The Franco-German commission backs Schlöndorff, Assayas/Binoche and Vincent Perez
- During its session on April 8th in Paris, the commission granted 1.03M € to four coproductions, including two which revisit the Second World War
The Franco-German Commission decided during its meeting on April 8th in Paris to fund four promising coproductions, granting a total sum of 1,030,000 euros.
The most substantial grant went to a great name of the German cinema industry, Volker Schlöndorff, for Diplomatie. Two years after Calm At Sea, the director, who has previously depicted the turmoil of the 20th century in his movies, will once again revisit the Second World War on French soil, by this time focusing on the liberation of Paris on August 25th, 1944, and the capitulation of General Dietrich Von Choltitz, against Hitler’s orders to defend the city or leave it in ruins. This project brought 180,000 euros to the company from Munich Blueprint Film (26%) and 240,000 euros to the Parisian company Film Oblige (74%).
Swiss actor Vincent Perez will film his third feature film on the other side of the Rhine. The film is based on the bestseller Every Man Dies Alone (Alone in Berlin [+see also:
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Olivier Assayas also prepares a German majority coproduction (which will be filmed in English): Sils Maria, a film created especially for Juliette Binoche, in which she plays an actress who faces her old age and her past. The German company Pallas Film (44,92%) and the French company Speakeasy Cinema Cie (40,26%) received 110,000 euros each for this film. The film is coproduced in Lausanne by CAB Productions (14,82%).
Finally, the company from Hamburg Riva Filmproduktion (24,07%) and the Parisian company Elzevir & Cie (62,80%) respectively received 60,000 and 140,000 euros for The Trial by Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz, coproduced at 13,13% in Israel.
(Translated from French)