Editor

The 11th German Films Previews in Hamburg was once again a business success for German film exporters. 17 screenings at the 2011 Event (July 10 – 13) were presented in Hamburg’s Dammtor Cinema. The 11 attending German film sales companies again reported strong business with finalized deals and ongoing negotiations resulting from the Previews. 

The annual showcase of current and upcoming films organized by German Films in association with the German Film Exporters Association (VDFE) has been a launch pad for various international successes. Among them THE SILENCE (Bavaria Film International), FOUR MINUTES and NORTH FACE (Beta Cinema), DESERT FLOWER (The Match Factory) and WHEN WE LEAVE (Cinepool).

During this year´s edition, the German Films Previews hosted 74 international guests, including international distributors and buyers, for both film and television.
Among the reported sales of the VDFE member companies are:

The strong line-up of action movies sold and produced by ACTION CONCEPT raised great interest, especially by buyers from Asia. The horror action flick UPSTAIRS starring Luke Perry was sold to Korea and Japan. The action thriller SHOOT THE DUKE starring Stephen Baldwin was sold to China, USA and Indonesia.

AKTIS FILM INTERNATIONAL screened LOLLIPOP MONSTER (Karlovy Vary Competition 2011) and HIP HOP EXPRESS and presented 10 further films in the video library. LOLLIPOP MONSTER generated strong interest from Czech, French and Belgian distributors. As a result of the presentation at Hamburg, Aktis sold THE WOMAN WITH A BROKEN NOSE to Spain, Switzerland and Finland.

ATLAS INTERNATIONAL sold Joseph Vilsmaier’s adventure drama NANGA PARBAT to Scandinavia (Smile Entertainment). The film will have its Asian theatrical premiere in August in Japan and is set for further releases in Latin America, China, Australia, Italy and former Yugoslavian countries.

ATRIX FILMS presented Anna Justice’s REMEMBRANCE and reports sales to Japan (Crest) and Korea at the Hamburg event. The film was previously sold to Corinth Film for the USA and Canada. The German release is set for November 24, 2011.
Further sales include IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS LIGHT to Japan, former Yugoslavian countries and Poland. Negotiations are also underway for North America for this theatrical documentary. Byambasuren Davaa´s THE TWO HORSES OF GENGHIS KHAN was sold to Mongolia. Peter Luisi´s THE FRÄULEIN AND THE SANDMAN which will premiere at the Locarno Film Festival this year and is currently playing in German cinemas also attracted interest.

BAVARIA FILM INTERNATIONAL's horror thriller ROOM 205 was sold to Colombia (Babilla Cine) in an all-rights deal including theatrical exploitation in a dubbed version. Karlovy Vary award winner CRACKS IN THE SHELL met with unanimous acceptance and is in various negotiations, including  for France, Switzerland, and Scandinavia.

BETA CINEMA’s preview opener HELL directed by Tim Fehlbaum and executive produced by Roland Emmerich arrived in Hamburg with a presale to China’s Champs Lis and was finalized with Carmen Film for CIS territories with ongoing negotiations for various European territories. HELL will premiere on the Piazza Grande in Locarno and is set for a domestic release by Paramount Germany on September 20 with further autumn festival placements in negotiation. LESSONS OF A DREAM starring Daniel Brühl as school teacher Konrad Koch, the man who brought football to Germany, was sold to Swift for France with ongoing negotiations for Italy and Eastern European and Asian territories. The film already sold to Flins y Piniculas for Spain, Gaga for Japan, and Ster Kinekor for South Africa and will have its international premiere in competition at the Montreal World Film Festival. WESTWIND by Robert Thalheim (AND ALONG COME TOURISTS) generated strong interest from various distributors and is set for an autumn festival launch with the German release set for late August.

CINEPOOL, the international film sales arm of the Munich-based world sales company Telepool, presented a strong line-up and sealed the following sales deals:
Hot items were Alice & Artur Brauner’s WW II family saga WUNDERKINDER and comedy drama THREE QUARTER MOON starring Elmar Wepper (HANAMI - CHERRY BLOSSOMS). THREE QUARTER MOON was sold to Israel (New Cinema) and WUNDERKINDER went to Taiwan (Cineplex). Both titles were previously sold to China (HGC Entertainment). Maggie Peren’s COLOR OF THE OCEAN featuring Alex Gonzalez (X-MEN: FIRST CLASS) also received strong interest from international distributors. Box office hit sequel LILLY THE WITCH 2 – THE JOURNEY TO MANDOLAN was acquired for Estonia (Estin Film). Further territories are in negotiations.

SOLA MEDIA reports the pre-sale of the family film WHEN SANTA FELL TO EARTH to Estonia (Estin Film). Further territories are in negotiations. The film will be released in Germany by Constantin Film in the fall of 2011.