Kino GERMAN CINEMA EXPORT-UNION OF GERMAN CINEMA 1/2001. At Berlin in Competition MY SWEET HOME by Filippos Tsitos

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1 Kino EXPORT-UNION OF GERMAN CINEMA 1/2001 At Berlin in Competition MY SWEET HOME by Filippos Tsitos Special Report TALENT MADE IN GERMANY BETWEEN THE PRIVATE AND THE POLITICAL Portrait of Margarethe von Trotta Scene from MY SWEET HOME GERMAN CINEMA

2 We make the best even better Subtitling Dubbing Post-Production DVD-Mastering Graphic Design tel: / fax: /

3 NEW ADDRESS as of march 2001 Sonnenstrasse 21 D Munich phone GERMAN CINEMA Export-Union des Deutschen Films GmbH export-union@german-cinema.de

4 K I N O 1/ Talent Made In Germany Talent Agencies in Germany 13 On People And The Times Portrait of directors Barbara and Winfried Junge 14 Between The Private And The Political Portrait of director Margarethe von Trotta 17 Personal Contacts Count World Sales Portrait: Exportfilm Bischoff 18 MEDIA LUNA, That s My Passion! World Sales Portrait: Media Luna, Ida Martins 20 ODEON FILM: The Makings Of An International Player Producer s Portrait: Odeon Film 22 KINO news 33 Suck My Dick Oskar Roehler 34 Der Tanz mit dem Teufel Die Entführung des Richard Oetker Peter Keglevic 34 A Woman And A Half Hildegard Knef Clarissa Ruge 36 German Classics 36 Lissy Konrad Wolf 37 Metropolis Fritz Lang 38 Tag der Idioten DAY OF THE IDIOTS Werner Schroeter 26 In Production 40 New German Films 26 Anam Meine Mutter Buket Alakus 26 Auf den Flüssen Gordian Maugg 27 Auf Herz und Nieren Thomas Jahn 28 Caroline Hannu Salonen 29 Flüchtige Bekannte Michael Baumann 30 Heaven Tom Tykwer 30 Jud Süß Ein Film als Verbrechen? Horst Königstein 31 Love The Hard Way Peter Sehr 32 Ramstein Das durchstoßene Herz 32 Rave Macbeth Klaus Knoesel AT BERLIN PANORAMA AT BERLIN OPENING FILM (OUT OF COMPETITION) Pro Simon Verhoeven 41 Als Großvater Rita Hayworth liebte WHEN GRANDPA LOVED RITA HAYWORTH Iva Švarcová 42 BERLIN Du Fremde, Du Schöne Ein Zyklus in sieben Filmen BERLIN YOU STRANGER, YOU BEAUTY A Cycle In Seven Films Manfred Wilhelms 43 Berlin is in Germany Hannes Stöhr 44 Duell Enemy At The Gates Jean-Jacques Annaud

5 C O N T E N T S 45 Eisenstein Renny Bartlett 46 Emil und die Detektive EMIL AND THE DETECTIVES Franziska Buch 47 Erotic Tales: Angela Amos Kollek Erotic Tales: Powers Magische Kräfte POWERS Petr Zelenka 48 Feindliche Übernahme althan.com Carl Schenkel 49 Girl Piers Ashworth 50 HAWAiiAN GARDENS Percy Adlon 51 Invincible Werner Herzog 52 Jetzt oder Nie Lars Büchel 53 Julietta Christoph Stark 54 Küss Mich Frosch KISS ME FROG Dagmar Hirtz 55 Lieber Fidel Maritas Geschichte DEAR FIDEL MARITA S STORY Wilfried Huismann 56 Mein langsames Leben PASSING SUMMER Angela Schanelec 57 Mit IKEA nach Moskau TO MOSCOW WITH IKEA Michael Chauvistré 58 Mr. Boogie Vesna Jovanoska 59 My Sweet Home Filippos Tsitos AT BERLIN FORUM AT BERLIN FORUM AT BERLIN IN COMPETITION 60 Nancy und Frank NANCY AND FRANK Wolf Gremm 61 Pinky und der Millionenmops PINKY AND THE MILLION-PUG Stefan Lukschy 62 planet alex Uli M Schüppel 63 Der schöne Tag A FINE DAY Thomas Arslan 64 Stiller Sturm SILENT STORM Tomasz Thomson 65 Tanz mit dem Tod Der Ufa-Star Sybille Schmitz DANCE WITH DEATH THE UFA STAR SYBILLE SCHMITZ Achim Podak 66 Venus Talking Rudolf Thome 67 Weiser Wojciech Marczewski 68 Das weisse Rauschen THE WHITE NOISE AT BERLIN FORUM AT BERLIN NEW GERMAN FILMS AT BERLIN IN COMPETITION Johann Weingartner Charly Weller 70 Foreign Representatives 74 Film-Exporters 78 Imprint

