New German cinema from Hamburg

Helge AlbersCEO of Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein: "Ilker Çatak, Hamburg Media School graduate and student Oscar winner, is one of the great talents of young German cinema. The award from Munich is another important milestone in his career. We send our congratulations to Ilker, to lead actor Ogulcan Arman Uslu and to Hamburg-based Script Writer Nils Mohl. Mohl and Çatak already proved how well they work together in the coming-of-age drama 'Es war einmal Indianerland'. Their new film 'I Was, I Am, I Will Be' - which was shot in the Elbphilharmonie, among other places - will soon be available to see everywhere: The cinema release date is 1 August."

More about the film: In Ilker Çatak's drama "I Was, I Am, I Will Be", Kurdish gigolo Baran (played by Oğulcan Arman Uslu) and German pilot Marion (Anne Ratte-Polle) meet in the Turkish holiday resort of Marmaris. Baran dreams of a future in Europe, while Marion is struggling with her cancer diagnosis. Both get involved in a double-cross and decide to get married as a pretence. The beginning is promising, a future together seems within reach. Most of the filming took place in Hamburg over 24 days, with locations including the Elbphilharmonie concert hall, the Grindel district and Altona Volkspark. The film was produced by the Munich-based company if... Productions, with distribution handled by X Distribution AG. Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein has supported the ZDF co-production with 500,000 euros.

More about the price: With a total of 70,000 euros, the "New German Cinema" prize is one of the most highly endowed awards for young filmmakers in Germany. The prize money is divided between the awards for Best Director (30,000 euros), Best Production (20,000 euros), Best Script (10,000 euros) and Best Acting Performance (10,000 euros). For many winners, it marked the start of a remarkable career, most recently for Directors Jan-Ole Gerster ("Oh Boy"), Jakob Lass ("So was von da") and actress Vicky Krieps ("Das Zimmermädchen Lynn"). The prize is jointly sponsored by DZ Bank, Bavaria Film GmbH and Bayerischer Rundfunk.

Photo: ERIK MOSONI PHOTOGRAPHY