The selection include Langston Uibel, star of Christian Petzold’s Berlinale award-winner ‘Afire’.
Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Poff) has unveiled this year’s Black Nights Stars, spotlighting eight rising actors from the Baltic Sea region.
The initiative brings together international casting directors and filmmakers with emerging talent from the region and is part of Discovery Campus, an education programme organised by Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event (Nov 13-17).
The selection includes Germany’s Langston Uibel, star of Christian Petzold’s Afire, which received the Silver Bear grand jury prize at the Berlinale in February.
The eight actors are:...
Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Poff) has unveiled this year’s Black Nights Stars, spotlighting eight rising actors from the Baltic Sea region.
The initiative brings together international casting directors and filmmakers with emerging talent from the region and is part of Discovery Campus, an education programme organised by Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event (Nov 13-17).
The selection includes Germany’s Langston Uibel, star of Christian Petzold’s Afire, which received the Silver Bear grand jury prize at the Berlinale in February.
The eight actors are:...
- 10/16/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
If there’s one thing Christian Petzold does well it’s introspective examinations of characters at the heart of overwhelming circumstances. Which isn’t the most succinct thing to put on your CV but you have to admit he does it well. After all he has a whole trilogy of films he calls ‘Love in Times of Oppressive Systems’ so clearly it’s working for him.
His latest piece, Afire, focuses on a narcissistic author agonising over his latest novel while sharing a holiday home in the Baltic Sea, completely uninterested in the raging wildfires consuming the nearby woodland. It’s a fitting subject for an artist like Petzold, a creative so obsessed with their own endeavours that they become openly hostile to anything outside themselves.
That sums up our protagonist Leon (Thomas Schubert) in a nutshell. A schlubby, sullen writer chafing against his idyllic surroundings. He refuses to go...
His latest piece, Afire, focuses on a narcissistic author agonising over his latest novel while sharing a holiday home in the Baltic Sea, completely uninterested in the raging wildfires consuming the nearby woodland. It’s a fitting subject for an artist like Petzold, a creative so obsessed with their own endeavours that they become openly hostile to anything outside themselves.
That sums up our protagonist Leon (Thomas Schubert) in a nutshell. A schlubby, sullen writer chafing against his idyllic surroundings. He refuses to go...
- 8/25/2023
- by Liam Macleod
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Thomas Schubert on playing Leon in Afire: 'I always felt like there was quite a bit of myself in my character. It is really interesting that we all sort of have that memory of being that way' Photo: Curzon Austrian Thomas Schubert stars Afire in the latest film from Christian Petzold, an offbeat comedy of sorts set on a summer that is smouldering with possibilities, both literal and figurative. Schubert, who was a non-professional when he took on his breakout role in 2011’s Breathing, at the age of 17, has since established himself an impressive and varied career, notching up more than 30 TV and film roles. His latest sees him play Leon, a writer who is heading on a summer retreat with his buddy Felix (Langston Uibel) in a bid to complete his second novel.
On arrival at Felix’s family’s summer house, the pair discover they are not alone,...
On arrival at Felix’s family’s summer house, the pair discover they are not alone,...
- 8/25/2023
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
(Welcome to Under the Radar, a column where we spotlight specific movies, shows, trends, performances, or scenes that caught our eye and deserved more attention ... but otherwise flew under the radar. In this edition: the pain of artistry takes centerstage in "Afire," "Passages" breaks down all boundaries, and "They Cloned Tyrone" puts a sci-fi twist on the American dream.)
You've heard of Barbenheimer, the phenomenon currently sweeping the globe (and getting Warner Bros.' social media team in trouble), but may I introduce you to Pass-afire? The one-two punch of director Ira Sach's "Passages" and Christian Petzold's "Afire" might not have the big-budget cachet of the two blockbuster behemoths currently duking it out in theaters, but this pair of shockingly complimentary character studies takes a much quieter, moodier, and thrillingly vibrant approach to dissecting much more relatable, everyday issues. Centered on two maddening artists who struggle mightily to articulate...
You've heard of Barbenheimer, the phenomenon currently sweeping the globe (and getting Warner Bros.' social media team in trouble), but may I introduce you to Pass-afire? The one-two punch of director Ira Sach's "Passages" and Christian Petzold's "Afire" might not have the big-budget cachet of the two blockbuster behemoths currently duking it out in theaters, but this pair of shockingly complimentary character studies takes a much quieter, moodier, and thrillingly vibrant approach to dissecting much more relatable, everyday issues. Centered on two maddening artists who struggle mightily to articulate...
- 8/1/2023
- by Jeremy Mathai
- Slash Film
Christian Petzold’s Afire on the IFC Center marquee Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
In the second instalment with director/screenwriter Christian Petzold on Afire starring Paula Beer, Thomas Schubert (winking at the audience like Ryan Gosling’s Ken in Greta Gerwig’s summer blockbuster Barbie), Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs, and Matthias Brandt we touch upon Leo McCarey’s An Affair To Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in reference to Paula Beer in the wheelchair; pronouncing Walter Benjamin and Uwe Johnson; Margarethe von Trotta’s film series Jahrestage; Devid Striesow in Yella; new Baltic Sea tourism in the old east, and the goulash in and out of the bag.
Christian Petzold on Leo McCarey’s An Affair To Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr: “Oh, this is a fantastic movie! It all comes back now!” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Friends Felix (Langston Uibel) and Leon (Thomas Schubert) are on their...
In the second instalment with director/screenwriter Christian Petzold on Afire starring Paula Beer, Thomas Schubert (winking at the audience like Ryan Gosling’s Ken in Greta Gerwig’s summer blockbuster Barbie), Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs, and Matthias Brandt we touch upon Leo McCarey’s An Affair To Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in reference to Paula Beer in the wheelchair; pronouncing Walter Benjamin and Uwe Johnson; Margarethe von Trotta’s film series Jahrestage; Devid Striesow in Yella; new Baltic Sea tourism in the old east, and the goulash in and out of the bag.
