Winner of the audience award and prize for best creation at this year’s Monte-Carlo Television Festival, six-part drama “The Seed” mixes Scandi-noir, ecological concerns and corridors-of-power intrigue into a tense geopolitical thriller that turns around the most elemental of concerns.
“Beneath all the thriller convention we explore this question of who feeds the world,” says show creator Christian Jeltsch. “Because whoever feeds the world has a hold on political power, and today only three companies supply us all.”
The seeds (ahem) of the idea were planted years ago, when Jeltsch read about mercenaries destroying a seed vault in Aleppo and connected the idea to the very real Svalbard Global Seed Vault just off the North Pole. The wheels began turning, the seeds took to sprouting, and soon the show-writer had a narrative full of international intrigue that begins when a young German activist goes missing on the Norwegian northern archipelago.
“Beneath all the thriller convention we explore this question of who feeds the world,” says show creator Christian Jeltsch. “Because whoever feeds the world has a hold on political power, and today only three companies supply us all.”
The seeds (ahem) of the idea were planted years ago, when Jeltsch read about mercenaries destroying a seed vault in Aleppo and connected the idea to the very real Svalbard Global Seed Vault just off the North Pole. The wheels began turning, the seeds took to sprouting, and soon the show-writer had a narrative full of international intrigue that begins when a young German activist goes missing on the Norwegian northern archipelago.
- 6/21/2023
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Leonine Studios has taken worldwide rights to German-Norwegian thriller series The Seed (working title), which is set around the explosive takeover of a seed company and comes from Chameleon writer Christian Jeltsch.
The Germany-based producer-distributor joins its subsidiary Odeon Fiction, alongside co-commissioners German broadcaster Ard Degeto and Norway’s Nrk and Czech producer Mia Film on the production, which began shooting on May 10 at spectacular original locations in Spitsbergen (Norway), Munich (Germany) and Prague (Czech Republic). The service producer in Spitsbergen is PolarX As.
Jeltsch, who is writing upcoming Sky Deutschland corporate lobbying mystery drama Chameleon and works on Ard procedural Tatort, is creator and head writer of the English-language series. He wrote the screenplays with Axel Hellstenius and Alexander Dierbach (Line of Separation) is directing.
Westworld‘s Ingrid Bolsø Berdal Heino Ferch stars opposite Heino Ferch.
The drama uses the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen as the backdrop to the six-part thriller. The vault acts as an insurance policy and backup facility for crops globally by providing storage for seed duplicates storied in gene banks around the world.
The Seed follows German detective Max (Ferch) and Norwegian policewoman Thea (Bolsø Berdal), who set out to find Max’s missing nephew Victor (Jonathan Berlin) in Spitsbergen. It soon becomes apparent his disappearance may be connected to the takeover of a seed company that is causing controversy in Brussels. As they plunge deeper into webs of intrigue and political interests they find their own lives in danger too.
Rainer Bock, Seumas Sargent, Erik Madsen and Friederike Becht round out the international cast.
“With The Seed, we would like to draw attention to an important global issue because it is about the struggle for food,” Ard Degeto Senior Vice President of Drama Christoph Pellander told Deadline. “With a top cast in front of and behind the camera, this is an exciting German-Norwegian co-production that will not only reach the German audience but also attract international attention.“
Pellander is overseeing the drama for Ard Degeto along with Head of Acquisitions and Co-Productions Sebastian Lückel, with Elisabeth Tangen doing the same for Nrk. The producers are Odeon Fiction’s Britta Meyermann (Spy City) and Mischa Hofmann and the Director of Photography is Ian Blumers. FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Creative Europe Media of the European Union, the German Motion Picture Fund and the Czech Tax Incentive are supporting the production.
Babylon Berlin commissioner Ard Degeto and Nrk have been two of the most active co-producers of European drama this year. Last month, Deadline revealed Nrk had ordered a drama about Leonard Cohen’s relationship with muse Marianne Ihlen from the UK’s Buccaneer Media, Oslo-based Redpoint Productions and Canada’s Connect3 Media, for example.
Ard Degeto is working on several new dramas, including mystery thriller series Oderbruch, which is co-produced by Syrreal Entertainment and CBS Studios. Others such as Scandinavian series Blackwater, co-produced with Sweden’s Svt, ITV Studios-owned Apple Tree Productions and Filmpool Nord) are in post-production.
The firm is a wholly owned subsidiary of German public broadcaster Ard, commissioning and producing more than 100 productions of feature films, TV movies and series each year. It also acquires programs, with all of its content going out on the Das Erste (Ardi) channel and streaming platform Mediathek.
The Germany-based producer-distributor joins its subsidiary Odeon Fiction, alongside co-commissioners German broadcaster Ard Degeto and Norway’s Nrk and Czech producer Mia Film on the production, which began shooting on May 10 at spectacular original locations in Spitsbergen (Norway), Munich (Germany) and Prague (Czech Republic). The service producer in Spitsbergen is PolarX As.
Jeltsch, who is writing upcoming Sky Deutschland corporate lobbying mystery drama Chameleon and works on Ard procedural Tatort, is creator and head writer of the English-language series. He wrote the screenplays with Axel Hellstenius and Alexander Dierbach (Line of Separation) is directing.
Westworld‘s Ingrid Bolsø Berdal Heino Ferch stars opposite Heino Ferch.
The drama uses the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen as the backdrop to the six-part thriller. The vault acts as an insurance policy and backup facility for crops globally by providing storage for seed duplicates storied in gene banks around the world.
