Prolific German director Jo Baier has officially signed on to write and direct the thriller “Life Through a Dead Man’s Eyes,” about an aging Nazi war criminal on the run from prosecution.
The film, produced by Berlin-based Films In Motion in co-production with Banijay’s Nl Film in Amsterdam, tells the haunting story of a former Nazi SS death camp guard who tries to evade prosecution by U.S. authorities. In the face of death, he finds himself falling ever deeper into a nightmare that exceeds his worst fears.
“Life Through a Dead Man’s Eyes” is set to star Matthias Habich (“Narcissus and Goldmund”) as the former SS henchman and Herbert Knaup (“Sarah Kohr”) as the Nazi hunter on his trail. Also attached is Silke Bodenbender (“One Day We’ll Tell Each Other Everything”).
Speaking to Variety, Baier says the dark historical aspect of the tale in particular piqued his interest.
The film, produced by Berlin-based Films In Motion in co-production with Banijay’s Nl Film in Amsterdam, tells the haunting story of a former Nazi SS death camp guard who tries to evade prosecution by U.S. authorities. In the face of death, he finds himself falling ever deeper into a nightmare that exceeds his worst fears.
“Life Through a Dead Man’s Eyes” is set to star Matthias Habich (“Narcissus and Goldmund”) as the former SS henchman and Herbert Knaup (“Sarah Kohr”) as the Nazi hunter on his trail. Also attached is Silke Bodenbender (“One Day We’ll Tell Each Other Everything”).
Speaking to Variety, Baier says the dark historical aspect of the tale in particular piqued his interest.
- 5/15/2023
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
German distributor Der Filmverleih in Stuttgart has boarded Berlin-based Films in Motion’s World War II trilogy penned by American writer J. Frank James.
The films, in various stages of development, include “The Face,” produced with Leipzig-based Departures Film and starring Ludwig Trepte (“Deutschland 86”). The story turns on a traumatized Jewish survivor and an army deserter posing as a priest who are bonded together into a friendship while reconstructing a bombed out church. Markus Imboden (“The Foster Boy”) is set to direct.
In “Life Through a Dead Man’s Eyes,” directed by veteran helmer Jo Baier and produced with Amsterdam-based Nl Film and Hupe Film in Cologne, a former SS concentration camp guard in danger of being apprehended for his brutal past faces horrors beyond his imagination. Herbert Knaup and Matthias Habich star in the haunting drama.
“Bones of the Wise Men,” currently in development, is set in the...
The films, in various stages of development, include “The Face,” produced with Leipzig-based Departures Film and starring Ludwig Trepte (“Deutschland 86”). The story turns on a traumatized Jewish survivor and an army deserter posing as a priest who are bonded together into a friendship while reconstructing a bombed out church. Markus Imboden (“The Foster Boy”) is set to direct.
In “Life Through a Dead Man’s Eyes,” directed by veteran helmer Jo Baier and produced with Amsterdam-based Nl Film and Hupe Film in Cologne, a former SS concentration camp guard in danger of being apprehended for his brutal past faces horrors beyond his imagination. Herbert Knaup and Matthias Habich star in the haunting drama.
“Bones of the Wise Men,” currently in development, is set in the...
- 6/30/2021
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Amsterdam-based Nl Film and Hupe Film in Cologne have boarded Jo Baier’s upcoming Nazi war criminal horror thriller “Life Through a Dead Man’s Eyes.”
The companies join co-producers Films in Motion (Fim), the Berlin-based shingle run by American producer René Asch, and Angelika Mohr’s Morefilms in Munich, which is also handling world sales.
German thesps Herbert Knaup and Matthias Habich topline the supernatural thriller, which follows a former SS concentration camp guard, played by Habich, desperately trying to avoid capture by a Nazi hunter (Knaup). Seeking to avoid capture, the old Nazi assumes an unlikely identity and hides in the most improbable place.
Budgeted at €2.5 million ($2.7 million), “Life Through a Dead Man’s Eyes” is set to go into preproduction later this year.
The award-winning Baier (“Henry of Navarre”) will direct the German-Dutch co-production from a script by American screenwriter J. Frank James.