Christian Petzold on Leo McCarey’s An Affair To Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr: “Oh, this is a fantastic movie! It all comes back now!” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Friends Felix (Langston Uibel) and Leon (Thomas Schubert) are on their...
- 7/26/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Few directors boast the consistent excellence of German auteur Christian Petzold. The puckish filmmaker got on Zoom from New York to unwind some of the surprises in Berlin’s Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize winner “Afire,” his tenth feature and third to star Paula Beer.
It started out being called “The Lucky Ones.” “I love this title,” he told IndieWire during a recent interview. “But it was forbidden, because there was a wave of copyright problems.” When he came up with “The Red Sky,” referring to the film’s wildfire encroaching on his trio of Baltic Sea vacationers, “This was also forbidden for use. They said the word ‘afire’ and I said, ‘it sounds good.'”
Petzold was working on adapting a dystopian novel during the pandemic, but when he contracted Covid, he put it aside. “To erase-delete, to delete it out of my mind, this was the hard work on ‘Afire,...
It started out being called “The Lucky Ones.” “I love this title,” he told IndieWire during a recent interview. “But it was forbidden, because there was a wave of copyright problems.” When he came up with “The Red Sky,” referring to the film’s wildfire encroaching on his trio of Baltic Sea vacationers, “This was also forbidden for use. They said the word ‘afire’ and I said, ‘it sounds good.'”
Petzold was working on adapting a dystopian novel during the pandemic, but when he contracted Covid, he put it aside. “To erase-delete, to delete it out of my mind, this was the hard work on ‘Afire,...
- 7/16/2023
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Few movies this year will be as quietly sizzling as German filmmaker Christian Petzold’s “Afire,” a novelistic and sophisticated character study that kindles inside a chamber piece, as languid as a relaxed summer day and as heartbreaking as the end of a short-lived summer love.
The unhurried, romantic undertones of “Afire” are elements we came to expect from Petzold’s recent cinema, through the likes of “Barbara,” “Phoenix,” “Transit,” and “Undine” where affecting melancholy runs freely and cinematically alongside a dose of tragedy. This vibe is more or less the atmosphere of “Afire,” which follows two friends—Thomas Schubert’s grumpily petty novelist Leon and Langston Uibel’s chipper photographer/artist Felix—as they head to Felix’s family summer home by the Baltic coast for a seaside break, and maybe for some inspiration and light work on the side.
You could be forgiven to think you’re perhaps...
The unhurried, romantic undertones of “Afire” are elements we came to expect from Petzold’s recent cinema, through the likes of “Barbara,” “Phoenix,” “Transit,” and “Undine” where affecting melancholy runs freely and cinematically alongside a dose of tragedy. This vibe is more or less the atmosphere of “Afire,” which follows two friends—Thomas Schubert’s grumpily petty novelist Leon and Langston Uibel’s chipper photographer/artist Felix—as they head to Felix’s family summer home by the Baltic coast for a seaside break, and maybe for some inspiration and light work on the side.
You could be forgiven to think you’re perhaps...
- 7/14/2023
- by Tomris Laffly
- The Wrap
Afire.Paula Beer has said that she wants to avoid any clear overlaps with her personal life as she’s preparing a character. To her credit, there’s something about her acting that eschews biographical readings: she invites us into the present as her characters are experiencing it. Beer, who was born in Mainz, Germany, has been acting since she was a child; she was 14 when she stepped onto the set of her first movie, Chris Kraus’s The Poll Diaries (2010). Just a few years later, she won the Marcello Mastroianni Award for her turn as a young widow in François Ozon’s World War I drama Frantz (2016)—a performance that showed how, even in the framework of a fairly traditional romantic drama, Beer could hint subtly at her character’s interiority beyond what was on the page.From there, it was a quick jump to the cycle of films...
- 7/14/2023
- MUBI
Christian Petzold’s slow-burning Afire, shot by Hans Fromm, stars Paula Beer, Thomas Schubert, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs, and Matthias Brandt.
Friends Felix (Langston Uibel) and Leon (Thomas Schubert) are on their way to a summer house in the woods near the Baltic Sea when their car breaks down. Animal shrieks fill the air. The area had recently experienced a number of devastating wildfires. When they arrive on foot at the vacation home belonging to Felix’s family, which was supposed to be theirs alone to work on respective projects - a photography submission to...
Friends Felix (Langston Uibel) and Leon (Thomas Schubert) are on their way to a summer house in the woods near the Baltic Sea when their car breaks down. Animal shrieks fill the air. The area had recently experienced a number of devastating wildfires. When they arrive on foot at the vacation home belonging to Felix’s family, which was supposed to be theirs alone to work on respective projects - a photography submission to...
- 7/8/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Christian Petzold, the director of the well-timed summer movie Afire with Anne-Katrin Titze: “I’m really sure that we don’t have summer movies. The Americans have summer movies, the French have summer movies.”
Christian Petzold’s slow-burning Afire, shot by Hans Fromm, stars Paula Beer, Thomas Schubert, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs, and Matthias Brandt.
Nadja (Paula Beer) with Devid (Enno Trebs), Felix (Langston Uibel), and Leon (Thomas Schubert) in Afire
A scene in Leo McCarey’s An Affair To Remember (with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr); Sophie Calle’s Voir La Mer and Hiroshi Sugimoto’s photographs; Astrid Lindgren; a Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre touch; Uwe Johnson’s Mutmassungen über Jakob and Margarethe von Trotta’s Jahrestage series; Johan Wolfgang von Goethe; a Nanni Moretti quote; meeting Paul Dano’s Wildlife cinematographer Diego García (Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Cemetery Of Splendor) in Tel Aviv; Billy Wilder, Fred Zinnemann, Curt Siodmak, Robert Siodmak,...
