24/02/2021 - The German company boasts two entries in the main competition of the Berlin International Film Festival, while a handful of titles will be featured at the EFM

World sales agent Beta Cinema is heading to this year’s selection of the Berlin International Film Festival and to the accompanying European Film Market (EFM, 1-5 March) brandishing two Golden Bear contenders, while three more of its titles are featured in Market Screenings and the company will also be negotiating deals for six promising upcoming features at the EFM.

In particular, the company is pinning its hopes on I’m Your Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maria Schrader
film profile] by German writer-director Maria Schrader, winner of the Primetime Emmy Award for Unorthodox [+see also:
series review
series profile], which is part of the main competition of the 71^st Berlinale. Scripted by Schrader and Jan Schomburg, and based on a short story by Emma Braslavsky, the tragicomic tale focuses on Alma (Maren Eggert), a scientist working at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. The need to fund her own research makes her determined to take part in an unusual study: she agrees to live with Tom (Dan Stevens), a robot with a humanoid appearance, who is programmed to be suitable for her character and needs. Letterbox Filmproduktion (Lisa Blumberg) produced the film, which is available worldwide excluding German-speaking territories.

The other competition title is Next Door [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Daniel Brühl
film profile], the directorial debut by Daniel Brühl, who also stars and came up with the initial idea behind this dark comedy that follows a film star with a perfect life. When his career is about to take off with a casting session in London for a superhero role, he randomly meets Bruno (Peter Kurth), who confronts him with troubling revelations that risk destroying both his career and his private life. Penned by Daniel Kehlmann, based on an idea by Brühl, the film was co-produced by Amusement Park Films’ Malte Grunert (the company is co-owned by Daniel Brühl, Malte Grunert and Klaus Dohle) and Warner Bros Pictures Germany.

Furthermore, at the EFM Market Screenings, Beta Cinema is presenting Hello Again [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Maggie Peren (Colour of the Ocean [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), a topsy-turvy romantic comedy in which Zazie (Alicia von Rittberg), who is living with her two buddies and who, just like them, is incapable of being in a relationship, learns that her best friend from her childhood is planning to get married to the wrong girl. The other two films on the slate are by first-time writer-directors: The Bike Thief [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Matt Chambers (UK) and Karnawal [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Juan Pablo Félix (Argentina/Bolivia/Brazil/Chile/Mexico/Norway).

Lastly, the company will be negotiating deals for the upcoming features The Odd-Job Men [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Neus Ballús
film profile] by Catalan director Neus Ballús, a semi-realistic take on the life of a plumbing squad; the German comedy It’s Just a Phase, Honey [+see also:
trailer
film profile], based on the best-selling book and directed by Academy Award winner Florian Gallenberger; the German-French comedy Toubab [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Florian Dietrich, which revolves around an impending deportation; the tragicomedy My Neighbor Adolf [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Leon Prudovsky, starring David Hayman and Udo Kier (see the news); the historical thriller Hinterland [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stefan Ruzowitzky
film profile] by Stefan Ruzowitzky, which is set in 1920s Vienna after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; and Diabolik [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], the new film by the Manetti Bros, who are bringing the adventures of the famous 1960s Italian comic-book hero to the big screen (see the news).