The Seed follows German detective Max (Ferch) and Norwegian policewoman Thea (Bolsø Berdal), who set out to find Max’s missing nephew Victor (Jonathan Berlin) in Spitsbergen. It soon becomes apparent his disappearance may be connected to the takeover of a seed company that is causing controversy in Brussels. As they plunge deeper into webs of intrigue and political interests they find their own lives in danger too.
Rainer Bock, Seumas Sargent, Erik Madsen and Friederike Becht round out the international cast.
“With The Seed, we would like to draw attention to an important global issue because it is about the struggle for food,” Ard Degeto Senior Vice President of Drama Christoph Pellander told Deadline. “With a top cast in front of and behind the camera, this is an exciting German-Norwegian co-production that will not only reach the German audience but also attract international attention.“
Pellander is overseeing the drama for Ard Degeto along with Head of Acquisitions and Co-Productions Sebastian Lückel, with Elisabeth Tangen doing the same for Nrk. The producers are Odeon Fiction’s Britta Meyermann (Spy City) and Mischa Hofmann and the Director of Photography is Ian Blumers. FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Creative Europe Media of the European Union, the German Motion Picture Fund and the Czech Tax Incentive are supporting the production.
Babylon Berlin commissioner Ard Degeto and Nrk have been two of the most active co-producers of European drama this year. Last month, Deadline revealed Nrk had ordered a drama about Leonard Cohen’s relationship with muse Marianne Ihlen from the UK’s Buccaneer Media, Oslo-based Redpoint Productions and Canada’s Connect3 Media, for example.
Ard Degeto is working on several new dramas, including mystery thriller series Oderbruch, which is co-produced by Syrreal Entertainment and CBS Studios. Others such as Scandinavian series Blackwater, co-produced with Sweden’s Svt, ITV Studios-owned Apple Tree Productions and Filmpool Nord) are in post-production.
The firm is a wholly owned subsidiary of German public broadcaster Ard, commissioning and producing more than 100 productions of feature films, TV movies and series each year. It also acquires programs, with all of its content going out on the Das Erste (Ardi) channel and streaming platform Mediathek.
- 5/24/2022
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
'Downfall' movie: Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler 'Downfall' movie: Overlong and overwrought World War II drama lifted by several memorable performances Oliver Hirschbiegel's German box office hit Downfall / Der Untergang is a generally engrossing psychological-historical drama whose emotional charge is diluted by excessive length, an overabundance of characters, and a tendency to emphasize the more obvious aspects of the narrative. Several key performances – including Bruno Ganz's now iconic Adolf Hitler – help to lift Downfall above the level of myriad other World War II movies. Nazi Germany literally goes under In Downfall, which by the end of 2004 had been seen by more than 4.5 million German moviegoers, Nazi Germany is about to lose the war. In his underground bunker, Adolf Hitler (Bruno Ganz) grows increasingly out of touch with reality as he sees his dream of Deutschland über alles go kaput. Some of those under his command are equally incapable of thinking coherently.
- 5/10/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The nominations for the 41st International Emmy Awards have been announced.
19 countries are represented this year, with the ceremony taking place on November 25 in New York City. Mrs. Biggs actress Sheridan Smith is nominated, while famed director Jj Abrams will receive the 'Founders Award'.
Sky sitcom Moone Boy is up for 'Best Comedy' and Sean Bean could win the acting award for Accused.
"Every year, the global television community competes for an Emmy, the most prestigious of all media awards, and we congratulate the 2013 Nominees for their outstanding programmes and performances." said Bruce L. Paisner, president and CEO of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
The full list of 36 nominees in 9 categories are below:
Arts Programming
Hello?! Orchestra
Mbc / San Media
South Korea
Soundtrack
Geronimo Bvba
Belgium
Multiple Views — La Maquina Loca (The Crazy Machine)
TV Unam/El Caiman Films/Alebrije
Mexico
Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender
Emp...
19 countries are represented this year, with the ceremony taking place on November 25 in New York City. Mrs. Biggs actress Sheridan Smith is nominated, while famed director Jj Abrams will receive the 'Founders Award'.
Sky sitcom Moone Boy is up for 'Best Comedy' and Sean Bean could win the acting award for Accused.
"Every year, the global television community competes for an Emmy, the most prestigious of all media awards, and we congratulate the 2013 Nominees for their outstanding programmes and performances." said Bruce L. Paisner, president and CEO of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
The full list of 36 nominees in 9 categories are below:
Arts Programming
Hello?! Orchestra
Mbc / San Media
South Korea
Soundtrack
Geronimo Bvba
Belgium
Multiple Views — La Maquina Loca (The Crazy Machine)
TV Unam/El Caiman Films/Alebrije
Mexico
Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender
Emp...
- 10/7/2013
- Digital Spy
Shows and talent from 19 countries make up the roster of nominees for this year’s International Emmy Awards, the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said today at Mipcom. The 41st annual event takes place on November 25th in New York where J.J. Abrams will receive the 2013 Founders Award and Rtl’s Anke Schäferkordt will receive the 2013 Directorate Award. Among the nominees are Sean Bean as Best Actor for the BBC’s Accused; Sheridan Smith as Best Actress for ITV’s Mrs Biggs; last year’s Oscar nominated documentary 5 Broken Cameras; and France’s drama series Les Revenants which is getting a U.S. redo courtesy of A+E Studios and FremantleMedia North America. For a full list of nominees, turn the page: Arts Programming Hello?! Orchestra Mbc / San Media South Korea Soundtrack Geronimo Bvba Belgium Multiple Views – La Máquina Loca (The Crazy Machine) TV Unam / El Caiman Films / Alebrije...
- 10/7/2013
- by NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor
- Deadline TV
Nobody can deny that Hollywood dominates the global film industry. Though India may release a higher quantity of films each year, their appeal is largely limited to their country of origin, whilst American features dominate across the globe.