“We’re thankful for...
The companies join co-producers Films in Motion (Fim), the Berlin-based shingle run by American producer René Asch, and Angelika Mohr’s Morefilms in Munich, which is also handling world sales.
German thesps Herbert Knaup and Matthias Habich topline the supernatural thriller, which follows a former SS concentration camp guard, played by Habich, desperately trying to avoid capture by a Nazi hunter (Knaup). Seeking to avoid capture, the old Nazi assumes an unlikely identity and hides in the most improbable place.
Budgeted at €2.5 million ($2.7 million), “Life Through a Dead Man’s Eyes” is set to go into preproduction later this year.
The award-winning Baier (“Henry of Navarre”) will direct the German-Dutch co-production from a script by American screenwriter J. Frank James.
“We’re thankful for...
- 2/22/2020
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Munich-based sales company Morefilms is moving into production with Nazi war criminal thriller “Life Through a Dead Man’s Eyes.”
The film, which is set to begin production this fall, has pre-sold to Dubai-based Gulf Film for the Middle East and was also acquired by Der Filmverleih in Stuttgart for Germany.
Morefilms has now also boarded the project as a co-producer, along with René Asch’s Berlin-based Films in Motion and Zodiak Belgium’s Serge Bierset.
Directed by Jo Baier, “Life Through a Dead Man’s Eyes” follows an elderly former SS concentration camp guard desperately trying to avoid capture by U.S. authorities.
Morefilms also sold Christian Frosch’s “Murer: Anatomy of a Trial,” about the 1963 trial of former SS leader Franz Murer, to Seventh Art Releasing in the U.S., Der Filmverleih in Germany, Adso Films in Spain and Wing Sight Culture & Media Co. in China. The pic...
The film, which is set to begin production this fall, has pre-sold to Dubai-based Gulf Film for the Middle East and was also acquired by Der Filmverleih in Stuttgart for Germany.
Morefilms has now also boarded the project as a co-producer, along with René Asch’s Berlin-based Films in Motion and Zodiak Belgium’s Serge Bierset.
Directed by Jo Baier, “Life Through a Dead Man’s Eyes” follows an elderly former SS concentration camp guard desperately trying to avoid capture by U.S. authorities.
Morefilms also sold Christian Frosch’s “Murer: Anatomy of a Trial,” about the 1963 trial of former SS leader Franz Murer, to Seventh Art Releasing in the U.S., Der Filmverleih in Germany, Adso Films in Spain and Wing Sight Culture & Media Co. in China. The pic...
- 2/11/2019
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Originally shot as a two part mini-series for German television, Jo Baier’s historical romp Henry of Navarre (2010, aka 'Henri 4') arrives on DVD shaved down to a still hefty 148 minutes. An odd choice, not least because the individual episodes clocked in at a manageable two hours, encompassing their own narrative arcs and preoccupations and would surely have worked theatrically as such.
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- 7/14/2011
- by Daniel Green
- CineVue
History is so hot right now. HBO‘s Rome showed everyone the way, before the floodgates opened and one-time-unmarketable properties like Spartacus: Blood & Sand became the norm, with their blood, raunch and sandals approach to history. Couple that with the reinvigorated fascination with all things regal, and it looks like Jo Baier‘s period biopic Henry of Navarre had a lot of things going for it in the current market. But can it do what few French historical films have done before it and make a big splash on Blu-ray and DVD?
The film (also known by its French name Henri 4) charts the life of Protestant royal Henry of Navarre from his early life on the fields of battle of a religious war-torn France, through his married life, and his attempts to resist assassination by the hand of pantomimey villainess and eventually become the country’s eventually beloved monarch...
The film (also known by its French name Henri 4) charts the life of Protestant royal Henry of Navarre from his early life on the fields of battle of a religious war-torn France, through his married life, and his attempts to resist assassination by the hand of pantomimey villainess and eventually become the country’s eventually beloved monarch...
