MIPCOM 2010 Line-Up Booth R31.01A Phone: +33 (0) 4 92 99 88 53 www.betafilm.com Visit our Screeningroom! Miniseries (2 x two hours, HD) Hindenburg - The Last Flight An awe-inspiring airship. A murderous conspiracy. A devastating catastrophe. Frankfurt, May 1937. The Hindenburg, the world's largest airship, is getting ready to fly to New York. A vehicle of staggering dimensions, it is the pride of Nazi Germany. But it has one serious flaw: due to an American embargo preventing the sale of helium to Germany, the Hindenburg is filled with highly combustible hydrogen gas instead. To Merten Kröger, an engineer who helped design the Hindenburg, the ship is a stick of dynamite waiting for a spark. The young man of great charm but modest means has fallen in love with the wealthy Jennifer van Zandt, the daughter of an American industrialist who wants to sell helium to the Germans. Just before the ship takes off, Merten learns how far the industrialist will go: he has had a bomb placed on the airship. What van Zandt didn't know is that his wife and daughter would be on board. Merten sneaks aboard the airship without a minute to spare. The young couple is reunited, and despite the great difference in class and social status between them, Jennifer, too, avows her love for Merten. He tells her of the bomb hidden somewhere on the airship. But there is little time for explanations, since Merten must flee: he is being sought for a murder he says he did not commit. Jennifer is confused – is Merten lying to her? On the run from the crew, Merten overhears Jennifer's mother telling someone to reset the bomb, as the Hindenburg is expected to land in Lakehurst, near New York, several hours behind schedule. Before he can find out whom she was talking to, he is caught and brutally beaten. Once proof is found that Merten did not commit the murder and that he is telling the truth about the bomb, the crew begins a race-against-time search to find it – a search for the needle in a haystack. Jennifer is shocked to learn that her mother was in on the conspiracy. Unfortunately, Mrs. van Zandt also doesn't know the location of the explosives. And when the only person on board who knows where the dynamite has been hidden plunges into the sea to his death, it looks like nothing can save the Hindenburg anymore. Awaited by festive crowds, photographers and radio reporters, the airship majestically approaches Lakehurst… Original title Hindenburg Genre Event-Drama Category Miniseries Format 2 x two hours, HD Starring Lauren Lee Smith, Stacy Keach, Greta Scacchi, Maximilian Simonischek, Heiner Lauterbach, Ulrich Noethen, Christiane Paul, Hannes Jaenicke Directed by Philipp Kadelbach Produced by Teamworx for RTL in coproduction wit EOS in association with Beta www.betafilm.com/hindenburg 2 Miniseries (2 x two hours, HD) The Last Patriarch In the autumn of his life, he learns the true meaning of family… Entrepreneur Konrad Hansen prides himself on having made "Hansen Marzipan" a market leader in Europe. His younger son Lars believes the time is ripe to expand to China, where marzipan is still unknown. Now 72, Konrad wants to step down; but instead of passing the torch on to his eldest son Sven, a hard worker familiar with the day-to-day business, he names Lars as his successor, thus provoking perplexity and ill feelings within his family. To celebrate the founding of the Chinese subsidiary, Konrad and Lars travel to Shanghai, where an unsettling surprise awaits them. A mysterious package is delivered to Konrad after the ceremony: a Chinese-produced marzipan loaf bearing the Hansen logo and colors, and made from the very same recipe that has been a well-guarded family secret since 1882. Hansen stands to lose his 200 million euro investment, which could bring down his entire company. He hires Florian, a journalist for the "Shanghai Economist," to investigate – and who immediately senses that Hansen's official government interpreter/watchdog Chang Suong knows more than she's telling. Suong is hiding a secret – one that goes back several decades and directly concerns Konrad Hansen. As Lars struggles with his reputation and his inner demons, and as his brother Sven plunges into severe depression, Konrad tries to hold everything together. Suong, however, is unable to keep the past a secret any longer and confides in the journalist: many years ago, her mother fled to Germany and found refuge with the Hansens, where she was treated with great kindness; however, after Konrad betrayed his wife with her, she was forced to leave. Tao, the result of their