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Film und Medien Stiftung NRW➝News➝News➝Film- und Medienstiftung NRW with four funded films in Locarno

Film- und Medienstiftung NRW with four funded films in Locarno

  • Two films on the Piazza Grande: Sam Garbarski’s „Vijay and I" and Sandra Nettelbeck’s „Mr. Morgan’s Last Love"
  • René Harders ¨The Tundra Race¨ (¨Die Hüter der Tundra") is screening in the Semaine de la critique
  • Visar Morina’s „¨Von Hunden und Tapeten" in the Short Films Competition
  • 66th Festival del film Locarno from August 7-17, 2013

For its 66th edition, the famous Swiss film festival inLocarno has invited a total of four productions which were made with support from Film- und Medienstiftung NRW. ¨Vijay and I" by Sam Garbarski will have its world premiere on the Piazza Grande, the heart of the festival, where audiences of up to 8,000 enjoy the films each evening as open-air presentations. Sandra Nettelbeck’s ¨Mr. Morgan’s Last Love"  will also be shown on the Piazza as an international premiere. In addition, the documentary ¨The Tundra Race" by René Harder has been invited to screen in the Semaine de la critique, and Visar Morina’s „¨Von Hunden und Tapeten" is showing in the Short Films Competition.

¨Vijay and I" by Sam Garbarski tells the story of the hapless bit actor Bill who learns from the news of his death in a road accident. Instead of clearing up the misunderstandings, he decides to attend his own funeral disguised as an Indian. Moritz Bleibtreu, Patricia Arquette, Michael Imperioli and Hanna Schygulla play the leads in this film which was partly shot in Cologne. Cologne-based Pandora Film produced in co-production with Entre Chien et Loup (Belgium), Samsa (Luxembourg), Amérique Film (Canada) and Senator Film Produktion. Film- und Medienstiftung NRW supported with  400,000 Euros, additional funding came from Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein. Senator Film Verleih will release the film in German cinemas on 5 September.

After the world premiere in Shanghai and the European premiere at the Filmfest München, Sandra Nettelbeck’s „¨Mr. Morgan’s Last Love" can now be seen at another international venue. The film is about a world-weary widower whose chance acquaintance with an impulsive young French women brings him new zest for life.  Apart from  Sir Michael Caine and Clémence Poésy in the leads, the film also features Justin Kirk and Gillian Anderson. Shot in part at the MMC Studios, the film was produced by Bavaria Pictures, Kaminski.Stiehm.Film and Senator Film Cologne in co-production with Scope Pictures (Belgien), MMLL, Eberhard Müller Filmproduktion in collaboration with Elzevir Films (France), CinePostproduction, Bavaria Film, Saxonia Media Filmproduktion and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment (USA).

Film- und Medienstiftung NRW backed the screenplay and production with a total of 628,500 Euros, with additional funds coming from DFFF, FFA, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg as well as the MEDIA Programme’s i2i Audiovisual. Senator Film Verleih  is releasing the film in German cinemas on August 22.

 ¨The Tundra Race" sees René Harder accompanying the inhabitants of the last village in the Russian tundra living according to the Sámi tradition of breeding reindeers. But the meadows in the tundra are threatened by the exploration plans of international raw materials conglomerates. The village is  set to be cleared. Sasha, the 30-year-old deputy of the newly founded Sámi parliament wants to save their village. ¨The Tundra Race" was produced by Cologne-based Lichtblick Film in co-production with Relation04 Media (Norway) and ZDF/Arte. Film- und Medienstiftung NRW supported the production with 130,000 Euros, further funding came from the  FFA and DFFF.

Visar Morina’s „¨Von Hunden und Tapeten" follows the visit of a 40-year-old man to his elderly parents. Between wheelchairs, new religious denominations and barbed comments, the protagonist quietly searches for his own personal responsibility within this process. The short film (30 minutes) was produced by augenschein Filmproduktion and supported with  30,000 Euros by Filmstiftung NRW .

The Festival del film Locarno is the most important Swiss film festival and is being held this year from August 7 to 17. Films funded by Film- und Medienstiftung NRW have won numerous prizes here on previous occasions, including the Audience Award for ¨The Miracle of Bern¨(¨Das Wunder von Bern") and for ¨The Syrian Bride". In addition, the Golden Leopard went to Burghart Klaußner (¨The Man From The Embassy") and the Silver Leopard to the director  Malgoska Szumowska (¨33 Scenes  From Life").