Christian Petzold’s slow-burning Afire, shot by Hans Fromm, stars Paula Beer, Thomas Schubert, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs, and Matthias Brandt.
Nadja (Paula Beer) with Devid (Enno Trebs), Felix (Langston Uibel), and Leon (Thomas Schubert) in Afire
A scene in Leo McCarey’s An Affair To Remember (with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr); Sophie Calle’s Voir La Mer and Hiroshi Sugimoto’s photographs; Astrid Lindgren; a Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre touch; Uwe Johnson’s Mutmassungen über Jakob and Margarethe von Trotta’s Jahrestage series; Johan Wolfgang von Goethe; a Nanni Moretti quote; meeting Paul Dano’s Wildlife cinematographer Diego García (Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Cemetery Of Splendor) in Tel Aviv; Billy Wilder, Fred Zinnemann, Curt Siodmak, Robert Siodmak,...
- 7/2/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
"I find the sea a bit spooky at night. Come with me." Sideshow + Janus Films have revealed a new official US trailer for the indie German film titled Afire for the US release. The latest film from German filmmaker Christian Petzold. Originally known as Roter Himmel (which translates directly to Red Sky in German), this first premiered at the 2023 Berlin Film Festival earlier this year where it won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize. A seaside vacation to the north of Germany takes an unexpected turn when Leon and Felix show up at Felix's family's holiday home to discover Nadja, a mysterious woman, already there. As an ever encroaching forest fire threatens their well-being, relationships are tested and romances are kindled. The film features Thomas Schubert as Leon, Paula Beer as Nadja, Langston Uibel as Felix, as well as Enno Trebs and Matthias Brandt. This is a great film, with...
- 6/20/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Christian Petzold finds himself somewhere between the lands of late Éric Rohmer and vintage Noah Baumbach with his new romantic drama, “Afire.”
The German director of serious war-historical films like “Transit” and “Phoenix,” which bent time both in terms of their cinematic references and their manipulations of stylistic anachronisms, gets less serious with this film about four people vacationing, swapping beds, and surrounded by forest fires. Sideshow and Janus Films release “Afire” this summer on July 14 — it’s a perfectly lovely, summer kind of thing despite its tragic underpinnings. Watch the trailer for “Afire” below.
Petzold conceived of “Afire” during the pandemic — though he shot afterward on-location in Germany — after feeling weary of bad news and so postponing another darker project for this deceptively lighter one instead. The film centers on a seaside vacation, when longtime best friends Leon (Thomas Schubert), a pretentious fiction writer struggling to crank out his new book,...
The German director of serious war-historical films like “Transit” and “Phoenix,” which bent time both in terms of their cinematic references and their manipulations of stylistic anachronisms, gets less serious with this film about four people vacationing, swapping beds, and surrounded by forest fires. Sideshow and Janus Films release “Afire” this summer on July 14 — it’s a perfectly lovely, summer kind of thing despite its tragic underpinnings. Watch the trailer for “Afire” below.
Petzold conceived of “Afire” during the pandemic — though he shot afterward on-location in Germany — after feeling weary of bad news and so postponing another darker project for this deceptively lighter one instead. The film centers on a seaside vacation, when longtime best friends Leon (Thomas Schubert), a pretentious fiction writer struggling to crank out his new book,...
- 6/20/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
While this summer will bring Barbies, nuclear explosions, and the return of both Ethan Hunt and our favorite professor of archaeology, our most-anticipated cinematic experience is certainly the latest work from German auteur Christian Petzold. Forgoing his standard fall film-festival run, following a Berlinale premiere (this time where he picked up the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize), Afire will arrive in theaters sooner than expected, specifically this July from Sideshow and Janus Films. Ahead of its release, the first U.S. trailer has now arrived.
Here’s the synopsis: “While vacationing by the Baltic Sea, writer Leon (Thomas Schubert) and photographer Felix (Langston Uibel) are surprised by the presence of Nadja (Paula Beer), a mysterious young woman staying as a guest at Felix’s family’s holiday home. Nadja distracts Leon from finishing his latest novel and with brutal honesty, forces him to confront his caustic temperament and self-absorption. As Nadja and Leon grow closer,...
Here’s the synopsis: “While vacationing by the Baltic Sea, writer Leon (Thomas Schubert) and photographer Felix (Langston Uibel) are surprised by the presence of Nadja (Paula Beer), a mysterious young woman staying as a guest at Felix’s family’s holiday home. Nadja distracts Leon from finishing his latest novel and with brutal honesty, forces him to confront his caustic temperament and self-absorption. As Nadja and Leon grow closer,...
- 6/20/2023
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Christian Petzold’s Silver Bear winner “Afire” has received a new trailer.
The drama follows writer Leon (Thomas Schubert) and photographer Felix (Langston Uibel) who are surprised by a mysterious young woman named Nadja (Paula Beer) staying as a guest at Felix’s family’s holiday home by the Baltic Sea.
Nadja distracts Leon from finishing his latest novel and, with brutal honesty, forces him to confront his caustic temperament and self-absorption. As Nadja and Leon grow closer, an encroaching forest fire threatens the group. Meanwhile, tensions escalate when a handsome lifeguard and Leon’s tight-lipped book editor also arrive.
The movie stars Thomas Schubet, Paula Beer, Enno Trebs, Langston Uibel and Matthias Brandt.
“Afire” won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival in February, where it also garnered solid reviews. The film is being released Stateside by Sideshow and Janus Films — which also released “Drive My Car...
