Press

One step further in the Oscar® race: İlker Çatak's Hamburg film "The Teachers' Lounge" has made it onto the shortlist in the category "Best International Film". Among the other candidates: The historical film "Kings Land" starring Mads Mikkelsen, which celebrated its German premiere at Filmfest Hamburg in autumn.

If you live in our region, work in the film industry AND consider yourself part of a marginalised group, then apply for one of the free EFM Market Badges + festival accreditations.

In its current meeting, the German-Turkish Co-Production Development Fund of MBB, MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein and Istanbul Film Festival - Meetings on the Bridge is awarding almost 30,000 euros for the development of four new German-Turkish film projects.

Around 1.7 million euros were awarded to 31 projects by the Director's Cut Committee of the MOIN Film Fund at its current meeting - including the new film "Ficken für Freiheit" by Hille Norden from Schleswig-Holstein and the drama "5 Tage" by "Peterchens Mondfahrt" Director Ali Samadi Ahadi.

The Kurz + Innovativ Committee of the MOIN Film Fund awarded around 110,000 euros to four projects at its latest meeting. These include the short film "Lebensschulden" by Hamburg filmmaker Lena Hetzel about life in a youth detention centre and the VR experience "Golems" by Deborah and Dennis Reinmüller from Kiel.

The Hanseatic city in cinema mode: the Filmfest Hamburg is taking place this year until 7 October - and has 17 productions with northern German participation on board. These include two series highlights with Heinz Strunk and Fahri Yardim as well as the German premieres of "King's Land" with Mads Mikkelsen and "The Lesson" with Julie Delpy and Richard E. Grant - the thriller was filmed entirely in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. MOIN will also be on site with several events as part of the Industry Days.

Berlinale premiere, film award winner and now German Oscar candidate: the film "The Teachers' Lounge", shot in Hamburg, is in the running for the foreign Oscar.

The 80th Venice International Film Festival kicks off at the end of August - and MOIN Film Fund will be there with six projects. These include the historical drama "King's Land" with Mads Mikkelsen in the international competition and the film "Yurt", produced by Red Balloon from Hamburg, in the Orizzonti competition section. Germany is this year's focus country at the film festival.

Positive results from the first GetOnSet year: around 85 per cent of the film trainees found their way into the film world through the programme - and there were more than 150 applications for the second GetOnSet round. The success of the Hamburg Media School and MOIN Film Fund initiative underlines the importance of promoting young talent in the film industry.

In Schleswig-Holstein's oldest cinema, the KinoCenter in Rendsburg, State Secretary for Culture Guido Wendt presented the state's cinema award today (21 June) and paid tribute to the state's cinema culture:

Three short, two immersive: At its current meeting, the "Kurz + Innovativ" Committee of the MOIN Film Fund supported five projects with around 140,000 euros. These include the animated film "Butterfly Kiss" from the Hamburg-based animation studio "Fabian&Fred" and the 270-degree experience "InHuman - A New World" about the creation and destruction of the rainforest.

The Hamburg Media School, MOIN Film Fund and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg are jointly continuing the GetOnSet film trainee programme. Following the successful launch of the pilot project in 2022, the practical programme has proven to be an effective building block against the shortage of skilled workers in the film and series industry.

In its current meeting, the Director's Cut Committee of the MOIN Film Fund awarded more than 2.8 million euros to 27 projects - including the series "Schwarze Früchte" by showrunner and actor Lamin Leroy Gibba and the drama "Der Optimismus" by Hamburg filmmaker Steffen Goldkamp - both projects will be produced entirely in the funding region in the summer of 2023.

Two MOIN-funded films will be represented at the 76th Cannes International Film Festival this year: Turkish Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan's "About Dry Grasses" has made it into the official competition, while Faouzi Bensaïdi's film "Déserts" is screening in the "Quinzaine des Cinéastes" section. Also taking part: up-and-coming Hamburg actress Pauline Pollmann and Kiel-based short filmmaker Eugenia Bakurin.

Malika Rabahallah will take over the management of FILMFEST HAMBURG from 1 January 2024. The Executive Producer and long-time head of the funding department of MOIN Film Fund will succeed Albert Wiederspiel, who will leave FILMFEST at the end of 2023 after twenty successful years as festival director.

In its first meeting of the year, the Kurz + Innovativ Committee of the MOIN Film Fund awarded more than 140,000 euros to five projects. They include an animated short film about body sounds by Hamburg filmmaker Meike Fehre and a 360-degree film about the hardships of working on a cruise ship.

In its first meeting of the year, the High End Committee of the MOIN Film Fund has supported four projects with around 950,000 euros - including the new animation adventure "Seeräubermoses" by Hamburg-based Ulysses Films ("The Amazing Maurice"). In addition, the Nordbuster Committee is awarding more than 850,000 euros to Wüste Film for the tragicomedy "Drift" by Director Florian Dietrich, who will shoot his new film almost entirely in Hamburg following his surprise success "Toubab".

On the first Saturday of the Berlinale (18 February), the Hamburg film industry met for Tea Time at the Hamburg State Representation on the Spree. Directors Fatih Akin and "Rheingold" lead actor Emilio Sakraya as well as the "Mittagsstunde" team Charly Hübner and Lars Jessen were among those in attendance.

How diverse is the German film industry really? Despite important studies and surveys, there are gaps in the available data. The MOIN Film Fund wants to change this and is therefore cooperating with the Australian "The Everyone Project" with immediate effect. A pilot of the new "OMNI Inclusion" platform is to be launched across Germany in 2023 with the help of industry representatives.

When the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival takes place this year from 16-26 February, eight MOIN-funded productions will be screened in the capital - six of them as world premieres. They include "The Measures of Men" by Lars Kraume, Ayşe Polat's "In the Blind Spot" and the drama "The Teachers' Lounge" by İlker Çatak, which was shot in Hamburg.

The Hamburg-based production company Ulysses Films will be showing its animated film "The Amazing Maurice the Cat" at the renowned Sundance Film Festival in the USA from 19 January. The Terry Pratchett adaptation will be one of only three films to be shown in the children's section. Bastian Pastewka lends his voice to the orange-coloured street cat in the German version - cinema release is 9 February 2023.

From February 2023, Nicola Jones will take over as head of the Schleswig-Holstein location of MOIN Film Fund. The former CEO of the German Children's Media Festival "Goldener Spatz" will succeed Arne Sommer, who has successfully managed the Filmwerkstatt since 2014 and has left the company at his own request.