Berlin: Download THR's Day 4 Daily

D A ILY
BERLIN
FEB. 14, 2016
THR.COM/BERLIN
CzechFilmsin Official Selection
We Are Never Alone

by Petr Vaclav
I, Olga Hepnarova
by Tom Weinreb & Petr Kazda
In Your Dreams!
by Petr Oukropec
Meet us at MGB, Stand No. 139

Czech Film Center D4 021416.indd 1
2/9/16 5:00 PM
Czech Film Center D4 021416.indd 1
2/2/16 10:36 AM
FEBRUARY 14, 2016

THR.COM/BERLIN
TODAY
BERLIN
WEATHER
AND HIGH 44 F
TEMPS
7 C
BE R L IN
TOMORROW
42 F
6 C
Rudd, Coogan
Say I Do for
An Ideal Home
By Rebecca Ford
aul Rudd and Steve

Coogan will couple
up for the dramedy
An Ideal Home, written and
directed by Andrew Fleming.
Rudd and Coogan, who
worked together on 2011s
Our Idiot Brother, will play a
troubled married couple with
an extravagant lifestyle, with
Coogan a celebrity and Rudd
his more hesitant partner
and sidekick. But when the
C O N T I N U ED O N PA G E 2
Focus Falls for

Nichols Loving
The Face of Things to Come
French art house icon Isabelle Huppert arrives for the premiere of her new drama directed by Mia Hansen-Love.
Read THRs review of the Berlinale competition title on page 33.
By Rebecca Ford
HUPPERT: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
he day after the premiere for his latest

film, Midnight Special,
Jeff Nichols next project,
Loving, was picked up by
Focus for North America and
for several other international
territories including the U.K.,
Germany and Latin America.
The film, based on a true
story, stars Joel
Edgerton (who
also stars in
Midnight Special)
as
Richard
Nichols
Loving, whose
interracial marriage to
Mildred Loving (Ruth Negga)
caused them to be sentenced
C O N T I N U ED O N PA G E 2
China Warms Up to Indie Titles
An emerging niche market for mid-budget releases could be a game-changer for independent
producers hoping to get a slice of the Chinese movie boom By Patrick Brzeski and Scott Roxborough
hinas booming box office the country

is on pace to pass North America to
become the worlds largest theatrical
market sometime next year has independent
filmmakers around the globe wondering how
they can get a piece.
Until now, however, the China boom has been
fueled by, and benefited, Chinese and Hollywood
blockbusters, with few indie or alternative films
even getting into the country, much less making
any money.
But the Chinese film sector is changing fast, and
there are signs that a niche market for art house
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
Motion Picture Domain D4 021416.indd 1
D4_Berlin_news1+2_F.indd 1
films could be emerging. Chinese auteur Jia Zhangke

had his first-ever local release last year with
Mountains May Depart, which grossed a healthy
$5 million. Diao Yinans noir thriller Black Coal, Thin
Ice, winner of the Berlin Festivals Silver Bear in
2014, grossed a stunning $16.5 million in China.
Theres a younger generation growing up in
China, and while, right now, they might want big
blockbusters and broad local comedies, their tastes
are changing. An audience for films outside the
Hollywood mold is starting to emerge, says Rikke
Ennis of Danish art house specialists Zentropa,
C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 2
2/5/16 11:19 AM
2/13/16 7:59 PM
theREPORT
HEAT INDEX
MICHAEL SHANNON
The actor is receiving rave reviews for
his performance as a father trying to
protect his young son with superpowers in
Midnight Special, his fourth collaboration
with director Jeff Nichols.
THE WEINSTEIN CO.

Harvey and Bob Weinsteins sales
team, usually a festival staple, pulled
out of this years Berlin market at the
11th hour, canceling rooms at the
Grand Hyatt days before the start amid
a lack of big projects to sell.
KNOW YOUR DEALMAKER
ARIANNE FRASER
FOUNDING PARTNER & CEO,

HIGHLAND FILM GROUP
Fraser unveiled Margot Robbies hot

new project Terminal, which HFG will
finance and sell in Berlin, and brought the
Suicide Squad star to town to meet with
buyers. Plus, shes selling Scott Manns
thriller Final Score, The Trust with
Nicolas Cage and Blink with Jamie Foxx.
MEANWHILE, IN THE REAL WORLD

Michael B. Jordan, Patricia
Arquette, Eddie Redmayne
and Common have joined the
list of presenters at the Oscars
ceremony on Feb. 28.
NBC picked up Maya and Marty
in Manhattan, a variety show
starring Maya Rudolph and
Martin Short. It will be executive
produced by Lorne Michaels.
Stephen Chows Mermaid has
grossed $224.8 million, becoming
the fastest film to cross the
$200 million mark in China.
China
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
home to Lars von Trier, which

has set up a Chinese division to
develop co-productions with, and
for, the Middle Kingdom.
There is no doubt that a
strong desire for quality independent films does exist in the
market, seconds Elizabeth Yang,
managing director of China
film sales group DDDream
International Media, which specializes in indie productions.
What still doesnt exist in
China, however, is an art house
infrastructure. China has just
one dedicated art house cinema in the entire country: the
Broadway Cinematheque
MOMA in Beijing. From the
perspective of indie films, China
is all flyover country.
But a source close to SAPPRFT,
Chinas state authority that regulates the countrys film sector,
tells THR that there are plans to
develop just such an indie theater
network in Chinas so-called first
tier cities Beijing, Shanghai,
Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The
project, expected to roll out in
the first half of 2016, would bring
together private and public cinemas in a network totaling some
50 screens. THRs sources say that
SAPPRFT will provide the China
Film Archive with a distribution
YES, THERE IS A MARKET FOR INDIE FILM IN CHINA
MOUNTAINS MAY
DEPART (2015)
$5 MILLION
After years of foreign festival
acclaim his Touch of
Sin won the Cannes best
screenplay award in 2013
but zero theatrical exposure
back home, Chinese auteur
Jia Zhangke finally scored
a domestic release with
this feature, which earned
an estimated $5 million.
permit to exhibit imported foreign titles on this network, with

an initial 70-30 programming
split between Chinese and international art-house titles.
Wang Yu, whose Ray Production
produced Berlin competition title
Crosscurrent, is spearheading an
even larger art house circuit, with
plans to link up existing college
movie theaters into an indie
exhibition network of 200 screens
spanning the country.
The understanding in the
industry is that there will be a
huge change to the quota system
at the start of 2017, which will
MR. SIX (2015)

$137 MILLION
Although backed by
Chinas leading studio,
Huayi Brothers, Guan Hus
dramedy was positioned
more like a festival title
after it made its world
premiere at Venice. A star
turn from Feng Xiaogang
helped confer blockbuster
status on this thematically
nuanced movie.
make it easier to import smaller

films into China, Wang says.
[Then] we should be able to show
more foreign arthouse movies
as long as they pass censorship.
And the sheer size of China
means even incremental change
can have a major impact on the
indie market.
Says Italian director Cristiano
Bortone, co-founder of European/
Chinese film association Bridging
the Dragon, Even if the niche
market gets a very thin layer [of
total screens], it can still amount
to substantial box office for independent films.
Ideal Home
Nichols
grandson who Coogans character never knew he

had shows up at their home with nowhere else to
go, the couple reluctantly decides to take him in.
Remstar Studios and National Bank of Canada
are co-financing An Ideal Home, which Fortitude
International is selling in Berlin. UTA Independent
Film Group is handling domestic rights.
Gabriella Tana, Maria Theresa
Arida, Maxime Remillard and
Aaron Ryder are producing, and
Clark Peterson and Lisa Wolofsky
will executive produce.
Comedy stalwarts Paul
Rudd and Steve Coogan are
Rudd
reuniting on the big screen as a
squabbling married couple
in Andrews endearing and hilarious script about modern
family, and we are delighted to
present this charming film to
buyers at EFM, said Fortitudes
Coogan
Nadine De Barros.
to prison in Virginia in 1958. They were later

banished from the state, but the couple took their
case, Loving v. Virginia, all the way to the Supreme
Court, which reaffirmed their right to marry.
The film, inspired by Nancy Buirskis documentary The Loving Story, also stars Nichols longtime
collaborator Michael Shannon and Nick Kroll.
Loving was financed by Big Beach and developed
by Raindog Films.
CAA repped domestic rights and showed footage
to buyers Friday.
Loving, now in postproduction, is produced
by Buirski, Ged Doherty and Colin Firth, Sarah
Green and Marc Turtletaub and Peter Saraf. Brian
Kavanaugh-Jones is executive producing.
Loving marks Focus first big buy after the Feb. 4
reshuffle that saw Peter Schlessel ousted and Focus
merged with Universal International Pictures
Productions. The company is undergoing another
course correction and once again will concentrate
on the sort of specialty films that were its
hallmark when it was run by James Schamus.
D4_Berlin_news1+2_F.indd 2
BLACK COAL,
THIN ICE (2014)
$16.5 MILLION
Director Diao Yinans
art house thriller achieved
the impossible: It won over
foreign critics with its noirish
take on contemporary
China, passed the test at
Beijings censorship
bureau and received a
mainstream embrace from
domestic moviegoers.
2/13/16 8:02 PM
SCREENINGS
TODAY / Feb 14th / 12:00 pm / Berlinale Palast / PRESS
TODAY / Feb 14th / 7:00 pm / Berlinale Palast / PREMIERE
TOMORROW / Feb 15th / 10:00 am / Haus der Berliner Festspiele
TOMORROW / Feb 15th / 11:30 am / CinemaxX 10
TOMORROW / Feb 15th / 12:15 pm / Friedrichstadt-Palast
TOMORROW / Feb 15th / 6:00 pm / Zoo Palast 1
SUNDAY / Feb 21st / 10:00 pm / Haus der Berliner Festspiele
EFM OFFICE Martin-Gropius-Bau / Stand Number 27 / Phone +49 30 400425 404

HEAD OFFICE Gruenwalder Weg 28d / D-82041 Oberhaching / Phone +49 89 673469 - 828 / beta@betacinema.com / www.betacinema.com
Beta Cinema D4 021416.indd 1
2/4/16 12:16 PM
theREPORT
A-List Comedies
Getting the Last
Laugh in Berlin
By Rebecca Ford
here may be plenty of dramas being sold in

Berlin this year, but its the slew of buzzy
comedies with A-list talent that have buyers
clamoring for lighter, funny fare.
The first big sale of the festival was for a comedy
the George Clooney-helmed Suburbicon, about
a quiet neighborhood that gets caught up in a
web of betrayal and paranoia, was scooped up by
Paramount in a big $10 million deal for U.S. rights.
With stars Matt Damon and Julianne Moore attached,
the package is expected to do strong sales internationally as well, with Bloom already fielding plenty
of interest.
At a time when this business is getting much
tougher and were all looking for things that will
draw an audience to come to the cinema, humor is
one of the things that is still a shared experience,
says Mister Smith CEO David Garrett, whos selling
Broad Greens dance comedy Aint No Half Stepping
at the market. If you want to get people to
come and watch something, its about sharing
emotions onscreen.
Among the high-profile comedies attracting
buyers is Drunk Parents, starring Salma Hayek and
Alec Baldwin. Fortitude International has sold the

Fred Wolf-helmed film to eOne for Canada and
Dutch FilmWorks for Benelux, and more sales
have quickly followed. Like Drunk Parents, other
hot properties come with notable comedic talent
attached, like the just-announced An Ideal Home,
which stars Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan as a troubled
married couple.
Its hard to package independent comedies
because most big comedies get done at the studios
where the actors are paid big bucks, says Fortitude
co-founder Nadine de Barros, but many of these
projects have an edge or are a little darker, so that
can be fun for actors.
Other buzzy packages with notable talent
include The Brits Are Coming with Uma Thurman and
Sofia Vergara, The Clapper with Ed Helms, Toms Dad
with Will Ferrell and The Big Sick, which is written
by and will star Silicon Valleys Kumail Nanjiani and is
produced by Judd Apatow.
Internationally, comedies also have the advantage
of working well across multiple platforms, including
television and VOD, so buyers can essentially get
more bang for their buck.
Its becoming harder and harder for buyers to
make money on movies, and TV is one of the few
sources of revenue left. Comedies play well on
television, especially in Europe, adds de Barros,
who notes that in countries like France, women are
known as the main audience for VOD and are also
the most interested in comedies. THR
Neesons Korean
War Pic Sells to
Germany, Taiwan
Hayek
Exclusive
First Look
By Patrick Brzeski
ig-budget South Korean

war film Operation
Chromite, in which Liam
Neeson stars as Gen. Douglas
MacArthur, has notched
a few quick sales at the
start of the European
Film Market in Berlin.
Seoul-based sales
Neeson
company Finecut closed
deals for Germany, Austria,
Benelux, Yugoslavia and Taiwan
for the title.
Directed by John H. Lee
(The Third Way of Love),
Operation Chromite is produced
by Chung Tae-won (The Blob,
Three Kingdoms) at Taewon
Entertainment. It is aiming for
a wide domestic release in July
from CJ E&M.
The film tells the dramatic
story of the unsung heroes
who were sacrificed during the
Incheon Landing Operation led
by MacArthur during the Korean
War in 1950. THR
The Runaround
Oscar winner J.K. Simmons plays a workaholic father who, after his daughter (Analeigh Tipton) goes missing,
begrudgingly teams up with her ex-boyfriend (Emile Hirsch) to find her. The Solution is selling Gavin Wiesens comedy in Berlin.
D4_Berlin_news3C.indd 1
2/13/16 10:26 AM
Estonian Film Center D4 021416.indd 1
2/5/16 11:52 AM
theREPORT
BERLINALE IN BRIEF
Cumberbatch to Narrate
Naples 44 Documentary
Benedict Cumberbatch has signed

on to narrate a documentary detailing the underbelly of life in Naples
following the liberation of the Italian
city from Nazi occupation after World
War II. Francesco
Patierno will write
and direct the film
Cumberbatch
based on Norman
Lewis war diary Naples 44. The
documentary will be a combination
of archive and feature footage from
famous films set in the city.
Sachs Little Men