The drama follows writer Leon (Thomas Schubert) and photographer Felix (Langston Uibel) who are surprised by a mysterious young woman named Nadja (Paula Beer) staying as a guest at Felix’s family’s holiday home by the Baltic Sea.
Nadja distracts Leon from finishing his latest novel and, with brutal honesty, forces him to confront his caustic temperament and self-absorption. As Nadja and Leon grow closer, an encroaching forest fire threatens the group. Meanwhile, tensions escalate when a handsome lifeguard and Leon’s tight-lipped book editor also arrive.
The movie stars Thomas Schubet, Paula Beer, Enno Trebs, Langston Uibel and Matthias Brandt.
“Afire” won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival in February, where it also garnered solid reviews. The film is being released Stateside by Sideshow and Janus Films — which also released “Drive My Car...
- 6/20/2023
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
With Cannes done and dusted and the heavy-hitting autumn quartet of Venice, Telluride, TIFF, and NYFF still a few months off, what’s a film festival fan to do during the dog days of summer? With New York City’s own Tribeca Festival now firmly ensconced in the summer months after moving off its traditional spring dates in 2021, movie lovers both in the city and beyond can enjoy the annual event’s prodigious programming, thanks to a combination of in-person and virtual programming.
The 2023 edition will kick off June 7 with the North American premiere of “Kiss the Future,” a documentary following the story of a community of underground musicians and creatives throughout the nearly four-year-long siege of Sarajevo, as well as the 1997 U2 concert celebrating the liberation of the Bosnian capital.
A special 30th-anniversary screening of “A Bronx Tale” will close the fest on June 17. After the movie, the film...
The 2023 edition will kick off June 7 with the North American premiere of “Kiss the Future,” a documentary following the story of a community of underground musicians and creatives throughout the nearly four-year-long siege of Sarajevo, as well as the 1997 U2 concert celebrating the liberation of the Bosnian capital.
A special 30th-anniversary screening of “A Bronx Tale” will close the fest on June 17. After the movie, the film...
- 6/1/2023
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Tribeca Film Festival Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer with Anne-Katrin Titze: “There’s a first film from Germany, which I think is brilliant.”
In the first instalment with Tribeca Film Festival Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer we discuss Christian Petzold’s Afire; Frédéric Tcheng’s Invisible Beauty (on Bethann Hardison); Ethan Berger’s The Line (on the recommendation of Robert Eggers’ The Witch producer Jay Van Hoy); Michael Shannon’s Eric Larue; David Duchovny’s Bucky F*cking Dent; John Slattery’s Maggie Moore(s); Steve Buscemi’s The Listener; Anna Roller’s Dead Girls Dancing; Maria Fredriksson’s The Gullspáng Miracle; Michael Selditch’s Happy Clothes: A Film About Patricia Fields, and Stephen Kijak’s Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed.
Christian Petzold’s Afire, starring Paula Beer, Enno Trebs, Langston Uibel, and Thomas Schubert
The 21st edition of...
In the first instalment with Tribeca Film Festival Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer we discuss Christian Petzold’s Afire; Frédéric Tcheng’s Invisible Beauty (on Bethann Hardison); Ethan Berger’s The Line (on the recommendation of Robert Eggers’ The Witch producer Jay Van Hoy); Michael Shannon’s Eric Larue; David Duchovny’s Bucky F*cking Dent; John Slattery’s Maggie Moore(s); Steve Buscemi’s The Listener; Anna Roller’s Dead Girls Dancing; Maria Fredriksson’s The Gullspáng Miracle; Michael Selditch’s Happy Clothes: A Film About Patricia Fields, and Stephen Kijak’s Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed.
Christian Petzold’s Afire, starring Paula Beer, Enno Trebs, Langston Uibel, and Thomas Schubert
The 21st edition of...
- 5/13/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Afire (2023).In February, Christian Petzold’s new film Afire premiered in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it received the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize. Set on the Baltic coast of Germany, the story follows novelist Leon (Thomas Schubert), who has escaped the city with his friend Felix (Langston Uibel), intending to put the finishing touches on his second book. Instead, the two become romantically enmeshed with Nadja (Paula Beer), a literary scholar who spends the summer selling ice cream, and the local lifeguard Devid (Enno Trebs). Unlike the others, Leon cannot embrace the season’s lighthearted self-abandonment and wanders sleeplessly through blue nights without darkness. All the while, forest fires blaze in the distance. At first, they only reach the protagonists as rumors, sounds of helicopters, and glowing red skies (the German title of the film means “Red Sky”), until the threat finally encroaches upon the immediate forests.
- 3/13/2023
- MUBI
Sideshow and Janus Films have picked up the North American rights to “Afire,” which won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at Berlinale 2023. A theatrical release is planned for Summer 2023.
From writer-director Christian Petzold, the film follows four young people who convene at a holiday house by the Baltic Sea. Plagued by drought, the surrounding landscape soon begets fires, while inside the house emotions heat up: happiness, lust, love, along with jealousies, resentments and tensions.
The film stars Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs and Matthias Brandt. Producers are Florian Koerner von Gustorf, Michael Weber, and Anton Kaiser.
Also Read:
Sundance Sci-Fi Film ‘Divinity’ Acquired by Utopia and Sumerian
“I am very happy that Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired the film in North America,” said Petzold in a press statement. “After the screenings at the Berlinale, I am sure that ‘Afire’ will find its audience in the US and Canada.
From writer-director Christian Petzold, the film follows four young people who convene at a holiday house by the Baltic Sea. Plagued by drought, the surrounding landscape soon begets fires, while inside the house emotions heat up: happiness, lust, love, along with jealousies, resentments and tensions.
