05/02/2025 - The Berlin-based sales agent is presenting the IFFR-premiered flick by Jon Blåhed in addition to several already commercially successful projects

Picture Tree International (PTI) brings a slate of new projects from Germany, Switzerland and the Nordics to this year’s European Film Market (EFM) at the 75th Berlinale, unspooling from 13-19 February. The company’s buzziest title is perhaps Jon Blåhed's Raptures [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Sweden/Finland), which has just world-premiered at IFFR and was featured at Göteborg’s film market. The film, which is inspired by true events, is the first-ever feature with main dialogue in Meänkieli, one of Sweden’s five minority languages. The historical drama takes place in northern Sweden in the 1930s, where the devout Rakel struggles to figure out how to protect her family when her husband starts a cult. Raptures is headed toward its Finnish release at the end of March.

The sales agent is representing three German films that premiered in 2024. Old White Man [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which has racked up nearly one million admissions domestically since its German premiere on 31 October last year, is Simon Verhoeven’s follow-up to Welcome to Germany [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. In it, Jan Josef Liefers stars as an advertising manager who seeks to transcend his stereotypical identity as the titular “old white man” by proving his “wokeness” at a dinner hosted by his progressive boss. Vena [+see also:
interview: Chiara Fleischhacker
film profile] by Chiara Fleischhacker follows a mother-to-be who goes on a journey of self-discovery and acceptance as she emerges from a volatile relationship. The romance-dramedy The Mystery of Love by Markus Goller tracks a new stage of life for 67-year-old comedian Edgar, who reconnects with his terminally ill ex-wife.

PTI will present two new films for families and younger audiences that drew attention at last year’s European Work in Progress event in Cologne (see the news): The Badgers, which the jury members honoured as “cute and old-fashioned in an endearing way”, and The Prank. Paul Magnus Lundø’s The Badgers (Norway) is a family adventure film that follows an 11-year-old boy who joins the eponymous scouting troop to take after his late father, butting heads with the junior troop leader and his foster mother. The film will receive its Norwegian release in September 2025.

The Prank (Germany) is a new coming-of-age flick by director Benjamin Heisenberg (The Robber [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Benjamin Heisenberg
film profile]), taking a turn into family-film territory. The comedy follows a Chinese exchange student whose April Fools’ Day prank goes very wrong, leading his host family and their friends into a series of chaotic events. The Prank is set to be released in Germany on 13 March, while PTI is looking to use the EFM as a springboard to land a festival premiere in spring or summer 2025.

Other films on the slate include Frieda’s Case (Switzerland) by Oscar-nominated director Maria Brendle (Take and Run), which had its premiere as a gala screening at Zürich and reached the number-one spot in Switzerland in its first week after its release on 23 January. Based on a true story, the titular young seamstress becomes the centre of attention when she is accused of killing her five-year-old son, revealing cracks in a misogynistic social and legal system. Adding additional diversity to the line-up is an Icelandic comedy about a group of Icelandic priests, Divine Remedy, which began its domestic release before Christmas 2024 and is a follow-up project to Grand Finale, both created by the Markell Brothers.

PTI will also entice buyers with first looks at two films in progress. The fantasy flick The Stolen Child (Canada) by Sebastian McKinnon is in production – shooting in British Columbia, Iceland and France – and planning for its festival and market premieres in 2026. Now in post-production, the supernatural crime-thriller The Osha Rule (Spain) is Ángel González’s next venture after Compulsion [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which premiered at the renowned genre-film festival in Sitges and entered a multi-territory deal with Amazon.