presents

Director Hans Steinbichler

Screenplay Josephin Thayenthal and Robert Thayenthal

Starring Juliane Köhler, Hannelore Elsner, , Niklas Kohrt, David Kross, Rüdiger Vogler, Matthias Brandt, Fritzi Haberlandt a.o.

Production die film gmbh in coproduction with Sam Film

Producer Uli Aselmann

Supported by Deutscher Filmförderfonds (DFFF), Filmstiftung NRW, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern (FFF), Medienboard -Brandenburg (MBB), Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA), Wirtschaftliche Filmförderung Mecklenburg- Vorpommern, Beauftragter für Kultur und Medien (BKM) with the participation of WDR, ARD Degeto, BR and Arte

CAST

Sofia Schleier Juliane Köhler Marga Baumanis Hannelore Elsner Marga Baumanis (young) Karoline Herfurth Juris Baumanis Niklas Kohrt Osvalds Kalnins (young) David Kross Osvald Kalnins Rüdiger Vogler Lorenz Schleier Matthias Brandt

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CREW

Director Hans Steinbichler Screenplay Josephin Thayenthal, Robert Thayenthal Producer Uli Aselmann, die film gmbh Co-Producer Ewa Karlström, Andreas Ulmke-Smeaton, Sam Film with the participation of WDR - Anke Krause, Gebhard Henke ARD Degeto - Jörn Klamroth BR - Bettina Reitz, Cornelia Ackers Arte - Barbara Häbe, Andreas Schreitmüller Cinematography Bella Halben Stage Design Evi Stiebler Costumes Katharina Ost Make-Up Waldemar Pokromski, Anette Keiser Music

TECHNICAL DATA Format: 35mm, color Sound: Dolby Digital Length (in meters): 2836 Running time: 99 Min. Language: German

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BAVARIAN FILM AWARD - Jury’s Statement of 14 January 2011

“Producer Uli Aselmann has realized a most extraordinary film with his production 'Promising the Moon,' which was stunningly shot in , Wuppertal, Heiligendamm, Berlin and Riga. The sensitive direction of Hans Steinbichler and his outstanding cast have given rise to an intricate filmic narrative. It takes the protagonists and, with them, the viewers deep into the past and unfolds in impressive images a family drama that has been secretly slumbering for decades and that affects and weighs upon the lives of all concerned. Uli Aselmann has produced a film that is as fascinating as it is compelling in each and every detail. It not only meets with the highest artistic demands, but also casts its spell upon the public."

PRESS NOTE

After such successful productions as “Hierankl” and “Winter Journey”, director Hans Steinbichler takes a journey back into the 1930s and 1990s in his new film. In various historical time frames, he weaves the family history of Marga – played by Hannelore Elsner and with Karoline Herfurth as the "young Marga" – and her daughter Sofia, played by Juliane Köhler. One woman, Marga, is losing her memory and, thus, herself. Only recollections of past times keep flaring up bright and clear and reveal a Marga who is completely different than the person she seemed to be throughout her life. The other woman, Sofia, seizes upon Marga's memories in order to find out the truth about her own past and thus about herself.

Against the background of the life stories of these two women, PROMISING THE MOON movingly treats the power of love, the impossibility of forgetting, and the power of forgiving. Alongside Juliane Köhler, Hannelore Elsner and Karoline Herfurth, Hans Steinbichler's top-notch cast also includes David Kross, Niklas Kohrt, Rüdiger Vogler, Matthias Brandt and Fritzi Haberlandt.

SHORT SYNOPSIS

PROMISING THE MOON is a story about the power of love and forgiveness. Marga (Hannelore Elsner) has never shown many feelings towards her daughter Sofia (Juliane Köhler). Now, however, she reveals fears, wounds and a deep longing for her long-dead husband Juris. She loses herself more and more in her forgetfulness and suddenly craves tenderness like a child. An unaccustomed situation for Sofia, who, after years of almost no contact with her mother, unexpectedly finds herself having to take care of her. A difficult situation, too: Marga can sometimes be brusque and sometimes funny; she lives now in the moment, now far away. As though yearning to be free of her memories, Marga begins relating stories of things that happened many years ago. Things that Sofia has never heard of. Prompted by a faint suspicion that the secrets of Marga’s past are important to understanding her own past, Sofia sets off for Riga with her mother at the spur of the moment. This is where Marga grew up and where she married Juris. But the more Sofia learns about her mother, the less certain she becomes about her own identity. As the past becomes clearer, it also emerges that what Marga had told her about their past together was nothing more than a story carved out of thin air…