The film stars Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs and Matthias Brandt. Producers are Florian Koerner von Gustorf, Michael Weber, and Anton Kaiser.
Also Read:
Sundance Sci-Fi Film ‘Divinity’ Acquired by Utopia and Sumerian
“I am very happy that Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired the film in North America,” said Petzold in a press statement. “After the screenings at the Berlinale, I am sure that ‘Afire’ will find its audience in the US and Canada.
- 3/1/2023
- by Harper Lambert
- The Wrap
Second Berlin in two days for distribution partners after Tótem.
Sideshow and Janus Films have picked up their second film from Berlin, taking North American rights to Christian Petzold’s Silver Bear grand jury prize-winner Afire.
‘Afire’: Berlin Review The partners plan a summer theatrical release on the story set against the backdrop of climate catastrophe as four young people convene at a small holiday house by the Baltic Sea, where emotions ignite.
Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs and Matthias Brandt star, and producers are Florian Koerner von Gustorf, Michael Weber, and Anton Kaiser.
Sideshow and...
Sideshow and Janus Films have picked up their second film from Berlin, taking North American rights to Christian Petzold’s Silver Bear grand jury prize-winner Afire.
‘Afire’: Berlin Review The partners plan a summer theatrical release on the story set against the backdrop of climate catastrophe as four young people convene at a small holiday house by the Baltic Sea, where emotions ignite.
Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs and Matthias Brandt star, and producers are Florian Koerner von Gustorf, Michael Weber, and Anton Kaiser.
Sideshow and...
- 3/1/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired North American rights for German director Christian Petzold’s new film Afire, following its award-winning world premiere in competition at the Berlin Film Festival.
The work was feted with Berlin’s Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize on Sunday evening (Feb 25) by an international jury led by Kristen Stewart.
The comedy-drama revolves around four very different young people who are thrown together unexpectedly in a remote holiday home by the Baltic Sea.
In the rainless, heat of the summer, sparks begin to fly among the group as the parched forests surrounding the house also start to ignite.
News of the acquisition comes hot on the heels of the announcement by Sideshow and Janus Films on Tuesday that they had taken North American rights for the Mexican competition title Tótem.
The New York-based distribution partners said of Afire: “Christian Petzold has consistently been one of the most thrilling and surprising filmmakers.
The work was feted with Berlin’s Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize on Sunday evening (Feb 25) by an international jury led by Kristen Stewart.
The comedy-drama revolves around four very different young people who are thrown together unexpectedly in a remote holiday home by the Baltic Sea.
In the rainless, heat of the summer, sparks begin to fly among the group as the parched forests surrounding the house also start to ignite.
News of the acquisition comes hot on the heels of the announcement by Sideshow and Janus Films on Tuesday that they had taken North American rights for the Mexican competition title Tótem.
The New York-based distribution partners said of Afire: “Christian Petzold has consistently been one of the most thrilling and surprising filmmakers.
- 3/1/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: The Match Factory has unveiled a slew of deals for German director Christian Petzold’s Berlin Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize winner Afire.
The summertime comedy-drama, which world premiered in Berlin’s main competition, revolves around a disparate group of people thrown together in a holiday home on Germany’s Baltic coast against a backdrop of advancing forest fires.
European deals include France (Les Films du Losange), Italy (Wanted), Spain (Filmin), Benelux (September Film), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Austria (Stadtkino), Scandinavia (Future Film), Poland (Aurora Films), Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia (Vertigo), Ex-Yugoslavia (Demiurg), Romania (Independenta), Baltics (A-One).
Outside of Europe, the picture has been snapped up for South Korea (M&m International), Taiwan (Light Year Images), Turkey (Bir Film), Brazil (Imovision) and Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay (Ifa Cinema).
A North American distribution deal is also closed and due to be announced soon. Further territories are currently in negotiation.
The summertime comedy-drama, which world premiered in Berlin’s main competition, revolves around a disparate group of people thrown together in a holiday home on Germany’s Baltic coast against a backdrop of advancing forest fires.
European deals include France (Les Films du Losange), Italy (Wanted), Spain (Filmin), Benelux (September Film), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Austria (Stadtkino), Scandinavia (Future Film), Poland (Aurora Films), Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia (Vertigo), Ex-Yugoslavia (Demiurg), Romania (Independenta), Baltics (A-One).
Outside of Europe, the picture has been snapped up for South Korea (M&m International), Taiwan (Light Year Images), Turkey (Bir Film), Brazil (Imovision) and Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay (Ifa Cinema).
A North American distribution deal is also closed and due to be announced soon. Further territories are currently in negotiation.
- 3/1/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Writing recently about the introduction of video umpires in baseball, of all things, Zach Helfand was skeptical: “accuracy is not the same as enjoyment,” he wrote, “baseball is meant to kill time, not maximize it.” The best films of German director Christian Petzold do both, though you sense his heart might belong to the latter. Petzold’s latest, Afire, unfurls with all the page-turning seduction of a gripping novella. It stars Thomas Schubert as a struggling writer who travels with a friend to a secluded house near the Baltic Sea. Their car breaks down. They encounter a beautiful woman. Somewhere in the distance, a forest fire rages. Soon, inevitably, another burns inside.
Petzold might be the best director of melodramas working today. At their best, his films are about the closest thing to a guarantee of mystery and romance that contemporary cinema has to offer. And though their pleasures are perfectly enjoyable al fresco,...
Petzold might be the best director of melodramas working today. At their best, his films are about the closest thing to a guarantee of mystery and romance that contemporary cinema has to offer. And though their pleasures are perfectly enjoyable al fresco,...
- 2/22/2023
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2023 Berlin Film Festival. Sideshow and Janus Films releases the film in select theaters on Friday, July 14, with further expansion to follow.
