In two weeks, the 73rd Mostra Internationale dArte Cinematografica di Venezia 2016 starts. The FFF funded movie Paradise by Andrej Konchalovsky has been included in the International feature film competition at the 73rd Venice Film Festival and is running for the Competitions Lion. Furthermore, the funded films Snowden by Oliver Stone and Salt and Fire by Werner Herzog are celebrating their opening nights in Toronto and San Sebastian.
Venice
Director and writer Andrej Konchalovsky participated already four times in the competition at the Venice Film Festival. The jury awarded him already for two times: at 2002 with the Special Price of the jury for House of Fools and in 2014 with the Silver Lion for The Postmans White Nights.
His current film Paradise is shot in monochrome and format 4:3. It is about the entanglements of three people who lived in the occupied France during the WW II.
The main part is played by Julia Vysotskaya. The film was shot in Nuremberg and Upper Franconia and was funded by the FFF with 250,000 Euros. Bavarian associate producer is Florian Deyle from DRIFE Filmproduktion. Supporting actor is Christian Clauss. Paradise takes part at the competition of the 73. Mostra Internationale darte Cinematografica di Venezia 2016 ( 31st August 10th Semptember 2016)
Toronto
Four FFF-funded productions are shown at the Toronto International Film Festival (8th-18th September 2016)
Snowden by Oliver Stone will be celebrating its world-premiere in the course of the Gala Presentations series. The new film by Oscar-winner Stone was mostly shot in Bavaria. Philip Schulz-Deyle (Krautpack Entertainment) produced the cine-film from the Bavarian side. The main characters are played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley. FFF Bayern funded Snowden in the course of the special programm International Co-productions and Digital Art Work (VFX) with 1.6 Mio. Euros. After the premiere, the German theatrical release is on 22nd of September.
The new feature film by Werner Herzog Salt and Fire will be represented in course of the Special Presentations series. The German-American-French-Mexican production was realized from the German side by the Munich company Construction Film. The thriller is about a female explorer, who travels to Bolivia in order to confront a dubious company with its responsibility for an ecological catastrophe. When a volcano eruption is imminent she must cooperate with that one of all companies to prohibit worse things. The main characters are played by Michael Shannon, Veronica Ferres and Gabriel García Bernal. The thriller had its world premiere in June during the competition of the 19th Shanghai International Film Festival. FFF Bayern funded this production with 400,000 Euros.
Also in course of the Special Presentations series is Toni Erdmann. The second film by Maren Ade was celebrating a hailed world premiere during the competition in Cannes and it was the opening film at Filmfest Munich. In Cannes it was already sold to 55 countries. Toronto will be the first city on another continent for Toni Erdmann. The film was produced by Komplizen Film, a company from Berlin, which was founded by Maren Ade and Janine Jackowski, both graduated at Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film Munich. FFF Bayern funded this production with 100,000 Euros. The right holders submitted Toni Erdmann to German films for the selection of the German contribution for the Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film Category.
Marie Curie (PArtisan Filmproduktion) will celebrate its world premiere in the Contemporary World section - as festival art director Cameron Bailey says: the global heart of the Festival. The script of the biopic is written by Andrea Stoll and Marie Noelle Sehr,who is also the director of the film. It tells the story of the Nobel Prize winner and single mother Marie Curie, who had to assert herself in the male dominated science after the death of her husband. The main characters are played by Karolina Gruszka, Arieh Worthalter and Charles Berling. FFF Bayern supported the Bavarian-French-Polish coproduction with 250,000 Euros.
New York
In the Main Slate of the 54th New York Film Festival (30th -16th September 2016) 25 films will be shown. Among them is Maren AdesToni Erdmann, which will be shown for the first time in the USA, after its America-premiere in Toronto. The festival is presented every year by the film society of Lincoln Center.
San Sebastian
Oliver Stones Snowden will be shown non-competitively and for the first time for the European audience on the 65th San Sebastian Film Festival. He is presenting one of his films for the 7th time in San Sebastian, but for the first time in the Official Selection series.
Zürich
Another festival appearance will be there for Snowden at the 12th Zürich Film Festival (22nd September- 2nd October). It will be presented as Gala Premiere, Oliver Stone, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley will attend that event. Oliver Stone is visiting this festival for the 4th time. Werner Herzogs Salt and Fire will also be presented in Zurich.