Sells to U.K.s Altitude
Sundance crowd-pleaser Little

Men which Magnolia pounced
on for domestic rights this week
has been nabbed by Altitude
Film Distribution for the U.K. The
deal marks the second partnership
between director Ira Sachs and
the British banner, which released
Love Is Strange last year. The coming-of-age drama, starring Greg
Kinnear, had its international bow
at the Berlinale on Friday.
Schamus Named
Qatari Qumra Master
Fresh off the recent Sundance

bow of his directorial debut
Indignation, former Focus Features
CEO James Schamus has been
added to the lineup of Masters
offering their expertise to filmmakers at the Qumra Film Festival,
to be held in Qatar in March. The
prolific producer joins Oscarnominated director Joshua
Oppenheimer (The Look of Silence)
and previously announced names
Naomi Kawase, Nuri Bilge Ceylan
and Aleksandr Sokurov.
Rampling Boards Sci-Fi

Valley of the Gods
Best actress Oscar hopeful

Charlotte Rampling has
come aboard Lech
Majewskis Valley
of the Gods. The
star of 45 Years will
star alongside
Rampling
Josh Hartnett and
John Rhys-Davies in
the sci-fi fantasy about three characters whose supernatural visions
clash with reality.
n
H i d d eS
GEM
A Hidden Life Unearthed
Director Aaron Brookner set out to make a doc about his filmmaker uncle and,
thanks to William S. Burroughs, discovered a man he never knew By Alex Ritman
Howard Brookner
(right) with Burroughs
in the 1980s.
mid a recent surge in

docs that emerge from the
discovery of once-thoughtlost film footage, few can claim to
have a history as eye-catching as
Aaron Brookners touching Uncle
Howard, made possible thanks to
an archive stash buried in William
S. Burroughs near-mythical
New York residence, located in a
converted YMCA swimming pool
locker room and affectionately
dubbed The Bunker.
It was in this near-windowless Lower East Side apartment
featuring two large marble
urinals in the bathroom, spices
on the spice rack dated 1978 and
Burroughs own handgun in the
dresser draw where Aaron
found five years worth of footage
stored by his uncle, the late filmmaker Howard Brookner.
Howard died of AIDS at age
34 in 1989, shortly before the
release of what would have been
his breakout feature Bloodhounds

of Broadway (featuring the fresh
faces of Madonna and Matt Dillon).
Worried that the memory of the
man who inspired him to get
into filmmaking was being lost
and that he might die a second
death, Aaron set out to discover
more about his uncle.
His first route was a wild
goose chase for anything connected to Howards 1983 film
Burroughs: The Movie, the only
doc to be made with full participation of the legendary writer.
This eventually led to stacks and
stacks and stacks of [film] rolls
he uncovered in The Bunker that
revealed more about Howard
than they did about Burroughs.
It was like Howard and his
story had been frozen in 89 and
suddenly it was reawakened just
by the act of looking for this
Burroughs film, says Aaron.
From these stories, a life
D4_Berlin_Gem_UncleHoward_I.indd 6
THE DIR ECTOR
berlin according to ...
SUSANNE BIER
The filmmaker is in Berlin
with The Ink Factorys TV spy
drama The Night Manager.
Only in Berlin moment
I was on the competition
jury a couple of years ago
when Wong Kar-wai was
jury head. The festival
coincided with the Chinese
New Year, so Wong took
us all out to a Chinese
restaurant in Berlin. It was
a really wild evening
and definitely one that could
only happen in Berlin.
unraveled that Aaron had no idea

his uncle had ever lived.
As a film student, Howard
worked as an usher at the
Metropolitan Opera House,
while at the same time he was
scoring dope on the Lower East
Side, while at the same time he
was working for a big Italian
land-owning family in Little Italy
renting out apartments, he said.
It was through this work that
Howard landed indie filmmaker
Jim Jarmusch his first apartment,
on Elizabeth Street.
Meanwhile, he was helping out
a friend who was writing porno
books, and, actually, he and
Burroughs co-authored a porno
book, says Aaron, who says his
uncles adventures extended
outside the U.S. I go into a
bookstore and start reading the
memoir of Frederic Mitterrand,
the French culture minister, and
theres a chapter called Howard
Brookner about Howard in Paris
with the Burroughs film. There
were all these incredible different
sides to the guy.
The very first discovery Aaron
made before developing the
film was a letter to Howards parents, written when he was ill and
exclaiming that he had done more
with his life than most people
who lived to be in their 80s.
Says Aaron, When I started
to find out what he did, I realized
it was absolutely true.
Place to avoid during

the fest
If you want to make it out
of the hotel where everyone
is staying, dont cross the
lobby between 5-7 p.m.
because everyone youve
ever known in the movie
industry will be there and
youll never get to where you
need to go on time.
Best place to get away
from the fest
If you immerse yourself in the
films, you forget about where
you are, and thats the best
way to get away from the

festival.
Strangest late-night
experience in Berlin
One evening I was walking
home in uncomfortable
high heels and a gown very
late at night, and we
decided to get some fresh
air and walk through the
memorial to World War II,
which is really very
striking. Theres a severe
juxtaposition between
past and present its sort
of surreal, actually.
2/13/16 6:39 PM
AL
INTERNATION NING:
REE
PREMIERE SC
6:50PM
FRI 12.02. 0 X 1
CINEMAX
01:00PM
MON 15.02. R 5
CINE STA
WATCH THE TRAILER:
SOLA MEDIA GMBH www.sola-media.com STAND EFM: Martin-Gropius-Bau, Stand #09 Contact: Solveig Langeland/Managing Director
Mobile: +49 177 278 1625 post@sola-media.com Tania Pinto Da Cunha/Sales Associate Mobile: +34 629 459 075 tania@sola-media.com
Sola Media D4 021416.indd 1
2/11/16 11:27 AM
Estonia
SPECIAL FEATURE
WANT TO
SAVE MONEY
ON YOUR
NEXT FILM?
HEAD EAST
Lithuania
Poland
Czech
Republic
Hungary
Incentives, tax rebates, versatile locations and

experienced crews theres never been a better
time to shoot in Eastern Europe (even if your
movie is set on Mars) BY NICK HOLDSWORTH
H EN A GROU P OF L I T H UA N I A N A N D POL ISH F I L M
producers set out to sail from one Baltic seaport to

another in September, it was not simply a nautical
jaunt. The two-day voyage, aboard the 120-foot-long
twin-mast schooner Brabander, brought together a dozen film professionals with a raft of potential joint projects to discuss.
The voyage from Klaipeda in Lithuania to Gdynia in Poland, the
brainchild of Liana Ruokyte-Jonsson, head of film promotion, information and heritage at the Lithuanian Film Center, was designed to
focus attention on a small filmmaking nation that is competing with
others in Eastern Europe to attract international co-productions.
Where once Hollywood and international producers could pick

low-cost territories to shoot in the region based on currency value,
location and crew availability, the expansion of the European Union,
economic growth and globalization have now combined to create a
more level playing field.
Attempts to gain an advantage by introducing tax incentives
prompted a race to offer 20 percent to 30 percent cash or tax rebates
that rapidly produced near-identical offers. Even tiny Estonia, with a
population of about 1.3 million, offers rebates worth up to 30 percent.
Now the rivals are emphasizing their unique attractions as well as
financial incentives as outlined here:
CZECH REPUBLIC
CASE STUDY: ANTHROPOID

Shooting on location in Prague was
a natural choice for the producers
of Anthropoid, British director Sean
Ellis new wartime thriller that stars
Jamie Dornan and is based on the
true story of the assassination of
Reinhard Heydrich, the SS general
who was the author of the Nazis Final
Solution meant to eradicate the Jews
in Europe. The British plan involved
parachuting Czech agents into the
German-occupied country to carry
out the killing. The exact location of
Heydrichs assassination has changed
beyond recognition, but many of the
original sites,
including a church
where the secret
agents were
trapped and killed
by the Germans,
still exist, lending
authenticity to
the film. Daria
Spackova, manAnthropoid
aging director of
local co-producers Lucky Many Films,
says the Czech Republic system could
not have worked better. The incentives system is clearly arranged and
simple, she says. Lucky Many used
the rebates for its previous film, Lost
in Munich, and plans to apply again
for its next project, Zatopek, both from
Czech directors.
INCENTIVES
A cash rebate system features 20 percent available for qualifying Czech
spending and 10 percent for international spending that applies to film and
TV, including all postproduction work.
Productions must satisfy minimum

expenditure and cultural tests. The
incentives have been in place for five
years, and this year, $32 million is
available. The Czechs have rebated
$65 million to more than 130 projects.
We have the kind of expertise foreign
producers look for, says Ludmila
Claussova, the Czech Republics film
commissioner. You can find everything here crews, set builders and
designers, English-speaking crews,
great studios and locations. We offer
value for money the exchange
rate is positive for dollar-denominated productions and we are
still cheaper than Berlin, London and
other European locations. Other
recent international shoots include
The Zookeepers Wife and Underworld:
Next Generation.
TALENT TO WATCH
A 1995 graduate of Pragues FAMU
famous film school, Petr Vaclav has
developed a reputation for versatility.
His first feature, Marian (1996), won
D4_Berlin_EastEurope_J.indd 8
awards in Locarno; his second, Parallel

Worlds, was selected for the San
Sebastian New Directors Competition.
In 2014, Vaclav, who
has lived in Paris since
2003, saw his The Way
Out screen as the first
Czech film at Cannes
in 16 years.
IN BERLIN
Three Czech films are in selection:
Vaclavs We Are Never Alone (Forum),
an existential drama set in modern-day Europe; Tomas Weinreb
and Petr Kazdas I, Olga Hepnarova
(Panorama), the story of the last
woman put to death in Czechoslovakia
(and a co-production with Poland);
and Petr Oukropecs childrens film
In Your Dreams (Generation 14plus).
Michal Hogenauers Outside is at
the Co-Production Market, and EFM
screenings include Devils Mistress,
Filip Rencs drama about Czech actress
Lida Baarova, who was Joseph
Goebbels mistress.
2/13/16 11:13 AM
Fundacja Polskie D4 021416.indd 1
1/25/16 10:04 AM
SPECIAL FEATURE
ESTONIA
CASE STUDY: THE FENCER
Klaus Haros Cold War period piece The Fencer Estonias

second minority co-production to be submitted for Oscar consideration (the first was last years Tangerines by Georgian director
Zaza Urushadze, which landed a foreign-language nom) is
based on a true story by Finnish writer Anna Heinamaa, penned
while she studied screenwriting at Salford University in England. Its
set in Soviet-occupied Estonia in the early 1950s, when a champion
fencer with a dark, wartime secret goes on the run from Stalins
secret police and finds refuge in a remote school. The film, Haro
says, was his most challenging yet, involving children and two languages [Russian and Estonian] I have not mastered. While
incentives which only were introduced this year were not a
factor in attracting the film to the northern Baltic state, a policy of
seeking to support co-productions to boost the small number of
features produced in the tiny country should ensure Estonia continues to punch above its weight. Rebates worth 500,000 euros
($540,000) this year, and rising to more than $2 million next year,
should make it more attractive to foreign shoots. We have been
concentrating on minority co-production and quite successfully,
says Edith Sepp, CEO of the Estonian Film Institute. Estonia has
all the prerequisites to succeed in the film business: 100 years of
filmmaking experience and international visibility.
The Fencer
The Martian
H U N G A RY
CASE STUDY: THE MARTIAN
Ridley Scott chose Hungarys Korda Studios to film The Martian because it has some of the
largest and tallest soundstages in Europe. The films production team took over the studios,
located 18 miles west of Budapest, and built the Mars plain using 4,000 tons of local soil
on a massive 64,300-square-foot soundstage where Matt Damons astronaut character
battles the Red Planets elements. Other sets, including a NASA Mission Control Room, were
constructed on the studios five other stages. Korda boasts a total of nearly 162,000 square
feet of soundstages, with the tallest reaching 65 feet, and has a 37-acre empty backlot and
25 acres of ready-built medieval, renaissance and New York City sets. Producer Howard
Ellis of Budapest-based Mid Atlantic Films, which he runs with co-founder Adam Goodman,
notes that Hungarys long-established and generous incentives system was instrumental
in bringing yet another Hollywood production to the country. Right now, Hungary has a
rare combination that is not found in any other location outside of the U.S., Canada and the
U.K., he says. The talent and maturity of crew, deep infrastructure for film and very reliable
and attractive tax incentives create the perfect storm in a good way for filmmakers.
Ellis adds that his company in the past year has worked on such Hollywood productions as
Universals Emerald City, Foxs Tyrant and NBC/Universal The Last Carnival.
INCENTIVES
Called Film Estonia, the countrys new system of cash rebates

introduced in 2016 with the first of four annual submission deadlines
in early February is designed to encourage better cooperation
between local and foreign film producers to shoot in Estonia. By
providing rebates worth up to 30 percent of in-country production
costs, the incentives, though small, are among Europes most generous and cover features, telefilms, documentaries and animation.
Hungary is an experienced player in Europes movie incentives game. One of the first
former Eastern Bloc countries (in 2004) to introduce generous tax incentives, it has
progressively increased the amount available to up to 30 percent or eligible productions.
Officially recognized by the European Audiovisual Observatory for the boost its incentives
give to film production between 2010 and 2013, movie spending in Hungary accounted
for on average 0.15 percent of GDP, double that of the U.K. and France national film
fund managers are expecting $200 million in incoming production spending this year alone.
A new statutory commitment by the government to maintain a 14 billion forints (about
$50 million) deposit account to ensure money is available to be paid out for approved
tax rebates is the latest tool to keep Hungarian studios, crews and locations busy with
international productions. There is confidence and trust toward the Hungarian film
industry and its representatives from filmmakers and producers worldwide, says Agnes
Havas, CEO of the Hungarian Film Fund.
TALENT TO WATCH
TALENT TO WATCH
INCENTIVES
Martti Helde, 28, has already won international

recognition for his debut feature, In the Crosswind,
which screened in competition at Toronto in 2014
and has won many other awards, including the
best director prize in Beijing last year. A graduate
of Tallinn Universitys Baltic Film, Media, Arts and Communication
School and the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, he also is
trained in painting and composition. In the Crosswind, about the
harsh choices forced upon young Estonians torn between the Soviet
invasion and Nazi support during World War II reflects Heldes
innovative approach to form and film language.
IN BERLIN
Estonia has no films in official selection, but for the first time, its
presenting a project, Comrade Child, directed by Moonika Siimets,
at the Co-Production Market. EFM titles include Family Lies,
directed by Manfred Vainokivi and Valentin Kuik; The Polar Boy;
Ghost Mountaineer; and Mother.
Karoly Uij Meszaros, with a track record as a director and producer of commercials, short films and a stage play, has made his feature debut with Liza
the Fox-Fairy, a quirky romantic comedy set in Hungary in the late 1960s. The
film, inspired by the work of the Kaurismaki Brothers and Wes Anderson,
has become a box-office hit, with more than 120,000 admissions in Hungary.
IN BERLIN
Bence Fliegauf returns to Berlinales Forum where his debut feature, Rengeteg, screened
in 2003 with Lily Lane (Liliom osveny), the story of a mother and her young son whose
relationship
Lily Lane
is inextricably
linked to stories
and fantasy. And
Reka Bucsis
animated Love
will screen in the
festivals shorts
competition.
10
2/13/16 11:13 AM
Filip Van Roe
Shooting Stars are