“Something is wrong,” says tortured author Leon (Thomas Schubert) in an uncommon bout of observation. Say what you will about this blinkered sourpuss, but his assessment, in the opening moments to Christian Petzold’s “Afire,” is right on target. Seconds later, a car battery will explode, stranding the young novelist and his travel mate Felix (Langston Uibel) in a coastal forest beset by fires, echoing in animal howls, and ever-so far from the family home where the pair intend to spend a quiet artistic retreat. So credit to Leon for this early feat of recognition — he’ll never be so perceptive again.
Gently dunking on a writer of near-apocalyptic pomposity over the course of a languid seaside vacation, Petzold...
“Something is wrong,” says tortured author Leon (Thomas Schubert) in an uncommon bout of observation. Say what you will about this blinkered sourpuss, but his assessment, in the opening moments to Christian Petzold’s “Afire,” is right on target. Seconds later, a car battery will explode, stranding the young novelist and his travel mate Felix (Langston Uibel) in a coastal forest beset by fires, echoing in animal howls, and ever-so far from the family home where the pair intend to spend a quiet artistic retreat. So credit to Leon for this early feat of recognition — he’ll never be so perceptive again.
Gently dunking on a writer of near-apocalyptic pomposity over the course of a languid seaside vacation, Petzold...
- 2/22/2023
- by Ben Croll
- Indiewire
If any writer has ever retreated to a remote, idyllic rural pad with the intention of getting some work done, and proceeded to have a productive and creatively fulfilling time, it has certainly never happened in the movies. Leon, the callow young novelist at the center of Christian Petzold’s canny, many-layered new film “Afire,” is the latest in a long line of onscreen scribes to learn that lesson. But over the course of a hot, rainless summer by the Baltic coastline, the elusiveness of his imagined masterwork turns out to be far from his greatest problem: Writer’s block spills over into bitter social paralysis, exposing every facet of life he doesn’t yet know how to live, let alone write about. All the while, the surrounding woodsy landscape wilts and scorches, the threat of natural disaster lending an urgent pull to this dry, elegant comedy of manners — so dry,...
- 2/22/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Leaving behind the fairy-tale enigma of his last film, Undine, Christian Petzold returns in Afire to the unembellished realism more characteristic of his work, even when he has flirted with genre, from noir to melodrama to Hitchcockian thriller. The German auteur also departs from the densely populated cities that have chiefly been his canvas, dropping his characters into the seemingly tranquil setting of a sleepy beach town on the Baltic Sea and a summer home in idyllic woodlands. But the skies are turning red as forest fires loom closer, ash is raining down and wildlife is fleeing.
The anxiety caused by natural disaster is echoed by the festering self-doubt of the central character, Leon (Thomas Schubert), who has escaped Berlin to work on the manuscript of his new novel, his spirits dampened by the tepid response of his publisher. He’s accompanied by Felix (Langston Uibel), whose family owns the...
The anxiety caused by natural disaster is echoed by the festering self-doubt of the central character, Leon (Thomas Schubert), who has escaped Berlin to work on the manuscript of his new novel, his spirits dampened by the tepid response of his publisher. He’s accompanied by Felix (Langston Uibel), whose family owns the...
- 2/22/2023
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A cottage in the woods: isolated, idyllic and unavoidably reminiscent of some half-forgotten fairy tale. Unfortunately, Leon (Thomas Schubert) is not a country person. When his friend Felix’s car breaks down on the forest road on the way to the family holiday house where they both plan to work in peace and quiet, all Leon can hear are unnerving crackles in the undergrowth. Wild boar. Leon is definitely not a wild boar kind of guy.
The car will have to stay where it is. Felix (Langston Uibel) knows a shortcut through the woods. When they reach the house, however, they find it obviously already occupied by someone else. Someone who leaves dirty dishes and food on every available surface. Flies! Leon is a writer. He doesn’t do boar; he doesn’t do flies. The interloper evidently is a woman; Felix’s mother forgot to tell them about her.
The car will have to stay where it is. Felix (Langston Uibel) knows a shortcut through the woods. When they reach the house, however, they find it obviously already occupied by someone else. Someone who leaves dirty dishes and food on every available surface. Flies! Leon is a writer. He doesn’t do boar; he doesn’t do flies. The interloper evidently is a woman; Felix’s mother forgot to tell them about her.
- 2/22/2023
- by Stephanie Bunbury
- Deadline Film + TV
The movie year has already unleashed a lot of memorable work, from Sundance breakouts to “M3GAN.” But things are about to get a lot more global. Even as a new Marvel movie opens in theaters worldwide, the Berlin International Film Festival begins on Wednesday to offer a whole lot more. Nestled in between Sundance and SXSW, Berlin is like a firehose of international cinema.
More than 200 films from around the world will premiere at the festival this week, many of which are potential discoveries. Berlin premieres sometimes creep into awards consider (this year’s Oscar nominee “The Quiet Girl” premiered there last year) but can also deliver major new works from rising filmmaker talent. Some of the more promising titles from this year’s lineup speak to its versatility. It’s also a valuable European launchpad for Sundance highlights: The festival’s hit “Past Lives” plays in competition.
From its...
More than 200 films from around the world will premiere at the festival this week, many of which are potential discoveries. Berlin premieres sometimes creep into awards consider (this year’s Oscar nominee “The Quiet Girl” premiered there last year) but can also deliver major new works from rising filmmaker talent. Some of the more promising titles from this year’s lineup speak to its versatility. It’s also a valuable European launchpad for Sundance highlights: The festival’s hit “Past Lives” plays in competition.
From its...
