Congratulations: 500,000th spectator for Maren Ade’s „Toni Erdmann“!
„Toni Erdmann“, the Filmstiftung-backed hit film by director Maren Ade, had already reached its 500,000th spectator before this weekend: the film has been a hit with audiences since opening in the cinemas on 14 July. It has dominated the arthouse charts and was last week selected as Germany’s candidate in the race for the Oscar nomination as Best Foreign Language Feature of 2017. „Toni Erdmann“ has also made an impact internationally. It has been invited to festivals around the globe and had a brilliant opening in France with more than 84,00 admissions on the first weekend. There were already 185,000 admissions in France for „Toni Erdmann“ after the first two weeks.
„What began in Cannes has become the cinema success story of summer 2016. ‚Toni Erdmann‘ has landed half a million and not only inspired the arthouse cinema!“, says Petra Müller, CEO of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW. „Maren Ade has managed something here that only rarely succeeds in Germany. Her film is about the things of life, it combines comedy and world knowledge, melancholy with lightness, a very German and equally universal story. Congratulations to Maren Ade and her cast and crew on this latest milestone!“
NFP's Head of Distribution Christoph Ott had brought the latest figures with the „glad tidings“ to the reception of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW held on the occasion of the 73rd Venice International Film Festival. While director Maren Ade, lead actor Peter Simonischek and Komplizen Film producer Jonas Dornbach were on their way to Telluride and Toronto for the presentation of their film in North America, producer Janine Jackowski was also at the Filmstiftung’s reception. NRW’s Media Minister Franz-Josef Lersch-Mense and Wim Wenders – his new Filmstiftung-backed film „The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez“ is in competition on the Lido – joined the other guests in welcoming this good news.
„Toni Erdmann“ was the first German film for eight years to celebrate its world premiere in the Competition of the Cannes Film Festival last May and was acclaimed by the audience, critics and industry alike. The film won the prestigious International Film Critics FIPRESCI Prize there. Since the world premiere in Cannes, the Cologne-based sales agent The Match Factory has already sold the comedy to almost 100 countries, including all of North and South America, Russia, China or the European key territories like France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and the UK.
Following its world premiere in Cannes, „Toni Erdmann“ was, among other things, the opening film of the Filmfest München, screened in the programme of the Sarajevo Film Festival and is nominated for the 2016 LUX Film Prize. Moreover, the film will be shown in September as a Special Presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival and can subsequently be seen at the New York Film Festival. In addition, „Toni Erdmann“ will receive the 2016 FIPRESCI Grand Prix as the Best Film of the Year on 16 September during the San Sebastian Film Festival. In Venice, it is being shown in the independent sidebar „Venice Days“ as one of the three finalists for the European Parliament’s LUX Film Prize, and will also screen at the BFI London Film Festival, among other events.
„Toni Erdmann“ is a production of Komplizen Film in co-production with coop99Filmproduktion and Missing Link Films. Sandra Hüller and Peter Simonischek can be seen in the leads. SWR, WDR and ARTE participated as broadcasters in the production. Part of the film was shot in Aachen, with Bucharest as another location. The Film- und Medienstiftung is the main funder with 785,000 Euros, with additional support coming from MBB, FFHSH, FFF, DFFF, FFA, BKM, ÖFI, Filmstandort Austria, MEDIA and Eurimages. NFP marketing & distribution has released the film theatrically in Germany, and international sales are being handled by The Match Factory.
For further information: Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Tanja Güß, press office, Tel. 0211-93050-24