- 7/6/2011
- by Simon Gallagher
- Obsessed with Film
Henry Of Navarre (aka Henri 4)
Stars: Julien Boisselier, Joachim Król, Andreas Schmidt | Written and directed by Jo Baier
Two of the greatest perils of being a noble in the later 16th-century France were marrying into the Valois royal family and being called Henry. Henri IV, or Henry of Navarre, was in trouble on both counts. The German French-language film Henry of Navarre, aka Henri 4, directed by Jo Baier, presents the bloodthirsty tale of a king many believed to be the saviour of France. Although, judging by the amount of time he spends going from fight to fight and romping with buxom beauties, it’s surprising he had the time.
Henri 4, the Protestant Huguenot King of Navarre is married off to Margot, the daughter of Catherine de Medici who is also the mother of the king and his miscreant and conniving brothers. Catherine marks the occasion of her...
Stars: Julien Boisselier, Joachim Król, Andreas Schmidt | Written and directed by Jo Baier
Two of the greatest perils of being a noble in the later 16th-century France were marrying into the Valois royal family and being called Henry. Henri IV, or Henry of Navarre, was in trouble on both counts. The German French-language film Henry of Navarre, aka Henri 4, directed by Jo Baier, presents the bloodthirsty tale of a king many believed to be the saviour of France. Although, judging by the amount of time he spends going from fight to fight and romping with buxom beauties, it’s surprising he had the time.
Henri 4, the Protestant Huguenot King of Navarre is married off to Margot, the daughter of Catherine de Medici who is also the mother of the king and his miscreant and conniving brothers. Catherine marks the occasion of her...
- 7/4/2011
- by Kate
- Nerdly
I love me a good historical war movie filled with gritty battle scenes, and Germany’s “Henry of Navarre” aka “Henri 4″ looks like it’s got all the makings of an epic war film that is, supposedly, based on a true story. My history of Henry of Navarre is a tad off (which is to say, nonexistent), so I’ll take the movie’s word for what they say happened, happened. But nevermind the history lesson. As a movie, Jo Baier’s “Henry of Navarre” looks appropriately epic, and that’s its biggest selling point to me. It is the mid-16th Century and France is awash with blood, as the protestant Huguenots fight for survival against dark forces led by the treacherous Catherine De Medici. When she orchestrates the ultimate betrayal at the infamous St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, King Henry IV will fight his life’s greatest...
- 6/7/2011
- by Nix
- Beyond Hollywood
Cologne, Germany – Germany has kicked off its campaign for best Foreign Language Oscar with a nine-film shortlist.
The contenders to be Germany's official 2011 Oscar candidate include, not surprisingly, three Nazi-era dramas: Ludi Boekens "Saviors in the Night," "Habermann" from director Juraj Herz and Oskar Roehler's controversial Nazi melodrama "Jew Suss – Rise and Fall."
The other titles picked by local promotion body German Films Service + Marketing include Matti Geschonneck's "Boxhagener Platz," a period drama set in East Berlin in 1968; Feo Aladag's honor killing drama "When We Leave;" Jo Baier's historic epic "Henry of Navarre;" The family drama "The Coming Days" from Lars Kraume and cross-cultural romance "Same Same But Different" from director Detlev Buck.
A nine-member jury of German industry professionals will pick the official nominee on Sept. 17. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film on Jan.
The contenders to be Germany's official 2011 Oscar candidate include, not surprisingly, three Nazi-era dramas: Ludi Boekens "Saviors in the Night," "Habermann" from director Juraj Herz and Oskar Roehler's controversial Nazi melodrama "Jew Suss – Rise and Fall."
The other titles picked by local promotion body German Films Service + Marketing include Matti Geschonneck's "Boxhagener Platz," a period drama set in East Berlin in 1968; Feo Aladag's honor killing drama "When We Leave;" Jo Baier's historic epic "Henry of Navarre;" The family drama "The Coming Days" from Lars Kraume and cross-cultural romance "Same Same But Different" from director Detlev Buck.
A nine-member jury of German industry professionals will pick the official nominee on Sept. 17. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film on Jan.
