U1_cover_GFQ_2.qxp:cover_GFQ_1_2010_Proof.qxp 27.04.11 09:50 Seite 1 German Films Quarterly 2 · 2011 IN CANNES Cannes Classics THE LOOK – CHARLOTTE RAMPLING by Angelina Maccarone PORTRAITS Director Joachim Masannek Ostlicht Filmproduktion Actress Karoline Herfurth U2_Anz_GF_Cannes.qxp:GFQ_U2_u_erste_Innenseite 27.04.11 17:58 Seite 1 IN COMPETITION IN COMPETITION le HaVre melanCHolia by aki Kaurismäki by lars von trier german co-producer Pandora Film/Cologne german co-producer Zentropa international Köln/Cologne World Sales the match Factory/Cologne World Sales trustnordisk/Hvidovre UN CERTAIN REGARD SPECIAL SCREENING Halt auF Freier streCKe miCHel PetruCCiani stoPPed on traCK by andreas dresen by michael radford producer rommel Film/Berlin german co-producer looKs Filmproduktionen/Berlin World Sales the match Factory/Cologne World Sales Wild Bunch/Paris feStiVal De feStiVal canneS 2011 CANNES CLASSICS CINÉFONDATION th tHe looK – CHarlotte ramPlinG der BrieF by angelina maccarone tHe letter by doroteya droumeva german producers taG/traum Filmproduktion/Cologne producer/World Sales deutsche Film- und & Prounen Film/Berlin World Sales mK2 diffusion/Paris Fernsehakademie Berlin (dffb) CINÉFONDATION DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT der WeCHselBalG mila Caos CHanGelinG by maria steinmetz by simon Jaikiriuma Paetau producer/World Sales Hochschule für Film und producer/World Sales academy of Fernsehen “ Konrad Wolf” /Potsdam-Babelsberg media arts (KHm)/Cologne DIRECTORS' FORTNIGHT CRITICS' WEEK sur la PlanCHe tHe slut by leila Kilani by Hagar Ben asher german co-producer Vandertastic/Berlin german co-producer rohfilm/Berlin aurora Films/Paris Films distribution/Paris World Sales World Sales All photos and courtesy of world producers agents. sales not Credits contractual. Germanin the official program of the 64 Films and Co-ProduCtions S03_Inhaltsverz.qxp:Inhaltsverz_GFQ2_2010.qxp 27.04.11 10:13 Seite 1 German Films Quarterly 2 · 2011 portraits 4 HARD WORK FOR KIDS A portrait of director Joachim Masannek 6 EASTERN GLOW A portrait of Ostlicht Filmproduktion 8 DEVELOPING HER CRAFT A portrait of Karoline Herfurth 10 news in production 14 BIS ZUM HORIZONT, DANN LINKS! Bernd Böhlich CIRCLES Srdan Golubovic 15 DOPPELLEBEN Douglas Wolfsperger DIE ERFINDUNG DER LIEBE Lola Randl 16 GNADE Matthias Glasner IM NEBEL Sergei Loz nitsa 17 INVASION Dito Tsintsadze KLAPPE COWBOY! Timo Jacobs & Ulf Behrens 18 RUBBELDIEKATZ Detlev Buck RUSSENDISKO Oliver Ziegenbalg 19 SECHSTER SINN, DRITTES AUGE, ZWEITES GESICHT Jan Riesenbeck SUSHI IN SUHL Carsten Fiebeler 20 VOICE – SCULPTING SOUND WITH MAJA RATKJE Ingo J. Biermann new german films 22 4 TAGE IM MAI 4 DAYS IN MAY Achim von Borries 23 BABA George Inci 24 DREILEBEN – EINE MINUTE DUNKEL DREILEBEN – ONE MINUTE OF DARKNESS Christoph Hochhäusler 25 DREILEBEN – ETWAS BESSERES ALS DEN TOD DREILEBEN – BEATS BEING DEAD Christian Petzold 26 DREILEBEN – KOMM MIR NICHT NACH DREILEBEN – DON’T FOLLOW ME AROUND Dominik Graf 27 DIE FARBE DES OZEANS COLOR OF THE OCEAN Maggie Peren 28 FRONTALWATTE Jakob Lass 29 GEKAUFTE WAHRHEIT SCIENTISTS UNDER ATTACK Bertram Verhaag 30 GERHARD RICHTER PAINTING Corinna Belz 31 KADDISCH FÜR EINEN FREUND KADDISH FOR A FRIEND Leo Khasin 32 KRIEGERIN COMBA T GIRLS David F. Wnendt 33 THE LOOK – CHARLOTTE RAMPLING Angelina Maccarone 34 MAMA AFRICA Mika Kaurismäki 35 MANOLO Robert Bohrer 36 NYMAN IN PROGRESS Silvia Beck 37 RABENJUNGE RAVENBOY Andrea Deppert 38 DAS ROTE ZIMMER THE RED ROOM Rudolf Thome 39 SEPPI & HIAS – BAYERISCH-TÜRKISCHE LAUSBUBENGESCHICHTEN SEPPI & HIAS – THE BAVARIAN-TURKISH LITTLE RASCALS Emre Koca 40 SXVAGAN – FORT SXVAGAN – AWAY Tinatin Gurchiani 41 TAGE DIE BLEIBEN A FAMILY OF THREE Pia Strietmann 42 ÜBER UNS DAS ALL ABOVE US ONLY SKY Jan Schomburg 43 UNDERWATER LOVE Shinji Imaoka 44 DIE VERLORENE ZEIT REMEMBRANCE Anna Justice 45 ZIMMER 67 ROOM 67 Matthias Maasz 48 film exporters 51 foreign representatives · imprint S04-05_Port J_Masannek.qxp:A portrait of Volker Bruch 27.04.11 10:17 Seite 1 DIRECTOR PORTRAIT It is probably not being too shameless to assume that Joachim Masannek himself is rather a “wild guy”. Born in 1960 in Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia, he tells stories about his childhood and youth that make it seem certain those years have also been a source of inspiration for his success as a children’s author and filmmaker. He grew up in a mining community where everyone knew everyone else – a whole crowd of kids spent their afternoons together. “After our homework, no one took any interest in us until the sun went down, so we had to occupy ourselves,” he recalls. There was no television, no constant stream of entertainment, but there was a lot of football, of course. Initially, Masannek studied German Philology and Philosophy, at the age of 23 he landed in Munich and