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SYNOPSIS

“Nothing is where it should be” – and that includes Marga Baumanis (Hannelore Elsner). One day, during a meeting, her daughter Sofia (Juliane Köhler) is called to the phone: her mother has left her nursing home without permission and is now in a psychiatric day clinic in Wuppertal, where she must be picked up. Sofia's relationship with her mother being somewhat tense, her first reaction is denial. But there's no way around it. Sofia must act, and her husband Lorenz (Matthias Brandt) also makes this clear. So she sets out from Berlin to Wuppertal…

Sofia is horrified when she sees her mother: how she lies there, how she looks at her… In her confused state, Marga reveals a yearning for love and closeness that Sofia had never before seen in her mother. And while Marga speaks of things that Sofia doesn't understand, Sofia suspects that there is something in her mother's life that weighs so heavily upon her that she wants to break free of it. But what secret has Marga been hiding all these years?

On their way back from the clinic, Marga keeps losing herself in her recollections, reacts unpredictably, aggressively, or like a small child. Again and again, events from her youth keep appearing before her mind's eye: her wedding with Juris (Niklas Kohrt), whom she loved above all else and married against her father's will; how happy she was, how carefree her life was. But the joyous memories are followed by darker ones that inspire fear and which Marga vehemently tries to repress. But to no avail…

Sofia, who has always suffered from her mother's lack of warmth and affection, has no time to adjust to the new situation. But she wants to understand, and does everything in her power to help Marga. In Berlin, Sofia discovers in Marga's luggage old photos which she had never seen before. They are pictures of her parents in their youth, from their former home in Latvia – pictures from happier times. And there is also a photo that shows her father Juris next to a man that Sofia cannot identify. Marga reacts violently when Sofia asks her about this, but at least Sofia learns that this man was a friend of the family whose name is Osvalds Kalnins (David Kross / Rüdiger Vogler).

Almost as a foreboding, Sofia senses that she must go to Latvia with her mother. Perhaps she can help Marga regain control of her memories. And, she secretly hopes, perhaps the journey will help her, Sofia, to better understand her mother and learn more about her family.

Upon arriving in Riga, they find themselves in the midst of the turmoil of the "Singing Revolution." But as they pass the street blockades in Riga, other images surface before Marga's eyes, from the time of the Russian occupation of Latvia in the 1940s. She is beside herself and wants to flee.

Sofia's only hope is Osvalds Kalnins, her father’s friend, who lives in J ūrmala, an idyllic town directly on the Baltic Sea. This is where Marga grew up and met her husband Juris, and where she spent the first years of the war. All that Sofia knows from this time is that her parents fled J ūrmala to during the war.

They find Osvalds in the villa in which Marga spent her childhood. He is overwhelmed to learn who Sofia is: after all, Marga had written him after the war to inform him that Juris and Sofia had died in an air-raid bombing. Sofia is upset over this denial of her existence, but suspects there are reasons for this which Marga has always kept silent about. It is clear to her that Jürmala is the key to Marga's past and that Osvalds is part of the mystery surrounding Marga.

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Sofia plunges deeper and deeper into Marga's past in order to uncover this secret. It will take her far back into the 1930s, to a young and exuberant Marga, her husband Juris, his friend Osvalds and to a woman named Iewa (Juta Vanaga / Dace Eversa) whom Sofia had never heard about. It will take her back to wonderful times, to dramatic events, to a great love and to an even greater suffering.

The more Sofia learns about her mother, the clearer her own identity becomes. And so it emerges that what Marga had told her about her life and about their past together was carved out of thin air…

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The "Hitler-Stalin Pact" was signed on 23 August 1939. On the basis of this secret agreement, Latvia fell to the Soviet Union. On 17 June 1940 the Red Army occupied the Latvian territory, which was then incorporated into the Soviet Union against the will of the Latvian people.