- 9/8/2010
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Two highly-anticipated second feature films from U.S. underground filmmakers will be making their World Premieres all the way over at the 64th annual Edinburgh International Film Festival, which will run for twelve days on June 16-27. The films are Rona Mark’s The Crab and Zach Clark’s Vacation!.
The Crab, which screens on June 21, is the touching story of a verbally abusive man born with two enormous, mutant-like hands; while Vacation!, which screens on June 20, tracks four urban gals let loose in a sunny seaside resort down South.
Both Mark and Clark previously screened their debut features at Eiff. Mark’s Strange Girls screened there in 2008 and Clark’s Modern Love Is Automatic screened in 2009. Both films also ended up as runners-up in Bad Lit’s annual Movie of the Year award, again Strange Girls in 2008 and Modern Love in 2009. Sadly, these two masterpieces are still unavailable on...
The Crab, which screens on June 21, is the touching story of a verbally abusive man born with two enormous, mutant-like hands; while Vacation!, which screens on June 20, tracks four urban gals let loose in a sunny seaside resort down South.
Both Mark and Clark previously screened their debut features at Eiff. Mark’s Strange Girls screened there in 2008 and Clark’s Modern Love Is Automatic screened in 2009. Both films also ended up as runners-up in Bad Lit’s annual Movie of the Year award, again Strange Girls in 2008 and Modern Love in 2009. Sadly, these two masterpieces are still unavailable on...
- 6/4/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Cologne, Germany -- Beta Cinema found new friends for "Mein Bester Feind," (My Best Enemy), selling the Nazi-era drama directed by Wolfgang Murnberger ("The Bone Man") and starring Moritz Bleibtreu, Georg Friedrich and Udo Samel to Metrodome in the U.K., Erg in China and Hollywood Classic Entertainment for the Czech Republic and Slovakia. All three distributors handled Oscar-winner "The Counterfeiters" (2007) from "Mein Bester Feind" producer Aichholzer.
The film tells the story of the strange friendship between Victor Kaufmann (Bleibtreu) and Rudi Smekal (Friedrich), one the son of a Jewish merchant, the other a working class German who joins the SS. When Kaufmann is rounded up by the Nazis and sent to a concentration camp, Smekal intervenes to save his life but only so Kaufmann can help him in a secret Nazi mission.
Erg also picked up Beta's "Hidden," another World War II drama, directed by Poland's Agnieszka Holland ("Europa,...
The film tells the story of the strange friendship between Victor Kaufmann (Bleibtreu) and Rudi Smekal (Friedrich), one the son of a Jewish merchant, the other a working class German who joins the SS. When Kaufmann is rounded up by the Nazis and sent to a concentration camp, Smekal intervenes to save his life but only so Kaufmann can help him in a secret Nazi mission.
Erg also picked up Beta's "Hidden," another World War II drama, directed by Poland's Agnieszka Holland ("Europa,...
- 5/27/2010
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cannes -- Cannes may be the celebration of Le Cinema, but increasingly, European filmmakers are turning to the small screen to get their movies made.
Oliver Assayas' Out of Competition entry "Carlos," which had its first market screening Saturday ahead of its festival bow, is just the latest in a flood of hybrid productions that span the gap between film and TV.
Examples include Swedish crime sensation "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," the critically acclaimed Brit noir trilogy "Red Riding" or German Oscar contender "The Baader Meinhof Complex." All were made simultaneously as films and as TV series, giving producers a double-dip of commission cash and film subsidies to build their budget.
"This is almost the standard way to produce in Germany. There are virtually no German movies made without TV money in them," said Regina Ziegler, who found the $20 million needed to bankroll Jo Baier's "Henry of...
Oliver Assayas' Out of Competition entry "Carlos," which had its first market screening Saturday ahead of its festival bow, is just the latest in a flood of hybrid productions that span the gap between film and TV.
Examples include Swedish crime sensation "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," the critically acclaimed Brit noir trilogy "Red Riding" or German Oscar contender "The Baader Meinhof Complex." All were made simultaneously as films and as TV series, giving producers a double-dip of commission cash and film subsidies to build their budget.
