Tribeca Film Festival in New York with three NRW co-productions

Düsseldorf, 13 April 2015. The Film- und Medienstiftung NRW is represented at the 14th edition of New York’s Tribeca Film Festival (15 – 26 April) with three films. The competition has invited "Sworn Virgin" ("Vergine giurata") by Laura Bispuri who had already shown her feature-length debut at the 65th Berlinale. Fatih Akin’s "The Cut" will be presented in Spotlight and "El Cinco"by Adrián Biniez will screen in the Viewpoints sidebar.

The film "Sworn Virgin" tells the story of a woman who sacrifices her femininity for her freedom, and then decides to wipe out her honour to become a woman again. It is a journey inside the complexity of women’s universe; a film about breaking out of invisible prisons. "Sworn Virgin" had its world premiere in the Berlinale’s Competition in February and met with a very positive response from the festival audience and critics. The performance by the lead actress Alba Rohrwacher attracted particular interest. Lars Eidinger, Flonja Kodheli, Luan Jaha and Emily Ferratello also appear under the direction of Laura Bispuri. The international production (IT/D/CH/AL) was co-produced on the German side by Match Factory Productions and supported by the Filmstiftung NRW with 50,000 Euros; other backers included Eurimages, MIBAC, Media and BLS Südtirol Alto Adige. The Match Factory from Cologne will handle the world sales. "Sworn Virgin"is screening in the international feature film competition at the Tribeca Film Festival.

"The Cut"  sees Fatih Akin concluding his trilogy "Love, Death and the Devil" after "Head On" and "The Edge Of Heaven". The film is about war and expulsion as well as the power of love and the hope that makes people achieve the unimaginable. The leads in the drama are taken by Tahar Rahim, Simon Abkarian, Makram J. Khoury, Hindi Zahra, Kevork Malkyan, Bartu Küçükçağlayan, Trine Dyrholm, Moritz Bleibtreu, Arsinée Khanjian, Akin Gazi, Arévik Martirossian and others. "The Cut" was co-produced by bombero international, Pandora Filmproduktion, corazón international, Pyramide Productions (F) and Opus Film (PL) in association with the broadcasters NDR and ARD Degeto. World sales are handled by Cologne’s The Match Factory and German distribution by Pandora Filmverleih. The Film- und Medienstiftung NRW supported the production with 800,000 Euros, additional substantial support came from Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, DFFF, FFA, nordmedia, Eurimages, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, BKM, FFA (Mini-Traité) and the MEDIA Programme. "The Cut" was released in German cinemas in October and is showing in the Spotlight sidebar in New York.

"El Cinco" by Adrián Biniez tells the story of Patón, a 35-year-old footballer from the Argentinian Fourth League, who is the final year of his career. Patón comes of age for a second time and has to create a future for himself outside of the football pitch. Esteban Lamothe and Julieta Zylberberg can be seen in the lead roles of this drama. "El Cinco" was co-produced by Mutante Cine (UY), Le Petit Film (FR), Topkapi (NL), Pandora Filmproduktion (D) and Morrocha (AR), with backing from broadcasters ZDF and Arte. The Film- und Medienstiftung NRW supported the film with 50,000 Euros, additional funding coming from MEDIA Development (35,000 Euros). "El Cinco" had its world premiere at the film festival in Venice and is screening in the Viewpoints section in New York.

The Tribeca Film Festival was established by Robert de Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff in 2002 as a reaction to the attack on the World Trade Center.