In June 1941 the German Wehrmacht marched into Latvia. Three years later there were major battles between the German and Soviet armies on Latvian territory, from which the USSR emerged victorious. During this war, Latvians were called up for military service by both occupation forces, and even forced to fight against one another.

The following post-war years were marked by particularly cruel reprisals against the Latvian population. Nearly 120,000 Latvians were arrested and sent to Soviet concentration camps (GULAGs). 130,000 fled to the West from the Soviet occupation forces. On 25 March 1949, in a large-scale operation, nearly 43,000 people – mostly from rural areas – were transported from Latvia to Siberia.

In the second half of the 1980s, the Latvians used the nascent liberalization of the Soviet Union to establish various political organizations such as, for example, the People's Front, the National Independent Movement and the Citizen's Congress. These organizations supported the restoration of Latvia's independence.

On 23 August 1989 the three people's fronts built a live human chain of over several hundred kilometers from Tallinn via Riga to Vilnius (the Baltic Path) in order to draw attention to the crime of the Hitler-Stalin Pact that had been in effect for 50 years already. During the protest marches and demonstrations, the people sang forbidden songs, defiant rock versions of popular Latvian songs that became summer hits. The concept of the "Singing Revolution" was coined.

A major step in the restoration of Latvia's independence was taken on 4 May 1990. On that day, the Supreme Council of the Latvian SSR passed a declaration in which the will to restore independence was expressed, and a period of transition to complete freedom laid down officially.

Moscow was opposed to the Balts' strivings for independence, since they could bring down the entire Soviet Union. The revolution took its course in the night of 13 January 1991 with the bloody events in Vilnius, where the Soviet military occupied the Lithuanian Television. Thirteen peaceful demonstrators were killed. The population of Riga then erected barricades around its radio building and the Parliament in the old town of Riga to protect them from Soviet attacks. For entire days and nights, the people kept up their opposition and sang their freedom songs around bonfires in the icy cold. When the "old guard" revolted against Gorbatchev in Moscow in August 1991, barricades were 6 For further information: Beta Cinema Press, Dorothee Stoewahse, Tel: + 49 89 67 34 69 15, Mobile: + 49 170 63 84 627 [email protected] , www.betacinema.com . Pictures and filmclips available on ftp.betafilm.com , username: ftppress01, password: 8uV7xG3tB

again set up in Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius, and songs of solidarity sung. The peaceful revolution in the Baltics was threatened. But a few days later, the Moscow putsch collapsed. On 21 August 1991 the Latvian Parliament passed a resolution about the complete restoration of the Latvian state. The Soviet Union recognized the independence of Latvia in September 1991 along with the Western democracies.

PRODUCTION NOTES

"I always feel that a film is successful when it elicits emotions in the viewer – his can be hearty laughter or commiserating tears." Uli Aselmann - Producer

When producer Uli Aselmann was offered the first version of the script, sponsored by the FFA, he was immediately fascinated. Together with director Hans Steinbichler, he proceeded to conceptually transpose the story penned by Robert and Josephin Thayenthal, and to search for financing. After nearly a year, he had all the commitments of the sponsoring authorities that he had applied to: the Deutscher Filmförderfonds (DFFF), the Filmstiftung NRW, the FilmFernsehFonds Bayern (FFF), the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (MBB), the Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA), the Wirtschaftliche Filmförderung Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the support of the German Ministry of Culture as well as the participation of WDR, ARD Degeto, BR and Arte. Together with the producer’s own resources, the film has a production budget of around five million euros.

The shooting of the historic scenes surrounding the Baltic "Singing Revolution" took place in Riga. The Latvians who had lived through the blockade in Riga in August 1991 brought original props onto the set with them. During the six days of shooting, they showed the German team just how important it was for them to create a realistic feeling for this important phase of their country. A liberating recollection of this period and a feeling of triumph spread among the Latvians during the shoot. Their history is truly special and is almost forgotten today amidst the more spectacular world events. The film tries to do justice to this period, even if the political background of Latvia from 1933 to 1991 can only be briefly sketched, since it is a family secret that is at the center of the story. "It was not our intent to make a political film about the history of Latvia. We wouldn't have dared to do so, and certainly not from our basis in Germany. Latvia's historical background offered us the context in which we could make a film about humanity, one that concerns human fates," says Uli Aselmann.