As a result of this, most domestic film industries around the world are somewhat limited in capacity, unable to produce films with budgets comparable to their American counterparts.
However, this is not to say that non-American nations cannot produce films with a level of quality comparable or even superior to American features, as the five films featured on this list, highlights of German cinema from 2000-present (which means that other excellent films such as 1981’s Das Boot, 1998’s Run Lola Run and 1927’s Metropolis are omitted), are testament to.
5. Der Tunnel (The Tunnel)
Year – 2001, Director – Roland Suso Richter, Starring – Heino Ferch, Sebastian Koch, Alexandra Maria Lara, Nicolette Krebitz.
Made for German television,...
As a result of this, most domestic film industries around the world are somewhat limited in capacity, unable to produce films with budgets comparable to their American counterparts.
However, this is not to say that non-American nations cannot produce films with a level of quality comparable or even superior to American features, as the five films featured on this list, highlights of German cinema from 2000-present (which means that other excellent films such as 1981’s Das Boot, 1998’s Run Lola Run and 1927’s Metropolis are omitted), are testament to.
5. Der Tunnel (The Tunnel)
Year – 2001, Director – Roland Suso Richter, Starring – Heino Ferch, Sebastian Koch, Alexandra Maria Lara, Nicolette Krebitz.
Made for German television,...
- 11/12/2012
- by Alex Antliff
- Obsessed with Film
Ah, the call of the open road! The old wanderlust has grabbed many movie characters from Harry and Tonto to the Grisswalds. Some of them hit the road to also fulfill a mission like Jake and Ellwood Blues. And a few are trying to get away from an institution or facility like McMurphy and his guys or Michael Keaton’s Dream Team. The trio in Ralf Huettner’s new film Vincent Wants To Sea encompasses all those groups. This quirky road picture is German-made and is about a European excursion. And like many of these other films, it’s not about the destination-it’s about the journey.
We first meet Vincent ( Florian David Fitz ) attending the funeral of his much beloved Mother. After several unfortunate verbal outbursts, he races out of the memorial service-he has Tourette’s syndrome. Later Vincent’s estranged father, an ambitious politico ( Heino Ferch ), checks him...
We first meet Vincent ( Florian David Fitz ) attending the funeral of his much beloved Mother. After several unfortunate verbal outbursts, he races out of the memorial service-he has Tourette’s syndrome. Later Vincent’s estranged father, an ambitious politico ( Heino Ferch ), checks him...
- 8/19/2011
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
New poster from Vincent Wants to Sea a.k.a. Vincent will Meer, starring Florian David Fitz and Karoline Herfurth. This is the second poster from the Dalf Huettner drama which also stars Heino Ferch, Katharina Müller-Elmau, JOhannes Allmayer, Karin Thaler, Tim Seyfi and Christoph Zrenner. Vincent Wants to Sea follows a young man suffering from Tourette's syndrome who leaves a mental institution accompanied with two other inhabitants, aiming to travel to Italy and fulfill his mother's last wish.
- 6/23/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
New poster from Vincent Wants to Sea a.k.a. Vincent will Meer, starring Florian David Fitz and Karoline Herfurth. This is the second poster from the Dalf Huettner drama which also stars Heino Ferch, Katharina Müller-Elmau, JOhannes Allmayer, Karin Thaler, Tim Seyfi and Christoph Zrenner. Vincent Wants to Sea follows a young man suffering from Tourette's syndrome who leaves a mental institution accompanied with two other inhabitants, aiming to travel to Italy and fulfill his mother's last wish.
- 6/23/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
New poster from Vincent Wants to Sea a.k.a. Vincent will Meer, starring Florian David Fitz and Karoline Herfurth. This is the second poster from the Dalf Huettner drama which also stars Heino Ferch, Katharina Müller-Elmau, JOhannes Allmayer, Karin Thaler, Tim Seyfi and Christoph Zrenner. Vincent Wants to Sea follows a young man suffering from Tourette's syndrome who leaves a mental institution accompanied with two other inhabitants, aiming to travel to Italy and fulfill his mother's last wish.
- 6/23/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Title: Vincent Wants To Sea Directed By: Ralf Huettner Written By: Florian David Fitz Cast: Florian David Fitz, Karoline Herfurth, Heino Ferch, Katherina Müller-Elmau, Johannes Allmayer Screened at: Broadway, NYC, 6/8/11 Opens: June 24, 2011 Al Capp, the creator of the comic strip “L’il Abner,” was extremely conservative politically. During the Vietnam War protests, when students took over Columbia University, smoking the dean’s cigars and sitting on the ledge outside his window, Capp sniffed: “The inmates are running the asylum.” Generally, that’s not a good idea, many of us would agree, but sometimes the residents of a institution for emotional problems can do more for one another than the staff....
- 6/20/2011
- by Brian Corder
- ShockYa
Netflix has revolutionized the home movie experience for fans of film with its instant streaming technology. Netflix Nuggets is my way of spreading the word about independent, classic and foreign films made available by Netflix for instant streaming.
This Week’s New Instant Releases…
Promised Lands (1974)
Streaming Available: 04/19/2011
Cast: Documentary
Director: Susan Sontag
Synopsis: Set in Israel during the final days of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, this powerful documentary — initially barred by Israel authorities — from writer-director Susan Sontag examines divergent perceptions of the enduring Arab-Israeli clash. Weighing in on matters related to socialism, anti-Semitism, nation sovereignty and American materialism are The Last Jew writer Yoram Kaniuk and military physicist Yuval Ne’eman.
Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen (2009)
Streaming Available: 04/19/2011
Cast: Barbara Sukowa, Heino Ferch, Hannah Herzsprung, Gerald Alexander Held, Lena Stolze, Sunnyi Melles
Synopsis: Directed by longtime star of independent German cinema Margarethe von Trotta, this reverent...
This Week’s New Instant Releases…
Promised Lands (1974)
Streaming Available: 04/19/2011
Cast: Documentary
Director: Susan Sontag
Synopsis: Set in Israel during the final days of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, this powerful documentary — initially barred by Israel authorities — from writer-director Susan Sontag examines divergent perceptions of the enduring Arab-Israeli clash. Weighing in on matters related to socialism, anti-Semitism, nation sovereignty and American materialism are The Last Jew writer Yoram Kaniuk and military physicist Yuval Ne’eman.
Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen (2009)
Streaming Available: 04/19/2011
Cast: Barbara Sukowa, Heino Ferch, Hannah Herzsprung, Gerald Alexander Held, Lena Stolze, Sunnyi Melles
Synopsis: Directed by longtime star of independent German cinema Margarethe von Trotta, this reverent...
- 4/20/2011
- by Travis Keune
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Der Untergang / Downfall (2004) Direction: Oliver Hirschbiegel Cast: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Juliane Köhler, Corinna Harfouch, Ulrich Matthes, Heino Ferch, Thomas Kretschmann Screenplay: Bernd Eichinger; from Joachim Fest's book Untergang: Hitler und das Ende des Dritten Reiches / Inside Hitler's Bunker: The Last Days of the Third Reich and Traudl Junge and Melissa Müller's Bis zur letzten Stunde / Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary Oscar Movies Recommended with Reservations Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler in Oliver Hirschbiegel's Downfall Oliver Hirschbiegel's German box-office hit Der Untergang / Downfall is a generally effective war drama, whose emotional power is marred by excessive length, an overabundance of characters, and a certain tendency to emphasize the more obvious aspects of the story. In Downfall, which by the end of 2004 had ad been seen by more than 4.5 million German filmgoers, Nazi Germany is about to lose the war. In his underground [...]...
- 2/4/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Vision: From The Life Of Hildegard Von Bingen is the biography of Hildegard von Bingen, the multi-talented 12th century German nun. Von Bingen was an author and playwright, composer of Gregorian chants, a visionary bibliophile, physician, botanist, and a practitioner of holistic medicine with advanced knowledge of herbal healing. Sounds exciting, huh? It’s not but German director Margarethe von Trotta’s film is an impressive accomplishment on many levels. Historically it must have been a real challenge to illustrate so vividly this life lived almost 900 years ago with such attention to facts and details and visually it’s a real stunner. Von Trotta, an actress turned director, gets great work from her mostly female cast but the film goes on too long and ultimately left this reviewer cold
Vision: From The Life Of Hildegard Von Bingen takes place in a time when men dominated, especially within the church, and...
Vision: From The Life Of Hildegard Von Bingen takes place in a time when men dominated, especially within the church, and...
- 11/24/2010
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Written and directed by Margarethe von Trotta
Featuring Barbara Sukowa, Hannah Herzsprung, Mareile Blendl, Lena Stolze, Heino Ferch, Annika
Hildegard von Bingen was a 12th-century abbess who really pissed off the men around her.
The world of the 11th-century was one in which the overreaching arms of the patriarchal Catholic church controlled every aspect of women’s (and most men’s) lives; a woman was told when she can have sex, with whom, and for what purposes. She was told what power she could have in her family and who she must obey (men). And for a nun in the middle ages, it was a dozen times worse. Nuns were the bottom of the rung, and still are, in the catholic church, beholden to their male leaders *cough* oppressors. That’s why the story of Hildegard von Bingen, thankfully still in existence due to numerous volumes dictated by the nun herself,...
Featuring Barbara Sukowa, Hannah Herzsprung, Mareile Blendl, Lena Stolze, Heino Ferch, Annika
Hildegard von Bingen was a 12th-century abbess who really pissed off the men around her.
The world of the 11th-century was one in which the overreaching arms of the patriarchal Catholic church controlled every aspect of women’s (and most men’s) lives; a woman was told when she can have sex, with whom, and for what purposes. She was told what power she could have in her family and who she must obey (men). And for a nun in the middle ages, it was a dozen times worse. Nuns were the bottom of the rung, and still are, in the catholic church, beholden to their male leaders *cough* oppressors. That’s why the story of Hildegard von Bingen, thankfully still in existence due to numerous volumes dictated by the nun herself,...
- 11/7/2010
- by Superheidi
- Planet Fury
Barbara Sukowa as Hildegard von Bingen in Vision Margarethe von Trotta's Vision, Official Selection at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals, will open (via Zeitgeist Films) in Los Angeles at the Laemmle theaters on November 12. A national release will follow. In Vision, two-time European Film Award nominee Barbara Sukowa plays Hildegard von Bingen, a 12th-century Benedictine nun who was a Christian mystic, composer, philosopher, playwright, poet, naturalist, scientist, physician, herbalist and ecological activist. Vision is the fourth feature-film collaboration between writer-director von Trotta and star Sukowa. Their prior joint effort, L'africana, was released in 1990. The first von Trotta-Sukowa effort, Die Bleierne Zeit / Marianne and Juliane, won the Golden Lion at the 1981 Venice Film Festival. Von Trotta was the first female director to take home that award. Also in the Vision cast: Heino Ferch, Gerald Alexander Held, Hannah Herzsprung, Annemarie Düringer and Lena Stolze. Photo: Zeitgeist Films...
