TAKE #12 EN

#12 SOUTH TYROL

M A G A Z I N E F O R F I L M P R O F E S S I O N A LS 2 0 2 1

IN FOCUS

Young and Wild

#IDMFILMFUNDING

Innovative Series Production: The South Tyrol Shoot of Wild Republic

PRODUCTION

DOSSIER

From Street Urchin to Nobel Prize Winner: Resilient’s Incredible-Yet-True Story

Innovation & Technology: The Digital Revolution Taking Place Behind the Camera

A magazine by

Issue – Year

IDM FILM FUND & COMMISSION

#12 2 0 2 1

Panalight Südtirol

Viale Druso, 313/b · 39100 Bolzano (Bz) MOB. +39 366.9509059 · TEL. +39 0471 539862 panalightsudtirol@panalight.it

www.panalight.it

distributore esclusivo per l’Italia

FOREWORD

DEAR FILM PROFESSIONALS,

We look back on a year in which the Covid-19 pandemic has hit the film industry hard: Many productions were interrupted, and festivals and markets had to give way to virtual methods of communication.

But 2020 has also brought to light good things: resilience, creativity and industry cohesion. New modes of communication, production and ­consumption. And a strong sense of responsibility for the safety of everyone on set.

In the 2020 production year, which was truncated as a result of the pandemic, IDM nonetheless succeeded in financing 18 projects with an estimated territorial effect of about 6.3 million euros. There were 190 shooting days carried out in the film location: exciting productions that South Tyrolean professionals played an active role in shaping. For example, Resilient – a biopic about Mario Capecchi, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine, who grew up as a street child in Bolzano during World War II – is an incredibly touching, true story.

Director Andrea De Sica opted a second time for South Tyrol as a location, for his feature film Non mi uccidere, presented in TAKE #11. The television film Il Pastore took advantage of the impressive locations in South Tyrol and featured local actress Katia Fellin. Finally, the streaming

series Wild Republic was shot in the fall: high Alpine locations and a sudden onset of winter provided challenges that the crew, which included South Tyrolean members, was more than capable of meeting.

Reacting flexibly to new situations and finding creative solutions quickly: That’s the key strength of a film crew, and of the industry as a whole. While the Covid pandemic is still in full swing, these skills give us the confidence to face the coming months. This is also thanks to good news that kicked off the year: South Tyrolean director Ronny Trocker was in competition at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival with Human Factors, and director Nancy Camaldo was SIX for COMPETITIONS AND PRIZES nominated the Max Ophüls Prize with Windstill. Congratulations!

Sincerely yours, FOUR INTERNATIONAL JURIES

GRUPPE GUT

13.–18.04.2021

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Welcome

filmfestival.bz.it

FINAL TOUCH #6 FOCUS EUROPA: CZECH REPUBLIC LOCAL ARTISTS MADE IN SÜDTIROL ALTO ADIGE LANDSHUT SHORT FILM FESTIVAL MEETS BFFB Vera Leonardelli D I R E C T O R B U S I N E S S D E V E LO P M E N T I D M S Ü DT I R O L

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IMPRINT

CO N T E N T S

MAGAZINE FOR FILM P R O F E S S I O N A LS # 1 2 2021 PUBLISHER IDM Südtirol – Alto Adige Film Fund & Commission Via Alto Adige 60 39100 Bolzano T +39 0471 094 274 film@idm-suedtirol.com film.idm-suedtirol.com Facebook: idmfilmfunding Instagram: idmfilmfunding

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EXECUTIVE EDITOR Birgit Oberkofler MANAGING EDITORS Alessia De Paoli, Barbara Weithaler CONCEPT Exlibris www.exlibris.bz.it EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Florian Krautkrämer EDITOR, PUBLISHING MANAGER Valeria Dejaco/Exlibris EDITORIAL DESIGN Nina Ullrich www.designnomadin.com ART DIRECTION Philipp Aukenthaler www.hypemylimbus.com TRANSLATIONS & PROOFREADING Exlibris (Claudia Amor, Valeria Dejaco, Helene Dorner, Cassandra Han, Milena Macaluso, Charlotte Marston, Federica Romanini, The Word Artists) PHOTOS If not credited otherwise: IDM COVER PHOTO Lailaps Pictures/X Filme Creative Pool (Luis Zeno Kuhn)