- 2/14/2023
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Christian Petzold returns to the Berlinale this year with Afire, the second installment of his elemental trilogy following 2020’s water-inspired Undine and preceding a forthcoming film about earth. Afire will reunite Petzold with his frequent collaborator Paula Beer, who will star alongside Thomas Schubert, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs and Matthias Brandt. The first trailer arrives today from Matchbox Films ahead of Afire‘s Berlin premiere. Per the film’s official synopsis: “Leon and Felix’s plan was to spend the summer together in a holiday home on the Baltic coast. They wanted to be there as friends but also to work—one on his […]
The post Trailer Watch: Christian Petzold’s Afire first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Trailer Watch: Christian Petzold’s Afire first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/13/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Christian Petzold returns to the Berlinale this year with Afire, the second installment of his elemental trilogy following 2020’s water-inspired Undine and preceding a forthcoming film about earth. Afire will reunite Petzold with his frequent collaborator Paula Beer, who will star alongside Thomas Schubert, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs and Matthias Brandt. The first trailer arrives today from Matchbox Films ahead of Afire‘s Berlin premiere. Per the film’s official synopsis: “Leon and Felix’s plan was to spend the summer together in a holiday home on the Baltic coast. They wanted to be there as friends but also to work—one on his […]
The post Trailer Watch: Christian Petzold’s Afire first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Trailer Watch: Christian Petzold’s Afire first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/13/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
"Why is she worried?" "Because of the forest fires." The Match Factory has revealed the first promo trailer for the German romantic drama Afire, the latest movie made by acclaimed German filmmaker Christian Petzold. He is best known for his films Jerichow, Barbara, Phoenix, Transit, and Undine previously, and his latest is also premiering at the 2023 Berlin Film Festival starting this week (hence the new trailer). Afire, also known as Roter Himmel (or Red Sky) in Germany, is about a group of friends staying at a holiday home by the Baltic Sea where emotions run high as the parched forest around them catches fire. It's obviously a love story about Paula Beer, as it seems every single guy in this trailer is madly in love with her. Natürlich. The main cast also includes Thomas Schubert, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs, and Matthias Brandt. Another earnest romantic film about the power of love from Petzold.
- 2/13/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
In case you missed the Super Bowl spot for Christian Petzold’s Afire during last night’s big game, the first full trailer for the German auteur’s new film has now arrived. On a streak like few other directors and marking the second part of his elemental trilogy, which kicked off with water in 2020’s Undine, he now tackles––of course––fire before a subsequent feature about the earth. Reuniting him with Paula Beer, the cast also includes Thomas Schubert, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs, and Matthias Brandt, and now ahead of a Berlinale premiere, the first trailer has arrived.
“Leon and Felix’s plan was to spend the summer together in a holiday home on the Baltic coast,” reads the official synopsis. “They wanted to be there as friends but also to work – one on his second book, the other assembling his art portfolio. But Nadja and Devid are also there,...
“Leon and Felix’s plan was to spend the summer together in a holiday home on the Baltic coast,” reads the official synopsis. “They wanted to be there as friends but also to work – one on his second book, the other assembling his art portfolio. But Nadja and Devid are also there,...
- 2/13/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The German sales company’s slate also includes titles by Margarethe von Trotta, Emily Atef, Tatiana Huezo.
The Match Factory has finalised a seven-strong slate of titles playing at the 2023 Berlinale, on which it represents world sales rights.
The company’s lineup includes four titles in Berlin Competition, including German director Christian Petzold’s latest film Afire, about a group of friends in a holiday home by the Baltic Sea where emotions run high as the parched forest around them catches fire.
The film stars Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs and Matthias Brandt and is produced by...
The Match Factory has finalised a seven-strong slate of titles playing at the 2023 Berlinale, on which it represents world sales rights.
The company’s lineup includes four titles in Berlin Competition, including German director Christian Petzold’s latest film Afire, about a group of friends in a holiday home by the Baltic Sea where emotions run high as the parched forest around them catches fire.
The film stars Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs and Matthias Brandt and is produced by...
- 1/23/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
The Berlin Film Festival on Monday unveiled the titles selected for its official competition as well as its sidebar Encounters competitive section.
A total of 18 films have been selected for the international competition with highlights including Christian Petzold’s latest film Roter Himmel (Afire), Margarethe von Trotta directing Phantom Thread star Vicky Krieps in Ingeborg Bachmann — Journey Into the Desert, and Philippe Garrel returns with a new feature titled The Plough.
Scroll down for the full lineup.
This morning the festival also revealed an extra special screening: Actor and filmmaker Sean Penn will debut a documentary titled Superpower, a film shot in Ukraine last year at the outbreak of Russia’s invasion and follows president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Berlin Film Festival takes place February 16-26.
Organizers have already announced more than 100 titles across sidebars spanning Panorama, Forum, and Berlinale Special. The festival had initially done a good job of increasing...
A total of 18 films have been selected for the international competition with highlights including Christian Petzold’s latest film Roter Himmel (Afire), Margarethe von Trotta directing Phantom Thread star Vicky Krieps in Ingeborg Bachmann — Journey Into the Desert, and Philippe Garrel returns with a new feature titled The Plough.
Scroll down for the full lineup.
This morning the festival also revealed an extra special screening: Actor and filmmaker Sean Penn will debut a documentary titled Superpower, a film shot in Ukraine last year at the outbreak of Russia’s invasion and follows president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Berlin Film Festival takes place February 16-26.
Organizers have already announced more than 100 titles across sidebars spanning Panorama, Forum, and Berlinale Special. The festival had initially done a good job of increasing...
- 1/23/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
The Berlin International Film Festival unveiled the competition lineup for its 2023 edition on Monday morning, naming the 18 movies that will compete for the coveted Gold and Silver Bears at the 73rd Berlinale.