Europes best
up-and-coming actors,
selected annually
by an international
jury.
Debora Brune
share
your personal
impressions
#Berlinale
ShootingStars
Martha Canga Antonio

Belgium
Eric Guillemain
Introduced at the
Berlin International
Film Festival
February 12 15
Jella Haase
Germany
Federico Ferrantini
Janita Sassen
Lou de Lage
France
Honoured with
the European Shooting
Stars Award donated
by TESIRO.
www.shooting-stars.eu
berlinale.shooting-stars.eu
Reinout Scholten van Aschat

The Netherlands
Sarah Robine
Ona Pinkus
Sara Serraiocco
Italy
Kacey Mottet Klein

Switzerland
Daphn Patakia
Greece
Ruben Vega
Participating EFP
members
Croatian Audiovisual Centre,
EYE International/ The
Netherlands, Flanders Image/
Belgium, German Films,
Greek Film Centre, ICA A /
Spain, Icelandic Film Centre,
Istituto Luce Cinecitt /Italy,
Swiss Films, UniFrance films.
Magns Reynir Jnsson
Ana Mihali
Mara Valverde
Spain
Tihana Lazovi
Croatia
European Film Promotion

info@efp-online.com
www.shooting-stars.eu
Atli skar Fjalarsson

Iceland
With the support of
European Shooting Stars

Main Partner
Co-Partner
Third Partner
Event Partners
Special Thanks
EFP is supported by
medienboard
Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH
EFP D4 021416.indd 1
2/5/16 12:06 PM
SPECIAL FEATURE
LITHUANIA
CASE STUDY: WAR AND PEACE

The BBCs six-part adaptation of War and Peace,
which premiered in January, used Lithuania as its
main base as well as Russia and Latvia. A co-production among BBC Cymru Wales, The Weinstein
Co. and BBC Worldwide/Lookout Point, it is the first
British TV adaptation of the Leo Tolstoy epic since
the BBCs 17-part series starring Anthony Hopkins
screened in 1972-73. The new production, unlike
the previous one that was filmed in Yugoslavia, was
able to take advantage of genuine locations that
then were part of the Soviet Union and off-limits to
Western filmmakers. Producer Julia Stanndard
said during production that filming had gone
extremely well in Vilnius. Everyone was really
helpful and supportive, and we were made to feel so
welcome in this beautiful city. Added local producer
Lineta Miseikyte of Baltic Film Service, The scale
and length of the production was challenging, but
we were able to provide the necessary resources
locally and met the demands of the show. And
director Tom Harper, speaking when the series
screened in Vilnius for the Lithuanian cast and crew,
said There were a number of reasons [we filmed
here]. It was the tax credit, it was the [locations]. It
was the combined effect of it all. Jurate Pazikaite,
head of the Vilnius Film Office, says the project was
the biggest shot in the capital city last year.
INCENTIVES
Under a plan introduced in January 2014, productions
that spend up to one-fifth of their budget in Lithuania
War and Peace
can quality for a 20 percent tax rebate via a local production partner, which may use the rebate to reduce
local corporate income tax liability. The incentive is
available to feature films, telefilms, documentaries
and animated movies. Domestic films, co-produced
or commissioned films can take advantage of the
incentive, which is managed by the Lithuanian Film
Center. Ruokyte-Jonsson says that in the current
European environment, standing out from the crowd
is what matters. Its a very tough competition to
attract foreign productions when it comes to tax
incentives, she says. Twenty percent today maybe
is not a sky-high benefit, but combining this with a
super effective, highly professional multilingual local
crew makes the whole package attractive and valuable. Everything is possible in Lithuania. Last year,
in addition to the two-day co-production networking
event on the schooner, Ruokyte-Jonsson promoted
Lithuanian film by setting up a 50-seat theater in the
departure lounge of Vilnius International Airport.
TALENT TO WATCH
Director Mantas Kvedaravicius

brings an intellectualism and
philosophical angle to his newest
documentary, Mariupolis, which
examines the stress of living in a
frontline town during the civil war in Ukraine. An
academic who teaches visual culture and critical
theory at Vilnius University, he holds a masters from
Oxford and a Ph.D. from Cambridge.
IN BERLIN
Mariupolis has its world premiere in the Berlinales
Panorama Documentary section. At the EFM, Wide
is repping Mikko Kuparinens 2 Nights Till Morning,
about a French woman architect and Finnish DJ
who meet while on business trips in Vilnius and end
up spending the night together. When a volcanic
ash cloud grounds their flights, their one-night
stand is extended.
POLAND
CASE STUDY: AGNUS DEI

The French-Polish co-production,
directed by Frenchwoman Anne
Fontaine (Coco Before Chanel), was
among a range of foreign shoots in
Poland in 2015. Shot in the northern
province of Warmia, the film, which
just premiered at Sundance, addresses
the repercussions of evil when a French
doctor comes across a convent where
the nuns are pregnant after being
repeatedly and brutally raped by Red
Army stages in the closing days of
World War II. The suitable locations that came up to the producers
Agnus Dei
expectations, the Polish talent and the

financial support from the Polish Film
Institute were the main factors that
attracted Agnus Dei to Poland, says
Anna Dziedzic of Film Commission
Poland. Other recent international
shoots included True Crimes, which
stars Jim Carrey, and the French black
comedy Les Affaires Reprennes, a
debut feature by Gerard Pautonnier.
Both shot in the city of Krakow.
INCENTIVES
The countrys system of film support
differs from the rest of the region. The
Polish Film Institute uses a revolving

door system of grants, rather than
tax incentives. Chiefly designed to
support local productions in one of
the few Eastern European markets
with a big enough domestic exhibition
market to offer commercial potential
to local producers, it also is available
for co-productions. The PISF subsidizes up to 40 features a year as well
as 160 documentary and animated
projects. Changes being introduced
this year under new institute head
Magdalena Sroka will ring-fence funding for minority co-productions.
There will be a separate commission
only for minority co-productions, so
they wont compete with national
films, PFI exec Robert Balinski says.
We plan to double the number of
minority co-productions this year
from three or four to approximately
eight and spend about 2 million euros
($2.2 million) for them.
TALENT TO WATCH
Tomasz Wasilewski has taken a welltrod path to his Berlinale competition

screening slot for United States of Love.
His debut feature, In a Bedroom,

about a dishonest but beautiful
Warsaw prostitute, had its world
premiere at Karlovy Vary in 2012 and
toured the festival circuit. Floating
Skyscrapers, which
bowed at Tribeca in
2013, won the East of
the West debut competition at Karlovy Vary
the same year. United
States of Love, the story of
four unhappy women whose decisions
to change their lives coincide with
the collapse of communism in Poland
in 1990, was presented at Berlins
Co-Production Market last year.
IN BERLIN
Official selection titles also include
I, Olga Hepnarova (Panorama),
the Czech co-production; Marta
Minorowiczs Zud (Generation Kplus);
Adrian Sitarus Illegitimate (Forum),
produced with France and Romania;
and Joaquin del Pasos PanAmerican
Machinery (Forum), a co-production
with Mexico. Agnus Dei is on offer at
EFM via Films Distribution.
12
2/13/16 11:13 AM
Your one stop shop from script to screen
e-mail info@nuboyana.com
telephone +359 2 933 2500
address 1616 Sofia, Bulgaria,
84 Kumata Str.
Nu Boyana D1 021116.indd 1
Berlin THR ad.indd 3
google
street
view
Development
Scheduling
Budgeting
Production
Equipment Rental
Editorial
VFX
Sound Design
Mixing
Coloring
DCP Delivery
Marketing
web site nuboyana.com

facebook Nu Boyana Film Studios
instagram and twitter @nuboyana
VFX reel
wwfx.net
2/2/16 11:07 AM
29.01.16 . 19:08
CMG D4 021416.indd 1
2/4/16 1:14 PM
CMG D4 021416.indd 2
2/4/16 1:13 PM
SPECIAL FEATURE
THE SCRAPPY VS.

THE SUITS IN KOREA
With mid-budget releases becoming virtually nonexistent in the countrys increasingly corporate
film sector, independent-minded talents are taking matters into their own hands BY LEE HYO-WON
H E SOU T H KOR E A N F I L M
industry had another banner

year in 2015, with the local box
office reaching record heights and
international sales. Revenue hit $1.42 billion
(1.72 trillion won) last year, up 3.1 percent
from 2014 and setting a record for the sixth
consecutive year, according to the Korean
Film Council. The number of exported
domestic films, meanwhile, shot up to
650 titles the most ever.
Last years three biggest movies local
titles Veteran ($88.7 million) and Assassination
($83.1 million), followed by Avengers: Age of
Ultron ($74.7 million) now rank among the
top 15 films of all time at the Korean box office.
But industry figures say the large numbers
belie a more complicated picture of internal
strife. Much like in Hollywood, the headlinemaking box-office records have come at the
cost of intense polarization within the Korean
theatrical market, with huge-budget blockbusters dominating screen counts and leaving
increasingly low-budget indies to pick up the
scraps. The result: mid-budget dramas and
genre pictures have virtually vacated the field. recent years: 91 titles in 2011, 172 in 2012, 246
On a given weekend, the top three boxin 2012 and 359 last year.
office hits take up about three-quarters of the
So, even though a record number of films
screens across Korea. This doesnt give audiwere released in 2015, only 47 titles or
ences much of a choice, says film critic Jeong
1.37 percent managed to secure 500 or
Ji-ouk. The situation is compounded by the
more screens, and those accounted for 81 perfact that top investor-distributors such as CJ
cent of the annual admissions.
Entertainment and Lotte Entertainment also
Five to 10 films open every week, which is
own the countrys largest exhibitors. [Veteran too many considering the size of the domestic
and Assassination] were very well-made films
market. If films dont have a big debut, they
in and of themselves, but we also need to take
get pulled immediately, and then cinemas will
this unfair market structure into considerallot more screens to the bigger blockbustation, Jeong adds.
ers, says a staff member at a major multiplex
Though more films are being
who asked not to be named.
made and released than ever before,
As polarization within the
ILLUSTRATION BY
fewer new titles are actually reachindustry deepens between both
Rafael
ing viewers. In 2015, a record 1,208
big-budget and indie filmmakAlvarez
movies were released in South
ing as well as younger and older
Korea, of which 538, or 41 percent,
audiences insiders say Koreas
were shown on just one screen (Age of Ultron,
oligarchic entertainment conglomerates
by comparison, opened on 1,843 Korean
are only becoming more conservative about
screens). And half of these single-screen
the projects they greenlight.
releases played in the cinema just once before
And much like in Hollywood, its the stars
hitting VOD channels. The number of such
who are stepping up and throwing their weight
single-screen films has been on the rise in
behind inspiring, indie-spirited projects.
D4_Berlin_Korea_H.indd 16
16
2/13/16 2:26 PM
Contents Panda D4 021416.indd 1
2/4/16 4:47 PM
SPECIAL FEATURE
After Lee Jung-hyun appeared in Roaring

Currents, the 2014 maritime epic that is
Koreas highest-grossing film of all time, the
singer/actress was expected to follow that up
with another high-profile, mainstream production. Instead, Lee surprised the industry
by choosing to star in Gooc-jin Ahns dark indie
comedy Alice in Earnestland.
My agency wanted me to choose a bigger
project, but female characters [in mainstream movies] are extremely limited. I felt
very frustrated while choosing pieces after
Roaring Currents, but Alice caught my eye for
its novel subject matter, and more importantly, because I
Alice in
wanted a meaningEarnestland
ful, female-driven
story, says the
36-year-old
actress. Lee went
on to be named
best actress at the
2015 Blue Dragon
Film Awards, one
of the Koreas
most prestigious
film events.
Similarly, actor
Kang Ha-neul also
forewent financial gain to star
in Dongju: The
Portrait of a Poet,
a biopic about a
famous Korean
poet and independence fighter. Lee Joon-ik,
the star director of such pricey blockbusters
as Koreas 2016 Oscar submission The Throne,
turned to a more independent style of filmmaking for Dongju.
I did not want to commercially exploit
the life story of Yun Dongju, says the director.
In order to retain full visual control of the
feature, Lee used product placement and
other advertising incentives while operating
on a micro budget of about $413,000.
Cho Jae-hyun (Kim Ki-duks Moebius), one of
South Koreas most well-established actors,
also insists on appearing in indie films even
though he has become a household name
thanks to his appearances in smash-hit
TV soaps and big-budget action movies. A
Korean in Paris, a quirky indie that premiered
last fall at the Busan Film Festival, marks
the 50-year-olds second collaboration with
Venice-winning auteur Jeon Soo-il, following
El Condor Pasa (2013).
I take part in smaller projects because my
participation helps budget issues, Cho says.
Independent movies must be made, because
their unique vision and diverse subject matter
can inspire and provoke mainstream cinema.
But sadly, indie filmmaking is dying out.
Nevertheless, the actor, who also debuted
as an indie filmmaker in 2015 with A Break
Alone, says he would continue to direct and act
in art films. Chos frequent collaborator, art
house auteur Kim Ki-duk, on the other hand,
Operation
Chromite
The Five Biggest South Korean

Releases to Hit Theaters in 2016
HE SOUTH
Korean film
industry is booming more than
ever, with box-office revenue
and theater admissions in 2015
hitting all-time highs for the
sixth consecutive year. With
a diverse range of big-budget
movies slated for 2016, THR
spotlights five titles already
generating buzz.
production. The action-packed

period film, set for release in
the second half of this year,
marks Kims fourth collaboration with veteran Korean star
Song Kang-ho (The Throne).
Set in Japan-occupied Korea
and China during the 1920s, the
movie features independence
fighters facing off with Japanese
police and secret agents while
attempting to smuggle explosives across the border.
Operation Chromite
CJ ENTERTAINMENT (EFM SALES
HANDLED BY FINECUT)
Liam Neeson is sure to generate interest in his role as Gen.