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O N LO C AT I O N Three Perspectives on South Tyrol

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NEWS Shot in South Tyrol / Green Shooting Workshop / Obituary: Valentina Pedicini / Three Questions for … / Short Film Workshop / Facts & Figures / Rising Star / New Faces / Top 5

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FLASHBACK 2020: Successes / Funded Projects

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42

PRODUCTION #3: W H Y N OT Y O U

Interview: Director Evi Romen on her First Feature, Religion, and Masculinity DORIS POSCH

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LO C A L TA L E N T S

An Optimistic Renaissance Man: Assistant Director Giuseppe Tedeschi MARIANNA KASTLUNGER

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STUDIO VISIT

PRODUCTION #1: RESILIENT From Street

Cine Chromatix Italy: PostProduction and VFX Studio

Urchin to Nobel Prize Winner: The Incredible-Yet-True Story of Mario Capecchi GABRIELE NIOLA

MARIANNA KASTLUNGER

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Donatella Palermo on the Documentary as an Ethically Valuable Art Form MARGHERITA BORDINO

ILLUSTRATIONS Oscar Diodoro (34–40), freund grafic design (57)

PRODUCTION #2: WILD REPUBLIC Streamers and

PRINTER Dialog Spa Via A. Amonn 29 39042 Bressanone www.dialog.bz

FABIAN TIETKE

Public Broadcasters: Production Partners for a High-Concept Series

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DOSSIER

Film Is Technology. The Digital Revolution Behind the Camera FLORIAN KRAUTKRÄMER

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54 57

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P R O D U C E R TA L K S

S P OT L I G H T

Wilfried Gufler C LO S I N G C R E D I T S

Carlo Sironi Answers the TAKE Questionnaire / Coming Soon: TAKE #13

E D I TO R I A L

IDM

TAKE #12

Film Fund & Commission

During the past year, we’ve all witnessed first-hand the advantages and, often enough, the drawbacks of advancing digitalization: Zoom conferencing, smart working from the kitchen table, and streaming services that are not always a comforting substitute for a dimly lit cinema auditorium.

But the digitalization of cinema goes beyond that: It is a revolution not only in the habits of the audience, but also in production.

Technologies are changing faster and faster, so quickly that even equipment suppliers have to do research and development in order to keep up. TAKE editor-in-chief Florian Krautkrämer examines this behind-­ the-camera digital revolution in his dossier, starting on page 34.

Naturally, this also includes the postproduction and VFX industry, where new technologies form the very foundation of work. In South Tyrol, a young and innovative team works to create perfect film effects out of a former pasta factory: Read about our visit to the Cine Chromatix Italy studios starting on page 50.

Two wonderful protagonists of this issue are South Tyrolean director Evi Romen, who presented her first

feature film Why Not You in 2020, and the Oscar-nominated documentary producer Donatella Palermo. Their interviews, starting on p. 42 and p. 54 respectively, offer insights into the work of two film professionals, each of whom has a unique perspective on the world and the industry.

There are also portraits of local industry members: the congenial assistant director Giuseppe Tedeschi, the soulful actress Katia Fellin, enterprising producer Wilfried Gufler, and the vibrant costume designer Simone Toso. I am so pleased to introduce you to these talented South Tyrolean film professionals!

Last but by no means least, I’d like to draw your attention to some initiatives that we were able to implement in 2020, despite all the hurdles: We held another Green Shooting workshop and a production workshop with Maia, as well as the FINAL TOUCH program and a course on short films – all via videoconference. Let’s hear it for digitalization!

Warm regards,

Birgit Oberkofler H E A D F I L M F U N D & CO M M I S S I O N

CONTACT IDM Südtirol – Alto Adige Film Fund & Commission BIRGIT OBERKOFLER Head Film Fund & Commission T +39 0471 094 277 birgit.oberkofler@idm-suedtirol.com RENATE RANZI Coordinator Film Location (maternity leave) T +39 0471 094 252 renate.ranzi@idm-suedtirol.com CLAUDIA HAUG Coordinator Film Location (maternity leave substitute for Renate Ranzi) T +39 0471 094 246 claudia.haug@idm-suedtirol.com

