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PRODUCTION / FUNDING Germany

Germany’s MDM grants €2.7 million for the production and development of new international film projects

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- Among the supported projects are new features by Emily Atef, Nikolaj Arcel and Joshua Oppenheimer

Germany’s MDM grants €2.7 million for the production and development of new international film projects
Director Joshua Oppenheimer, who has received €300,000 for his first feature-length fiction film, The End

During its recent deliberations, the MDM (Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung GmbH) commission decided to award around €2.7 million to a selection of fictional and documentary feature films. Among the biggest projects is the drama Some Day We Will Tell Each Other Everything by Emily Atef. After her internationally acclaimed biopic 3 Days in Quiberon [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emily Atef
film profile
]
, about Romy Schneider, the French-Iranian director presents an adaptation of the best-selling novel by German author Daniela Krien. It is a coming-of-age story set in the 1990s, amidst the last days of the GDR. The 17-year-old protagonist, Maria, lives on a farm with her boyfriend. One day, an older man moves into the neighbourhood. Maria and Henner start a love affair, which takes a tragic turn. Atef wrote the script together with the novelist. The film is a production by Rohfilm Factory and will receive €700,000 from the MDM.

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Another €350,000 will go to the historical drama The Promised Land [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Danish director Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mikkel Boe Følsgaard
interview: Nikolaj Arcel
film profile
]
). Working with Anders Thomas Jensen (Riders of Justice [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anders Thomas Jensen
film profile
]
, Men & Chicken [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
), he wrote the screenplay for the story set in the 17th century. The protagonist is a German soldier who is sent by the Danish king to conquer the plain of Jutland. He has to cope with the forces of nature and some ruthless landowners. The film is an adaptation of a novel and is being produced by Zentropa Berlin.

On the heels of his two Oscar-nominated documentaries The Act of Killing [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
and The Look of Silence [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, US-British director Joshua Oppenheimer now presents his first feature-length fiction film: The End. Match Factory Productions is responsible for the production of this post-apocalyptic story about a rich family living in a salt mine converted into a luxurious home. The earth around them has apparently been destroyed, but their son has never seen the outside world. As a young girl appears at the entrance of the bunker, the balance of the family is threatened. The three lead roles will be played by Stephen Graham (The Virtues), George MacKay and Tilda Swinton (Memoria [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, The Souvenir [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, The Souvenir: Part II [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
). The MDM is supporting the film, which will take the form of a musical, with €300,000.

The production of the documentary series Die Spaltung der Welt (lit. “The Division of the World”) by Polish director Olga Chajdas (Erotica 2022 [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
) will be supported with €400,000. The series offers a multi-perspective vision of World War II and the post-war period using a mixture of found footage and fictional sequences. The script is focused on six characters from different countries, such as a German rocket scientist, the Soviet prime minister and a US nuclear physicist who is working on the development of the atomic bomb. The production company behind the series is LOOKSfilm, which previously produced two further historical series about the wartime period – namely, 14: Tagebücher des Ersten Weltkriegs and 18: Krieg der Träume.

As for the last two bigger projects, the documentary Vom Sichtbaren zum Unsichtbaren – Michael Triegel (lit: “From the Visible to the Invisible”) by German director Paul Smaczny will be supported to the tune of €110,000. He follows the life and work of German painter Michael Triegel in his attempt to restore the altar of Naumburg Cathedral, painted by Cranach. And finally, the MDM will give €250,000 to the biopic Leonora im Morgenlicht (lit. “Leonora in the Morning Light”) by Thor Klein and Lena Vurma, focusing on the painter Leonora Carrington, who died in 2011.

Besides the support provided for production costs, the MDM also awarded money to projects that are still at the development stage. This was the case for the drama Luis by German-Italian director Lucia Charla (The Chairs Game [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), which receives €50,000, as well as the animated film Jana und der Seelenspiegel (lit. “Jana and the Soul Mirror”) by Johannes Dreibach, the psychodrama Mein Schatz (lit. “My Darling”) by Kristin Franke and the drama Unser Haus (lit. “Our House”) by Guido Schwab; all three of them have been supported with €30,000 apiece. Moreover, the MDM has awarded €22,000 for the German distribution of Ballad of a White Cow [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha (distributed by Weltkino Filmverleih GmbH), and €5,000 for that of Coppelia by Jeff Tudor, Steven de Beul and Ben Tesseur (distributed by SquareOne Entertainment GmbH).

A total of €280,000 goes to projects related to new media – namely, the virtual-experience productions Maus VR by Nicolas Bourniquel and The Interview by Thom Vander Beken, the games Lokis Gefängnis (lit. “Loki's Prison”) by Ivonne Vaziri-Elahi and Patou by Jana Reinhardt, as well as the app My Name Is... by Eliza Plocieniak-Alvarez and Franziska Weser.

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