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Film und Medien Stiftung NRWNewsPressFilmstiftung-backed drama "Enfant Terrible" by Oskar Roehler in the Official Selection in Cannes

Filmstiftung-backed drama "Enfant Terrible" by Oskar Roehler in the Official Selection in Cannes

The Cannes Film Festival has announced its Official Selection. The idea is to draw special attention to the selected films before they premiere in cinemas or at other international festivals. The selection of 56 films also includes the Filmstiftung-backed production "Enfant Terrible" by Oskar Roehler about the life of Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The Cannes Film Festival was supposed to have taken place from May 12-23 this year, but was cancelled due to the coronavirus. The Marché du Film will be held virtually on the Cinando platform from June 22-26.

"We share the delight of Oskar Roehler and the whole 'Enfant Terrible' team," says Petra Müller, CEO of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW. "Being picked for the Official Selection in Cannes is one of the international film industry’s highest accolades, and this is especially important in this difficult year when the Festival could not be held on the Croisette".

As in previous years, the festival president Pierre Lescure and festival director Thierry Frémaux announced the selection in a live stream from the UGC Normandie cinema on the Champs-Elysées in Paris. The organisers dispensed with a subdivision into the usual festival sections such as Competition, Un Certain Regard and Competition – Out of Competition when making their Official Selection from over 2,000 submitted projects. Moreover, priority was given to films that are scheduled for release between summer 2020 and spring 2021. Films bearing the Cannes 2020 label will be screened at various festivals, including Toronto, San Sebastián, New York and Busan.

About the film "Enfant Terrible

Director Oskar Roehler's new feature film „Enfant Terrible“ sees him turning his attention to one of the icons of German cinema from the second half of the 20th century, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and interpreting the film legend’s life and work in an artistically innovative form. The screenplay was written by Klaus Richter. The top-notch ensemble of actors includes Oliver Masucci, Katja Riemann, Hary Prinz, Anton Rattinger, Felix Hellmann, Erdal Yildiz, Jochen Schropp, Sunnyi Melles and Isolde Barth.

The film was produced at Cologne’s MMC Studios and Bavaria Studios near Munich by Bavaria Filmproduktion with X Filme Creative Pool and in co-production with WDR, BR and ARTE. Weltkino is the German distributor, with world sales being handled by Picture Tree International. The Film- und Medienstiftung NRW was the lead funder of "Enfant Terrible" by allocating 750,000 Euros for the production and distribution, with additional support coming from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern and the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF).

The Filmstiftung can already look back on a long-standing collaboration with Oskar Roehler: it has supported numerous projects under his direction, most recently the satire "Outmastered", – with lead actor Oliver Massuci receiving a German Film Award nomination for his performance -, or the drama "Tod den Hippies – es lebe der Punk!, based on Roehler’s own screenplay with Tom Schilling and Emilia Schüle in the leads. Roehler attended the Venice Film Festival with "Agnes and His Brothers".