6 Talent Agencies in Germany xxxxxxx TALENT Heike Makatsch, Moritz Bleibtreu, Nina Hoss MADE IN GERMANY Compared to other countries, the German talent agent scene as it now exists is quite a young one, since until April 1994, the few artists agencies which had survived from before the Second World War had operated with a license on behalf of the Federal Employment Office and they were the only ones allowed to represent actors. Carla Rehm The working conditions were very difficult, recalls Sigrid Narjes, who established her Above The Line agency initially on an illegal basis at the end of the 1980s and then took legal proceedings against the Federal Republic of Germany to bring about a reform of the regulations. Everything from the agency notepaper to the sign outside had to be approved by the employment authorities. However, 1994 then finally saw a reform which led to the 25-odd agencies under license being joined by a whole new generation of talent agents as companies sprung up all over Germany. According to some sources, the number of agencies now exceeds 250 although nobody really knows how many talent agents are now in business. There has been a real proliferation in agencies, explains Mechthild Holter whose Players has been based in Berlin since 1996, there is no healthily evolved market structure. In a healthy scene like London you have a handful of agents the 6

7 Talent Agencies in Germany three main ones, some literary agencies and a few specialising in theatre and that s it. Put in an exaggerated form: you need an agent when the market needs you. But this healthy relationship between the agency and the client doesn t exist in Germany, every person who says they are an actor gets an agent and people are with an agent before anybody has even got to know who they are. Agencies specialities Whereas in the past, agencies were classical actors ones, there are now agencies based on the Anglo-Saxon model which target all professional groups in the arts, Berlin-based Bernhard decided to set up an operation with Eichborn outside of the publishing house to emphasise their closeness to the audiovisual world. Indeed, other agencies have also changed their remit as they have become more established in the market. As Munich-based agent Marlis Heppeler observes, initially, I was exclusively handling actors, but it very soon transpired that it definitely made sense to use the existing network of contacts (to producers, distributors and commissioning editors at the TV stations) to also act as a mediator for the work of directors and screenwriters. What is different from America, Hoestermann says, is that one still doesn t have a producer being represented by an agent. An-Dorte Braker, Bernhard Hoestermann, Sabine Schroth Hoestermann points out, they cater for writers, directors, directors of photography, editors as well as actors and other talents. Hoestermann, for example, focuses on actors while Steffen Weihe s Pegasus specialises in screenwriters and directors and Tina Brandner in Munich handles job placement for crew members. Sigrid Narjes, on the other hand, covers the three main groups actors, directors and screenwriters at Above The Line. Narjes has since added a new arm ATL Books to her agency in collaboration with the Eichborn publishing house to represent the film rights of novels and non-fiction material on the books at Eichborn. We will be active nationally and internationally offering film rights of books and will also acquire rights from third parties, she declares, adding that unlike Michael Töteberg at Rowohlt, Above The Line In Germany, there is a very clear division - even when they are so-called writer-producers they see themselves as being on the other side as a rule. Preparing the Package At the same time, the idea of agents being involved in packaging has increasingly become an issue in the German film landscape. We have a few agencies in Germany who try according to the foreign model to sell so-called packages, explains Carla Rehm, whose Agentur Alexander can look back on over 40 years of managing actors, i.e. to sell the screenplay, cast and director as a overall concept. From the producers camp, though, this always results in annoyance and resistance because in Germany this is always understood as blackmail, Bernhard Hoestermann says, 7

8 Talent Agencies in Germany along the lines of If you want to have my star, you ll have to take those others as well. Packaging in the correct sense of the word should be about bringing people together, he continues. about who can then really get a project on the way, who can help get a financing together quicker. In that sense, I don t think any producer would have anything to fear. Who wants to be a star? Despite the efforts of such young talents as Franka Potente, Til Schweiger, Moritz Bleibtreu and Katja Riemann, the German cinema does not boast a long line of stars who are national household names in the same way as was perhaps the case during the German film industry s halcyon days in the post war years. In the media, young talents don t yet receive the necessary support and attention, Carla Rehm declares. The real stars are rather sportsmen and show personalities. Germany s film stars have continually attained their popularity through TV films and series, have thereby reached the largest audience and are only then interesting for the public. Meanwhile, Marlis Heppeler pinpoints another tendency over the past year that people like Zlatko (and other Big Brother inhabitants) or figures, who do not exactly excel through acting achievements, but draw attention to themselves through little private scandals, are made into stars by the media. Jürgen Vogel, Franka Potente For Bernhard Hoestermann, the way people treat achievement and prominence in Germany is difficult in any case: It is not easy to cultivate a star. In the USA, one s achievement is acknowledged with great enthusiasm. In Germany, though, the basic attitude is more of one scepticism; the journalists here like to make people big and well-known, but they have even more pleasure in tearing them to pieces again. That s a particular element which keeps the potential of becoming a star to a minimum here. Television is another matter as the incredible popularity of actors in daily soaps and other long running series show. As Marlis Heppeler points out, there are several elements working together here. This could partly be connected with the fact that the individual and, above all, private stations promote their actors, she says, and it is certainly also due to the fact that one can reach a very large audience figure with the medium of television, and that the TV stations above all, the public ones pursue a certain continuity in their work with actors as well. Béla Jarzyk, Mechthild Holter International potential On the international level, the number of German actors and actresses coming through and making a career for themselves outside of their native country has been few and far between. In the last 30 years or so, there were the actors from the Fassbinder films such as Hanna Schygulla and Gottfried John - The Boat star Jürgen Prochnow, or Armin Mueller-Stahl. But it is two directors Roland Emmerich and Wolfgang Petersen who are probably the most well-known German film figures internationally. That s not to say that nothing has happening in recent years: after her 8

