Introduction to New Film Projects
New films by renowned directors Fatih Akin, Bora Dagtekin, and Sergei Loznitsa, as well as the Prime Video series Message, are among the projects awarded over EUR 12 million in production support by three German film funds. The regional fund Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, based in Cologne, has awarded €2 million to the series Message, produced by Turbine Studios Germany and British production company Ascendant Fox for Prime Video.
Details of the Prime Video Series Message
Directed by Adolfo Kolmerer and John Strickland, Message stars JK Simmons as a US diplomat forced to work with his former lover, a British SAS soldier, after an attack on the American embassy in London. The series will shoot in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) for 60 days this year.
Other Supported Projects
The financing meeting also supported Ghosts don’t cry by Golden Bear winner Fatih Akin, a love story written by Ruth Toma, who also worked on his 2002 film Solino. Other projects include Marc Rothemund’s production That certain something, based on the French comedy A little extra thing, and David Wnendt’s adaptation of Nils Westerboer’s novel Athos 2643, which was selected for this year’s Venice Gap-Financing Market.
International Co-Productions
The Cologne Fund also supported several international co-productions, including Panos Cosmatos’ Meat of the gods, Patrice Toye’s The task, Hlynur Pálmason’s On land and sea, and Arash and Arman Riahi’s 30 balls.
FFF Bayern Production Support
The regional fund FFF Bayern in Bavaria awarded €900,000, the largest individual amount, to Fack ju Göhte director Bora Dagtekin for his comedy The perfect vacation, a continuation of his previous film The perfect secret with the same ensemble lineup. The film is based on Paolo Genovesi’s Italian treasury hit Perfect strangers.
Other Projects Supported by FFF Bayern
The financing committee also supported two projects with Oscar-nominated production results: Alireza Golfashans’ thriller Friday and Pia Hellenthal’s comedy The stars or death. Friday is the first project to be produced by the Munich-based outfit Story Garden Film, while The stars or death is Hellenthal’s fiction feature debut after her 2019 documentary Search Eva.
Support for Documentaries
Essential Film Produktion’s Imperium (working title) by Sergei Loznitsa is one of six documentary film projects that will receive around €900,000 as part of the cultural film financing program. The film will be fully based on archive material shot by Italian filmmakers in the former Soviet Union between 1970 and 1973.
Other Documentaries
Support was also given to The last summer by Ukrainian-Polish director duo Eleanora Iadkouskaya and Jan Jurczak, who presented their project at this year’s Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival in March.