Douglas MacArthur in this
Korean War epic. Director John
H. Lee and writer Lee Man-hee,
who collaborated on another
Korean War actioner, 71: Into
the Fire, reunited for this film.
Finecut has already closed
deals for the title in Germany,
Austria, Benelux, Yugoslavia
and Taiwan at the EFM.
Mil-jeong
WARNER BROS.
Director Kim Jee-woon (The

Last Stand starring Arnold
Schwarzenegger) helms
Warner Bros. first local
Train to Busan
NEXT ENTERTAINMENT WORLD
Yeon Sang-ho, creator of

the critically acclaimed noir
animations for adults The King
of Pigs and The Fake, makes
his live-action film debut with
the thriller Train to Busan.
The film chronicles the chaos
that ensues as a deadly virus
sweeps through Korea, and
passengers on a bullet train
from Seoul to the southern port
city of Busan must fight for their
survival. The project has garnered strong early buzz thanks
to the fact that there have
|been few local disaster movies
since the enormous success
of the 2009 tsunami blockbuster Haeundae.
announced that he would no longer show his

films in Korea outside of film festivals. He is
now working on his Chinese film debut, Who
Is God (working title), after having releasing
the Japanese-language project Stop last year.
I feel uneasy whenever small films hit
screens because it is so tough for them to
reach audiences, says Cho. Its true that
not all small films have mainstream appeal.
Theyre sought out by audiences with a
particular taste. But it is a problem that such
viewers dont even get the chance to seek
them out.
The Tunnel
SHOWBOX/MEDIAPLEX
Kim Sung-hoon, the director

of 2013s hit crime actioner A
Hard Day, helms this story of
a man who is trapped inside
a collapsed tunnel and the
dramatic events surrounding
his rescue. Highly sought-after star Ha Jung-woo
(Assassination) plays the lead
role alongside actress Bae
Doo-na, who has returned to
mainstream Korean cinema
after a stint in Hollywood
(Sense8, Jupiter Ascending).
Gosanja,
Daedongyeojido
CJ ENTERTAINMENT
Master filmmaker and producer

Kang Woo-suk tackles a historical epic for the first time for his
20th film. Based on the novel of
the same name by Park Bumshin, it traces 19th-century
mountaineer, geographer and
cartographer Kim Jeong-hos
extensive efforts to create his
renowned map of the Joseon
Kingdom (1392-1910). Cha
Seung-won plays the legend
who is known to have walked the
entire breadth and length of the
Korean Peninsula for the project.
Insiders point out, however, that such

a polarization is not limited to the indieversus-mainstream discourse.
Commercial films are also suffering.
There is an obsession with blockbusters that
hit 10 million admissions, and mid-budget
commercial films are being neglected, adds
Cho. Market analysts share this view, and
a 2015 report compiled by the Korean Film
Council states that genre films have virtually
disappeared.
Jung Woo Sung, one of Koreas most popular actors, debuted as a producer for the
18
2/13/16 2:26 PM
KOFIC 1 D4 021416.indd 1
1/28/16 10:43 AM
SPECIAL FEATURE
upcoming unconventional mystery romance

Remember You because established producers
seemed unwilling to try something different.
The 42-year-old actor attempted to introduce
rookie writer-director Lee Yoon-jung to studios,
but older producers kept trying to alter the
script, he said, adding, I decided to step in
because they would have compromised what
made the story so unique.
Much like Robert Simonds STX
Entertainment stateside, Lee believes midbudget features offer both creative value and
a market opportunity. Not everyone can
make big movies on a big budget, he says.
Its more important to have a diverse range
of mid-budget films that will present lower
risks and help build a stronger market.
Jung also plays the lead role in the mystery
romance, which cost less than $4 million, a
medium-sized project with a break-even point
of roughly 3 million admissions.
Bong Joon Hos $40 million Snowpiercer
remains the priciest Korean production of
all time. Films made for more than $10
million must target at least 10 million admissions, or roughly a fifth of Koreas population
of 50 million.
Mid-budget films make up the core of
the industry, and things look a bit shaky
even though there is growing number of
A Korean in Paris
blockbusters, says Lee Seung-won, head of

the CGV Research Center. In the mid-2000s,
quirky sleeper hits such as Scandal Makers
(2008, $41.7 million grossed in Korea) were
credited with pulling the Korean film industry out of a recession that set in after studios
invested heavily in big-budget, star-studded
films that did not live up to expectations.
But can that happen again? Directorproducer JK Youn has vowed to make a more
diverse range of mid-budget films via his
company JK Films. Though he is best known

for such mega-hits as Haeundae and Ode to
My Father, each of which crossed 10 million
admissions, his extensive filmography also
includes smaller comedies and crime dramas.
Says Youn: The Korean film market is
severely polarized, and I hope I can help the
situation by presenting more colorful films
on a reasonable budget. If we succeed, then
I am sure this will inspire more filmmakers to
do the same.
Studios Find a Place for Interesting Female Personas
HOUGH LOCAL
films have
been booming
at the South
Korean box office, there have
been relatively few parts for
actresses amid the dominance of testosterone-fueled
actioners. Lee Jung-hyun,
for example, turned to indie
cinema because she could
not find interesting women
to play after appearing in a
minor role in the box-office
smash Roaring Currents.
This year, however, major
studios are spinning out
female-driven titles featuring
top talent in a range of roles,

from tragic historical figures to
egotistical divas.
Its been rather tough for
Korean actresses as their roles
have been largely limited to
supporting characters, like the
lover or mother. But things are
changing little by little, said
film critic Youn Sung-eun.
The positive reception for
Hollywood films centered on
women does influence local
filmmakers, and the success
of indie films such as Alice in
Earnestland also seems to be
having an effect. Korean audiences always want something
new, and this includes stories

featuring interesting female
personas.
Kim Min-hee (Hong
Sang-soos Right Now, Wrong
Then) will star opposite
budding star Kim Tae-ri in The
Handmaiden, a new lesbian
thriller by celebrated director
Park Chan-wook inspired by
the British novel Fingersmith.
Set in the Japanese colonial
period (1910-45), the film
follows the plight of an orphan
girl who is hired by a con man
to win the trust of a wealthy
heiress, only to end up falling
for her. It is on offer at the EFM
Kim Hae-soo
Ha Ji-won
Han Hyo-joo
Son Ye-jin
via CJ Entertainment.
Cannes winner Jeon
Do-yeon (Secret Sunshine) was
one of the few actresses who
had a memorable presence in
2015 Korean cinema through
The Shameless and the martial
arts epic Memories of the
Sword. She will return with A
Man and a Woman, about a
mother who heads to Finland
to send her autistic son to a
special camp and becomes
passionately drawn to a fellow
parent. This is Jeons second
time working on a melodrama
directed by Lee Yoon-gi, following 2008s One Fine Day.
Kim Hye-soo, Koreas
biggest sex symbol, stood
out last year in Coin Locker
Girl, a female buddy film that
debuted at Cannes. In the
second quarter of 2016, art will
imitate life as the 45-year-old
takes on the role of a superstar
in Familyhood. In this drama
directed by Kim Tae-gon, the
actress flirts with the idea of
becoming a single mother
as she realizes that her star
wattage is fading.
A-lister Son Ye-jin (The
Pirates) will take the lead in
The Last Princess, a bigbudget historical drama from

director Hur Jin-ho. The
film follows the true story of
Princess Deokhye, one of
the last royals of the Joseon
Kingdom (1392-1910); she was
famous for having been forced
into a marriage with a Japanese
aristocrat and then confined to
a mental institution.
Popular actress Han
Hyo-joo has stood out in two
unconventional female-driven
titles, the crime actioner Cold
Eyes and the rom-com The
Beauty Inside. This year, she
will trade in her sweet, innocent image to play a seductive
courtesan-artist of the Joseon
Kingdom in Haeohwa. Park
Heung-sik, who directed
Memories of the Sword, will
helm the period drama.
Superstar Ha Ji-won,
known for playing everything
from rom-com sweethearts
to action heroines, will
star in Life Risking Romance.
Directed by Song Min-kyu,
the genre-bending title mixes
romance with thriller elements
as a couple becomes entangled
in a serial murder case. H.L.
2/13/16 2:26 PM
KOFIC 2 D4 021416.indd 1
1/28/16 10:45 AM
We live in a
world of
extraordinary
vulnerability,
Gibney says.
Q&A DIRECTOR
Alex Gibney
The Oscar-winning documentarian on the toll from Going Clear,

Tom Cruises approval of human-rights abuses and
the U.S. mysterious silence on cyber-war By Scott Roxborough
T S NOT E A SY M A K I NG A L I V I NG G OR I NG SACR ED COWS, SAYS
documentarian Alex Gibney. Still, the 62-year-old filmmaker has

kept at it, toppling societys golden calves with his exposs of corporate America (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room), pedophilia
in the Catholic Church (Mea Maxina Culpa: Silence in the House of
God), the U.S. military (Taxi to the Dark Side) and Scientology (Going
Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief). Along the way, hes collected
an Oscar and five Emmys while attracting the ire of the entrenched
interests who would rather their secrets be kept hidden. For his latest
feature, Zero Days on the dangers of cyber-espionage revealed by the
Stuxnet computer hack of 2010 Gibney has swapped Scientologys
litigious legal team for the dark hats of government-backed hackers.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter while finishing the mix for Zero
Days, Gibney reflected on the hidden doomsday threat of cyber-war
and Scientologys ongoing campaign against him and many others
involved with Going Clear.
22
8
23
crossed from the world of cyber

to the world of physical the
Stuxnet worm took control of
machines in an Iranian nuclear
plant and made them spin
widely out of control. And it was
antonymous. Nobody pressed
a button, it attacked on its own
when it felt the time was right,
a little like the doomsday device
in Dr. Strangelove. The Stuxnet
story showed the ability of a
computer program to manipulate
or destroy critical infrastructure: water treatment plants,
electricity grids, transportation
systems, everything essential to
normal life. It shows the potential
for cyber-war is both terrifying
and comical, and I think it is
something people have not paid
sufficient attention to at all.
Did you discover anything in your
research that shocked you?
Yes. The level of secrecy shocked
me. Because this is a big deal
we are talking about a potential
global cyber-war and our leaders arent even talking about this.
The launch of cyber-weapons, in
the same way as nuclear weapons,
need a presidential signoff. But
D4_Berlin_QA_gibney_F.indd 22
22
theres been no official recognition (of the Stuxnet attack). Its

as if after 1945 the U.S. government were to have said, What
bomb? This isnt just a computer story, its a story of global
espionage and war. Its very much
in the news now, that espionage
played a role in the recent,
controversial nuclear agreement
with Iran. We are living with the
consequences.
How great a threat does the film
represent for you and your team?
Angry hackers can wreak even
more havoc that Scientologists.
I took as many precautions as I
could. I have no idea how effective they were. This is very scary
terrain. The possibility of an
attack is ever-present. We live in
a world of extraordinary vulnerability. The Sony hack made
people aware of the possibility of
something like this, but Stuxnet
goes way beyond that. We have
to demand more from our
government in terms of transparency and protection. This film
attempts to raise the questions of
what the government is keeping
secret and why.
JEFF VESPA/WIREIMAGE
The church has lived up to its

Where you surprised that Going
reputation.
Clear wasnt nominated for an Oscar
after the Church of Scientology
Has there been any professional
actively campaigned against it?
repercussions for you, working in
I dont want to comment on the
Hollywood?
record about that. There defiNot really. I cant say theres been
nitely was a campaign against
any impact there. But in terms
[the film], but I have no evidence
of the Hollywood element, I
that was responsible for influencfound it somewhat disturbing
ing Academy voters. They didnt
that Tom Cruise continues to
vote for it and thats that Ive
manage to elude any responsibilbeen inundated with litigious
ity for the ongoing human-rights
letters [from the Church of
abuses that are basically conScientology] threatening lawducted in his name. He is the
suits as has every venue where we
exhibited this film, in this country most visible and most vocal proponent of the religion. This isnt
and abroad. They havent sued,
about the creed of the church, its
but they threatened a lot. Theres
about the deed. By not investibeen a high cost to releasing
gating human-rights abuses in
the film. I get accosted from
the church, hes tacitly giving his
time to time you can see a few
approval to them.
exchanges on YouTube but the
people who really
Youve explored an
took it on the chin
BY THE NUMBERS
even more clandestine
are the people who
world in Zero Days
spoke to me for the
the world of
movie. Theyve been
Number of feature
cyber-espionage and
shadowed by private
documentaries Gibney has
malware hacking.
investigators and
directed, including Zero Days
What surprised
in ways that are
you most in your
intended to intimiEmmy wins for Gibney docs
investigation into the
date woman have
(three each for Going Clear
Stuxnet attack?
been threatened,
and Mea Maxima and two for
Taxi to the Dark Side)
That this is a much
people have had
bigger story than
their lives destroyed
most people have
economically,
Number of videos on
realized. It was the
their houses taken
freedommag.org, a
Scientology site, attacking
first known attack
away. Its been thugGibney and others who
in which malware
gish intimidation.
participated in Going Clear
2/13/16 12:35 PM
GermanFilms14FebTHR_Berlinale_Artwork 03.02.16 12:30 Seite 1
photo Emre Erkmen
photo Friede Clausz/zero one film
photo Ten Forward Films/Jason Lam
WHO SAYS ITS A MANS WORLD?
IN COMPETITION
Berlinale Special
Panorama Special
Producers: zero one film, Filmakademie Baden-Wrttemberg

World Sales: Beta Cinema
German Producer: Ten Forward Films (DE/US)
German Producer: EEE-Productions (DE/NL/FR)

World Sales: Memento Films International
ALL OF A SUDDEN by Asl zge
photo Hyena Films
photo Ulrike Ottinger
NATIONAL BIRD by Sonia Kennebeck
photo Mathias Bothor/Majestic
24 WEEKS by Anne Zohra Berrached
Panorama Special
Panorama Dokumente
Forum Special
Producers: Olga Film, Rolize, Constantin Film

