– The grants in the newest funding cycle support the new works by Matthias Glasner, Aoife McArdle, Helene Hegemann and Luzia Schmid
Director Matthias Glasner, who is receiving support for Authenticity (© Dario Caruso for Cineuropa – dario-caruso.fr, @studio.photo.dar, Dario Caruso)
In its latest funding cycle, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (MBB) has awarded more than €5.6 million to 25 audiovisual projects selected from among 68 submissions. These 25 supported works include 19 projects in production and six in development, spanning films, high-end series and what MBB describes as “AI experiments”.
Félix Koch’s Miniatur Wunderland received the highest funding amount, €850,000, for its fantastical story of a boy and his family who are shrunk and must find their way through the titular location. The eponymous attraction, located in Hamburg, is one of Germany’s leading tourist destinations and holds the world record for the largest model railway.
The project receiving the second-highest funding award (€600,000) was Kiss Kiss Wolf by Helene Hegemann (Axolotl Overkill), the German novelist-turned actor and filmmaker. Produced by Berlin’s X Filme, the film stars Lavinia Wilson, Lea Drinda, Corinna Harfouch and Nina Gummich. Although little has been revealed about the feature, it is known to be based on the short film of the same name by Lynn T Musiol and Christian Tschirner, who co-wrote the feature with Hegemann. The project explores queer and sapphic emancipation at Filmfabrik Wolfen in former East Germany.
€500,000 went to German director Katja von Garnier for the UFA Fiction-produced Geb mir etwas Zeit (lit. “Give Me Some Time”), starring Ludwig Simon, Devid Striesow and Ursula Werner. The film was written by Ruth Toma, based on the bestselling novel by Hape Kerkeling. It unfolds across three eras and incorporates autobiographical elements.
The new film by Matthias Glasner (Dying, winner of the Silver Bear at Berlin), Authenticity, which was awarded €300,000, will reunite the director with star Lars Eidinger. Authenticity is being produced by Network Movie Film- und Fernsehproduktion and Studio Zentral. In the documentary production category, Grenzgänger Krug (lit. “Border-Crosser Krug”) received €60,000, for a non-fiction work about the titular Manfred Krug, an artist living in Berlin during the Cold War. The film was written and directed by Luzia Schmid (I Want It All) and is being produced by Cologne’s Ester.Reglin.Film Produktionsgesellschaft.
Foxfinder by Irish writer-director Aoife McArdle was awarded €250,000 and is being produced by Munich’s Trimafilm. The movie is adapted from the award-winning play of the same name by Dawn King, who also serves as co-writer, and has already received production funding from FFF Bayern, with development support from Film4 and the BFI. The story is a dystopian thriller about a man sent to uncover the reasons behind a failed harvest.
In the development funding category, €30,000 went to the Turbokultur-produced Die Kuh im Pferdestall (lit. “The Cow in the Horse Stable”), based on an idea by German actor Jella Haase, who will also star in the film. The screenplay will be written by Dresden-born screenwriter Thomas Wendrich.