9 Talent Agencies in Germany success in Run Lola Run, Franka Potente graduated to the international stage last year with a series of roles in American films: she starred opposite Johnny Depp in Ted Demme s New Line production Blow and then appeared with Matt Damon in Doug Liman s The Bourne Identity as well as taking a role in Todd Solondz s asyet-untitled new feature, while Til Schweiger s success at home attracted US producers to cast him in films as diverse as The Replacement Killers, Judas Kiss, Punks and Investigating Sex. Schweiger s co-star in Der bewegte Mann, Katja Riemann travelled to Canada to headline the film Desire by Colleen Murphy, while Maria Schrader appeared opposite Giancarlo Esposito in Rajko Grlic s Josephine and Thomas Kretschmann has worked with Dario Argento and Patrice Chereau in Europe as well having a part in the US blockbuster submarine drama U-571. Furthermore, Moritz Bleibtreu was picked to play alongside Harvey Keitel and Stellan Skarsgard in Istvan Szabo s latest feature Taking Sides after the Oscarwinning Hungarian director saw his performance in Bakhtiar Khudoinazarov s Luna Papa, and Peter Lohmeyer has developed a nice sideline in playing Germans or Swedes in Cuban comedies (Kleines Tropicana, Playing Swede)! In the main, there are few international stars in any country, argues Sigrid Narjes (photo Uwe Völkner) Uschi Keil Mechthild Holter, when there are any, then it is because a home country is internationally presentable. Films from people like Lars von Trier, Pedro Almodovar or Ken Loach or Mike Leigh have actors play that we get to know, they are seen at festivals, win prizes and the films have an international release. As Marlis Heppeler points out, the stars are not least made through their roles in the films and if these films find little or no attention worldwide, this will naturally be reflected in the stars popularity. However, there are exceptions as she found with one of her own charges Franka Potente after the resounding international success of Tom Tykwer s Run Lola Run (Lola rennt). Here it was important to use her popularity at the right moment and to find suitable projects and partners abroad, she recalls. Having a good international network of contacts is essential if one wants to propel one s talent onto the world stage: as Sigrid Narjes points out, it is important to know who is doing what where, to know the producers and the casting directors, and to know other agents. Getting the Accent Right At the same time, Carla Rehm notes that it is difficult to place German actors in foreign films because of their accent. It is much easier there for directors and cinematographers. The language issue is a crucial one as Berlin-based casting director Annette Borgmann knows only too well having handled the German actor casting for such recent productions as Jean- Jacques Annaud s Enemy At The Gates (with Ed Harris, Jude Law and Joseph Fiennes), Peter Bogdanovich s The Cat s Meouw (with Kirsten Dunst and Eddie Izzard) and Kurt Wimmer s Librium (with Christian Bale and Emily Watson). It is very difficult to find good actors who can speak an accent-free English or an American English, she reports, With the Annaud film, the Russians and Germans could have an accent as it is a historical film, but with the Peter Bogdanovich film 9

10 Talent Agencies in Germany that the French director was shooting in Germany spread like wildfire through the acting community with one actress saying that she d be happy just walk through the frame to be able to work with him. In the event, Borgmann was able to bring more and more German talent to the production to the point where she could cast Eva Mattes for one of the supporting roles and have around 40 parts taken by local actors instead of the initially planned Export-Union Promoting New Talent One way, though, of introducing up-and-coming German acting talent to a wider international forum is the Shooting Stars initiative which was launched by the pan-european promotional body European Film Promotion (EFP) at the Berlin International Film Festival in February In the three editions so far, the Export-Union of German Cinema as one EFP s members selected six young actors and actresses Franka Potente, Jürgen Vogel, Moritz Bleibtreu, Maria Schrader, August Diehl and Nina Hoss - to be introduced with their counterparts from other European countries to the assembled international film scene. This year will see Heike Makatsch and Benno Fürmann joining the lineup of the 4th Shooting Stars for Sabine Lutter which is set in 1924, this is another matter and in Librium the audience is not even supposed to know that the film had been shot in Berlin. In addition, the stars of new German films are regular features at the Festivals of German Cinema organised by the Export-Union around the globe: for example, at the first such event in Los Angeles at the beginning of November, Christiane Paul was there in person for Fatih Akin s In July (Im Juli) and Martin Eigler s Friends (with Benno Fürmann) while Hannelore Elsner attended the screenings of her awardwinning film No Place to Go (Die Unberührbare) for which she won the German Film Award last June. MB The Annaud project was an interesting case as, originally, she had only been called on to cast day players. The news August Diehl, Maria Schrader, Benno Fürmann 10