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DIRECTOR HANS STEINBICHLER about the film

“PROMISING THE MOON is a story about the obstacles and possibilities of forgiving.” Hans Steinbichler - Director

Why did you decide to direct PROMISING THE MOON? I am of a generation that has a very concrete relationship to the years of political change in the 1990s. When I look back upon those years, which have remain engraved in my mind, then the most important were no doubt those between 1986 and 1996. These are the years in which I was growing up. I felt immediately familiar with the time level of the story of Marga and Sofia.

The script "found" me in June 2008. I think I hadn't read such an exciting and suggestive book about this time until then. I didn't have to consider for a minute. I immediately sent the two writers Robert and Josephin Thayenthal a text message: "I'll do it! Absolutely!"

You shot the film in , Wuppertal, Heiligendamm and Berlin, as well as at original locations in Riga. How did the Latvians react to the shooting of a film about their history? The city of Riga and its population were extremely open and helpful. There were very moving moments. The revolution of 1991 was recreated on the original locations with the almost identical number of people who had been on the square at that time. We had nearly 400 Latvian extras. The people came to the set with tears in their eyes because we brought to life once again, and for a brief moment, that which they had experienced themselves twenty years earlier: the barricades, the songs, the posters. Many Latvians feel that their liberation story was eclipsed by the Gulf War which began only three days later. The film is something like a small contribution to keeping alive the memory of this period in Latvian history.

Nevertheless, it is not Latvian history that is at the center of the film. Did you deliberately reduce the historical events to the family tragedy? We continued to develop the script over a period of one and a half years. Not least because the Latvian history in the original version was described so extensively that we would not have been able to shoot this for under a two-digit million sum. For me, the historical aspect wasn't so much the decisive element. In this film, history functions rather like a blueprint. War and clashes of social systems are the framework that gives rise to stories of relations such as those between Marga and Sofia. History becomes personal this way.

That sounds like one of your great idols Pedro Almodóvar, for whom both history and homeland function like strong projection surfaces for the filmic narrative. That’s true. I am a great admirer of Pedro Almodóvar and consider him as a consummate homeland filmmaker. To me, "homeland film" doesn't mean wandering around meadows in front of mountains. Just like Almodóvar who, for example, depicts the situation of gays in Spain in his film 'La mala educación,' homeland film means understanding one's own surroundings not by aiming to fill a niche, but by relating stories for many people. This is what I really admire in Almodóvar. With this kind of

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closeness to reality, he has been able to tell incredibly radical stories such as 'Todo sobre mi madre.' I see Pedro Almodóvar above all as a model of narrative style.

It is also the visual idiom which makes the film so remarkable – the weightiness of personal destinies is placed against the lightness and poetic beauty of the images. A deliberately chosen contrast? Beauty is extremely important to me - not in the sense of hyping the aesthetic. It's a type of beauty in which you completely forget that you're moved in places where you really don't want to be moved that much. That's precisely what I love about movies: that the beauty of images can lead you into reflecting on terrible things.

And what are you offering viewers with this film? How far do relations go? How far can love or friendship go? The film asks these questions and provides the possibility of forgiving as an answer. That is a rather big theme. If we were all able to forgive, then the world would be a bit further than it is at the moment.

FILMOGRAPHY (selection)

CAST

Juliane Köhler – Sofia Schleier

Title Director 2011 Promising the Moon Hans Steinbichler 2009 Eden à l’ouest Constantin Costa-Gavras 2008 November Child Christian Schwochow Adam Resurrected Paul Schrader Effi Hermine Huntgeburth Anonyma Max Färberböck 2007 Mondkalb Sylke Enders 2006 Life Actually Alain Gsponer Auf ewig und einen Tag (TV) Markus Imboden 2004 Downfall Oliver Hirschbiegel 2002 My First Miracle Anne Wild 2001 1998 Aimée & Jaguar Max Färberböck Annaluise and Anton Caroline Link

