home" (Die Andere Heimat) by Edgar Reitz (De/Fr, Edgar Reitz Filmproduktion)

"Suck Me Shakespeer" (Fack Ju Gohte) von Bora Dagtekin (Rat Pack Filmproduktion, Constantin Film Produktion)

"The Woman Who Dares" (Die Frau Die Sich Traut) by Marc Rensing (Zum Goldenen Lamm Filmproduktion)

"Hanna's Journey" (Hannas Reise) by Julia von Heinz (2 Pilots Filmproduction, Kings&Queens Filmproduktion)

"Master of the Universe" by Marc Bauder (De/At, bauderfilm)

"Broken Glass Park" (Scherbenpark) by Bettina Blümner (Eyeworks Film Gemini)

"Two Lives" (Zwei Leben) by Georg Maas (De/No, Zinnober Film, B&T Film)

"Inbetween Worlds" (Zwischen Welten) by Feo Aladag (Independent Artists Filmproduktion, Geißendorfer Film- und Fernsehproduktion)

German School - Peking : Doris Dörrie retrospective:

"The Whole Shebang" (Alles Inklusive) by Doris Dörrie (Olga Film)

"The Hairdresser" (Die Friseuse) by Doris Dörrie (Collina Filmproduktion)

"Bliss" (Gluck) by Doris Dörrie (Constantin Film Produktion, Rainer Curdt Filmproduktion)

"Cherry Blossoms" (Kirschbluten- Hanami) by Doris Dörrie (Olga Film)

German Embassy:

"Beloved Sisters" (Die Geliebten Schwestern) by Dominik Graf (De/At, Bavariafilmverleih- und Produktion, Senator Film, Kiddinx Filmproduktion)

"West" (Westen) by Christian Schwochow (zero one film, Terz Film, öFilm, Senator Film)

Peking Film Archive:

"The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" ( Das Cabinet Des Dr. Caligari) by Robert Wiene (Decla-Film)

-Chengdu (November 16 – 23, 2014) / Shenzhen (November 18 – 25, 2014):

"Suck Me Shakespeer" (Fack Ju Gohte, opening film) von Bora Dagtekin (Rat Pack Filmproduktion, Constantin Film Produktion)

"Home from Home" (Die Andere Heimat) by Edgar Reitz (De/Fr, Edgar Reitz Filmproduktion)

"The Woman Who Dares" (Die Frau Die Sich Traut) by Marc Rensing (Zum Goldenen Lamm Filmproduktion)

"Hanna's Journey" (Hannas Reise) by Julia von Heinz (2 Pilots Filmproduction, Kings&Queens Filmproduktion)

"Master of the Universe" by Marc Bauder (De/At, bauderfilm)

"Two Lives" (Zwei Leben) by Georg Maas (De/No, Zinnober Film, B&T Film)

"Inbetween Worlds" (Zwischen Welten)) by Feo Aladag (Independent Artists Filmproduktion, Geißendorfer Film- und Fernsehproduktion)

-Hangzhou (20. – 29. November 2014 ):

"Stations of the Cross" by Dietrich Brüggemann (Ufa Fiction, cine plus Filmproduktion) (opening film)

"Home from Home" (Die Andere Heimat) by Edgar Reitz (De/Fr, Edgar Reitz Filmproduktion)

"Suck Me Shakespeer" (Fack Ju Gohte) by Bora Dagtekin (Rat Pack Filmproduktion, Constantin Film Produktion)

"The Woman Who Dares" (Die Frau Die Sich Traut) by Marc Rensing (Zum Goldenen Lamm Filmproduktion)

"Hanna's Journey" (Hannas Reise) by Julia von Heinz (2 Pilots Filmproduction, Kings&Queens Filmproduktion)

"Master of the Universe" by Marc Bauder (De/At, bauderfilm)

"Two Lives" (Zwei Leben) by Georg Maas (De/No, Zinnober Film, B&T Film)

"Inbetween Worlds" (Zwischen Welten) by Feo Aladag (Independent Artists Filmproduktion, Geißendorfer Film- und Fernsehproduktion)

Further information about the festival can be found at www.festivalofgermancinema.com and in the festival brochure .

The Festival of German Films in China is supported by the German Embassy in Peking .

Sponsors of German Films and the Goethe Institut at the festival are: Audi, Kempinski Hotels, Lufthansa Center and Arri

The festival's partners are: The Art Gallery of Sichuan University, Beijing Film Academy , China Film Archive, Bookworm, the German Embassy School , EU Film Festival, Labor Berlin, Oca, Ucat and the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation

Media partners: MTime, Movie and Ent Qq

Cinema partners: Palace, Moma, Broadway and IMAX

China is a promising film market with an enormous potential for growth. German Films has been active in the Middle Kingdom for 11 years and is represented there in all affairs by Anke Redl. Apart from the Focus Germany at the Shanghai International Film Festival, German Films also regularly supports the presence of German films at the Shanghai TV Festival.