11 T a l e n t A g e n c i e s ( a s e l e c t i o n ) Above The Line Goethestr. 17 D Munich phone: fax: mail@abovetheline.de contact: Sigrid Narjes, Ulrike Weber, Katerina Kolisch Above The Line Berlin Oranienburger Str. 5 D Berlin phone: fax: contact: Sabine Lutter, Uschi Keil Players Sophienstr. 21 D Berlin phone: fax: mail@players.de contact: Mechthild Holter, Béla Jarzyk pmc PromotionManagementConception Alter Militärring 8 D Cologne phone: fax: a.pmc@ndh.net contact: Ica Souvignier, Hinrich Sickenberger Agentur Alexander Carla Rehm Lamontstr. 9 D Munich phone: fax: agentur.alexander@t-online.de contact: Carla Rehm Carola Studlar Internationale Agentur Agnesstr. 47 D Munich phone: fax: info@studlar.de contact: Carola Studlar Agentur Doris Mattes Merzstr. 14 D Munich phone: fax: mail@agenturdorismattes.de contact: Doris Mattes Agentur Hoestermann Gneisenaustr. 94 D Berlin phone: fax: mail@hoestermann.de contact: Bernhard Hoestermann Agentur Jovanovic Kathi-Kobus-Str. 24 D Munich phone: fax: contact: Elfie Thuy Agentur Nicolai (previously Agentur Mackeben) Gosslerstr. 2 D Berlin phone: fax: nicolaiagt@aol.com contact: Ute Nicolai Szenario Agentur für Film und Fernsehen Schwere-Reiter-Str. 35 Geb. 2b D Munich phone: fax: mail@agentur-szenario.de contact: Inge Pudenz Management Erika Goldschmidt Damaschkestr. 33 D Berlin phone: fax: management.goldschmidt@planet-interkom.de contact: Renate Landkammer Uschi Drews Künstleragentur Schillerstr. 7 D Berlin phone: fax: uschidrews@aol.com contact: Uschi Drews ContrAct Schwere-Reiter-Str. 35 Geb. 41 D Munich phone: fax: agentur-contract@gmx.de contact: Andrea Lambsdorff Heppeler Internationale Agentur für Film-TV-Theater Steinstr. 54 D Munich phone: fax: mail@heppeler-agency.com contact: Dr. Marlis Heppeler Pegasus A Literary and Talent Agency Neue Promenade 6 D Berlin phone: fax: pegasus.agency@snafu.de contact: Steffen Weihe Talent Agencies Trade Associations Verband der Agenturen für Film, Fernsehen und Theater e.v. Kurfürstenstr. 33 D Berlin phone: fax: vda@fnw.de contact: Bernhard Hoestermann, Dr. Marlis Heppeler, Marie-Luise Schmidt Verband Deutscher Schauspieler-Agenturen Isabellastr. 20 D Munich phone: fax: rechtsanwaelte@strate-zauleck.de contact: Carla Rehm, Renate Landhammer, Jochem Strate 11

12 C a s t i n g D i r e c t o r s ( a s e l e c t i o n ) Annette Borgmann Lützowufer 11 D Berlin phone: fax: annetteborgmann@t-online.de Robert Drews Schillerstr. 7 D Berlin phone: fax: castingdrews@aol.com Horst D. Scheel Besetzungsberatung Hansaring 35 D Cologne phone: fax: horstdscheel@aol.com Sabine Schroth & Risa Kes Mauerkircher Str. 16 D Munich phone: fax: Nessie Nesslauer Herzog-Wilhelm-Str. 9 D Munich phone: fax: nesslauer@aol.com Rita Serra-Roll Plinganserstr. 15 D Munich phone: fax: serra-roll@t-online.de Outcast Ebertplatz D Cologne phone: fax: outcast@outcast.de contact: Clemens Erbach, Thomas Diehl Meet us during the Berlinale at the European Film Market, German Boulevard. Phone new edition available now Or contact our main office. Arbeitsgemeinschaft Dokumentarfilm Schweizer Strasse 6 D Frankfurt Germany Phone +49 (0) Fax +49 (0) agdok@agdok.de 12