Hannelore Elsner – Marga Baumanis

Title Director 2011 Promising the Moon Hans Steinbichler 2010 Electric Ghetto The Last Patriarch Michael Steinke Hanni and Nanni Christine Hartmann 2009 Jakobs Bruder Daniel Walta My Heart in Chile Jörg Grünler 9 For further information: Beta Cinema Press, Dorothee Stoewahse, Tel: + 49 89 67 34 69 15, Mobile: + 49 170 63 84 627 [email protected] , www.betacinema.com . Pictures and filmclips available on ftp.betafilm.com , username: ftppress01, password: 8uV7xG3tB

2007 Cherry Blossoms - Hanami Doris Dörrie Vivere Angeline Maccarone War and Peace (TV) Robert Dornhelm 2006 Not All Were Murderers Jo Baier 2005 Die Spielerin Erhard Riedlsperger Rauchzeichen Rudolf Thome 2004 Go For Zucker! 2003 Frau fährt, Mann schläft Rudolf Thome Poem Ralf Schmerberg 2002 Mein letzter Film Oliver Hirschbiegel Red and Blue Rudolf Thome 2000 No Place to Go 1994 Die Kommissarin (TV) Diverse - 2005

Karoline Herfurth – Marga Baumanis (young)

Title Director 2011 Promising the Moon Hans Steinbichler 2010 Vincent Wants to Sea Ralf Huettner 2009 Berlin ’36 Kaspar Heidelbach 2008 A Year Ago in Winter Caroline Link Das Wunder von Berlin (TV) Roland Suso Richter 2006 Parfume – Story of a Murderer Peer Gynt Uwe Janson 2004 In Another League Buket Alakus Girls on Top! 2 Peter Gersina 2003 Mein Name ist Bach Dominique de Rivaz 2002 Big Girls Don’t Cry Maria von Heland 2001 Girls on Top! Dennis Gansel 2000 Crazy Hans-Christian Schmid

David Kross – Osvalds Kalnins (young)

Title Director 2011 DAS BLAUE VOM HIMMEL Hans Steinbichler 2009 Same But Different 2008 The Reader Stephen Daldry Krabat 2006 Tough Enough Detlev Buck

10 For further information: Beta Cinema Press, Dorothee Stoewahse, Tel: + 49 89 67 34 69 15, Mobile: + 49 170 63 84 627 [email protected] , www.betacinema.com . Pictures and filmclips available on ftp.betafilm.com , username: ftppress01, password: 8uV7xG3tB

Matthias Brandt – Lorenz Schleier

Title Director 2011 Promising the Moon Hans Steinbichler 2010 Das Medium (TV) Jan Bonny, Oliver Schwabe 2009 Livestream Jens Wischnewski Freche Mädchen Ute Wieland Die Tochter des Mörders Johannes Fabrick Der Test (TV) Marc Schlichter 2008 My Mother, My Bride and I Hans Steinbichler Todsünde (TV) Matti Geschonneck Die Frau, die im Wald verschwand (TV) Oliver Storz 2007 Side Effects (TV) Adolf Winkelmann Counterparts Jan Bonny 2006 Hannah Erika von Möller Vineta Franziska Stünkel 2005 The Kaminski Case Stephan Wagner Leo (TV) Vivian Naefe 2003 In the Shadow of Power (TV) Oliver Storz 2002 Big Girls Don’t Cry Maria von Heland

CREW

Hans Steinbichler – Director

Hans Steinbichler was born in Solothurn, , in 1969 and grew up in the Chiemgau in Bavaria. During his studies, he worked as a photographer and journalist. He began to study law after secondary school, but broke this off to take up a course of study at the Munich Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film instead. After shooting short films and biographical documentaries there, he presented his film “Hierankl” (2003) – for which he was able to enlist the participation of such great film personalities as , and – as his graduation project, which won plaudits from the press and the public. For his first work he obtained the Advancement Prize of the Munich Filmfest for best direction as well as the Bavarian Film Award and the Adolf Grimme Award. His acting ensemble was also honored with the latter. In 2006 Hans Steinbichler directed “Winter Journey”, which again starred Josef Bierbichler, this time next to Hanna Schygulla and . Bierbichler obtained the Lola for his achievement in this film; moreover, “Winter Journey” was also nominated for the best film. In 2007 he realized the film experiment “Autistic Disco” – a drama about social outcasts that Steinbichler developed jointly with acting students of an art academy. One year later he shot the drama “My Mother, My Bride and I” with Monica Bleibtreu, Matthias Brandt and Maria Popistasu, and obtained an Adolf Grimme Award as director for it. Also in 2008 Hans Steinbichler shot the short film “Fraktur”, his contribution to the compilation film Deutschland 09, with which 13 German directors expressed their thoughts on the state of the nation through short films. The world premiere was screened at the Berlinale in 2009.

