20 years of Heimatfilm. The Film- und Medienstiftung NRW congratulates!

• Cologne-based production company Heimatfilm celebrates its 20th anniversary
• Award-winning arthouse: "Till the End of the Night", "Wild", "Hannah Arendt", "Bal – Honey”
• Impressive record: 45 films, 411 festivals, 138 awards

The Cologne-based production company Heimatfilm will be celebrating its 20th anniversary tomorrow, on Friday, 16 June. The team with producer Bettina Brokemper at the helm has been producing German and international feature and TV films since 2003. In addition, Heimatfilm organises service productions for international companies in Germany. The "Heimatfilme" produced to date have been feted at the most important film festivals around the globe and have won many awards. The tally so far: 45 films, 411 festivals, 138 awards – including Bears, Lolas and many international film prizes.

Petra Müller, CEO of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, sends her congratulations: "The Cologne-based production company Heimatfilm has been regarded as the leading address for international arthouse cinema in Germany for the past 20 years. A keen sense for good stories and loyalty to 'its' filmmakers like Margarethe von Trotta, Christoph Hochhäusler and Jan Bonny has been rewarded time and again by prizes and distinctions. The anniversary year began with invitations for two films to screen in the Berlinale’s Competition and a Silver Bear for 'Till the End of the Night'. We would like to send our hearty congratulations on the company’s 20th anniversary and are pleased for Bettina Brokemper and her team. We are really looking forward to the next few years and more wonderful films from the Cologne borough of Mülheim!"

The completed feature films and documentaries supported by the Filmstiftung include this year’s Berlinale competition titles "Ingeborg Bachmann – A Journey into the Desert" by Margarethe von Trotta and "Till the End of the Night” by Christoph Hochhäusler, which won the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance by Thea Ehre. Heimatfilm has worked with both directors beforehand and produced von Trotta’s "Hannah Arendt" as well as another five films by Christoph Hochhäusler. “Counterparts”, the directorial debut of Jan Bonny, had its world premiere in Cannes in 2007.

Heimatfilm served as an international co-producer on such films as "Lemon Tree" by Eran Riklis and Semih Kaplanoglu's "Bal – Honey" which won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in 2010. Service productions overseen by Heimatfilm include the Lars von Trier films "Manderlay", "Antichrist" and "Nymphomaniac", which were both largely shot in NRW, as well as "Elles" by Malgoszka Szumowska with Juliette Binoche.

An interview with Bettina Brokemper, who was recently listed as one of the 40 most influential women in international independent film by "The Hollywood Reporter", can be found in the current issue of the Filmstiftung’s Magazin.