13 Directors Portrait Barbara and Winfried Junge Barbara Junge, born 1943 in Neunhofen. Study at the University of Leipzig. Diploma as an interpreter for English and Russian. From 1969 onwards, work in the DEFA studio for documentary films, initially responsible for foreign language versions of DEFA documentaries. From 1978 onwards, she supervised the archive documentation of the Golzow-cycle. From 1983, editing of all films by Winfried Junge. Codirector since Winfried Junge, born 1935 in Berlin. 1953, study of German at the Berlin Humboldt-University, 1954 transfer to the German Academy of Film Potsdam-Babelsberg. 1958, diploma in Dramaturgy. From 1961 onwards, work in the DEFA studio for documentary films, Berlin. Began the Golzow series with When I first go to school (Wenn ich erst zur Schule geh ). A total of 49 documentary films for cinema and television. In 1967 he produced Der tapfere Schulschwänzer, a feature film for children. From 1991 onwards, he worked as a director for JOURNAL Film Klaus Volkenborn KG, and after 1994 at the à jour film and television production company, where he continued the Golzow series. The Golzow cycle consists of six short films made before 1975, including Observations in a First Class (Nach einem Jahr, 1962) and Eleven Years Old (Elf Jahre alt, 1966), (Silver Dove at the Leipzig Documentary Film Week), as well as the later works Anmut sparet nicht noch Mühe (1979), Lebensläufe Die Geschichte der Kinder von Golzow in einzelnen Porträts (1980, FIPRESCI prize Berlinale), Diese Golzower Umstandsbestimmung eines Ortes (1984), Drehbuch: Die Zeiten (1992), The Life of Jürgen from Golzow (Das Leben des Jürgen von Golzow, 1994) The Story of Uncle Willy from Golzow (Die Geschichte des Onkel Willy aus Golzow, 1995), Was geht euch mein Leben an. Elke (1997), Da habt ihr mein Leben, Marieluise (1997), Brigitte and Marcel (1998), Ein Mensch wie Dieter (1999). ON PEOPLE AND THE TIMES For forty years, Winfried Junge has been making one huge film. At that time, in the late summer of 1961, DEFA sent him to the village Golzow in the Oderbruch, directly beside the German-Polish border. He was to observe a group of six-year-old children, their last moments in the sandpit, their introduction to school, the first lessons. The small, only 12- minute-film was called When I first go to school and was so well-received that Junge returned to the Oderbruch with his camera during the following summer. He has remained true to his Golzow villagers up until the present day, has followed their professional careers and their love stories, seen them set out and seen them fail, been a party to their hopes and dreams. Winfried Junge: We have constant, relaxed contact with the villagers of Golzow. When a young woman was once asked what our relationship was like, she answered: it s like having relatives. We have known each other a long time, and neither of us can fool the other for long. Sixteen films have been made to date. Winfried Junge and his wife Barbara, who supervises the archive of material and has been his co-director since 1992, have so created a life s work alongside over thirty other films which even gained them entry to the Guinness Book of Records in Their Golzow series is the oldest long-term documentation in international cinema. It is readily passed from one festival to another, from Vancouver in Canada to Yamagata in Japan. Now the documentation is looked upon as the picture of an entire generation. Winfried Junge: Originally, it was to be about the first generation of GDR citizens who grew up into Communism. But during the 80s at the latest, it (photo Winfried Junge) Barbara and Winfried Junge 13

14 Director s Portrait Barbara and Winfried Junge became clear that this idea was an illusion. Rather, the films reflect normal reality, they dare to take a precise look at social conditions. Again and again, the political led to the private, and the Golzow project advanced to become a fascinating document of the times, a source of discoveries for cinema enthusiasts, historians and sociologists alike. Winfried Junge s real international success began after Lebensläufe (1980), a more than four-hour compendium of the material shot since After its showing during the Berlinale, Variety referred to the film as a unique milestone in film history and Der Spiegel wrote: They show faces which it is impossible to forget. The Junges then struck a new chord with Drehbuch: Die Zeiten (1992), which could also be viewed during the international forum of young cinema at the Berlinale. Here the directors introduced themselves as active participants, reflecting on the role of the censor and that of self-censorship in the GDR. And they considered the moral questions raised by their work. Barbara Junge: Where were the limits whilst filming? The people whom we brought to the screen had to be able to go on living within their home circle after the film. If anyone could be injured because a particular scene had been shown publicly, we couldn t go on making it. Dieter, the technical drawer Elke and others. The story of the poultry breeder Brigitte in Brigitte and Marcel (1998), was the first biography to come to a natural end: the twenty-nine year old died of heart disease. The fall of the Wall and German unification played a role in all the individual portraits. The social changes proved to be a particular aid to dramaturgy: the life of the Golzow villagers, which had followed well-worn tracks until 1989, suddenly became exciting again. And so what will the future bring? At present the Junges are working on their seventeenth Golzow film, in which they tell the tale of Jochen the dairyman. Winfried Junge: There could be a further six portraits after that. Nine-tenths of the material is already there. But there is no knowing whether film promoters and television stations will provide the financial support that would be necessary. Things are as open and uncertain as they have been for each of the recent Golzow films. Ralf Schenk spoke to Barbara and Winfried Junge Since Drehbuch: Die Zeiten, the Junges have presented six individual portraits of their Golzow villagers; of the joiner Director s Portrait Margarethe von Trotta Between the PRIVATE and the POLITICAL First I had to create my own prison before I was able to comprehend what had happened to me. Margarethe von Trotta s first piece of independent direction, The Second Awakening of Christa Klages (Das zweite Erwachen der Christa Klages), begins with this sentence, which ultimately contains the entire programme of her films. All her works describe different attempts to escape from the prisons of life; they are about wanting to break out, about fighting one s way to freedom, escaping from a state of standstill. It is not by chance that she names Bergman, Hitchcock and the French directors of the 60s as the most important, lasting influences on her work. Breaking through narrowing limitations, both socially imposed regulations and barriers within a person s soul this is the subject matter of stories by this valiant and committed author filmmaker. The private and the political; the shaping of the individual by social connotations, the shaping of roles, in particular those of women, within our modern socialisation. And the shedding of this role by means of so-called feminist, or rather: of emancipatory or even of completely individual female thought and feelings. These are subjects in Margarethe von Trotta s work. Over the years her time as a réalisateur, as an auteur encompasses the years 1977 to 2000, from one film to the next, and these are now 14 in number, the subjects become more refined; more precise and subtle in their outlines, more mature and complex in their themes. It would be wrong to categorise Margarethe von Trotta, who certainly played a pioneer role in the public process of women s emancipation during the 70s, as a feminist, woman filmmaker, at the same time viewing her films in which she often portrays politically motivated women as purely political works. For me the universal and the individual have always been very close together. At that time the women s movement helped me to realise that I was not alone. Her so-called political films, that is The German Sisters (Die bleierne Zeit), Rosa Luxemburg, Zeit des Zorns and The Promise (Das Versprechen), concern private and political aspects to an equal extent, so that personal story and history become one, impossible to separate. And even in her more private, personal stories, that is Sisters, or The Balance of Happiness (Schwestern oder die Balance des Glücks), Friends and Husbands (Heller Wahn), Fearing and Loving (Fürchten und Lieben) and L Africana (Die Rückkehr), the overriding social motif is also an essential note; the fact of social integration into a whole. 14