11 For further information: Beta Cinema Press, Dorothee Stoewahse, Tel: + 49 89 67 34 69 15, Mobile: + 49 170 63 84 627 [email protected] , www.betacinema.com . Pictures and filmclips available on ftp.betafilm.com , username: ftppress01, password: 8uV7xG3tB

Title 2011 Promising the Moon Director 2009 Meine Heimat - Die Halbe Wahrheit (TV) Director, Script Fraktur - Deutschland 09 (Episode 7) Director, Script 2008 My Mother, My Bride and I (TV) Director 2007 Autistic Disco Director, Production 2006 Winter Journey Director Bella Block: Mord unterm Kreuz Director 2003 Hierankl Director, Script

Bella Halben – Cinematography

Bella Halben was born and raised in , and, after her training as an advertising photographer, worked as assistant camerawoman and operator in the fields of news reporting, commercials and feature films. Since 1990 she has been active as a freelance camerawoman and has shot a number of feature films. She filmed Christopher Roth’s films “Looosers” (1995), “Candy” (1998) and “Baader” (2001), which obtained the Alfred Bauer Award at the 2002 Berlinale. In 2001 she shot Nicolette Krebitz’ directing debut “Jeans”, as well as her second film “The Heart Is a Dark Forrest” in 2006. In 2003 she was in charge of photographing “Hierankl”, the first film which she made with Hans Steinbichler, and for which she obtained the Adolf Grimme Award in Gold and a nomination for the German Camera Award. Also in 2003 she shot “Aus der Tiefe des Raumes” (Director: Gil Mehmert), in 2004 “Eine andere Liga” (Director: Buket Alakus); in 2005 the episodes “Mord unterm Kreuz” (Director: Hans Steinbichler) and “Das Glück der Anderen” of the ZDF production “Bella Block”. Halben collaborated again with Hans Steinbichler in “Winter Journey” in 2005, “Autistic Disco” in 2006, as well as the episode “Fraktur” for the compilation film Deutschland 09 in 2008. In 2007 Bella Halben wielded the camera for Caroline Link’s “A Year Ago in Winter” – for which she obtained a nomination for the German Camera Award. It was followed in 2008 by “The Door” (Director: Anna Saul), the TV two-parter “Der Kommissar und das Meer” (Director: Marcus Weiler), the TV fairy tale “Dornröschen” in 2009, which also starred Hannelore Elsner, “Hier kommt Lola” (Director: Franziska Buch) as well as the documentary film “Meine Heimat – Die halbe Wahrheit” (Director: Hans Steinbichler).

Title Director 2011 Promising the Moon Hans Steinbichler 2009 The Door Anno Saul Meine Heimat - Die Halbe Wahrheit (TV) Hans Steinbichler Fraktur - Deutschland 09 (Episode 7) Hans Steinbichler Dornröschen (TV) Oliver Dieckmann 2008 A Year Ago in Winter Caroline Link Der Kommissar und das Meer (TV) Marcus Weiler 2007 The Heart Is a Dark Forrest Nicolette Krebitz Autistic Disco Hans Steinbichler 2006 Winter Journey Hans Steinbichler Bella Block: Mord unterm Kreuz (TV) Hans Steinbichler 2005 Bella Block: Das Glück der anderen (TV) Christian von Castelberg 2004 Aus der Tiefe des Raumes Gil Mehmert 12 For further information: Beta Cinema Press, Dorothee Stoewahse, Tel: + 49 89 67 34 69 15, Mobile: + 49 170 63 84 627 [email protected] , www.betacinema.com . Pictures and filmclips available on ftp.betafilm.com , username: ftppress01, password: 8uV7xG3tB

2004 Eine andere Liga Buket Alakus 2003 Hierankl Hans Steinbichler 2001 Baader Christopher Roth Jeans Nicolette Krebitz

Uli Aselmann / die film gmbh – Producer

Born in Hamburg in 1957, Uli Aselmann studied German literature and musicology at the University of Bielefeld, worked as assistant director at Ida Ehre’s Hamburger Kammerspiele and financed his studies at the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg as assistant director, radio producer and radio-play director at the NDR. After obtaining his film degree at the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg with the graduation film “Drei mal drei”, he worked as floor manager, designer and production manager for various German and international TV productions, and produced further short films of his own (including “Gefahren der Sehnsucht”).

