Studiocanal to unveil new titles by Fatih Akin, Nicole Garcia, Kai Wessel

PanARMENIAN.Net - Euro film-TV group Studiocanal has added to its international sales slate the title “Goodbye Berlin,” the latest movie from Fatih Akin, one of Germany’s best-known popular auteurs (“The Edge of Heaven,” “The Cut”), Variety reports.

A comedic coming of age road movie, “Goodbye Berlin” adapts Wolfgang Herrndorf’s bestselling cult novel, “Tschick” – whose English title is “Why We Took the Car” – one of the biggest literary successes in Germany in recent years, with sales topping two million copies. It has been published in 20 territories.

Starring Anand Batbileg, Tristan Göbel and Nicole Mercedes Müller, “Goodbye Berlin” turns on a 14-year-old misfit who hits the road with an unruly classmate, in a stolen car. Akin commented to Variety in December that when he fully understood in prep what the film was about, he channeled his own childhood experiences into the movie. A director known for his films about troubled adults, Akin also said it was refreshing to work with such young actors.

“Goodbye Berlin” is produced by Marco Mehlitz and Susa Kusche from Lago Film, in co-production with BR, ARD Degeto, RBB and Studiocanal Film.

“Goodbye Berlin” is set for a Sept. 15 release in Germany, where it has obvious box office potential. It will join two other new titles on Studiocanal’s lineup, – though their pickups have been announced – both from European directors: Nicole Garcia’s “From the Land of the Moo,” and Kai Wessel’s “Fog in August.”

Starring Marion Cotillard, and produced by Alain Attal at Les Productions du Tresor, “Land of the Moon” adapts Milena Agus’ post-WWII novel. It spans 20 years, following the destiny of a passionate, free-spirited woman who is locked in a loveless marriage and falls for another man. A bestseller, the book has been translated into more than 15 languages.

“Fog in August” is a drama from Wessel (“Die Flucht”) about a young boy who battles to save some young hospital inmates from a Third Reich euthanasia program, which continued weeks after the end of World War II.

Munich-based Collina Filmproduktion produces with Studiocanal Film and Vienna-based DOR Film. Ivo Pietzcker (“Jack”) and Sebastian Koch (“The Lives of Others”) co-star.

“It’s a very strong moving story, though its charm lightens some moments, filmed by a talented young director and based on true facts but seen through the eyes of the kid,” Rodolphe Buet, Studiocanal president, intl. distribution/marketing, commented in December to Variety.