15 Director s Portrait Margarethe von Trotta Margarethe von Trotta was born in Berlin in 1942, the daughter of a Baltic Russian emigrant, Elisabeth von Trotta, and the German painter Alfred Roloff. She lived in Berlin for only a few years, completing her school graduation in Dusseldorf and finally moving to Paris in There she graduated from her own school of vision in the Cinémathèque Française and in the streets of Paris, where the filmmakers of the Nouvelle Vague were shooting in every nook and cranny. A private school of acting in Munich was followed by theatre performances and work for over 30 cinema and television films, including three works by both Fassbinder and Achternbusch. This was one of von Trotta s many facets. When she met her future husband Volker Schlöndorff, she began to work as a co-author (Der plötzliche Reichtum der armen Leute von Kombach, 1970; Strohfeuer, 1972), as a director s assistant (Die Moral der Ruth Halbfass, 1971) and finally as a co-director The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum (Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum, 1975). The determination to direct films on her own at some later date, which developed and matured over the years, finally came to fruition in And in the first film which she directed alone, The Second Awakening of Christa Klages (Das zweite Erwachen der Christa Klages), the basic foundation for all her future work is already laid; the complete, fertile ground for von Trotta s work. After what was perhaps the most private of all her films, Sisters, or The Balance of Happiness (Schwestern oder die Balance des Glücks, 1979), she made her international breakthrough with the vivid portrait of Ensslin, The German Sisters (Die bleierne Zeit, 1981). This was followed by Friends and Husbands (Heller Wahn, 1983), Rosa Luxembourg (1986) and three works made in Italy. She opened the Berlinale in 1995 with the dramatic German-German love story, Das Versprechen, and between 1997 and 2000 Margarethe von Trotta made four television films, the last of which was the tetralogy Jahrestage (ARD). (photo T.W.) Margarethe von Trotta Margarethe von Trotta, the former actress, a maker of author films for almost the past twenty-five years; after leaving Munich she lived in Rome from 1987 to 1994, and since then her permanent address has been in Paris. A wanderer between worlds in Schubert s sense, one of the homeless: As a stranger I came to you, as a stranger I leave. This notion runs through her life like a leitmotif. For her television films Winterkind, Dunkle Tage, Jahrestage - she came to Germany and filmed here. But she is still and this she shares with names like Wenders, Herzog, Fassbinder and Schlöndorff regarded more highly abroad than in her home country. I am not alone in this. Hanna Schygulla lives in Paris today. Romy Schneider came here, too. There is something about the Germans. There is a history to it all, you just have to put up with it. There are von Trotta retrospectives in Cuba and San Francisco, in Peru and Uruguay, in Hungary and in Portugal. It is only in Germany that the first complete retrospective has yet to take place. Abroad particularly at A-festivals like Cannes and Venice she is internationally acclaimed, receives awards (Golden Lion for The German Sisters) and positive criticism. Particularly in Italy and France, if you mention her name, the response is an admiring La Trotta. At the same time, she is probably the only woman in her profession to enjoy this lasting reputation. Thilo Wydra The film journalist Thilo Wydra has recently published the book Margarethe von Trotta Filmen, um zu überleben (Filming to Survive) (Henschel Verlag, Berlin 2000, 288 pages, 48,- DM) 15

16 www. germancinema. de/ INFORMATION ON GERMAN FILMS. GERMAN CINEMA Export-Union des Deutschen Films GmbH Tuerkenstrasse 93 D Munich phone fax export-union@german-cinema.de