In 1992 he was hired by Jürgen Kriwitz for the neue deutsche Filmgesellschaft (ndF) in Munich. Here Aselmann produced commercials (with, among others, Helmut Dietl for the “Deutsche Fernsehlotterie”), series (including “Schloss Hohenstein,” “Um die 30”), theatrical films (e.g. „Der kalte Finger“) and TV movies for practically all German broadcasters (including “Amerika,” “Die Chaosqueen,” “Falsche Liebe”). Ralf Huettner’s police comedies “Die Musterknaben” became a kind of trademark for the producer Aselmann; in 1997 he was granted the First Movie Award at the Munich Filmfest for the best production achievement. In the same year he was nominated for the as best producer for “Der Neffe” (director: Gabriela Zerhau).

In 1997 Uli Aselmann founded die film gmbh and has since been the general manager and producer of this firm as well as of the subsidiary companies a.pictures film & tv. production.gmbh in Hamburg and cut.it film- und postproduktions gmbh in Stuttgart. Since July 2009 Andreas Ch. Tönnessen has been co-partner of die film gmbh. die film gmbh has also been the principal shareholder of the film production company TANGRAM International GmbH, specialized in documentaries, since 2010. The firms have made more than 80 productions to date, many of which have been nominated for German and international awards and have won awards in various categories. For example, the feature film “Vaya con Dios” was honored with the “VGF Award for the best film of a young cinema producer 2001” at the Bavarian Film Awards in 2002. There were also successful theatrical films such as “Grenzverkehr” (2004: Director: Stefan Betz), “Meine Mutter, mein Bruder und Ich!” (2006; Director: Nuran D. Calis) as well as “Winter Journey” (2005: Hans Steinbichler), which was not only nominated as best film for the German Film Awards in 2007 and won Josef Bierbichler a Lola as best , but was also awarded the Fipresci Critics’ Award and the Jury Award in Brooklyn. The coproduction “Autistic Disco”, again with Steinbichler, had its theatrical release in October 2008 and was successful at many international festivals. “Die Perlmutterfarbe” (Director: Marcus H. Rosenmüller) had its theatrical release in spring 2009 and was also a hit at many festivals (BUSTER Copenhagen International Film Festival 2009 – Best Film; Castellinaria Film Festival 2009 – awarded the “Castello d’oro”; children’s media award 2009 for Markus Krojer). In 2010 die film gmbh produced the theatrical film “Dreiviertelmond” (script and direction: Christian Zübert),which is coming to German cinemas in fall 2011. The latest award for the firm was the Bavarian Film Award on 14 January 2011 for Best Production for PROMISING THE MOON.

13 For further information: Beta Cinema Press, Dorothee Stoewahse, Tel: + 49 89 67 34 69 15, Mobile: + 49 170 63 84 627 [email protected] , www.betacinema.com . Pictures and filmclips available on ftp.betafilm.com , username: ftppress01, password: 8uV7xG3tB

Uli Aselmann is cinema-section chairman and deputy chairman of the management board of the Allianz Deutscher Produzenten – Film & Fernseh and, since February 2009, executive committee member of the Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA). Aselmann is a member of the Deutsche Filmakademie and die film gmbh has been a sustaining member of the Deutsche Filmakademie since 2004.