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DEAR READER,

EVA PERWANGER Film Funding T +39 0471 094 282 eva.perwanger@idm-suedtirol.com BEATRIX DALSASS Film Funding T +39 0471 094 272 beatrix.dalsass@idm-suedtirol.com ALESSIA DE PAOLI PR & Film Location T +39 0471 094 266 alessia.depaoli@idm-suedtirol.com BARBARA WEITHALER PR & Film Location T +39 0471 094 254 barbara.weithaler@idm-suedtirol.com SOPHY PIZZININI Film Location T +39 0471 094 279 sophy.pizzinini@idm-suedtirol.com LUISA GIULIANI Film Commission T +39 0471 094 294 luisa.giuliani@idm-suedtirol.com

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O N LO C AT I O N

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FILM

D I R E C TO R

Non mi uccidere (2021)

Andrea De Sica

LO C AT I O N

Florian Mohn / www.cinealp.com

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Europa-Novacella urban quarter, Bolzano

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O N LO C AT I O N

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SERIES

D I R E C TO R

Der Bozen Krimi

Thomas Nennstiel

LO C AT I O N

Florian Mohn / www.cinealp.com

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Castelfeder biotope, Montan

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O N LO C AT I O N

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FILM

D I R E C TO R

Head Full of Honey (2018)

Til Schweiger

LO C AT I O N

Florian Mohn / www.cinealp.com

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Franciscan Friary, Bolzano

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NEWS

S H OT I N S O U T H T Y R O L

F I L M CO M M I S S I O N

Ein Sommer in Südtirol (2021)

Green Shooting Workshop

S H OT I N S O U T H T Y R O L

Franziska Gasser (Maike Jüttendonk), a master vintner, travels to South Tyrol to look after her parents’ winery after her father Josef (Harald Krassnitzer, r.) is involved in a car accident. She is not happy to return home, in part due to long-standing conflicts: between her and her parents, between German speakers and Italians, and between her father and his arch-enemy Roberto Antonelli (Michele Oliveri, l.). Then again, there is Roberto’s charming son Marco... The television movie Ein Sommer in Südtirol, which forms part of the Herzkino series, will be broadcast on ZDF in 2021 and was shot in the autumn of 2020 in Bolzano, Brixen, Merano and the surrounding area. Karola Meeder directed, based on a script by Thomas Kirdorf.

ZDF/Stefan Ditner

Summer Love

G R E E N S H O OT I N G W O R K S H O P

Oscar Diodoro

M. Tessaro

Shooting Green in South Tyrol

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“The film industry is more than ready right now for greener film sets,” said sustainability expert Philip Gassmann in our TAKE #11 interview. Accordingly, there was a lot of interest in the multi-part Green Consultant training course that Gassmann held for IDM in 2020. “The first part of the course, held in the spring, focused on basic knowledge about how the various departments can set and maintain ecological standards,” says Renate Ranzi, the Film Location Coordinator at IDM Film Fund & Commission. The second part, which took place in November and was again a webinar, became even more concrete: “We spoke with the nine participants about the special features South Tyrol has to offer in terms of sustainability, and about how they, as green consultants, will advise producers who will shoot here in the future.”

Looking forward, these new sustainability experts are to assist those productions that wish to carry out their filming in a climate-friendly manner. The funding guidelines of South Tyrol’s film subsidies will provide for this option starting in 2021: Those who select the “green option” when applying for funding – something that will also factor in to the funding decision – must take a number of criteria into account when filming in South Tyrol, such as using renewable energy on set and climate-friendly transportation. To that end, interested productions must hire a local green consultant. The course also included discussions with service providers to ensure that they, too, are prepared to meet the needs of green production. An independent institute commissioned by IDM will check whether the production complies with the criteria.

“We’ve noticed that many productions are already interested in working in a more sustainable way on set,” explains Ranzi. IDM’s new “green shooting” certificate is designed to reward this willingness to lead the way in green filming, with the help of the new, local sustainability consultants.

OBITUARY

VALENTINA PEDICINI

1978–2020 OBITUARY

Valentina Pedicini 1978 – 2020 DEAR VALE,

We’re so used to always expecting new stories from you that even now there’s nothing we can do but wait, incredulous and stunned, but somehow also confident.

And deeply moved.

Riccardo Ghilardi

Since your very first steps in the world of film, which we were fortunate enough to walk alongside you, you’ve been a leading lady. You were always simply there: extraordinary, ever-present, convincing.