"This is almost the standard way to produce in Germany. There are virtually no German movies made without TV money in them," said Regina Ziegler, who found the $20 million needed to bankroll Jo Baier's "Henry of...
- 5/15/2010
- by By Scott Roxborough and Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Berlin -- Rob Marshall's musical "Nine," Jo Baier's period epic "Henry of Navarre" and "L'Illusionist," the new animated film by French director Sylvain Chomet ("The Triplets of Belleville") will get the red carpet treatment at the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival as part of the event's special screenings program.
The non-competitive sidebar will also feature the world premieres of Doris Doerrie's new romantic comedy, "The Hairdresser," Silvio Soldini's "What More Do I Want" and "Boxhagener Platz," a German-language mystery from director Matti Geschonneck.
Several documentaries will be included in program, among them "How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster?" a Spanish-British doc on star architect Lord Foster and "Dancing Dreams" from German filmmakers Anne Linsel and Rainer Hoffmann on legendary choreographer Pina Bausch.
But the can't-miss highlight of this year's program is the newly restored, and finally complete, version of Fritz Lang's "Metropolis," which will have its world premiere on Feb.
The non-competitive sidebar will also feature the world premieres of Doris Doerrie's new romantic comedy, "The Hairdresser," Silvio Soldini's "What More Do I Want" and "Boxhagener Platz," a German-language mystery from director Matti Geschonneck.
Several documentaries will be included in program, among them "How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster?" a Spanish-British doc on star architect Lord Foster and "Dancing Dreams" from German filmmakers Anne Linsel and Rainer Hoffmann on legendary choreographer Pina Bausch.
But the can't-miss highlight of this year's program is the newly restored, and finally complete, version of Fritz Lang's "Metropolis," which will have its world premiere on Feb.
- 1/21/2010
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cologne, Germany -- Ziegler Film, one of Germany's leading indie production companies, has launched a theatrical distribution arm, Ziegler Cinema, to handle its expanding slate of feature films.
Yoko Higuchi-Zitzmann, a film acquisitions exec at Telepool and Constantin Film, will run the new division.
The first big title to go out under the Ziegler Cinema label will be Jo Baier's "Henry of Navarre," a period epic based on the novel by Henrich Mann, which will bow in Germany March 18.
Other Ziegler features in the pipeline include the drama "The Concubine of Shanghai," based on the novel by Chinese author Hong Ying; the period piece "Die Hexe und die Helige" (The Witch and the Saint); an adaptation of Veronika Peters' best-selling biography "Was in zwei Koffer passt" (What fits in two suitcases); and German-language comedies "Frisch gepresset" (Freshly Squeezed) and "Bau auf! Bau auf!" (Build up! Build up!).
Ziegler Film,...
Yoko Higuchi-Zitzmann, a film acquisitions exec at Telepool and Constantin Film, will run the new division.
The first big title to go out under the Ziegler Cinema label will be Jo Baier's "Henry of Navarre," a period epic based on the novel by Henrich Mann, which will bow in Germany March 18.
Other Ziegler features in the pipeline include the drama "The Concubine of Shanghai," based on the novel by Chinese author Hong Ying; the period piece "Die Hexe und die Helige" (The Witch and the Saint); an adaptation of Veronika Peters' best-selling biography "Was in zwei Koffer passt" (What fits in two suitcases); and German-language comedies "Frisch gepresset" (Freshly Squeezed) and "Bau auf! Bau auf!" (Build up! Build up!).
Ziegler Film,...
- 1/12/2010
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
PARIS -- The Monte Carlo Television Festival's conference program will include the sessions "Reality TV vs. TV Reality" and "Television USA: The Real Dilemma," both discussions on reality shows; "Scripted Formats: Writes of Passage"; and "Focus on Latin America"; as well as a spotlight on formats in the Asia Pacific region, organizers said Tuesday. The event's 44th edition runs June 28-July 3. The festival will kick off with the German film "Stauffenberg", about the unsuccessful assassination attempt on Hitler in July 1944 by a group of high-ranking German army officers. Directed and scripted by Jo Baier, the film stars Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur and Hardy Kruger Jr.
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