06/08/2009

UFA Cinema, a resurrection of the legendary Universum Film AG (who produced, at Babelsberg studios, classics such as Metropolis and The Blue Angel before being used for propaganda purposes and then limited to TV productions) was founded in December 2007 with the intention of producing between six and ten commercially attractive films per year.

The company – headed by Wolf Bauer, Thomas Peter Friedl, Nico Hofmann and Jürgen Schuster – is getting back to work with enthusiasm on five new productions in the second half of 2009.

Shooting started on July 7 on Granz Henman’s Devil’s Kickers, written by Christoph Silber (script consultant on Goodbye Lenin! [+see also:
trailer
interview: Wolfgang Becker
film profile]) and based on Frauke Nahrgang’s best-selling book. The film stars Benno Fürmann.

On July 17, director Christine Hartmann began shooting her family film The O’Sullivan Twins, starring a host of well-known actors, including Heino Ferch, Anja Kling, Katharina Thalbach and Hannelore Elsner.

In mid-August, production will start on Lars Kraume’s family drama Die Kommenden Tage, featuring Daniel Brühl, August Diehl, Johanna Wokalek and Susanne Lothar (co-produced by Badlands Film, headed by Kraume, Matthias Glasner, Frank Döhmann and Jürgen Vogel); and on Otto Alexander Jahrreiss’ comedy Pigeons on the Roof. In the latter film, Olli Dittrich and Katja Riemann will appear in eight different roles in urban stories centring on four couples.

Finally, in November, Roland Suso Richter will direct Nadja Uhl and Thomas Kretschmann in Jungle Child, based on Sabine Kuegler’s eponymous best-seller about life with her family in West Papua.

All these films will be distributed in German-speaking territories by Universal Pictures International (for sales in the rest of the world, Focus Features International has an agreement with UFA Cinema enabling it to pick the titles of its choice). The first German release will be Devil’s Kickers on March 11, 2010.

(Translated from French)