Sailing, Sylt and serial killers

COMMITTEE HIGH END

There is an unusual encounter in Mike Marzuk's family filmThe Chaos Sisters feat. Penguin Paul (200,000 euros, Blue Eyes Fiction, Munich). On the run from his kidnappers, penguin Paul gets lost in the house of the four chaotic sisters Livi, Tessa, Malea and Kenny. On their mission to bring him back to his family at the zoo, there's only one thing the sisters can do: stick together! The film, which is currently in production, is based on the ten-part book series by Dagmar H. Mueller and part of the team comes from Hamburg. There will be four days of filming in the Hanseatic city in September 2022. Marzuk wrote the script together with Korbinian Wandinger.

Showrunner Georg Tschurtschenthaler and Director Carsten Gutschmidt dedicate their true crime series to the fight against organised crime in the 90sPolice command (150,000 euros, Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion, Hamburg). As the direct successor to the series "Reeperbahn Special Unit 65", which was presented at the Berlinale, the new season is no longer just about Hamburg - this time the LKA's investigations also extend to other federal states. Ten days of filming are planned in the Hanseatic city, starting in September 2022, with Hamburg-based Ina Kessebohm and Florian Fettweis from Berlin again acting as Script Writers. The camera will be operated by 4 Blocks-DOP Matthias Bolliger from Hamburg.

Fundings in the area of project development go to two productions: The drama seriesCliff edge (80,000 euros, Junafilm, Hamburg) by HMS graduate and Script Writer Lena Krumkamp and co-writer Lennard Eberlein from Hamburg will be a genuine North German production: the entire filming of the story about a woman who wants to prove her innocence in a criminal case is to take place on Sylt and in Hamburg. A further 36,000 euros are available for the DocumentaryThe longest night (Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion, Hamburg) about a rescue operation at the Vendée Globe, the toughest solo sailing race in the world, in which Hamburg sailor Boris Herrmann took part for the first time. Andreas Wolfers from Hamburg wrote the script together with British co-writer and Director Alex Parkinson.

Fundings were also awarded to two projects in the script category: In the seriesThe end of Gewalten (50,000 euros, Heimathafen Film, Hamburg), a series of murders of people with a right-wing extremist past shakes the north of Germany. The script was written by Hannes Held and Petra Lüschow. The film revolves around Hamburg's colonial historyHagenbeck (35,000 euros, Rommel Film, Berlin) by the two up-and-coming authors Leona Stahlmann and Niklas Hoffmann.

The Committee awarded a total of 255,000 euros in distribution funding. This includes Lars Jessen's film adaptation of the novelMittagsstunde (80,000 euros, Majestic Filmverleih, Berlin), the dramaKurt (75,000 euros, Filmwelt Verleihagentur, Munich) by Til Schweiger, the children's filmMy Lotta-Life - Everything Tschaka with alpaca (50,000 euros, Wild Bunch Germany, Berlin) by Martina Plura and Michael Bully Herbig's media satire1000 lines (50,000 euros, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Hamburg) about star reporter Lars Bogenius with Jonas Nay and Elias M'Barek in the leading roles.

COMMITTEE NORTHBUSTER

Production funding totalling 450,000 euros goes toPony heart (Riva Filmproduktion, Hamburg) by Directors Markus Dietrich and Script Writer Peter Freund. The children's film is based on the successful children's book series by Usch Luhn and tells the story of eleven-year-old Anni, who has to find her way in a completely new environment after moving to the countryside. She gets help from the wild horse Ponyherz, with whom she feels an almost magical connection. Around four weeks of shooting are planned for the film in Schleswig-Holstein, with Dieter Hallervorden, Nilam Farooq, Peter Lohmeyer and Marie Burchard, among others, confirmed as cast members.

The Nordbuster Committee has also supported three scripts: Jana Forkel's script onPhantaphasia (40,000 euros, Gipfelstürmer Film, Hamburg), two people meet in their dreams via an implanted chip. A dark psychological thriller comes withNight ache (35,000 euros, Wüste Film, Hamburg) by Script Writer Catharina Junk ("Mittagsstunde", "The Dark Side of the Moon"). A further 31,000 euros will go to the family filmThe camp of the untalented (triple pictures, Hamburg) by Hamburg-based Script Writer Niels Holle, based on a children's book by Boris Koch.

A detailed overview of all projects funded by the High End Committee can be found here.

A detailed overview of all projects funded by the Nordbuster Committee can be found here.

The High End Committee is responsible for films and series with production costs of over 3.5 million euros. The funding decision was made on 31 May by Christian Granderath, Murat Isgüder, Wenka von Mikulicz, Caroline von Senden, Ipek Zübert and Helge Albers.

The Nordbuster Committee is responsible for films that are of particular cultural and economic importance to the region. The annual funding sum of one million euros is provided by Warner Bros. in the form of a trust fund. The funding decision was made on 1 June by Maike Haas, Benjamina Mirnik-Voges and Peter Preisser.