Berlinale executive director Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic director Carlo Chatrian presented a very international and arthouse-heavy lineup, with a strong focus on politically-charged cinema.
In a late addition, Superpower, Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufman’s documentary on Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Russian invasion of the country and the ongoing war, will have its world premiere in Berlin’s out-of-competition Berlinale Special section. The doc, made for Vice Studios, Aldamisa Entertainment and Fifth Season, is being sold internationally by Fifth Season.
Berlin 2023, taking place a year after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, will have a major focus on Ukraine. Even the festival’s official pin will be in the Ukraine colors of blue and yellow.
In competition, German auteur...
Berlinale executive director Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic director Carlo Chatrian presented a very international and arthouse-heavy lineup, with a strong focus on politically-charged cinema.
In a late addition, Superpower, Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufman’s documentary on Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Russian invasion of the country and the ongoing war, will have its world premiere in Berlin’s out-of-competition Berlinale Special section. The doc, made for Vice Studios, Aldamisa Entertainment and Fifth Season, is being sold internationally by Fifth Season.
Berlin 2023, taking place a year after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, will have a major focus on Ukraine. Even the festival’s official pin will be in the Ukraine colors of blue and yellow.
In competition, German auteur...
- 1/23/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Afire
So deserving and so close at cracking our top 10, the great German filmmaker Christian Petzold continues at his break-neck speed of quantity and quality. Production on Afire (formerly going by The Red Sky) took place last summer in the month of June in Germany. Paula Beer returns for a second outing with Petzold, and we also find Thomas Schubert, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs and Matthias Brandt in what is the second part in fairy tale trilogy and focuses on passion between men. Schramm Film Koerner & Weber’s Florian Koerner von Gustorf and Michael Weber produced.
Gist: A small holiday house by the baltic sea.…...
So deserving and so close at cracking our top 10, the great German filmmaker Christian Petzold continues at his break-neck speed of quantity and quality. Production on Afire (formerly going by The Red Sky) took place last summer in the month of June in Germany. Paula Beer returns for a second outing with Petzold, and we also find Thomas Schubert, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs and Matthias Brandt in what is the second part in fairy tale trilogy and focuses on passion between men. Schramm Film Koerner & Weber’s Florian Koerner von Gustorf and Michael Weber produced.
Gist: A small holiday house by the baltic sea.…...
- 1/19/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
A filmmaker with multiple irons in the fire has decided to go where the glow is. Thanks to our friends over at The Film Stage we learn that German master filmmaker Christian Petzold has begun production on The Red Sky — a gay-themed romance and the second instalment in a fairy tale trilogy that began with 2020’s Undine (read review).
Returning to the fold we find muse Paula Beer who’ll be supported by actors Enno Trebs, Thomas Schubert, Jonas Dassler and Langston Uibel. The summer project is set up near the Baltic Sea not far from the peninsula of Ahrenshoop located at the northern tip of Germany.…...
Returning to the fold we find muse Paula Beer who’ll be supported by actors Enno Trebs, Thomas Schubert, Jonas Dassler and Langston Uibel. The summer project is set up near the Baltic Sea not far from the peninsula of Ahrenshoop located at the northern tip of Germany.…...
- 7/5/2022
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Back in the fall of 2020, when his fairytale Undine was making the festival rounds, German filmmaker Christian Petzold revealed he was working on a new project entitled The Red Sky, saying he would wait until the horrors of the pandemic lessened to make it, adding, “It’s also something to do with love and kissing and homosexual love too. I want to see bodies, and so on. I can’t do it with masks and so I want to do it for real.”
Now, the production, has commenced, according to a new update. Along with Paula Beer leading that cast, it’s also revealed that Enno Trebs (Lost Ones) is part of the ensemble while Thomas Schubert (Breathing), Jonas Dassler (The Golden Glove), and Langston Uibel (Unorthodox) are also attached. A new synopsis, auto-translated from German, has also arrived:
A hot, dry summer, like so many in recent years. Forest fires are uncontrollable.
Now, the production, has commenced, according to a new update. Along with Paula Beer leading that cast, it’s also revealed that Enno Trebs (Lost Ones) is part of the ensemble while Thomas Schubert (Breathing), Jonas Dassler (The Golden Glove), and Langston Uibel (Unorthodox) are also attached. A new synopsis, auto-translated from German, has also arrived:
A hot, dry summer, like so many in recent years. Forest fires are uncontrollable.
- 7/5/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Netflix has commissioned a third season of How To Sell Drugs Online (Fast), which the streamer has confirmed is its most-watched German original series.
The show, which follows two teenagers who inadvertently become large scale drug dealers, is also popular in Italy, France, Brazil, the service said.
Created by Philipp Käßbohrer and Matthias Murmann, the series first premiered in May 2019 and its second season debuted last week on July 21.
Käßbohrer and Murmann will return as showrunners for s3 with Arne Feldhusen returning to direct. Maximilian Mundt (Moritz), Danilo Kamperidis (Lenny), Damian Hardung (Dan), Lena Klenke (Lisa) and Lena Urzendowsky are all returning as key cast members, with Langston Uibel a new addition. S3 is set to go into production in and around Cologne.
The show, which follows two teenagers who inadvertently become large scale drug dealers, is also popular in Italy, France, Brazil, the service said.
Created by Philipp Käßbohrer and Matthias Murmann, the series first premiered in May 2019 and its second season debuted last week on July 21.
Käßbohrer and Murmann will return as showrunners for s3 with Arne Feldhusen returning to direct. Maximilian Mundt (Moritz), Danilo Kamperidis (Lenny), Damian Hardung (Dan), Lena Klenke (Lisa) and Lena Urzendowsky are all returning as key cast members, with Langston Uibel a new addition. S3 is set to go into production in and around Cologne.
- 7/28/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
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