Title Director 2011 Promising the Moon Hans Steinbichler 2010 Dreiviertelmond Christian Zübert 2009 Die Perlmutterfarbe Markus H. Rosenmüller 2007 Autistic Disco Hans Steinbichler 2006 Meine Mutter, mein Bruder und ich! Nuran David Calis 2005 Winter Journey Hans Steinbichler 2004 Grenzverkehr Stefan Betz 2003 Aus der Tiefe des Raumes Gil Mehmert 2002 Die Musterknaben 3 Ralf Huettner 2000 Vaya con Dios Zoltan Spirandelli

And many TV movies www.diefilmgmbh.de

Robert Thayenthal and Josephin Thayenthal – Screenplay

Robert Thayenthal was born in Graz, Austria, where he studied theater directing at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst. After completing his studies, he worked for several years as a freelance director at many theaters in Germany and Austria and wrote stage plays, radio plays and novels. For more than 20 years now he has been writing successful scripts for movies and TV. Josephin Thayenthal studied art history at Berlin's Humboldt University and was active for several years as an art historian specializing in contemporary art. She came to filmmaking and writing through the study of Experimental Film Design and Narrative Film at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin. Robert and Josephin Thayenthal have been working together since 2006. In 2009 they were nominated for the German Script Award for their first joint screenplay, PROMISING THE MOON. Also in 2009 their script “Amselherz” obtained a nomination for the Script Award of the International Filmfest in Emden. Robert and Josephin Thayenthal live in Berlin.

Niki Reiser – Music

Niki Reiser was born in Aargau (Switzerland) in 1958. He studied jazz and classical music at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, majoring in film music. Among his later teachers were and . In the early 1980s he wrote mainly film scores for American film productions and toured through the U.S. as a jazz flute player with his ensemble People. Reiser returned to Europe in 1986 and began his long-term collaboration with Dany Levy. Ten years later he wrote the film score to Caroline Link's debut film “Beyond Silence”. His soundtrack to the Oscar-nominated film sold over 200,000 copies and won the German Film Award in 1997. His 14 For further information: Beta Cinema Press, Dorothee Stoewahse, Tel: + 49 89 67 34 69 15, Mobile: + 49 170 63 84 627 [email protected] , www.betacinema.com . Pictures and filmclips available on ftp.betafilm.com , username: ftppress01, password: 8uV7xG3tB

musical talent was again confirmed at a variety of theaters throughout the world. He appeared with Kol Simcha on his world tour from 1997 to 1999, and played at Carnegie Hall and the Montreux Jazz Festival. Today he has a studio in Basel and has been in the managing board of the Deutsche Filmakademie since its founding in 2003.

Soundtracks (selection):

Title: Director: 2011 Promising the Moon Hans Steinbichler 2009 Maria, He Doesn’t Like It Neele Vollmar The Wild Chicks and Life Vivian Naefe 2008 A Year Ago in Winter Caroline Link 2007 Love Life 2006 My Führer Dany Levy 2005 The White Massai Hermine Huntgeburth Go For Zucker! Dany Levy 2004 Summer Storm Marco Kreuzpaintner 2002 The Flying Classroom Tomy Wigand I’m the Father Dany Levy 2001 Nowhere in Africa Caroline Link Heidi Markus Imboden

Awards (Selection):

German Film Award: 1997 – Beyond Silence; 1999 - Meschugge, Annaluise & Anton; 2002 – Nowhere in Africa; 2005 – Go For Zucker! Bavarian Film Award: 1996 – Silent Night Swiss Film Music Award 2001 – Cold Is the Breath of Evening Award of the German Film Critics 2004 – The Flying Classroom

BETA CINEMA (World Sales)

Beta Cinema is the theatrical division of Beta Film. Launched in 2001, Beta Cinema has established itself as a "boutique operation" for independent feature films with strong potential for theatrical distribution. Beta Cinema's philosophy is to limit its selective acquisition policy of 10 to 15 titles per year in order to fully develop the theatrical potential of each title according to its individual character. Beta Cinema’s portfolio includes outstanding productions like JOHN RABE, which won four German Film Awards 2009, Cannes 2008 Jury Prize-winning IL DIVO, Academy Award 2008- winning THE COUNTERFEITERS, Academy Award 2008 nominated MONGOL, Academy Award 2007-winning and the Academy Award 2005-nominated DOWNFALL.

15 For further information: Beta Cinema Press, Dorothee Stoewahse, Tel: + 49 89 67 34 69 15, Mobile: + 49 170 63 84 627 [email protected] , www.betacinema.com . Pictures and filmclips available on ftp.betafilm.com , username: ftppress01, password: 8uV7xG3tB