affair and the son Konrad never knew he had, has now become his nemesis and wants to destroy the Hansens. Original title The last Patriarch Genre Drama Category Miniseries Format 2 x two hours, HD Starring Mario Adorf, Hannelore Elsner, Ursula Karven, Julia Richter, Max Urlacher Kai Scheve Directed by Michael Steinke Produced by UFA Filmproduktion GmbH / Six-Six-Eight Pte. Ltd. www.betafilm.com/thelastpatriarch 3 Now in NEW Seasons – BETAs ONGOING SERIES SUCCESS 52 x half hour, HD 69 x one hour, HD 25 x one hour 25 x one hour, HD 22 x one hour 68 x one hour, HD 4 TV Movie (two hours, HD) Murder is no fairy tale Once upon a crime… The body of a girl is found near the Elbe River in Hamburg, a message for the police concealed in her hand. Homicide Inspector Jan Fabel is entrusted with the case. Though still psychologically fragile after a catastrophic police operation, he's been judged fit by his female therapist, his on-and-off girlfriend. For Fabel, the note in the victim's hand is not only a mystery but also a hint that this could be the beginning of a serial killer's murder spree. Sure enough, a couple is later also found murdered, again with a message that Fabel now realizes is drawn from the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. The victims are laid out in poses or with props that evoke the fairy tale in question. But since there seems to be no link among the victims, the homicide squad is stumped, the killer free to enact his deadly fantasies. Yet there are leads and suspects. One man claims to have seen a heavily tattooed man in a wolf's mask attack the murdered couple, and a popular author's latest book bears remarkable similarities with the murders. Is the author inspiring a madman to kill, or is he himself the crazed killer? When Fabel finally discovers a connection between the victims, it's nearly too late. He and his partner are attacked by the man in the wolf's mask, but more as a warning than as a deadly assault. Somewhere in the city the wolf is about to strike again. And the fairy tale to be reenacted is "Little Red Riding Hood," in which not only a grandmother, but also a young girl become the victims of the Big Bad Wolf. Title Murder is no fairy tale Genre Crime Category TV Movie Format two hours, HD Starring Peter Lohmeyer, Lutz Blochberger, Hinnerk Schönemann, David Scheller, Lisa Maria Potthoff, Marie-Lou Sellem Directed by Urs Egger Produced by Tivolifilm for ARD in association with Beta www.betafilm.com/murderisnofairytale 5 TV Movie (two hours, HD) Shadows from the Past Only the future is ours to shape. Directed by Academy Award and Emmy nominated Robert Dornhelm Some people learn to live with their past. Others try to bury it. Like Vera Schlink. The life she led 12 years ago is the last thing on her mind at the glittering cocktail party being given to celebrate her nomination as Fund Manager of the Year. Lovely, charming, married to successful manager Hannes, mother of pretty eight-year-old Paula, committed to helping environmental and Third-World causes, Vera is the very portrait of the woman who has it all, and who's liked by all. The only smudge on the portrait is Kurt, a man who played a brief but decisive role in her past and who now unexpectedly appears at her party. The gift he's brought her are photos from the life she once led and that she's been able to cover up until now: her past as a prostitute. A past that no one, not even Hannes, knows anything about. Thanks to Vera's testimony, Kurt and a pal were sent to jail for the murder of Vera's boyfriend. Kurt has served his sentence and wants compensation for his lost years – from Vera. Frightened and desperate, Vera turns for help not to her husband, but to a new friend, Melli, a no-nonsense, clear-thinking young woman who unquestioningly devotes herself to Vera during these tense weeks. If Kurt doesn't get a million, he's going to destroy not only Vera's life, but also that of Hannes and Paula. Melli favors a radical solution – but on whose side is she really on? Title Shadows from the Past Genre Thriller Category TV Movie Format two hours, HD Starring Aglaia Szyszkowitz, Bernhard Schir, Mavie Hörbiger, André Hennicke Directed by Robert Dornhelm Produced by DOR Film in coproduction with ARD and ORF in association with Beta www.betafilm.com/shadowsfromthepast 6 TV Movie (two hours, HD) Blue Skin On the open water, there's nothing to cling to With summer nearly over, it's time to party hard and fast. As usual, Germán throws the splashiest party and proposes a cruise on his jaw-droppingly luxurious yacht.