Shooting wrapped last month on Mozart Mozart, a six-hour series focused on Maria Anna Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s brilliant but often forgotten sister. As her brother’s life begins to unravel, Maria Anna rises to the occasion, stepping into the spotlight to protect their family’s name. Blending lush visuals, modern music, and rich storytelling, the series dives into a powerful story of ambition, betrayal, and the complicated love between siblings, all set against a backdrop of beauty, rebellion, and reinvention. Cineuropa was able to virtually visit the set, located about 40km outside of Vilnius, and talk to the main talents involved in the upcoming project. The series was shot between Lithuania and Latvia.

Mozart Mozart stars up-and-coming actress Havana Joy (Love Sucks) as Maria Anna Mozart, alongside Eren M Güvercin (Druck, Eldorado), in the role of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Further cast members include Eidin Jalali (The Swarm [+lire aussi :
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Andreas Gutzeit (Sisi, Dignity) serves as executive producer, showrunner, and head writer of the series. He co-wrote the scripts with Swantje Oppermann (Dignity). Direction is by Clara Zoë My-Linh von Arnim (Druck, The Zweiflers), with Simon Dat Vu as director of photography. The score is composed by Jessica De Rooij (Sisi, Blood & Gold). Jens Freels (Sisi, Dignity) joins Gutzeit as executive producer, while Simona Weber takes on the role of producer. Mozart Mozart is produced by German company Story House Pictures in coproduction with Germany’s ARD (WDR/SWR/ARD Degeto Film), Austria’s ORF, and Switzerland’s The Dreaming Sheep Company.

Gutzeit showed visitors around the set and later discussed the artistic decisions behind the series: "We didn’t set out to make a biopic. Instead, our goal is to create a modern, entertaining show. Our characters are portrayed as characters in our story, rather than strict historical figures. That’s really where the fun comes in. If you come to this show hoping to learn about Mozart, you will -  at least the basics. But what might surprise you is just how much fun you can have with this story and with these characters. [...] Obviously, Mozart is a big brand. We are banking on that, that people have some sort of interest and knowledge about that character. And we are giving them something new along with the classical music that some people will come to the show for."

The showrunner stated that, as of June, they were already editing the show in Germany: "The show will be ready for international distribution no later than October when we hopefully land at Cannes’ MIPCOM."

The actors took piano, violin and conducting lessons, and De Rooij, as a composer, worked to get the music ready before the start of the shoot. As Gutzeit explained: "The music had to be rehearsed—first with the actors, then with the musicians on set. After that, it had to be recorded. And only then could we begin filming. So, many of the steps that would usually be completed after filming had to be done well in advance in our case."

De Rooij discussed her approach to the score: "Clara and I spent a lot of time brainstorming about what we wanted to achieve. Maria Anna is the emotional core of the show, so we selected some beautiful pieces that we further developed, while also creating modern sounds to accompany them. We built an entirely new concept for this. During filming, we had to ensure the actors received the right guidance, since they weren’t very familiar with playing the piano or violin. This meant arranging for teachers, doubles, authentic period instruments, and even conducting lessons. It was a fairly complex process overall”.

Bavaria Media and Beta Film are handling international sales. Helge Köhnen, head of Content Sales at Bavaria Media, discussed the project: “Mozart Mozart is not a retelling of Amadeus’s well-known story, as it offers a brand-new perspective on the Mozart mythos by shifting the spotlight to his sister, Maria Anna. Her story has never been told like this before. [...] We’re confident that this fresh, fearless reinterpretation of the Mozart legacy will strike a powerful chord with audiences and buyers around the world. And above all, it is a long-overdue tribute to the brilliance of Maria Anna, finally giving her the stage she was always denied.”

Oliver Bachert, chief distribution officer at Beta Film, commented: “We are excited and energised by the unique storyline of Mozart Mozart, which sheds light on the multi-layered relationship between the Mozart siblings, highlighting the brilliant and hidden gem of the Mozart legacy – Maria Anna. It’s a series like no other and we are confident this fresh take on the iconic IP will appeal to a wide international audience.”