Further information about China 's film market in the German Films market study.

On German Films:

German Films Service + Marketing is the national information and advisory center for the international distribution of German films. The aim of German Films' activities is to raise the level of awareness for German cinema abroad via information services, lobbying, PR and marketing measures and to make it visible in the international media arena.

Website: www.german-films.de

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/German-Films

Twitter: https://twitter.com/German_Films

Instagram: http://instagram.com/germanfilms...

Lena Schömann, producer of box office hit Fack Ju Göhte (Suck Me Shakespeer), is switching to Constantin Film after 12 years at the distributor-producer’s subsidiary Rat Pack Filmproduktion.

Schömann’s credits at Rat Pack included The Crocodiles family film franchise and 3D adventure Wickie and the Treasure of the Gods directed by Christian Ditter..

Together with Becker, she produced writer-director Bora Dagtekin’s box-office hits Turkish For Beginners and Suck Me Shakespeer which has seen by over 7m cinema-goers in Germany alone and has taken over € 52 m since its release last November.

Schömann’s first project at Constantin will be the sequel to Suck Me Shakespeer, which will begin shooting this summer and be released by Constantin Film on September 10, 2015.

Suck Me Shakespeer, which won a German Film Award last month as the country’s most successful feature of 2013, is handled internationally by Berlin-based sales outfit Picture Tree International.

Constantin stays at school

School-based stories are clearly...

The Golden Lola for best feature film went to veteran director Edgar Reitz’s Home From Home - Chronicle of a Vision at the German Film Awards.Scroll down for full list of winners

The black-and-white epic, set in a fictitious village in Germany’s Hunsrück region in the mid-19th century, also received awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay (shared with co-author Gert Heidenreich) after being nominated by the members of the German Film Academy in a total of six categories.

The co-production with Margaret Ménégoz’s Les Films du Losange is handled internationally by Arri Media Worldsales and was released theatrically in Germany by Concorde Filmverleih.

The prizes were handed out at the 64th annual film awards, held in Berlin.

Austrian accent to ceremony

The night belonged to Austrian film-maker Andreas Prochaska and his producers Helmut Grasser of Allegro Film and Stefan Arndt of X Filme Creative Pool with their Alpine western The Dark...

New films by actor-director Matthias Schweighofer, Marco Kreuzpaintner, Robert Glinski, and Bettina Oberli are among the titles being lined up by German sales agents Global Screen and Picture Tree International (Pti) for the Marché du Film in Cannes next month.

Munich-based Global Screen will be unveiling five market premieres:

actor-director/producer Schweighofer’s third directorial outing, the romantic comedy Joy Of Fatherhood (Vaterfreuden), adapted from Murmel Clausen’s novel Frettsack, was released by Warner Bros. Pictures Germany in February, has been seen by more than 2.3 million cinemagoers and taken more than €17.7m ($24.5m) to date.

the 2D and 3D versions of the English-language animated feature The Seventh Dwarf (Der 7bte Zwerg), directed by Harald Siepermann and actor Boris Aljinovic, to be released by Universal Pictures in Germany this autumn.The film was also presold to many territories, including

Christian Bach’s feature debut, the coming of age/family drama Flights Of Fancy (Hirngespinster), which received Bavarian Film Awards...

Constantin Film has been named by the German Federal Film Board (Ffa) as the nation’s top producer of German films for the ninth consecutive year in 2013 and the top distributor for the tenth consecutive year.

The Munich-based producer-distributor was allocated around €2.2m ($3m) “reference funding” in total by the Ffa to invest in future film projects and theatrical campaigns.

The company attracted €1.6m ($2.2m) production “reference” funding based on the box office of such releases as Bora Dagtekin’s comedy Fack Ju Göhte (Suck Me Shakespeer) which was seen by more than 5.8 million cinemagoers last year, as well as Sherry Hormann’s 3096 Tage about the abduction of Natascha Kampusch, and the comedy Dampfnudelblues.

In addition, eight successful releases including Fack Ju Göhte, Fünf Freunde 2, Ostwind and Dampfnudelblues earnt Constantin’s distribution arm €633,000 ($875,000) in distribution “reference” support.

Constantin Film subsidiary Rat Pack Filmproduktion, who was the main producer of Fack Ju Göhte, received the second...

Constantin Film has been named by the German Federal Film Board (Ffa) as the nation’s top producer of German films for the ninth consecutive year in 2013 and the top distributor for the tenth consecutive year.

The Munich-based producer-distributor was allocated around €2.2m ($3m) “reference funding” in total by the Ffa to invest in future film projects and theatrical campaigns.