- 10/25/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
As a historical drama, Margarethe von Trotta's Vision is easy to appreciate because of its competent execution. Unfortunately, the film might leave enthusiasts of medieval history very hungry because it favours some angles more than others that are more relevant.
The latest film by German director Margarethe von Trotta (Rosenstrasse) follows Hildegard von Bingen (Barbara Sukowa), a German nun best known for her musical compositions, her knowledge in herbal medicine and her religious "visions". In 1106, at the age of eight, Hildegard is sent by her parents at the Benedictine monastery of Disibodenberg. Under the supervision of mother Jutta (Lena Stolze), Hildegard studies herbal medicine, reading, writing and Christianity. Thirty years later, mother Jutta dies and Hildegard is elected as the female abbot by her sisters.
Because she believes she occasionally has "visions" sent by God, Hildegard describes them to brother Volmar (Heino Ferch). With the authorization of the pope,...
The latest film by German director Margarethe von Trotta (Rosenstrasse) follows Hildegard von Bingen (Barbara Sukowa), a German nun best known for her musical compositions, her knowledge in herbal medicine and her religious "visions". In 1106, at the age of eight, Hildegard is sent by her parents at the Benedictine monastery of Disibodenberg. Under the supervision of mother Jutta (Lena Stolze), Hildegard studies herbal medicine, reading, writing and Christianity. Thirty years later, mother Jutta dies and Hildegard is elected as the female abbot by her sisters.
Because she believes she occasionally has "visions" sent by God, Hildegard describes them to brother Volmar (Heino Ferch). With the authorization of the pope,...
- 10/15/2010
- by anhkhoido@hotmail.com (Anh Khoi Do)
- The Cultural Post
Director: Margarethe von Trotta Writer: Margarethe von Trotta Starring: Barbara Sukowa, Heino Ferch, Hannah Herzsprung, Gerald Alexander Held, Paula Kalenberg, Sunnyi Melles, Annemarie Düringer, Devid Striesow, Annika, Katinka Auberger Hildegard von Bingen (Barbara Sukowa) is a 12th-century Benedictine nun-turned-magistra -- as well as a seer, composer, philosopher, playwright, poet, scientist, naturalist and herbalist -- who is often revered as an early feminist icon. Sent to Disibodenberg Cloister at age 8 (many historians claim von Bingen was not cloistered until age 14), von Bingen is placed in the care of the magistra of the cloister, Jutta (Lena Stolze). Upon Jutta's death, von Bingen is elected as magistra of the cloister. After one of her nuns becomes pregnant at Disibodenberg, von Bingen and about twenty nuns move into the newly constructed St. Rupertsberg monastery -- von Bingen’s loyal confident and teacher Volmar (Heino Ferch) serves as their provost. Vision is reminiscent of director...
- 10/15/2010
- by Don Simpson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
Cologne, Germany -- Isabel Kleefeld's adaptation of "Ruhm" (Fame) from best-selling author Daniel Kehlmann ("Measuring the World") received €1.28 ($1.72 million) million in production financing from regional film subsidy body Filmstiftung Nrw.
The novel, one of the top ten bestsellers in Germany last year, is a series of nine interconnected stories about people taking on new identities. "Ruhm" is set to begin shooting this September as a co-production between Germany's Little Shark Entertainment, Austria's Dor Film and Switzerland's Hugofilm. The large ensemble cast includes German actors Heino Ferch and Senta Berger.
Another Kehlmann project is currently in development: the drama "Me and Kaminski," which Wolfgang Becker ("Good Bye, Lenin!") will direct with Daniel Bruhl ("Inglourious Basterds") to star.
The novel, one of the top ten bestsellers in Germany last year, is a series of nine interconnected stories about people taking on new identities. "Ruhm" is set to begin shooting this September as a co-production between Germany's Little Shark Entertainment, Austria's Dor Film and Switzerland's Hugofilm. The large ensemble cast includes German actors Heino Ferch and Senta Berger.
Another Kehlmann project is currently in development: the drama "Me and Kaminski," which Wolfgang Becker ("Good Bye, Lenin!") will direct with Daniel Bruhl ("Inglourious Basterds") to star.
- 4/19/2010
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
BERLIN -- Potsdam-based UFA Cinema has scored a 200,000 euros ($310,000) subsidy from local body Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg for its theatrical project "Hanni und Nanni", based on the popular series of classic children's books by Enid Blyton.
The offshoot of the German television giant launched this year with the intention of developing its theatrical business, at a time when many companies were going in the other direction -- toward Germany's lucrative TV market.
The co-production with Teamworx will star Hannelore Elsner, Katharina Thalbach and Heino Ferch. The director has yet to be announced.
Medienboard also funded comedian Mario Barth's theatrical debut "Mannersache", allocating 400,000 euros ($620,000) to the Constantin production, which will focus on male/female relationships.
Of the 108 projects vying for money in this funding round, Medienboard rewarded 47 with a total 5.9 million euros ($9.1 million).
The offshoot of the German television giant launched this year with the intention of developing its theatrical business, at a time when many companies were going in the other direction -- toward Germany's lucrative TV market.
The co-production with Teamworx will star Hannelore Elsner, Katharina Thalbach and Heino Ferch. The director has yet to be announced.
Medienboard also funded comedian Mario Barth's theatrical debut "Mannersache", allocating 400,000 euros ($620,000) to the Constantin production, which will focus on male/female relationships.
Of the 108 projects vying for money in this funding round, Medienboard rewarded 47 with a total 5.9 million euros ($9.1 million).