World Sales: The Match Factory
Producer: Hyena Films
Producer: Ulrike Ottinger Filmproduktion
photo Constanze Schmitt
CHAMISSOS SHADOW by Ulrike Ottinger
photo zero one film
ZONA NORTE by Monika Treut
photo Luzid Film
FUKUSHIMA, MON AMOUR by Doris Drrie
Forum Special
Generation Kplus
Generation 14plus
by Serpil Turhan
German Producer: zero one film (DE/PL)

World Sales: Slingshot Films
Producer: DFFB
photo Sebastian Egert
photo Giorgos Karvelas
Producer: Luzid Film
ZHALEIKA by Eliza Petkova
photo credo:film/Maurice Wilkerling
RUDOLF THOME FLOWERS EVERYWHERE ZUD by Marta Minorowicz
Perspektive Deutsches Kino
Perspektive Deutsches Kino/Generation
by Katarina Stankovi
Co-Producer: Ester.Reglin.Film
World Sales: Patra Spanou Film Marketing & Consulting
Producers: credo:film, Film University Babelsberg
FOUR CORNERS OF A CIRCLE
LIEBMANN by Jules Herrmann
photo Magdalena Hutter
Producers: ZAK Film/Film University Babelsberg (DE/RS)
WHO IS ODA JAUNE? by Kamilla Pfeffer
METEOR STREET by Aline Fischer
NEW FILMS
FROM GERMANY
Producer: gebrder beetz filmproduktion

World Sales: Wide House
German Films D4 021416.indd 1
2/3/16 10:53 AM
About Town
BERLIN HITS THE RED CARPET

1
2 Tilda Swinton and

Dieter Kosslick
attended a screening of
The Man Who Fell to
Earth as part of the
Berlinales tribute to
David Bowie on Feb. 12.
Swinton appeared in
the video for Bowies
2013 single The Stars
(Are Out Tonight).
3 Actors Jaeden
Lieberher and Kirsten
Dunst (in Gucci) attend
the photo call for Jeff
Nichols competition
entry Midnight Special
on Feb. 12.
4 Jury members
Clive Owen and Alba
Rohrwacher (in Miu
Miu) share a laugh on
stage during the
Berlinale opening
ceremony Feb. 11.
5 Channing Tatum
(in Dolce & Gabbana)
walked the red carpet
for the opening-night
screening of Hail,
Caesar! on Feb. 11.
6 From left: Hail,
Caesar! writer-directors
Ethan and Joel Coen
flank the legendary Ben
Barenholtz. Barenholtz,
who produced several
of the brothers titles,
including their second
feature, 1987s
Raising Arizona, was
awarded an honorary
Berlinale Camera Award
at the Martin-GropiusBau on Feb. 12.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPO

REPORTER
D4_Berlin_RC_E.indd 24
24
CHAD BUCHANAN/GETTY IMAGES, MATTHIAS NAREYEK/GETTY IMAGES (2), PASCAL LE SEGRETAIN/GETTY IMAGES, ISA FOLTIN/WIREIMAGE, CLEMENS BILAN/GETTY IMAGES
1 From left: War on

Everyone producer
Chris Clark with the
films stars Michael
Pena and Alexander
Skarsgard at the films
premiere on Feb. 12.
2/13/16 2:34 PM
04/02/16
17:17
RIO CORGO / DIRECTOR: Maya Kosa and Srgio da Costa / PRODUCTION: O Som e a Fria
AW_14Feb_GenericTchanRioCorgo_HollywoodReporter_ICA.pdf
PORTUGAL
8 MOVIES
3 MOVIES IN COMPETITION
CONTACTS IN BERLIN: MARTIN GROPIUS BAU - 1ST FLOOR, BOOTH Nr. 138
MAIL@ICA-IP.PT // WWW.ICA-IP.PT
ICA D4 021416.indd 1
2/9/16 3:03 PM
EXECUTIVE SUITE
PRESIDENT AND CEO,

DOUBLE DUTCH INTERNATIONAL
Jason Moring
The Toronto-based exec on expanding

into producing and financing and why
hes on the lookout for U.S. partners
By Etan Vlessing
H EN JA SON MOR I NG, PR E SIDEN T
and CEO of Double Dutch

International, takes stock of the
global sales market for independent film, he doesnt see crisis he sees
opportunity. Thats even after Canadian
rival Entertainment One in January
invested in Sierra Pictures and closed eOne
International, its London-based international
sales and distribution arm. Judging castdriven theatrical releases as safe ground, DDI
is pushing into production via a deal with
Awesometown Entertainment (Get Squirrely)
to co-produce two or three animated features
budgeted in the $10 million to $15 million
range each year. Moring also has made movies that he reps for worldwide sales rights a
potentially safer bet for foreign buyers by lining up a $50 million P&A fund from private
wealth management firm Fleet-Fairhaven
to ensure a wide U.S. release. Plus, he has
executive produced such movies as Terence
Davies A Quiet Passion, which stars Cynthia
Nixon and Jennifer Ehle and will receive a
gala screening in Berlin, and A.R.C.H.I.E., a
family film voiced by Michael J. Fox. Moring,
36, sat down with THR in his Toronto office
to discuss the state of the world film sales
market, his push into production and his
desire to cherry-pick some new executives.
There arent many Canadian sales companies,
and with Entertainment One closing its
international sales division, the sector has
shrunk. And yet youre growing?
The Sierra acquisition was to help [eOne]
get involved with bigger content. For us,
that only benefits DDI. Were definitely
trying to take advantage of eOne shuttering its international division to see whether
theres an opportunity to pick up some of
their people as well.
How are film sales?
For us, theyre great. We have had a good run
since fall 2014, where each market is seemingly better than the last one. Were a younger
company, were growing and emerging and
were continually doing bigger projects. I
know there are people out there saying parts
of the market are in a downturn. But I really
think you either have theatrical films or you
have the other pool of films. If youre not
Were a younger company,

were growing and emerging
and were continually doing
bigger projects, says Moring,
who was photographed Jan. 20
at his office in Toronto.
theatrical, youre in a big, competitive pool,

where theres a lot of content out there, and
that only drives prices down because buyers
have options. For us, we made a decision two
years ago to focus more on theatricals, so we
werent cluttered up in that competition.
Besides selling, you have expanded DDIs portfolio
to include the development and financing of new
features. Why the push into production?
The world looks to the U.S. to see what the
U.S. will do with a film, and that will really
dictate how [foreign buyers] feel about the
marketability and commerciality of a film.
If it gets a wide theatrical release in the U.S.,
the world will respond. If the U.S. just does a
day-and-date release, the world will respond
differently. So, to help keep that control internally, were trying to venture more into
a production role and a co-producer role.
We need to figure out ways to bring certain
pieces to the puzzle early, whether that
be financing or production talent, to give
us an advantage. And with Canada being so
lucrative when it comes to bringing production here, I see a role for us.
Does that mean getting more involved at the
script or packaging stages for indie titles that
end up on your international sales slate?
Independent producers trying to make a
decent film budgeted in the $8 million to
$15 million range sometimes make wrong
decisions based on cast, and that eventually
makes their film less attractive internationally. If we can get involved earlier, we can help
guide producers in making casting decisions
that will financially benefit their film.
Big names are expensive, especially now with
the collapsing Canadian dollar and the fact that
top Hollywood talent is paid in U.S. dollars.
The agents are certainly out for the benefit
D4_Berlin_ExSuite_Moring_G.indd 26
26
of their clients. Theres always seemingly a

top-20 or a top-30. Its a supply and demand
function. Here, with the way the Canadian
dollar is going, luckily our business is majority
U.S. funds. That will benefit the industry as a
whole. Youll see over the next 12 to 24 months
a huge influx of U.S. and international productions coming to Canada. They not only
will get the same quality of work, theyll get it
at a significant discount when factoring in (the
low Canadian dollar and) film incentives. Its
like doubling up.
You have lined up a $50 million P&A fund to help
ensure a wider U.S. release for films to give comfort
to foreign buyers. What was the strategy there?
We started talking in early 2015 to FleetFairhaven, and were evolving to a revolving
fund to support P&A. That ties into helping make sure the U.S. was fitting a certain
release model that foreign buyers could
depend on and be confident in. And the P&A
fund allows us to ensure at least 800 screens
and up to 2,000.
The falling Canadian dollar also has you eyeing
making more movies with U.S. partners, right?
During the past six to eight months,
there has been a handful of requests every
week from producers asking if we can help
them co-produce out of Canada. So we have
a roster of producers weve worked with
before that we are trying to bring into projects. And were looking at setting up our
production shell here domestically so we can
help with that. In todays market, you have
to be flexible. If you are just a sales company,
thats one thing. But were trying to be a
little more, to bring financing, to help with
production, to have the P&A financing.
These are items that only a handful of sales
companies are doing, and they are usually the
bigger guys.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY
Jennifer Roberts
2/13/16 10:41 AM
adv panorama 01-02-16 def_Opmaak 1 10-02-16 13:40 Pagina 1
PORTRAIT
OF A
GARDEN
by Rosie Stapel
Screenings:
Sun Feb 14 22:00
Wed Feb 17 17:00
MGB
MGB
STRIKE A
POSE
by Ester Gould &
Reijer Zwaan
Screenings:
Mon Feb 15 17:00
Tue Feb 16 12:00
Wed Feb 17 17:45
Fri Feb 19 14:30
Sun Feb 21 17:30
Eye International D4 021416.indd 1
International
CineStar 7
Cubix 8
Colosseum 1
Cubix 7
2/10/16 7:46 PM
Picture Tree
Internationals
LenaLove
EFM SCREENING GUIDE

2016
FEB. 14
8:50 Dofus Book I: Julith,

CinemaxX 18, 107 mins.,
France, Indie Sales
9:00 One for All, Kino
Arsenal 1, 85 mins., Italy,
Minerva Pictures Group
Youll Never Be Alone,
Chile, Wide
The Snow Queen 3: Fire and
Ice, CinemaxX 3, 40 mins.,
Russia, China, Wizart
3000 Nights, dffb-Kino,
103 mins., Lebanon, France,
Intramovies
Stranded, CineStar 5,
92 mins., Spain, Filmax
International
Accabadora, MGB-Kino,
94 mins., Italy, Rai Com
9:10, Food & Shelter,
CinemaxX 2, 93 mins., Spain,
Latido Films
The Bounce Back, EFM
Cinemobile, 104 mins., USA,
Double Dutch International
9:15 Parisienne, CinemaxX
Studio 12, 119 mins., France,
Films Boutique
To Steal From a Thief,
CinemaxX 9, 96 mins., Spain,
Argentina, Film Factory
Entertainment
Hunt for the Wilderpeople,
CineStar 7, 102 mins., New
Zealand, Protagonist Pictures
One Kiss, CineStar 6,
103 mins., Italy, True Colours
The Bosss Daughter,
CinemaxX 1, 103 mins., France,
Wild Bunch
My Revolution, CinemaxX 4,
81 mins., France, Visit Films
9:20 Olympic Pride,
American Prejudice,
CinemaxX 19, 74 mins., USA,
Autlook Filmsales
9:30 The Sun, CinemaxX
Studio 11, 129 mins., Japan,
Kadokawa Corporation
WAX: We Are the X,
Marriott 1, 97 mins., Italy,
Filmexport Group
All of a Sudden, CinemaxX 8,
112 mins., Germany, France,
Netherlands, Memento Films
International
Sniper: Special Ops, Zoo
Palast 5, 90 mins., USA,
Voltage Pictures
Heavenly Nomadic,
Kyrgyzstan, Pluto Film
Combativo (rough cut),
Zoo Palast Club B, 60 mins.,
Pakistan, Shah Productions
Bon Bini Holland, CinemaxX
16, 88 mins., Netherlands,
Dutch Features Global
Entertainment
Sand Storm, CineStar 2,
88 mins., Israel, Beta Cinema
The Carer, CinemaxX 14,
89 mins., Hungary, United
Kingdom, The Yellow Affair
9:45 Other Girls, Parliament,
83 mins., Finland, Eastwest
Filmdistribution
Blue Bicycle, CinemaxX 10,
94 mins., Turkey, Germany,
Drama Film Production Umit
Koreken
10:00 Am Koelnberg, Zoo
Palast 2, 89 mins., Germany,
Real Fiction Filme
10:15 Rosalie Blum, Kino
Arsenal 2, 95 mins., France,
SND Groupe M6
Dont Call Me Son, CinemaxX
3, 82 mins., Brazil, Loco Films
10:30 Halal Love (and Sex),
Kino Arsenal 1, 95 mins.,
Germany, Films Distribution
10:40 Dad Hold My Hand,
India, Wet Grass Films
Scratch, CineStar 5,
93 mins., Canada, Filmoption
International
10:45 Very Big Shot,
Lebanon, Be for Films
Viva, MGB-Kino, 99 mins.,
Ireland, Mongrel International
The Kind Words, CinemaxX
18, 118 mins., Israel, Canada,
Beta Cinema
11:00 A Conspiracy of Faith,
Denmark, Germany, Norway,
TrustNordisk
Between Sea and Land,
Colombia, USA, Global Screen
All These Sleepless Nights,
Poland, HanWay Films
Monsieur Chocolat, CineStar

IMAX, 119 mins., France,
Gaumont
LenaLove, dffb-Kino,
93 mins., Germany, Picture
Tree International
Fast Convoy, EFM Cinemobile,
102 mins., France, Indie Sales
A Mighty Team, CinemaxX 17,
97 mins., France, Other Angle
Pictures
La vache, CinemaxX 9,
96 mins., France, Path
International
11:10, Loev, CinemaxX 14,
90 mins., India, Wide
11:15 Do You Believe?,
Parliament, 120 mins., USA,
Pure Flix/Quality Flix
Highway To Hellas,
CineStar 4, 89 mins., Germany,
ARRI Media
Endorphine, CinemaxX 1,
84 mins., Canada, Seville
International
The Bride, CinemaxX 15, 96
mins., Spain, Fortissimo Films
Gamba, CineStar 6, 93 mins.,
Japan, SC Films International
Chronically Metropolitan
By Invitation Only, Zoo Palast
Club A, 85 mins., USA, 13 Films
11:20 A Good Wife, CinemaxX
Studio 12, 95 mins., Serbia,
Films Boutique
D4_Berlin_SG B.indd 1
Par accident, CinemaxX 2,

85 mins., France, Be for Films
11:40 Shepherds and

Butchers, CinemaxX 5,
106 mins., USA, South Africa,
WestEnd Films
12:50 The Inerasable,