The company attracted €1.6m ($2.2m) production “reference” funding based on the box office of such releases as Bora Dagtekin’s comedy Fack Ju Göhte (Suck Me Shakespeer) which was seen by more than 5.8 million cinemagoers last year, as well as Sherry Hormann’s 3096 Tage about the abduction of Natascha Kampusch, and the comedy Dampfnudelblues.

In addition, eight successful releases including Fack Ju Göhte, Fünf Freunde 2, Ostwind and Dampfnudelblues earnt Constantin’s distribution arm €633,000 ($875,000) in distribution “reference” support.

Constantin Film subsidiary Rat Pack Filmproduktion, who was the main producer of Fack Ju Göhte, received the second...

Berlin’s Picture Tree International (Pti) has secured several deals with Us distributors, following its debut as an exhibitor at the European Film Market (Efm).

The Berlin-based production and sales outfit sold North American rights for Christian Schwochow’s West (Westen) to Mainstreet Films.

Schwochow’s East-West drama, which Senator will be releasing theatrically in Germany on March 27, was also sold to the UK (New Wave), France (Sophie Dulac), Spain (Savor Ediciones) and South Korea (Mediasoft), with Encore securing the global in-flight rights.

Pti also sold Icelandic director Ragnar Bragason’s Metalhead to Cinelicious, marking the first acquisition made by the fledgling Us distributor. The heavy metal drama was also sold to Canada (Raven Banner).

Fack Ju goes international

The first sales of Fack Ju Göthe (Suck Me Shakespeer) have been secured with Océan Film (France), Cinemart (Czech Republic/Slovakia) and Sejong (South Korea).

Bora Dagtekin’s screwball romantic comedy is Germany’s latest blockbuster, where it has...

Berlin’s Picture Tree International (Pti) has secured several deals with Us distributors, following its debut as an exhibitor at the European Film Market (Efm).

The Berlin-based production and sales outfit sold North American rights for Christian Schwochow’s West (Westen) to Mainstreet Films.

Schwochow’s East-West drama, which Senator will be releasing theatrically in Germany on March 27, was also sold to the UK (New Wave), France (Sophie Dulac), Spain (Savor Ediciones) and South Korea (Mediasoft), with Encore securing the global in-flight rights.

Pti also sold Icelandic director Ragnar Bragason’s Metalhead to Cinelicious, marking the first acquisition made by the fledgling Us distributor. The heavy metal drama was also sold to Canada (Raven Banner).

Fack Ju goes international

The first sales of Fack Ju Göthe (Suck Me Shakespeer) have been secured with Océan Film (France), Cinemart (Czech Republic/Slovakia) and Sejong (South Korea).

Bora Dagtekin’s screwball romantic comedy is Germany’s latest blockbuster, where it has...

A politically-incorrect comedy that mocks current debates about school reform, immigration and economic disparity has become the biggest hit in years in Germany.  Bora Dagtekin's Fack Ju Gohte, produced by Munich-based production house Rat Pack and distributed by Constantin Film, has sold more than 6 million tickets since its release late last year, earning more than $60 million at the box office so far. The film's German title - rendered as Suck Me Shakespeer  in English - is a German phonetic transcription of F*ck You, Goethe. It's a tidy summing up of both the poor spelling skills of the

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Cologne, Germany -- German indie giant Constantin Film has singed a first-look deal with Dare Filmz, the U.S. production company owned by German screenwriter Bora Dagtekin and producer Marie-Amelie Rechberg.

Dagtekin is one of Germany's hottest television writers, with credits that include hit comedies "Doctor's Diary" (Rtl) and cross-cultural family sitcom "Turkish for Beginners" (Ard). "Turkish For Beginners" has won a raft of German and international awards, including the Banff Rockie Award for best series last year. Dagtekin also wrote the script to the politically-incorrect comedy "Where is Fred?" (2006) starring Til Schweiger.

Under the agreement, Constantin will have first crack at TV and film projects developed by Dagtekin and Rechberg for the German and international market.

Berlin -- Five months after its launch, Ufa Cinema is making a play for the big time, revealing a slate that includes adaptations of Noah Gordon's medieval epic "The Physician," Leonie Swann's murder mystery "Three Bags Full" and Berhard Schlink's "The Weekend."

After months of playing coy, the shingle, launched in March by TV production giant FremantleMedia ("American Idol"), unveiled its first slate of 11 projects Friday. The outfit aims to produce six to eight feature films a year, with the first release expected by early 2010.

"Physician," the story of a young man in the 11th century who has an extraordinary power to heal the sick, will be produced in English with an international cast. But the bulk of Ufa's slate will be German-language. These include big-screen takes on the German best-seller "Jungle Child," the true story of a German child raised among the natives of Papua New Guinea; Julia Franck's...