- 6/19/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
COLOGNE -- The Airlift, the big budget two-parter from German production house TeamWorx. chronicling the 1948 Soviet blockade of Berlin and the U.S. effort to break it, soared above the competition on Sunday, with the first episode drawing a 24% market share and up to 9.9 million viewers for commercial channel Sat.1. The miniseries, which stars Heino Ferch, Bettina Zimmermann and Ulrich Noethen, was a direct hit with ad-relevant viewers, with 31% of the 14-49 year-old demographic tuning in. Sat.1 stuck with the historic theme, following the airing of the first half of Airlift with the documentary The Airlift - Berlin Won't Give Up, which featured eye-witness testimonies, including U.S. air force pilot Gail Halverson. The documentary retained much of the primetime audience, scoring a 20.3% market share with 5.77 million viewers.
- 11/28/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
BERLIN -- German actor Heino Ferch (Downfall) will host the 18th European Film Awards ceremony Dec. 3 in Berlin, the European Film Academy said Tuesday. The actor first hosted the EFAs in 2003. German director Pepe Danquart, best known for such documentaries as Hell On Wheels and Heimspiel, will take on artistic directing duties for the EFA broadcast, with veteran television producer Volker Weicker handling the evening's live ceremony. The EFAs, Europe's premiere film awards, will be broadcast in Germany on pubcaster ZDF, in France on ARTE and in the U.K. on ITV3.
- 11/22/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
PARIS -- Star power is the name of the game for French commercial network TF1, which on Monday unveiled a schedule that is rich with specially commissioned French fiction formats featuring local and international stars. This year's diverse crop of French fiction includes Julie Chevalier de Maupin, a 17th century drama set in Versailles starring Pierre Arditi and Sarah Biasini in the title role. Emmanuelle Beart, Tcheky Karyo, Vincent Elbaz and Heino Ferch will star in D'Artagnan et les 3 mousquetaires, an adaptation of The Three Musketeers. Gerard Depardieu will play Volpone, the 15th century Italian adventurer and crook, while Bernard Giraudeau plays an ace detective trying to crack a murder in Dans la tete du tueur (In the Killer's Head). Also scheduled for the coming year is Premier Secours, a fiction series about medical and fire emergency services in Paris.
- 8/31/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"Marlene" is irresistible -- which does not mean the same thing as being a good movie. But then everything connected to its dazzling subject, the late Marlene Dietrich, has always come tinged with ambiguity and contradictions. Was Dietrich one of the 20th century's greatest stars? Or was she a creature manufactured with her willing but nearly unconscious participation?
"Marlene" is one of those grand, silly celebrity biopics with glamorous decadence, coy suggestions of scandal and a parade of waxworks historical figures. With a budget of DM17.8 million ($9.4 million), "Marlene" claims to be the most expensive Film Production in postwar Germany. But it has not been designed for trans-Atlantic travel.
Shot entirely in German -- ludicrously so in Hollywood sections where everyone from Latino servants to Gary Cooper speaks German -- "Marlene" will have little theatrical impact domestically beyond festival appearances such as the Hollywood Film Festival, where it made its U.S. debut last week. Its best bet is a pay TV slot.
Dietrich's legend rests largely on her last German film, "The Blue Angel" (1930), and her first six American films made at Paramount, all directed by Josef von Sternberg -- her mentor, Svengali and, for many, creator. Those deliciously artificial romances were cinematic essays in tormented love and frustrated passions. At their center was this new icon of sadomasochistic eroticism, who both celebrated and ridiculed her sexuality.
She made films before and since, but it was this image and look, taught to her by von Sternberg, that Dietrich spent her career re-creating.
"Marlene" is blessed with an actress, Katja Flint, who embodies a good deal of the glamour, mischievousness and consuming ambitions of the diva. Flint moves beyond impersonation to a true acting performance in which she creates not Marlene Dietrich but "Marlene Dietrich" -- a person quite comfortable with herself and her highly unorthodox life, a person who has traded happiness for fame and is in no way sorry for making the Faustian bargain.
What is missing is Dietrich's wit. For while the performer took her work seriously, she didn't always take herself seriously.
Based on a biography by her daughter, Maria Riva, "Marlene" covers the period from 1929 to the end of World War II. Key figures include her husband, Rudolf Sieber (Herbert Knaup), whom she seldom saw but never divorced; von Sternberg (Hans-Werner Meyer); young Maria (Josefina Vilsmaier, then others); her nanny and her dad's lover, Tamara (Christiane Paul); and a fictional figure, a Prussian officer named Carl (Heino Ferch), supposedly the great love of Dietrich's life. The latter character is not only superfluous but unfortunate in that it denies Dietrich's fierce independence from such emotional entanglements.
The movie's major failing comes in its depiction of the Dietrich/
von Sternberg relationship. Meyer struts and preens but projects none of the mad-dog charisma and arrogance of the great director. Dietrich's open marriage to Sieber is fleshed out more fully, though you never see how this arrangement affects the daughter.
Dietrich is depicted as addicted to sex, cigarettes, diets, sleeping pills and booze. She is both a hard-working hausfrau and a glamorous bisexual adored by many but understood by few.
If the film is never quite able to figure out whom the real Marlene Dietrich is, well, join the club. Nobody ever did.
MARLENE
Amberlon Pictures
A TPI Trebitsch Production International/Perathon Film production
Producers: Katharina Trebitsch, Jutta Lieck-Klenke, Joseph Vilsmaier
Director/director of photography: Joseph Vilsmaier
Screenwriter: Christian Pfannenschmidt
Executive producer: Peter Sterr
Based on "My Mother Marlene" by: Maria Riva
Production designer: Rolf Zehetbauer
Music: Harald Kloser
Costume designers: Ute Hofinger, Lisy Christl, Brian Rennie
Editors: Barbara Hennings, Gabi Krober
Color/stereo
Cast:
Marlene Dietrich: Katja Flint
Rudolf Sieber: Herbert Knaup
Carl Seidlitz: Heino Ferch
Josef von Sternberg: Hans-Werner Meyer
Tamara Matul: Christiane Paul
Charlotte Seidlitz: Suzanne von Borsody
Running time -- 133 minutes
No MPAA rating...
