Nasty brothers and ghost grannies

Directors Damian John Harper ("In the Middle of the River") returns with his new dramaFresh (310,000 euros, Weydemann Bros., Hamburg) to Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein for 16 days of filming. The story centres on 24-year-old Kai, whose violent brother is released from prison early. On the day of his release, he wants to come to Kai's house to get back the money Kai was supposed to keep for him. The problem is that the money has been spent. Executive Producer of the film is Weydemann Bros. from Hamburg - the main cast includes "Dark" star Louis Hofmann and Almila Bagriacik.

200,000 euros in production funding goes to the family filmMax and the wild 7 - The ghost granny (Neopol Film, Frankfurt) by Directors and Script Writer Winfried Oelsner and Co-Writer Lisa-Marie Dickreiter. What is it about? Max is supposed to play in a senior football team against his school class. And then a castle is haunted and a new case begins for Max and his senior friends. A large part of the film crew comes from the Hanseatic city. In the family filmTotem (100,000 euros, Leitwolf Filmproduktion, Hamburg) by Directors Sander Burger, 11-year-old Ama, the daughter of illegal immigrants, wanders the streets of Rotterdam alone, accompanied by her totem animal. Burger co-wrote the script for the Dutch-German co-production with Bastiaan Tichler. 80,000 euros in funding will go to the dramaBora Bora (Tamtam Film, Hamburg): Directors, Script Writer and video artist Albert Serra focusses on a young writer in a creative crisis who takes on the job of interpreter for an ambassador on Bora Bora. In his Documentary, Hamburg-based Director and Script Writer Tuki Jencquel sheds light on a young writer in crisis.Jack The Wolf (80,000 euros, Orinokia Filmproduktion, Hamburg) follows the life of his mother, French euthanasia activist Jacqueline Jencquel, and attempts to understand her plans for an assisted suicide. In this hybrid Documentary, filmmaker Alessandra Celesia takes a closer look at her mother's life. The Mechanics of Things (45,000 euros, dirk manthey film, Hamburg) travelled to China with her paralysed cat in search of recovery.

Project development in the amount of 30,000 euros goes toGreetings from Mars (Leitwolf Filmproduktion, Hamburg) by the two Script Writers Sebastian Grusnick and Thomas Möller. In the tragicomedy, which is based on a children's novel, three siblings are sent from the city to live with their grandparents in the countryside. Up-and-coming director and Script Writer Malte Thomsen from Schleswig-Holstein sets his coming-of-age filmDry Country (28,000 euros, Oma Inge Film, Hamburg) takes place during a heatwave in the not-too-distant future of Germany. The film is about two friends who get stuck in a bank.Billie (25,000 euros, Equality Film, Berlin) by filmmaker Sheri Hagen, who co-wrote the script with Paula Redlefsen and Zoe Hagen. A deaf man and a blind woman are at the centre ofBetween the lines (25,000 euros, Curly Pictures, Hamburg) by HFBK graduate Milan Skrobanek, who co-wrote the script with Eibe Maleen Krebs ("Draussen in meinem Kopf"). A docu-thriller about the global coronavirus pandemic will be delivered by Hamburg director and Script Writer Marcus Richardt and Director and co-writer Lillian Rosa withThe cure (20,000 euros, FAVO Filmproduktion, Hamburg). A further 20,000 euros will go to the DocumentarySternbrücke - the last summer by "Some Had Crocodiles" Director Christian Hornung. 17,000 euros in project development for the DocumentaryPortrait of a friendship (fünferfilm, Hamburg) by Hamburg native and HFBK graduate Faezeh Nikoozad.

The Director's Cut Committee awards screenplay funding for three films: The comedyFabula Rasa (25,000 euros) by Hamburg Media School graduates Maurice Sinner and Miriam Suad Bühler, the dramaDeca (18,000 euros, Skalar Film, Hamburg) by Rodí Güven Yalcinkaya from Hamburg andSilent shadows (15,000 euros) by Claire Walka from Hamburg.

Distribution funding goes to the comedyThe black square (40,000 euros, Port au Prince Pictures, Berlin) by Directors Peter Meister.

A total of six projects were funded with almost 50,000 euros in the area of playback, including theZeise Open Air 2021 with 13,700 euros and theSummer night cinema from B-Movie, 3001 and Metropolis with 8,500 euros.

An overview of all funded projects can be found here.

The funding decisions were made on 3 June 2021: Sarah Blaßkiewitz, Gabor Greiner, Timo Großpietsch, Annekatrin Hendel, Sabine Steyer-Violet and Helge Albers.

The Director's Cut Committee is responsible for films and series with production costs of less than 3.5 million euros and cinema documentaries with production costs of less than 1.5 million euros.