soon afterwards at the local film school. As from 1992 he worked as a set designer and cameraman for various productions, later as a screenplay writer and script consultant. For a long time, however, his ideas for children’s films fell on deaf ears, although his children’s musical THE GRAPE- FRUIT MOON (1989) received some positive echoes. Things have changed now, though: he found his inspiration for the greatest ever German children’s film success in his work as a football trainer – his two sons were among the original “wild guys”. Today Masannek ssay that as an artist, one probably ought never to grow up completely – and children keep you even younger. If this is true, we still have plenty to look forward to, as soon the filmmaker is due to become a father for the third time. His films include: BOMBER (short, 1992), IN LIEBE, CATHERINE (short, 1992), DER BÄR (commercial, 1992), and all five THE WILD SOCCER BUNCH (DIE WILDEN KERLE) films. Agent Heppeler Agency Steinstr. 54 · 81667 Munich/Germany phone +49-89-44 88 484 · fax +49-89-44 70 995 [email protected] · www.agentur-heppeler.de Joachim Masannek (photo © Erika Hauri) HARD WORK FOR KIDS A portrait of Joachim Masannek Joachim Masannek has been one of the most successful child- written, adapt ed into screenplays and th en filmed. “Always, there was ren’s film directors in Germany for the past decade. His achievement incredible time pressure,” he says. is based on a solid work ethic and an awareness of children’s lives that is far removed from dusty textbooks. All this effort has been well worthwhile. Masannek is one of Germany’s most successful filmmakers, but in a Munich café the direc- Joachim Masannek’s working hours are extreme: “I get up and start tor, with his striking long blond hair, can still escape detection. He says work between four and half past five,” he says. And at peak times, he doesn’t like being in the public eye. And let’s be honest: he when one more screenplay has to be written in six weeks and a child- doesn’t have much time for it. He has written 13 Wild Soccer Bunch ren’s book needs finishing off at the same time, his working days never bo oks (and sold nine million copies of them); three of seven parts of seem to end. But without this rigid self-discipline Masannek’s career the Wildernacht series – not yet filmed – are finished to date, and since 2002 might have been rather different. Overall, his five THE the third volume of his latest book series Honky Tonk Pirates is WILD SOCCER BUNCH films have drawn nine million visitors to just coming out. And, of course, he has started writing the fourth German cinemas – an absolute record. But first they had to be already. german films quarterly director portrait 2 · 2 0 1 1 4 S04-05_Port J_Masannek.qxp:A portrait of Volker Bruch 27.04.11 10:17 Seite 2 He goes on reading tours, writes treatments for other planned pro- demonstrated by an anecdote from the shooting of part four. Filming jects, and is already busy with casting for the film version of his a football match with motorbikes caused a lot of confusion in the pirate series. UFA Cinema wants to launch the film as a major event shooting schedule because of technical difficulties. Masannek simply – in 3D and as a franchise, of course. This type of thing has to be ripped the first twelve pages out of the screenplay – and so managed planned well in advance: it won’t be possible to stick to the original to finish the film on time. plan, which was to begin shooting at the end of 2011. But after HET WILD SOCCER BUNCH, Masannek can take his time before going His works are impulsive and the children in them are loud, daring and one better with the child pirates. The new film story centers on 14- wild – in other words, strong characters. That is the most important year-old Will, who sets out with his best friend in search of a trea sure, thing for Masannek when writing: “I’m a bad planner. It’s true I have a competing with other pirates and a quick-witted – and naturally quite concept of sorts for the story, but I am always aband oning it. The pretty – young pirate princess. stories develop from the characters’ interaction with each other.” Masannek’s material is modern and fast-moving. He says that he The result certainly fascinates his target audiences. But the decisive actually never wanted to be a childre n’s author, but a director from factor behind his success is a maxim which the filmmaker has taken the outset. He found his subject, the process of growing up, through more to heart than any other director in Germany. “Children’s con- his own sons. He wanted to read aloud to his children as much as pos- stant wish is to be grown-up. A three-year-old imagines himself as a sible, but they no longer appreciated children’s books from his own grown-up knight in shining armor when he is playing .” That is why the youth.