"Marlene" is one of those grand, silly celebrity biopics with glamorous decadence, coy suggestions of scandal and a parade of waxworks historical figures. With a budget of DM17.8 million ($9.4 million), "Marlene" claims to be the most expensive Film Production in postwar Germany. But it has not been designed for trans-Atlantic travel.
Shot entirely in German -- ludicrously so in Hollywood sections where everyone from Latino servants to Gary Cooper speaks German -- "Marlene" will have little theatrical impact domestically beyond festival appearances such as the Hollywood Film Festival, where it made its U.S. debut last week. Its best bet is a pay TV slot.
Dietrich's legend rests largely on her last German film, "The Blue Angel" (1930), and her first six American films made at Paramount, all directed by Josef von Sternberg -- her mentor, Svengali and, for many, creator. Those deliciously artificial romances were cinematic essays in tormented love and frustrated passions. At their center was this new icon of sadomasochistic eroticism, who both celebrated and ridiculed her sexuality.
She made films before and since, but it was this image and look, taught to her by von Sternberg, that Dietrich spent her career re-creating.
"Marlene" is blessed with an actress, Katja Flint, who embodies a good deal of the glamour, mischievousness and consuming ambitions of the diva. Flint moves beyond impersonation to a true acting performance in which she creates not Marlene Dietrich but "Marlene Dietrich" -- a person quite comfortable with herself and her highly unorthodox life, a person who has traded happiness for fame and is in no way sorry for making the Faustian bargain.
What is missing is Dietrich's wit. For while the performer took her work seriously, she didn't always take herself seriously.
Based on a biography by her daughter, Maria Riva, "Marlene" covers the period from 1929 to the end of World War II. Key figures include her husband, Rudolf Sieber (Herbert Knaup), whom she seldom saw but never divorced; von Sternberg (Hans-Werner Meyer); young Maria (Josefina Vilsmaier, then others); her nanny and her dad's lover, Tamara (Christiane Paul); and a fictional figure, a Prussian officer named Carl (Heino Ferch), supposedly the great love of Dietrich's life. The latter character is not only superfluous but unfortunate in that it denies Dietrich's fierce independence from such emotional entanglements.
The movie's major failing comes in its depiction of the Dietrich/
von Sternberg relationship. Meyer struts and preens but projects none of the mad-dog charisma and arrogance of the great director. Dietrich's open marriage to Sieber is fleshed out more fully, though you never see how this arrangement affects the daughter.
Dietrich is depicted as addicted to sex, cigarettes, diets, sleeping pills and booze. She is both a hard-working hausfrau and a glamorous bisexual adored by many but understood by few.
If the film is never quite able to figure out whom the real Marlene Dietrich is, well, join the club. Nobody ever did.
MARLENE
Amberlon Pictures
A TPI Trebitsch Production International/Perathon Film production
Producers: Katharina Trebitsch, Jutta Lieck-Klenke, Joseph Vilsmaier
Director/director of photography: Joseph Vilsmaier
Screenwriter: Christian Pfannenschmidt
Executive producer: Peter Sterr
Based on "My Mother Marlene" by: Maria Riva
Production designer: Rolf Zehetbauer
Music: Harald Kloser
Costume designers: Ute Hofinger, Lisy Christl, Brian Rennie
Editors: Barbara Hennings, Gabi Krober
Color/stereo
Cast:
Marlene Dietrich: Katja Flint
Rudolf Sieber: Herbert Knaup
Carl Seidlitz: Heino Ferch
Josef von Sternberg: Hans-Werner Meyer
Tamara Matul: Christiane Paul
Charlotte Seidlitz: Suzanne von Borsody
Running time -- 133 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Director Tom Tykwer's international success with "Run Lola Run" has inspired distributors to rummage through his earlier films, looking for anything to release with his name above the title. "Winter Sleepers", made in 1997, makes its way into U.S. theaters under these circumstances.
While clues to Tykwer's considerable talent are to be found, they get buried in an avalanche of self-absorbed, maddeningly obtuse characters whose lives interest one not in the least.
The film will undoubtedly draw some fans of "Lola", but forget about the wildfire word-of-mouth that propelled that film into an art house wonder.
What will captivate Tykwer's admirers in "Winter Sleepers" is the knockout camerawork. Tykwer, working in Cinemascope with director of photography Frank Griebe, lets the camera restlessly prowl the snowy peaks and mountain passages of a German skiing village. He uses his camera to edit, to move from one shot to another without a cut. And the film ends with a breathtaking sequence -- a death plunge by a skier filmed with several cameras, including a helmet-mounted one worn by a stuntman.
It is also clear that Tykwer is a fine director of young actors. Here he coaxes performances from a small cast that capture something of the young generation's malaise and dissatisfaction with contemporary life and their intense focus on themselves.
These are not necessarily the kind of individuals you want to spend a two-hour movie with, however. Tykwer's roaming camera can distract one from such mundane lives only so much.
The script by Tykwer and Anne-Francoise Pyszora, based on her novel "Expense of Spirit", concentrates on two men and two women holed up for winter in a ski resort. Rebecca (Floriane Daniel), a beautiful translator of romance novels, is involved with dumb-blonde ski instructor Marco (Heino Ferch). But other than his well-sculpted body, her attraction to this man with little intellectual curiosity or sense of morals is hard to fathom.
