Archive notice: This article was originally published on February 2, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
With Petra Schröder’s “der Prinz” and “Short Cut to Hollywood” by Jan H. Stahlberg and Marcus Mittermeier, Bavaria Pictures is represented by two productions at this year’s Berlinale. The short film “der Prinz” will be presented in the Shorts section. “Short Cut to Hollywood” will celebrate its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in a gala screening in Panorama Special, the Berlinale section devoted to major independent productions and films from US major studios in the arthouse and auteur cinema fields.
“der Prinz” follows two young girls travelling alone by Interrail to Rome. They are looking for adventure and find a prince… The short film is a production by Bavaria Pictures and dirk manthey film (producers: Dirk Manthey and Philipp Kreuzer), co-produced with Bavaria Film. It received support from Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, the Kuratorium junger deutscher Film and the FFA, and was awarded the “valuable” rating by the Wiesbaden film assessment board.
The pitch-black comedy “Short Cut to Hollywood” tells the incredible story of three friends who set off for the United States to achieve immortal fame as pop stars. They actually succeed, but the price is high, because only those who die young live forever in the audience’s hearts… The new feature film by “Muxmäuschenstill” creators and Max Ophüls Prize winners Jan Henrik Stahlberg and Marcus Mittermeier was shot almost entirely in the United States as a road movie. It is a Schiwago Film and Bavaria Pictures production, co-produced with Muxfilm, Bavaria Film and Artdeluxe. The producers are Marcos Kantis and Philipp Kreuzer. Executive producers are Martin Lehwald, Michal Pokorny, Matthias Esche, Jan S. Kaiser and the two directors. The production received funding from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, the FFA, the BKM, the DFFF, the Kuratorium junger deutscher Film and MEDIA. Senator Filmverleih will release the film in German cinemas in summer 2009. Bavaria Film International is handling worldwide distribution.
“With both productions, Bavaria Pictures is backing young German filmmaking talent,” said Bavaria Pictures producer Philipp Kreuzer. “We are delighted that both films are now being shown at the Berlin International Film Festival and therefore have the opportunity to reach a large audience. This reinforces our work and our aim of producing ambitious young cinema while discovering and supporting talent.”