CineStar 4, 107 mins., Japan,
Shochiku
Them Who?, EFM Cinemobile,
92 mins., Italy, True Colours
Agnes, CinemaxX 18,
105 mins., Germany, Pluto Film
11:50 London Heist,

CinemaxX Studio 11, 96 mins.,
United Kingdom, Cinema
Management Group (CMG)
11:55 Morris From America,
Kino Arsenal 2, 91 mins.,
Germany, USA, Visit Films
12:00 The Bunker, Zoo
Film Republic
Robinson Crusoe,
Belgium, Studiocanal
12:20 Under the Pyramid,
Sweden, Netherlands, Idyll
12:25 Spanish Affair 2, MGBKino, 107 mins., Spain, Film
Factory Entertainment
12:40 Wedding Doll, dffbKino, 82 mins., Israel, Gilady
Nitzan Films
The Crew, CineStar 1, 81 mins.,
France, SND Groupe M6
12:45 A Decent Man,
France, Bac Films
Vicky Banjo, CinemaxX 1,
89 mins., France, Gaumont
Arianna, CinemaxX 14,
11:30 These Daughters of

Mine, CinemaxX 16, 88 mins.,
Poland, Media Move
Rara, CinemaxX 10, 88 mins.,
Chile, Argentina, Latido Films
Fire at Sea, CineStar 2,
107 mins., Italy, France, Doc &

Film International
13:00 The Stare, CinemaxX 15,

99 mins., Japan, Kadokawa
Corp.
Do Mixers Go to Heaven?,
Germany, Clip Film- und
Fernsehproduktion
Heartless, Marriott 1,
90 mins., Germany, USA, Wind
Child Entertainment
Lolo, CinemaxX 9, 99 mins.,
France, Wild Bunch
Parched, CineStar 6,
116 mins., USA, India, United
Kingdom, Seville International
13:05 Sophies Misfortunes,
CineStar IMAX, 104 mins.,
France, Gaumont
13:15 A Melody to Remember,
CinemaxX 16, 124 mins., South
Korea, Contents Panda (Next
Entertainment World)
Worlds Apart, Zoo Palast 4,
115 mins., Greece, 13 Films
Molly Monster, Ted Siegers,
Germany, Switzerland,
Sweden, Global Screen
13:20 Kivalina, CinemaxX
Studio 12, 64 mins., USA, Savor
Terra Films
28
2/13/16 2:24 AM
Family Adventure / USA / 2016 spring delivery
Holiday Comedy / 106 min. / USA
Comedy / 90 min. / USA
Fantasy Animation / 88 min. / Canada
MultiVisionnaire Pictures www.multivisionnaire.com

market@multivisionnaire.com Mobile: +49 176 8539 2243
MV_Ad_HollywoodRep_EFM16_Day4_A.indd
1
Multivisionnaire
D4 021416.indd 1
For full lineup, visit www.multivisionnaire.com
E
R
E
I
M
E
R
P
U
E
EFM P
N
I
L
Y
D
E
M
O
C
/
Y
L
I
FAM
re
i
a
n
n
o
i M 3
s
i F 1
V
tl i t E #1
u a B
M
G
M
2/9/16 5:43
2/11/16
8:18 PM
PM
EFM SCREENING GUIDE

2016
13:30 Only for the Weekend,
Zoo Palast 3, 86 mins., Italy,
Summerside International
War on Everyone, CineStar 2,
98 mins., United Kingdom,
Bankside Films
A Hundred Streets,
Parliament, 93 mins.,
United Kingdom, Umedia
International
The Black Hen, CinemaxX
Studio 11, 90 mins., Nepal,
Germany, Wide
Bang Gang (A Modern
Love Story), Kino Arsenal 2,
98 mins., France, Films
Distribution
13:45 Rupture, Zoo Palast
Club B, 102 mins., USA,
Luxembourg, Canada, Ambi
Distribution
14:00 Der Nachtmahr, Zoo
K5 Mediagroup
14:05 Katabui In the
Heart of Okinawa, dffb-Kino,
80 mins., Japan, Switzerland,
Kukuru Vision
14:10 Koudelka Shooting
Holy Land, CinemaxX 13,
72 mins., Germany, Czech
Republic, Israel, Wide House
14:15 Kidnap Capital, MGBKino, 93 mins., Canada, The
Annex Entertainment
Josephine, Pregnant &
Fabulous, CinemaxX 2,
100 mins., France, TF1
International
2 Nights Till Morning,
Finland, Lithuania, Wide
14:20 Land of the
Enlightened, CinemaxX 1,
88 mins., Belgium, Ireland,
Germany, Films Boutique
The Master, CineStar 1,
109 mins., Hong Kong, China,
Golden Network Asia
14:30 Young Wrestlers,
CinemaxX 10, 90 mins., Turkey,
Netherlands, Kaliber Film
The Church of Karadima,
EFM Cinemobile, 95 mins.,
Chile, Ocio Films
14:40 Timeswings
Hanne Darboven Revisited,
Marriott 1, 58 mins., Germany,
Moonlightmovies
While the Women Are
Sleeping, CinemaxX 19,
103 mins., Japan, Toei Co.
14:45 Mr. Pig, CineStar 4,
92 mins., USA, Mundial
The Ardennes, CinemaxX
15, 93 mins., Belgium,
Netherlands, Attraction
Distribution
Happy Birthday, CinemaxX 17,
90 mins., USA, Arclight Films
15:00 Nick Off Duty,
CineStar IMAX, 140 mins.,
Germany, Global Screen
Agnus Dei, CineStar 6,
115 mins., France, Poland,
Films Distribution
What a Wonderful Family!,
CineStar 5, 108 mins., Japan,
Shochiku
15:05 Summertime,
CinemaxX 4, 105 mins., Italy,
Rai Com
15:10 Kids in Love, Zoo Palast
3, 83 mins., United Kingdom,
Carnaby International
Sales & Distribution
This Summer Feeling,

CinemaxX Studio 11, 106 mins.,
France, Pyramide International
15:15 A Woman, a Part,
Zoo Palast 4, 99 mins., USA,
Infinitum Productions
Magnus, Kino Arsenal 2, 76
mins., Norway, TrustNordisk
15:30 Requirements to Be a
Normal Person, Parliament,
85 mins., Spain, Latido Films
Song of Lahore, CinemaxX 13,
82 mins., USA, Autlook
Filmsales
Inside the Chinese Closet,
Netherlands, Films Transit
International
15:50 The Lady in the Car

With Glasses and a Gun,
CinemaxX 1, 95 mins., France,
Wild Bunch
In Front of Others, MGB-Kino,
91 mins., Iceland, Truenorth
16:00 Fire Song, CinemaxX 2,
85 mins., Canada, MCE
Young Light, Zoo Palast 2,
122 mins., Germany, France,
Weltkino Filmverleih
16:05 Wild, CinemaxX 10,
97 mins., Germany, The Match
Factory
11:20 Lets Talk, Marriott 1, 101

mins., Italy, Filmexport Group
17:30 On My Mothers Side,
Canada, Seville International
The Girl in the Book,
CineStar IMAX, 89 mins., USA,
Myriad Pictures
Fack Ju Goehte 2, Parliament,
115 mins., Germany, Picture
Tree International
House for Mermaids,
MGB-Kino, 78 mins., Estonia,
Russia, Korela Film
Things to Come, CinemaxX 1,
100 mins., France, Germany,
Les Films du Losange
Becoming Zlatan, CinemaxX
14, 105 mins., Sweden, Autlook
Filmsales
If Cats Disappeared
From the World, CineStar 1,
101 mins., Japan, Toho
16:10 Tickled, EFM

Cinemobile, 92 mins., New
Zealand, Magnolia Pictures
Fade The Tales About the
Last Days, Zoo Palast Club B,
81 mins., Italy, New World
Cinemas
16:20 Richard Linklater:

Dream Is Destiny, CinemaxX
15, 92 mins., USA, Dogwoof
D4_Berlin_SG B.indd 2
16:45 A Sunday Kind of

Love, CinemaxX 16, 95 mins.,
Canada, Princ Films
17:00 Suntan, Kino Arsenal 2,

104 mins., Greece, Visit Films
The Childhood of
a Leader, CineStar 6,
116 mins., United Kingdom,
Hungary, France, Protagonist
Pictures
Valley of Knights Miras
Magical Christmas,
Norway, Sola Media
California, CinemaxX
Studio 11, 91 mins., Brazil,
Films Boutique
Welcome to Norway,
CineStar 5, 90 mins., Norway,
Sweden, Beta Cinema
Chasing Niagara,
CinemaxX 4, 80 mins., Austria,
Red Bull Media House
15:45 The Shell Collector,

Marriott 1, 86 mins., USA,
Japan, Shell Collector
The Mine, CinemaxX 14,
94 mins., Finland, The Yellow
Affair
16:30 Man Falling, CinemaxX

19, 107 mins., Denmark, Wide
House
Anna, CinemaxX 18, 117 mins.,
Italy, Rai Com
The Linda Vista Project,
16:40 Cheer Up, CinemaxX

Studio 12, 86 mins., Finland,
Canada, Wide House
16:50 Pursuit, Zoo Palast Club

A, 95 mins., Ireland, An Pointe
Productions
16:15 The Fits, CineStar 1,

72 mins., USA, Mongrel
International
Dogwoofs
Richard Linklater:
Dream Is Destiny
CinemaxX 17, 86 mins., USA,

XVIII Entertainment
17:45 Hedi, CinemaxX 10,

88 mins., Tunisia, Belgium,
France, Luxbox
17:50 Mother, EFM
Cinemobile, 90 mins.,
Slovenia, Slovenian Film
Centre
18:05 Jonathan, CinemaxX 17,
99 mins., Germany, m-appeal
Raspberry & Cream
18:10 Rosehill, CinemaxX 15,
78 mins., USA, Germany,
ManifestoFilm
18:15 From a House on
Willow Street, CinemaxX
Studio 12, 87 mins., South
Africa, The Exchange
18:30 Humidity, CinemaxX 19,
113 mins., Serbia, Netherlands,
Greece, Soul Food Films
Dont Be Bad, CinemaxX 18,
18:40 Last of the Elephant
Men, CineStar 5, 86 mins.,
Canada, France, Filmoption
International
After Eden, CinemaxX Studio
11, 80 mins., Canada, Wide
Team Spirit, CinemaxX 13,
112 mins., France, Le Pacte
19:00 The Rift, CineStar 6,
90 mins., South Korea, Serbia,
Slovenia, More In Group
Farewell My Teacher,
CineStar 4, 83 mins., France,
Studiocanal
19:05 Scream Week,
Netherlands, Belgium,
Incredible Film
19:15 The End (The
Wandering), CineStar 2,
85 mins., France, Gaumont
19:20 We Are the Flesh,
Mexico, Reel Suspects
Sophie and the Rising
Sun, CinemaxX 10, 115 mins.,
USA, Seville International
The Greasy Strangler,
CineStar 1, 93 mins.,
United Kingdom, Protagonist
Pictures
19:30 Satanic, Parliament, 85
mins., USA, Magnolia Pictures
Dragon, EFM Cinemobile,
108 mins.,Russia,Mirsand
Kiki, CinemaxX 15, 95 mins.,
Sweden, USA, Films Boutique
30
2/13/16 2:25 AM
MARKET PREMIERE TODAY

FEB. 14 MGB CINEMA 14:15
WORLDWIDE SALES, CONTACT THE ANNEX

ALEX HUGHES, MGB #145 TEL: +1.416.363.9971 EXT. 241
The Annex D4 021416.indd 1
2/4/16 12:57 PM
R E V I E WS
Morrison (left)
and Keefe are a
Maori farmer and
his grandson.
The Patriarch
Lee Tamahoris first New Zealand-set film in two decades is a heartfelt

but often clumsy and heavyhanded Maori family saga BY DAVID ROONEY
I NCE BU R ST I NG ON TO T H E SCEN E
in 1994 with the tough Maori drama

Once Were Warriors, Lee Tamahori
has had mixed fortunes making
big-budget thrillers, including Die
Another Day, the 2002 Bond movie remembered mainly as the last wheeze of Pierce
Brosnan on the MI6 payroll. Its no surprise
that the directors first film in his native New
Zealand in more than 20 years, The Patriarch,
is full of conflicting impulses. Its a boldly oldfashioned family saga, set amid spectacular
pastoral scenery and made with what seems
3 Questions With
Lee Tamahori
By Alex Ritman
This is your first New Zealand film since

Once Were Warriors. Are you returning
home for good?
I set myself a sort of strange goal in the
90s where I said if I can last 10 years in
Tamahori
like a heartfelt connection to this beautiful

place and its people. Its also seasoned with
the flavor of a Western, as signaled first in the
initial placement of key characters against
the majestic landscape, then in a Cinema
Paradiso-style scene in a movie house playing the original 3:10 to Yuma, and later with
a mention of the Don Siegel-directed Elvis
Presley vehicle, Flaming Star.
If all that sounds like a lumpy stew, it is,
though for most of the running time its quite
enjoyable as these things go. But the script
by John Collee (Happy Feet), based on a
Hollywood, thatll be great,

and then Ill try making Euro
movies and then Ill go home,
and this strange weird model
is kind of coming to pass.
How has your relationship with Hollywood

which hit its heights in 2002 with Die
Another Day been?
Its been up and down. But when you get a

chance to play in America and with large
budgets and big stories, you sort of take
it. But I got classified as an action guy over
there, especially after the Bond movie,
and wanted to cut out of that and try some
middle ground. So ended up doing The
Devils Double and making Euro films, which
is a whole new landscape.
D4_Berlin_rev_Patriarch+things_I.indd 32
novel by Whale Rider author Witi Ihimaera,

has a bad habit of articulating every trace of
subtext. In the final scenes in particular, the
on-the-nose dialogue, ripe melodrama and
preprogrammed emotional responses will test
all but the most forgiving viewers.
Temuera Morrison, the breakout star of
Once Were Warriors, is playing a different
kind of Maori patriarch this time around.
Tamihana Mahana is a proud man who
arrived with nothing decades earlier on the
North Islands wild East Coast. He worked
hard to clear the land for grazing and build
the local church, carving a prominent position in the small community, where Maori
and Pakeha, or whites, co-exist at a more or
less respectful distance.
By the early 1960s, when the story takes
place, Tamihana is a gruff grandfather, a
Whats happening with the Adrian

Brody-starring Emperor, which was first
announced in Cannes two years ago?
The interminable long project that will not
stop! Its worthy of a film in itself. Its all about
financing, the usual stuff. But its a good film
and is in good shape. Were just waiting on
the VFX. Were nearly there, but weve got to
get it over the line.
32
2/13/16 5:45 PM
religious man and stern traditionalist.