Laura (Marie-Lou Sellem), a nurse and amateur actress, is sufficiently bored to drift into a relationship with the town's reclusive movie projectionist, Rene (Ulrich Matthes). It turns out that an army accident has left him with a lack of short-term memory, which he compensates for by taking endless photos, simply to remind himself of what he did the day before.
The film pivots around a terrible road accident on an icy mountain passage, an incident that apparently was not in the novel but does introduce the Tykwerian theme of fate and the role it plays in people's lives. This accident has put the daughter of a local farmer Theo (Josef Bierbichler) into a coma. Both of the main male characters are linked to this accident, but one doesn't remember it and the other is unaware of the involvement of his stolen car.
Despite the mobile camera, this movie crawls at a snail's pace, seemingly in the thrall of characters whose lives cannot bare such scrutiny. Few movies achieve the urgency Tykwer injected into "Lola". But here, in the film he made directly before "Lola", Tykwer keeps the narrative gears in neutral for virtually the entire movie.
The production itself is highly sophisticated. Along with the sterling camerawork, Aphrodite Kondos' costumes are on-the-button, and production designer Alexander Manasse's cozy alpine lodge and cabins serve as a refuge from the snowy landscape.
One almost senses Tykwer's impatience with this small and static tale, with his need to run with a character determined to take her life in her own hands. Lola obviously rescued him.
WINTER SLEEPERS
WinStar Cinema
Bavaria Films International presents
an X-Filme Creative Pool GmbH. production
Producer: Stefan Arndt
Director: Tom Tykwer
Writers: Tom Tykwer, Anne-Francoise Pyszora
Based on the novel "Expense of Spirit" by: Anne-Francoise Pyszora
Director of photography: Frank Griebe
Production designer: Alexander Manasse
Music: Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil
Costume designer: Aphrodite Kondos
Editor: Katja Dringenberg
Color/stereo
Cast:
Rene: Ulrich Matthes
Laura: Marie-Lou Sellem
Rebecca: Floriane Daniel
Marco: Heino Ferch
Theo: Josef Bierbichler
Running time -- 124 minutes
No MPAA rating...
While clues to Tykwer's considerable talent are to be found, they get buried in an avalanche of self-absorbed, maddeningly obtuse characters whose lives interest one not in the least.
The film will undoubtedly draw some fans of "Lola", but forget about the wildfire word-of-mouth that propelled that film into an art house wonder.
What will captivate Tykwer's admirers in "Winter Sleepers" is the knockout camerawork. Tykwer, working in Cinemascope with director of photography Frank Griebe, lets the camera restlessly prowl the snowy peaks and mountain passages of a German skiing village. He uses his camera to edit, to move from one shot to another without a cut. And the film ends with a breathtaking sequence -- a death plunge by a skier filmed with several cameras, including a helmet-mounted one worn by a stuntman.
It is also clear that Tykwer is a fine director of young actors. Here he coaxes performances from a small cast that capture something of the young generation's malaise and dissatisfaction with contemporary life and their intense focus on themselves.
These are not necessarily the kind of individuals you want to spend a two-hour movie with, however. Tykwer's roaming camera can distract one from such mundane lives only so much.
The script by Tykwer and Anne-Francoise Pyszora, based on her novel "Expense of Spirit", concentrates on two men and two women holed up for winter in a ski resort. Rebecca (Floriane Daniel), a beautiful translator of romance novels, is involved with dumb-blonde ski instructor Marco (Heino Ferch). But other than his well-sculpted body, her attraction to this man with little intellectual curiosity or sense of morals is hard to fathom.
Laura (Marie-Lou Sellem), a nurse and amateur actress, is sufficiently bored to drift into a relationship with the town's reclusive movie projectionist, Rene (Ulrich Matthes). It turns out that an army accident has left him with a lack of short-term memory, which he compensates for by taking endless photos, simply to remind himself of what he did the day before.
The film pivots around a terrible road accident on an icy mountain passage, an incident that apparently was not in the novel but does introduce the Tykwerian theme of fate and the role it plays in people's lives. This accident has put the daughter of a local farmer Theo (Josef Bierbichler) into a coma. Both of the main male characters are linked to this accident, but one doesn't remember it and the other is unaware of the involvement of his stolen car.
Despite the mobile camera, this movie crawls at a snail's pace, seemingly in the thrall of characters whose lives cannot bare such scrutiny. Few movies achieve the urgency Tykwer injected into "Lola". But here, in the film he made directly before "Lola", Tykwer keeps the narrative gears in neutral for virtually the entire movie.
The production itself is highly sophisticated. Along with the sterling camerawork, Aphrodite Kondos' costumes are on-the-button, and production designer Alexander Manasse's cozy alpine lodge and cabins serve as a refuge from the snowy landscape.
One almost senses Tykwer's impatience with this small and static tale, with his need to run with a character determined to take her life in her own hands. Lola obviously rescued him.
WINTER SLEEPERS
WinStar Cinema
Bavaria Films International presents
an X-Filme Creative Pool GmbH. production
Producer: Stefan Arndt
Director: Tom Tykwer
Writers: Tom Tykwer, Anne-Francoise Pyszora
Based on the novel "Expense of Spirit" by: Anne-Francoise Pyszora
Director of photography: Frank Griebe
Production designer: Alexander Manasse
Music: Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil
Costume designer: Aphrodite Kondos
Editor: Katja Dringenberg
Color/stereo
Cast:
Rene: Ulrich Matthes
Laura: Marie-Lou Sellem
Rebecca: Floriane Daniel
Marco: Heino Ferch
Theo: Josef Bierbichler
Running time -- 124 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 3/17/2000
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.