17 World Sales Portrait Exportfilm Bischoff Year of foundation 1949 Offices/representatives abroad Barcelona President Jochem Strate Managing Director Mechthild Evenkamp Head of Sales Philip Evenkamp Main fields of activity world-wide distribution of feature films, documentaries and shorts. Regular participation at the following international TV and film fairs International Film Festival Berlin, film festivals of Cannes, Venice, San Sebastian and Thessaloniki Number of titles on offer around 6000 Percentage of German titles on offer around 60% Address Exportfilm Bischoff & Co GbmH Isabellastraße 20 D Munich phone fax PERSONAL CONTACTS COUNT Jochem Strate Philip Evenkamp Aurel Bischoff founded the firm as an independent subsidiary of the old Constantin Film in At that time Exportfilm Bischoff according to the documents I have was the biggest German export firm with a large number of employees, of whom several later founded their own export firms or are still working for other firms in this field of business today, says president Jochem Strate, I myself joined them much later. In any case, at that time Exportfilm Bischoff, continues Strate, had a large selection of films on offer, because each year the firm automatically received the whole batch for export from the old Constantin distributors. Business flourished until the bankruptcy of old Constantin, which Exportfilm Bischoff, as an independent firm, was not directly involved in. Strate, who was working as a solicitor in Münster at that time, was brought to Exportfilm by the shareholders in Actually, at that time I was only contracted to keep the firm going until as much money as possible had run into it from the bankruptcy. But Jochem Strate saw things differently: I said then I m not interested in administrating something until it breathes its last breath. I only wanted the job if they allowed me to put the firm back on its feet and get it going again. And in the time that followed, that is what I did. Basically, the new beginning meant completely reconstructing the firm, with new contacts and new products. Strate aimed for specific niches in the market. A first great success was Frank 17

18 World Sales Portrait Exportfilm Bischoff Ripploh s Taxi zum Klo (1981). Exportfilm Bischoff sold films by directors such as Rosa von Praunheim, Ulrike Ottinger, Herbert Achternbusch or Helke Sander. These new niche-films were difficult, but I found that exciting, says Strate. And as I learnt with Taxi zum Klo: if a film meets with interest, picks up on the signs of the times, then it is possible to distribute it everywhere at any time. But if a film is difficult, then you need excellent personal contacts. And how do you establish these contacts? With the goods we sell, personal relations count. I have always thought it better to visit my business partners in their offices and to get to know them privately festivals without the pressure of sales fairs are particularly suitable for that. You get to know the buyers and their preferences, and you don t bother them with films that they are not going to be interested in. But all the specialist knowledge in the world counts for nothing in face of changing trends. When the AIDS hysteria began, the interest in Gay and Lesbian films died out from one day to the next. Exportfilm moved on to the sale of children s and young people s films for the cinema. But unfortunately, not enough films of this nature were made for the cinema. In addition, the sales statistics were not really sufficient to secure a future for us (and for the producers). In the 90s, the competition with other firms also searching for new goods increased, too. It might be roughly compared with today s situation in the cinemas; the big multiplexes are also beginning to show film art, and are therefore taking these specialist wares away from the smaller concerns. Strate began to seek new niches, and in 1991 I took over the distribution of Greek films from the Greek Film Center. Whilst the Greek episode is already a thing of the past for Exportfilm (in the meantime the Greek Film Center has founded its own export firm), Strate now organises the export and import of Spanish films through a representative in Spain. How does Strate who has taken on more work in the solicitor s office Strate and Zauleck in recent years, and is also a committed manager of film productions see the future for Exportfilm? Today the firm is facing another new beginning. In 1985, my partner a Swiss bank left the firm, and I was able to take over the remaining shares, Strate says. A firm like ours, he says, must be able, so to speak, to make, to measure or to attract the goods which it wishes to distribute successfully. Philip Evenkamp, the company owner s son, has now come aboard. He has completed his studies at the Munich Academy of TV and Film and is working successfully in film production. The long-term aim is to produce the films which they want to export themselves. Strate: These are tasks for the future, which Philip will be taking over more and more. Hans Ernst World Sales Portrait Media Luna, Ida Martins MEDIA LUNA, That s My Passion! Ida Martins speaks from the heart. Indeed, without this passion events would have probably taken a different turn. When I first came to Germany, she says, I had a job for life at Deutsche Welle. But after three years I realised this was not what I wanted to do, that I could achieve far more. So I started a company to promote film culture. She was, in fact, the first person to bring, among others, selfproclaimed screenwriting guru and screenplay-agent Robert McKee and screenplay-agent Julien Friedman to Germany. Martins soon identified a market opportunity for a company that could sell films by giving personalised attention to both the product and the artist. In 1993 Media Luna was born. Eight years on, Martins says, we re now a very nice company and doing better and better! She s settled in Cologne, the capital of the State of North-Rhine Westphalia, and waves the city s flag proudly. I like the fact you can be a little bit crazy in Cologne! she says. It s such a diverse city, has so many nationalities, it offered me the opportunity to feel at home. I wouldn t live in any other place in Germany! And few people in the industry are as multicultural as Martins herself. Born in Brazil to Portuguese and Italian parents, she not only lived in all three countries but has studied in the United States and Belgium. People like me don t have a nationality, she states, we are the sum of many experiences and that makes us world citizens. And that s a trump card she proudly plays because I can watch a film from many aspects, something a person who has never lived anywhere else can. I can imagine a film being watched by North Americans or Latin Americans or Europeans. I can see things in that film and see what would make other audiences appreciate it or not. In August of last year the company changed name, to Media 18