He shows a keen interest in his outspoken 14-year-old grandson Simeon (Akuhata
Keefe), assigning him endless farm chores
yet deeming him not man enough to participate when his parents go off for an extended
shearing job on a white sheep farmers
property. Being left behind with his grandfather intensifies the friction between them.
Following his parents return, Simeon goes
too far in challenging the old man, whose
violent outburst sparks a clash that ends
with Simeons family being banished from
Tamihanas property.
As in Whale Rider, Ihimaeras esteem for
strong Maori women is evident in the role of
Tamihanas beekeeper wife, Ramona (Nancy
Brunning), who dominates the lives of the
extended family in much less demonstrative ways than her overbearing husband. She
goes against Tamihanas wishes by giving
Simeons disowned family a run-down house
that belongs to her on a neighboring hill. Its
hinted at from early on that Ramonas past
ties to Rupeni Poata (Jim Moriarty), the
patriarch of the other dominant local Maori
family, are at the heart of the deep-rooted
hatred between the two clans.
When Simeons father, Joshua (Regan
Taylor), is injured in an accident, the boy
steps up to secure his impoverished familys
ongoing livelihood, challenging Tamihanas
control over the shearing work.
Its refreshing to see a New Zealand
drama that tells a Maori story built around
neither integration issues nor troubles with
violence and addiction. Still, a director more
capable than Tamahori of drawing finegrained performances from his actors would
have been needed to elevate this story above
earnest soap opera.
Morrison remains a forceful presence,
even in a two-dimensional role, and Brunning
plays up Ramonas silent fortitude with reasonable effectiveness. But the acting is often
stiff, and Keefes inexperience shows in the
uncertainty with which he straddles Simeons
adolescent immaturity with his blossoming
convictions and backbone.
Cinematographer Ginny Loanes crisp,
handsome compositions of the verdant
countryside are among the movies chief
attractions. Overall, though, The Patriarch,
becomes clunky and predictable, its
sentimentality amplified by awkward incorporation of songs into the lush score.
Out of Competition
Cast Temuera Morrison, Akuhata Keefe, Nancy
Brunning, Jim Moriarty, Regan Taylor
Director Lee Tamahori // 103 minutes
Huppert is forced to
start anew after her
husband leaves her.
Things to Come
French director Mia Hansen-Loves slyly humorous and beautifully observed film
stars Isabelle Huppert as a woman whose life unravels BY JORDAN MINTZER
OR H ER F I F T H F E AT U R E , F R ENCH W R I T ER-DIR ECTOR M I A H A NSEN-L OV E
follows the quotidian travails of a 60-something philosophy teacher (played effortlessly by Isabelle Huppert) whos dumped by her longtime husband, burdened with
a growingly senile mother and suddenly forced to face the onset of old age by herself.
If the filmmakers previous movies all dealt with the passage of time in one way or
another, this latest effort tackles the subject head-on in a manner both deeply intellectual
and compassionately playful, mixing citations by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Blaise Pascal
with witty reflections and a surprising number of cat jokes. While the films first half is
perhaps more potent than its conclusion, this is still another impressive work by an auteur
who manages to transform everyday stories into a singular vision.
The Franco-German production should see extensive art house distribution thanks to
Hupperts name and Hansen-Loves reputation as one of Frances most promising directors, especially after her DJ saga Eden was championed by critics in the U.S. and U.K.
Married for 25 years and most happy when surrounded by her books and students,
Nathalie (Huppert) approaches life and work with a matter-of-factness that doesnt
stop her from asking some serious questions, though perhaps not always of herself. Shes
extremely good at breaking down the thoughts of major 20th-century philosophers, though
all the treatises in the world cant prepare one for the messiness of human existence.
This comes quickly enough when her husband and fellow philosophy teacher, Heinz
(Andre Marcon), decides to leave Nathalie for another woman, moving out of their Parisian
apartment. Meanwhile, Nathalies aging mother, Yvette (the great Edith Scob), has
become incapable of living alone, harassing her daughter with calls day and night.
While these are all transformative events for Nathalie, and not necessarily joyful ones,
Hansen-Love approaches them with lightheartedness. In one scene, Nathalie sobs
alone while riding a city bus but suddenly bursts into laughter when she unexpectedly
sees Heinz and his mistress out the window. Could it really get any worse?
The films shrewd sense of humor, its way of underlining the absurdity of lifes foibles,
is fully carried by Hupperts disarming performance, which never panders to easy sentiments but doesnt shy away from showcasing raw emotion. Per the press notes, the Nathalie
character was inspired by both the actress herself and, like those in many of Hansen-Loves
films, by the directors own family, making for someone who feels incredibly real.
If Nathalies life has clearly been upended, she manages to find some solace in the company of the handsome and considerably younger Fabien (Roman Kolinka), a brilliant
former student who has given up academia to live with a group of anarchists in the countryside. As she becomes more isolated, Nathalie seems further drawn to her ex-pupil,
arriving at his picturesque mountain abode with her moms cat Pandora in tow, resulting
in several gags and a fair amount of animal close-ups.
The closing reels lack the narrative impact of what came beforehand, with Fabien
never turning into a captivating enough character. But anyone hoping to find catharsis in
the work of Hansen-Love should look elsewhere. Working again with DP Denis Lenoir,
she crafts a warmly hued portrait of a woman whose life unravels yet flows stubbornly, and
even humorously, onward.
Competition
Cast Isabelle Huppert, Andre Marcon, Roman Kolinka, Edith Scob, Sarah Le Picard
Director Mia Hansen-Love // 100 minutes
D4_Berlin_rev_Patriarch+things_I.indd 33
33
2/13/16 5:45 PM
REVIEWS
Rosis film chronicles

the migrant crisis on
a Sicilian island.
Fire at Sea
Life on the Italian island of Lampedusa is shaken by waves

of migrants in this quietly powerful doc BY DEBORAH YOUNG
ON V EY I NG T H E
immensity of the ongoing migrant crisis,

which is costing thousands
of lives each year as it puts
European unity and values sorely
to the test, has proved far too
great a task for news reporting.
Where journalism leaves off, Fire
at Sea (Fuocoammare) begins.
It takes a unique documentary
filmmaker like Gianfranco Rosi
to capture the drama, his camera focused on the small Sicilian
island of Lampedusa. There,
wave upon wave of desperate
boat people bring their dramas,
tragedies and emergencies
to Europes shore, with the Italian
navy and coast guard rescuing
as many as they can.
The humor and compassion
that Rosi brought to the denizens of Romes ring road in Sacro
GRA, which won the Venice
Golden Lion in 2013, are still
very much present, but here they
illuminate a subject of far greater
import. Fire at Sea should be
able to find larger audiences, at
least in countries familiar with
the migrant crisis.
No time is wasted on background information, nor is there
any hint of what becomes of the
people mostly Africans, some
Syrians who survive the fearful
sea journey. A viewer coming cold
to the film may find too many

questions left unanswered.
Yet Jacopo Quadris admirable editing contains its own
perfect symmetry, alternating
adventurous, often dramatic
rescue operations with the quiet
life of the fishermen and their
families who inhabit the island.
If the film has a main character,
it is Samuele, a rambunctious
12-year-old who spends his time
outdoors with a pal, practicing
his homemade slingshot on the
local birds and cacti, trying to get
his sea legs aboard his fathers
fishing boat. As it gradually
becomes apparent, this innocent
play has some uneasy undertones. Though shown humorously
in a visit to the doctor, Samuele
has eye problems and breathing
difficulties linked to anxiety, and
the way he obsessively shoots an
imaginary gun isnt reassuring.
Rosi captures the old-world
atmosphere of Lampedusa not
just in images of the barren,
scrubby island and its rocky
shores, but through generous
excerpts of Sicilian tunes heard
on the radio in the kitchen of
an elderly couple and broadcast
by a delightful local DJ who is
obviously a connoisseur of the
genre. Bent over his monitors and
mike in a darkened studio, at first
he could be mistaken for navy
personnel scouting the rough

waters of the Mediterranean.
This segues smoothly into some
breathtaking footage aboard real
cruisers and warships as they
patrol the sea for boats in peril.
Their giant radars spin around as
a disembodied Italian voice begs
a sinking ship to give its position. Perhaps because the person
calling cant understand him, or
doesnt know the coordinates,
he continues responding with a
heartbreaking, God save us!
Whereas most filmmakers
would follow a rescue op from
start to finish, Rosi never satisfies
the audiences curiosity in this
way. He creates drama instead
through a careful choice of
emotionally resonant details, like
the shiny thermal blankets that
look like Christmas wrapping
paper and give a group of
immigrants a surreal sci-fi look
as they file off a boat at night.
RAI D4 021416.indd 1
D4_berlin_rev_fireatsea_E.indd 34
Very little is shown in the

camps where migrants are
temporarily housed. In a striking
scene, Rosi films a group of young
men giving testimony to
their plight: Bombed in Nigeria,
they fled through the Sahara,
where many died of thirst and
exhaustion, then to Libya, where
many more died or were imprisoned, before embarking on their
perilous sea journey.
This horror is mitigated by
scenes of gentle humor, like one
in which a doctor with limited
English tries to make himself
understood by a pregnant African
woman. It isnt laugh-out-loud,
but it helps put the tragedies into
some kind of human perspective.
In the end, this kind of compassion is the films main takeaway.
Competition
Director Gianfranco Rosi
108 minutes
34
2/4/16 2:35 PM
2/13/16 3:05 PM
Bleiberg Sun Stasis D4 021416.indd 1
2/8/16 12:06 PM
REVIEWS
The Tenth Man
The latest from Argentinian writer-director Daniel Burman

is an atmospheric, well-observed family dramedy set in
Buenos Aires Jewish community BY NEIL YOUNG
W RY LY A M USI NG PEEK
into Buenos Aires bustling Jewish quarter, The

Tenth Man (El rey del Once) sees
writer-director Daniel Burman
content to explore familiar turf in
more ways than one. Drawing on
his own experiences growing up
in the Argentinian capitals heavily populated 11th district (El
Once), he explicitly harks back
to the films he made between
2000 and 2006 (Lost Embrace,
Family Law and others) that
made his name.
The Tenth Mans protagonist is Ariel, incarnated by the
chubby, balding Alan Sabbagh.
Based in New York with his
dancer girlfriend Monica (Elisa
Carricajo, heard but not seen),
Ariel returns home to see his
father, Usher (Usher Barilka),
who runs a charitable foundation
supplying meat, pharmaceuticals
and menswear among other
items to the neighborhood. But
Usher is so busy with his various
business negotiations that he
is, like Monica, only a voice on

the phone, sending the eagerto-please but somewhat klutzy
Ariel on various errands across
the city. These bring him into
contact with a gangling, Napoleon
Dynamite-haired hospital patient,
Marcelito Cohen (oddball scenestealer Uriel Rubin), and Eva
(Julieta Zylberberg), a demure
foundation worker to whom he
develops a halting romantic
attraction.
Evas devoutness semi-inadvertently sees the longtime skeptic
Ariel reconnect with his faith,
most drolly during a lively visit to
the local synagogue, where hes
greeted with boisterous delight
and finds himself being strapped
into Tefillin phylacteries. Ariel
endures such shenanigans with
the plodding, stoic resignation
that is his characters main trait;
hes never what one could call
the most dynamic of big-screen
heroes, but spending an hour and
a quarter in his company proves a
gently rewarding experience.
Sabbagh is an
Argentine ex-pat
who finds you cant
go home again.
And of course hes our point of

access to the Once itself, an environment captured in loving detail
by Daniel Ortegas hand-held
camera work, which frequently
spies on characters from handy
corners of their cramped,
cluttered, lived-in interior
spaces. Meanwhile, Margarita
Tamborninos production design
draws heavily from the reality of
the district.
The smartest touch of
Burmans bouncy, unobtrusively
informative screenplay is to make
Usher such a dominant offscreen
presence before he finally shows
Meteor Street
Documentary filmmaker Aline Fischers first narrative feature is an intensely

performed immigrant drama but lacks a strong storyline BY JORDAN MINTZER
A M ED A F T ER A NA R ROW, DE SOL AT E
road adjacent to Berlins Tegel airport,

Meteor Street (Meteorstrasse) shows
a side of the city seldom seen onscreen: that
of Arab immigrants scraping by in a country
that does not always welcome them.
For her first narrative feature, French
documentary director Aline Fischer focuses
on a pair of Palestinian brothers 18-year-old
Mohammed (Hussein Eliraqui) and 27-yearold Lakhdar (Oktay Inanc Ozdemir) trying
to make ends meet after their parents have
been deported to Lebanon. Its a powerful subject that could have been developed
further in a film that lacks sufficient narrative
drive but gets by with energetic performances
from its two leads.
Holed up in a ramshackle home with
two dogs to feed and not a dime to spare,
Mohammed and Lakhdar have few options
in a town where work is already hard to come
by. Given that his older bro is erratic and
irresponsible, Mohammed has no choice but
to hold down the fort, finding under-the-table

employment at a nearby garage.
Yet as much as he tries to get ahead, the
young man is forever weighed down by
Lakhdars behavior as well as by the racist attitudes of some of the bikers at the
garage, who are happy to exploit their Arab
laborer but will never let him join their crew.
Eventually, Mohammed strikes back in an act
of desperation.
Its a slim storyline that often feels like
a short movie stretched to feature length,
Brothers Ozdemir
(left) and Eliraqui
have trouble
making ends
meet in Berlin.
Panorama
Cast Alan Sabbagh, Julieta
Zylberberg, Usher Barilka, Elvira
Onetto, Adrian Stoppelman
Director Daniel Burman
81 minutes
though the film does take an interesting turn

during the closing reel. If Fischer doesnt
quite convince in the plot department, she
makes strong use of the bleak outlier settings
and of her well-chosen cast, whose intense
turns carry much of the dramatic weight.
The promising Eliraqui channels
Mohammeds ongoing predicament as someone caught between his war-torn origins and a
new world where Muslim customs are not easily accepted. Ozdemir is equally convincing as
the volatile, self-destructive Lakhdar.
With lots of handheld camerawork to follow
the action, Fischers very Dardennes-style
direction can grow dizzying at times, and one
wishes shed step back from all the close-ups
to give her characters a bit of air. Production
designer Paola Cordero Yannarella adds a
strong layer of realism to the industrial zone
where Mohammed and Lakhdar are stranded
a place that sits ironically next to an airfield
where people are constantly heading off to
other, perhaps more welcoming, lands.
Cast Hussein Eliraqui, Oktay Inanc Ozdemir,
Bodo Goldbeck, Sebastian Gunther
Director Aline Fischer // 84 minutes
D4_Berlin_rev_tenthB.indd 1
up in the closing minutes. Indeed,

for the bulk of the running time,
were led to believe Usher is
the tenth man of the English
language title which refers
to the quorum of men required
for a Jewish funeral before a
last-reel development concludes
the bittersweet proceedings on a
productively circular note.
36
2/13/16 6:57 AM
DRAMA
SERIES DAYS
1516 FEB 2016
Market Screenings | Panel Programme | Networking Events
15
MONDAY, 15 FEB
16
TUESDAY, 16 FEB
GROPIUS MIRROR
10:0010:30 Official Opening*
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
10:0013:00 CoPro Series Pitching*
10:3011:30 Commissioning Strategies

the Trendsetters EFM Panel hosted by HBO
EFM PRODUCERS HUB at MGB

12:4513:00 Presentations and Talks Series
Europe moderated by C21
16:0017:00 Cross-Atlantic Series Success:

(Re)Making TV for Europe and the World
EFM Industry Debate hosted by IFA and the Filmund Medienstiftung NRW in cooperation with
The Hollywood Reporter
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
10:4511:45 CLEVERMAN Case Study
International Co-Production of a Series
BERLINALE TALENTS at HAU2

17:0018:30 Floating Shapes:
How to Give Stories the Right Flow
MONDAY & TUESDAY, 1516 FEB
EFM CINEMOBILE & MGB CINEMA
10:0019:00 Market Screenings
MGBCINEMA
13:10 14:10 Showcase TV Drama Vision
Scandinavia presented by Goteborg Film Festival
BERLINALE TALENTS at HAU1
17:00 18:30 Take a Long Look:
The Cinematography of Game of Thrones
MEET THE DOCS TALKS at MGB
17:30 18:00 Documentary Series
* by invitation only
Along with the Drama Series Days, the 66th Berlin

International Film Festival will again present a curated
selection of high-quality drama series within the
framework of the Berlinale Special programme at
the Haus der Berliner Festspiele.
www.efm-berlinale.de
EFM 2016_DSD_THR_245x330_RZ.indd 1
EFM D4 021416.indd 1
12.02.16 11:44
2/12/16 1:44 PM
REVIEWS
Short Stay
Ezenfis is a teen
with serious
Daddy issues.
The Son of Joseph
The latest from France-based American filmmaker

Eugene Green is an arty and amusing meditation on
religion, love and fatherhood BY BOYD VAN HOEIJ
FAT H ER L E SS YOU NG PA R ISI A N SETS OU T TO M EET H IS
creator in The Son of Joseph (Le Fils de Joseph), the latest

film from writer-director Eugene Green. The U.S.-born,
France-based filmmaker (La Sapienza) tackles ideas of fatherhood
in relation to the Holy Family through the story of Vincent, a surly
teen who blames his mother, not coincidentally called Marie, for
the fact that he doesnt have a dad. Lighter than most of Greens
other work, this could very well travel further afield.
Freckle-faced Vincent (Victor Ezenfis), who looks like hes
about 15, lives with his single mom (Natacha Regnier) in the
center of Paris. She has never told him who his father is. He finally
manages to find out that his old man is an influential publisher,
Oscar Pormenor (Mathieu Amalric). To get to know him, Vincent
copies the key of Pormenors office which is, bien sur, in a chic
Parisian hotel and hides under the divan to eavesdrop.
What becomes clear is that Oscar isnt a father any boy would
want, forgetting how many children he has with his wife and
cheating on her with his busty secretary (Julia de Gasquet).
This discovery, combined with Vincents odd obsession with the
Caravaggio painting The Sacrifice of Isaac, in which Abraham holds
a knife against his sons throat, results in the boy handcuffing and
gagging his father (who still doesnt know his identity).
The films main exchange of ideas and emotions, however,
occurs between Vincent and the adult Joseph (Fabrizio Rongione),
Oscars neer-do-well brother, whom he meets by chance and with
whom he frequents the parks, streets and museums of Paris. A
visit to the Louvre acquaints Vincent with two religious masterpieces, which, in turn, unlock the entire meaning of the film.
The Son of Joseph might be filled with talk about and visual allusions to God, Biblical art, parenthood and relationships, but the
way the material is handled is jocular, without betraying the more
serious ideas at its core. The combination of highbrow and lowbrow is undeniably French but very effective. It all climaxes with
a chase sequence that brings together several of the films themes,
sending audiences out both a little wiser and a little happier.
Ted Fendts feature-length debut is an effectively

low-key portrait of an outsider BY JORDAN MINTZER
T H ROW BACK TO T H E
early dog days of mumblecore, Short Stay is

certainly true to its title. Clocking
in at only 61 minutes, this debut
featurette from writer-director
Ted Fendt follows the wayward
travails of a thirtyish, possibly
on-the-spectrum Jersey boy
who decides to try his luck in
Philadelphia, only to learn that
life in the big city is not quite
what he was hoping for.
Simple yet effective in its
portrait of a man who cant really
fit in anywhere, this understated
slice of East Coast life will mostly
please fans of Andrew Bujalski,
Joe Swanberg and other low-fi
DIY directors when they first
started out. After a premiere in
Berlins Forum sidebar, it should
continue playing festivals and
could find some short stays on
VOD outlets, though theatrical
will pose more of a challenge.
Mike (Mike Maccherone) is
the kind of guy you knew in high
school but never really talked to.
A decade or so later, he still lives
in the neighborhood and works
at the local pizza joint, dreaming
perhaps of another life but not
doing very much to get there.
When hes invited to a party in
Philly, Mike meets an old friend,
Mark (Mark Simmons), whos
headed to Poland and offers our
hero both an apartment and a job
giving free walking tours of the
city. Mike accepts without much
enthusiasm, though it becomes
clear later on that the opportunity means a lot to him.
Basing an entire film around a
protagonist as captivating as the
Internal Revenue Code is no easy
task, but Fendt manages to transform Mike into someone we cant

help feeling curious about, sorry
for and even a bit hopeful for
this despite the fact that hes
incapable of carrying on a normal
conversation with anyone, including a girl (Elizabeth Soltan) he
may indeed be in love with. (Their
handful of short-lived date scenes
are a pinnacle of failure and
silent resignation.)
Not unlike the antihero of fellow mumblecore auteur Ronnie
Brownsteins Frownland, Mike is
a guy who simply cant catch a
break, though hes neither caustic nor critical of those around
him hes just sort of a major
schlub. Whether Maccherone is
actually playing himself is hard
to tell, but Fendt coaxes believable performances out of both
his lead and the rest of the cast in
the kind of movie where nobody
seems to be acting yet everyone is
acting natural.
Shot on 35mm by DP Sage
Einarsen, Short Stay has the
grainy, realistic look of a documentary from the mid 1970s,
chronicling the dull as dishwater
streets of suburban New Jersey
and the slightly more animated
ones of downtown Philadelphia,
where Mike tries to give a tour
or two. When a few passersby
accept, you almost feel bad for
them: Mike is certainly no matinee idol, though he may still be a
lovable loser.
Forum
Cast Mike Maccherone,
Elizabeth Soltan, Mark Simmons
Director Ted Fendt
61 minutes
Maccherone (right) is a small-town
loner who starts life in the big city.
Forum
Cast Victor Ezenfis, Natacha Regnier, Fabrizio Rongione
Director Eugene Green // 115 minutes
D4_Berlin_rev_joseph_shortC.indd 1
38
2/13/16 5:52 AM
PRO MOT IO N
SEE & BE SEEN

Daily, breaking news and reviews from the front lines
at all major international film festivals & markets
FILMART
HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL
FILM AND TV MARKET
March 14-17, 2016
CANNES
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
May 1 1-2 2, 2016
TORONTO
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
September 8-18, 2016
AFM
AMERICAN FILM MARKET
November 2-9, 2015
THR covers film festivals around the globe.

From previews in the print weekly issue to festival and
market dailies*, plus digital content on THR.com and events,
THR covers the festival circuit from start to finish.
CONTACT: UNITED STATES | Debra Fink | debra.fink@thr.com

EUROPE | Alison Smith | alison.smith@thr.com Tommaso Campione | tommaso.campione@thr.com
Frederic Fenucci | frederic.fenucci@billboard.com | +44 7985 251 814
ASIA | Ivy Lam | ivy.lam@thr.com AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND | Lisa Cruse | lisa@spiritedmedia.co.nz
*Excluding Busan International Film Festival
thrhaff_FP_festival_overview_2016.indd 1
2/5/16 10:14 AM
8 Decades of The Hollywood Reporter

The most glamorous and memorable moments from a storied history
Flynn and his wife received a rousing

welcome at Tempelhof Airport as they
arrived in Berlin for the 1957 fest.
Y 1957, ER ROL F LY N N, ONCE T H E
action hero of his generation, was

way past his prime. Hed lost the
bulk of his fortune on bad investments, was drinking heavily and spent most
of his time floating around the Mediterranean
on his wooden-hulled schooner, the USS Zaca.
He still acted, but, to paraphrase Norma
Desmond, the movies had gotten very small.
(He appeared in a trio of B-movies that year,
including The Big Boodle, which was shot on
location in pre-revolution Cuba.) There were
also those scandalous stories about his sex
life: Flynn had an affinity for younger girls,
and in 1942 he stood trial for the statutory
rape of two minors, Betty Hansen and Peggy
Satterlee. (Flynn was acquitted the next year,
but his reputation was never the same.)
But all of that was water under the drawbridge by the time he arrived with his third
and final wife, actress Patrice Wymore, on his
arm at that years 7th Berlin International

Film Festival. Flynn was greeted upon his
arrival at Tempelhof Airport by sunny skies,
cheering crowds and a brass band. The good
times were short-lived, however, as a local
paper reported how Flynn growled about
the size of his tiny hotel room. But hed
cheered up again by evening and attempted
a Tanzchen, a German two-step, with
Wymore at the Waldbune, an amphitheater
erected for the 1936 Olympics at Joseph
Goebbels bequest. He also strolled with
Wolfgang Lukschy a German actor best
known for Sergio Leones A Fistful of Dollars
(1964) along the Kurfurstendamm. And,
Flynn being Flynn, he made sure to flirt with
Izumi Yukimura, a 20-year-old Japanese
pop star in attendance. By all accounts,
a good time was had by all at that years
Berlinale, where Henry Fondas 12 Angry Men
took home the Golden Bear.
D4_Berlin_endpg_Flynn_D.indd 40
40
Flynn, however, went steeply downhill from

there. Not long after, he returned to Cuba
to get a self-produced B-movie, Cuban Rebel
Girls, off the ground. (It was never made,
but he met and hit it off with Fidel Castro
and became a big supporter of the Cuban
Revolution.) By 1959, Flynn was so broke he
flew to Vancouver to sell his yacht, accompanied by Beverly Aadland, a chorus girl hed
allegedly been dating since she was 15. On
their drive back to the airport, Flynn, 50,
complained of leg and back pain; he died at
a hospital that night from a heart attack and
cirrhosis of the liver. SETH ABRAMOVITCH
ULLSTEIN BILD/ULLSTEIN BILD VIA GETTY IMAGES
Errol Flynns Last Hurrah

Came at the 1957 Berlinale
2/13/16 10:46 AM
P RO M OT I O N
The Definitive
Voice of
Entertainment
News
BERLIN
DISCOUNT
ALMOS T
40% OFF
R E G U L A R R AT E
SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
THR.COM/BERLINSPECIAL
thrff_FP_berlin_subscribe_banks_2016.indd 1
2/5/16 10:46 AM
DoubleDutch_BC_D4 021416.indd 1
2/8/16 11:27 AM

Berlin: Download THR&#39;s Day 4 Daily

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Berlin: Download THR&#39;s Day 4 Daily

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

D A ILY

FEB. 14, 2016

CzechFilmsin Official Selection

We Are Never Alone

Meet us at MGB, Stand No. 139

Czech Film Center D4 021416.indd 1

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

aul Rudd and Steve

Focus Falls for

The Face of Things to Come

HUPPERT: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

he day after the premiere for his latest

China Warms Up to Indie Titles

hinas booming box office the country

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Motion Picture Domain D4 021416.indd 1

films could be emerging. Chinese auteur Jia Zhangke

THE WEINSTEIN CO.

KNOW YOUR DEALMAKER

FOUNDING PARTNER & CEO,

Fraser unveiled Margot Robbies hot

MEANWHILE, IN THE REAL WORLD

home to Lars von Trier, which

YES, THERE IS A MARKET FOR INDIE FILM IN CHINA

permit to exhibit imported foreign titles on this network, with

MR. SIX (2015)

make it easier to import smaller

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

grandson who Coogans character never knew he

to prison in Virginia in 1958. They were later

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

EFM OFFICE Martin-Gropius-Bau / Stand Number 27 / Phone +49 30 400425 404

Beta Cinema D4 021416.indd 1

here may be plenty of dramas being sold in

Alec Baldwin. Fortitude International has sold the

ig-budget South Korean

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Estonian Film Center D4 021416.indd 1

Benedict Cumberbatch has signed

Sachs Little Men

Sundance crowd-pleaser Little

Fresh off the recent Sundance

Rampling Boards Sci-Fi

Best actress Oscar hopeful

A Hidden Life Unearthed

mid a recent surge in

his breakout feature Bloodhounds

THE DIR ECTOR

berlin according to ...

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

unraveled that Aaron had no idea

Place to avoid during

way to get away from the

WATCH THE TRAILER:

Sola Media D4 021416.indd 1

Incentives, tax rebates, versatile locations and

H EN A GROU P OF L I T H UA N I A N A N D POL ISH F I L M

producers set out to sail from one Baltic seaport to

Where once Hollywood and international producers could pick

CASE STUDY: ANTHROPOID

Productions must satisfy minimum

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

awards in Locarno; his second, Parallel

Berlin: Download THR's Day 4 Daily

Berlin: Download THR's Day 4 Daily