19 World Sales Portrait Media Luna, Ida Martins Established in 1993 as Media Luna, from August 2000 Media Luna Entertainment GmbH & Co. KG Managing Director Ida Martins Head of Sales Ida Martins Additional contact Monere Renoir Simpkins (Asst Sales Manager), Barbara Mientus (Controlling), Frederick Czernik (Accounts), Olaf Schaefer (Legal & Business Affairs), Daniel Marin (festival strategy) Main fields of activity World-wide distribution of all rights for films and TV programmes and formats (series, documentaries, entertainment) Regular attendance of the following film markets AFM, ATF, MIFED, MIP ASIA, MIPCOM, NATPE, EFM, MiF Number of titles on offer 30 features, 13 documentaries /several formats Percentage of German titles on offer 60% Buyers include First Run Features, N.Y., HBO Asia, HBO US, Longride (Japan), RTP, WDR, ZDF Most well-known current titles on offer Boy s Choir (Ogata Akira), Gangster (Volker Einrauch), The Dream Catcher (Ed Radtke) Best-selling titles currently on sale Nico Icon (Susane Ofteringer), Der Einstein des Sex (Rosa von Praunheim), The Dream Catcher (Ed Radtke) Address Media Luna Entertainment GmbH & Co. KG Hochstadenstr. 1-3 D Cologne phone: fax: idamartins@compuserve.com Luna Entertainment, and took on several new production partners in order, says Martins, to grow horizontally, not vertically. Our key activity remains theatrical features but we are now involved in new sectors such as TV-movies, documentaries, talkshows and entertainment formats. Those partners are Ziegler- Film Cologne, D&D Filmund Fernsehproduktion GmbH and Prima Productions. The idea being that while Martins travels the world, doing what she does best, distribution, she can pass interesting projects to her partners to do what they do best, produce. Those projects will then find their way back to Martins. We like to work with producers at the script phase so we can advise on where the subject material can best find a market, says Martins. Sometimes we can bring an input that makes it easier to sell. Then we like to watch the rough cut and discuss marketing strategies with the producers; decide where to premiere and which festivals to screen it in. The personal approach is at the core of Media Luna Entertainment s activities as the company develops and implements marketing strategies tailormade for each project. When we have a product to work with we want it to have its own personality. We are not just licensing, we really take care of the marketing of each product, she states. Because she comes from an advertising background Martins loves to develop promotional strategies which are different to the usual postcards and flyers. For Requiem for a Romantic Woman, where we had the premiere in Cannes, instead of just doing a postcard with screening invitations we made fake snowballs with glitter and photos with the invitation on the back. All buyers received it in a box at their hotel, she says proudly. This is the kind of promotion we really love and if the film allows us to develop this kind of communication that s great. Media Luna Entertainment is now in a stage of transition. With a reputation for being klein aber fein (small and good) the challenge is to grow while keeping fein. Martins sees the key to success in maintaining the personalised approach. As for the new media, we cannot ignore its power. We always try to find the right media for the product and as the market changes so must we. We are moving as fast as the market, in that respect. She has already signed up to the MIP Interactive on-line dealing platform, already done some Internet deals and, like many, is waiting until the on-line distribution technology has developed to the stage where we can guarantee the film will download just in the territory where you are selling the rights. I try and I ve been trying all my life not to be conservative but to be open for new ideas. Only with an open mind and market knowledge can we cuccessfully face the challenges,, says Martins. SK (photo Jörg Oswald) Ida Martins 19

20 Producer s Portrait Odeon Film Listed on Germany s Neuer Markt since April 1999, Odeon Film AG is active in three areas: TV production, feature film production and the Internet. The company leads the commissioned TV market in the crime-thriller segment with such series as Ein Fall für zwei, Wolffs Revier and SK Kölsch. In addition to involvement in such domestic productions as Franziska Buch s Emil und die Detektive and Joseph Vilsmaier s Leo & Claire, Odeon Film has been focussing over the last year on establishing itself as a key player in the European production scene. Production cooperations have already been forged with companies in France and the UK and have resulted in co-production of such internationally promising projects as Mortel Transfert, Triumph Of Love and Buffalo Soldiers. On the Internet front, Odeon was behind the launch of the web portal Filmstadt.de in September 1999 and has now gathered all of its web-related activities into the holding Odeon New Vision GmbH. Odeon Film AG Bavariafilmplatz 7 D Geiselgasteig phone: fax: mail@odeonfilm.de ODEON FILM: The Makings Of An International Player It s almost two years ago that Odeon Film AG became the first film and television production company to go public on Germany s NASDAQ-style Neuer Markt stock exchange and heralded a new chapter in the history of the Bavaria Film Group in Munich. Ahead of its flotation, Odeon had acquired the TV production house Monaco Film one of Germany s top producers of TV detective series with such programmes as Ein Fall für Zwei, Wolffs Revier, SK Kölsch and Die Kommissarin to its credit thereby establishing a key presence in the most important production centres throughout Germany. (photo Janine Guldener) Reinhard Klooss Furthermore, in a previous incarnation as Bavaria Entertainment, Odeon had served as German co-producer on Claude Zidi s liveaction Asterix & Obelix Against Caesar which was a top box-office film in France and Germany in On the feature film front, Odeon s plans over the past two years have been to expand both through acquisitions and by establishing a platform system with outside producers. The capital from the IPO was the basis to create a broader corporate structure with additionally acquired companies explains Reinhard Klooss, Odeon s management board member responsible for the feature film division. We had acquired the Monaco Film Group before the flotation, but we didn t acquire 20