TA K E #1 2

When we were together for the last time, we laughed and laughed. It was because your lunar horoscope hit the nail so exactly on the head: It said that you are sensitive, restless and ­always curious to discover unknown worlds. And there was more: Leading personalities from art and media are often found under this zodiac sign.

Now you’ve embarked for the most unknown of all worlds. How will you manage to open it up for us?

Knowing that you were surrounded by love until the very end is only a small consolation in view of your departure. As are the films that you leave us as memories: works about faith, love and the depths of humanity.

You will be sorely missed.

VALENTINA PEDICINI was born in 1978 in Brindisi, Apulia. After studying linguistics and literature at university, she earned a degree in documentary directing at the ZeLIG School for Documentary, Television and New Media in Bolzano, where she made the films Mio sovversivo amore, Pater Noster and her graduation project My Marlboro City. In 2013, she won the Best Italian Documentary Award at the Rome Film Festival with her first feature-length documentary Dal profondo (From the Depths) about Italy’s last – and only – female miner, who worked in a Sardinian coal mine. Pedicini’s feature debut, Dove cadono le ombre (Where Shadows Fall) is about a dark chapter in Swiss history, the attempted genocide of the Yenish people, and screened at the Venice Film Festival in 2017. She returned to documentaries in 2019 with Faith, a black-and-white portrait of a sectarian community, which screened at the 2019 IDFA and the 2020 Berlinale Critics’ Week, bringing her international acclaim. Valentina Pedicini passed away because of an illness on November 20, 2020, in Rome.

GEORG ZELLER, a filmmaker and writer, was a tutor at Bolzano’s ZeLIG film school during Valentina Pedicini’s student days and has been friends with her ever since.

This obituary originally appeared in salto.bz, an online magazine.

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NEWS

THREE QUESTIONS FOR ...

F I L M LO C AT I O N

Graziella Bildesheim

Short Film Workshop

THREE QUESTIONS FOR…

Graziella Bildesheim, Maia Workshops Founder A member of the David di Donatello Italian Film Academy, Bildesheim represented Italy on the Board of the European Academy for the two-year term 2018-19 and is the founder of Maia, a training and coaching program for emerging producers.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, production and training in the film industry are currently lying idle. How can producers continue their training in this difficult phase?

GB Training in production is an ongoing lifelong process.

The pandemic has forced producers to react to practical limitations; on the other hand, there have been new and diverse sources for creative inspiration: Think tanks have been set up online within the modified programs of film festivals and markets; masterclasses and panels have animated the debate on what films we want to produce, and how we will get our audience to see them. We should take advantage of these opportunities to learn to cope with this changing world.

1.

How can producers be supported so that they can get back on track as quickly as possible this year?

GB Quite a few producers have started shooting again as soon as it was possible, with sanitary and financial safety measures put in place. This has been possible especially in contexts where funding bodies are close to their beneficiaries, where they understand their needs and can rapidly adapt to ensure support in changing circumstances.

2.

The Maia Workshops connect creative people from all over Europe. Where do you see the greatest opportunities in cross-border collaboration?

GB There are undeniable advantages in co-producing when the stories we want to tell call for cross-border cooperation, but co-production is a complex business. It takes both a shared vision and strong relationships between producers to navigate it successfully. The added value of our workshops lies precisely in this: Geared as they are toward emerging producers, they supply a safe environment in which people can experiment and learn to be confident in their choices while getting to meet an invaluable network of peers.

3.

www.maiaworkshops.org

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The short film workshop held via Zoom (top), instructors Adam Selo and Olga Torrico (bottom)

SHORT AND SWEET

What is it about short films that makes them so appealing? Adam Selo says it’s due to “a freedom to experiment with novel forms and cinematic languages, and also greater independence for filmmakers in comparison with feature-length films.” Selo runs Sayonara Film, a production company that specializes in short films, together with Olga Torrico. Together with screenwriters Sofia Assirelli and Zsuzsanna Kiràly, Selo and Torrico conducted a short-film workshop organized by IDM in November and December 2020. Nineteen aspiring filmmakers and producers, eight of whom had their own shorts in the works, participated in the online sessions.

“We were really impressed by the participants’ projects,” says Selo. “They all had a very fresh approach, a willingness to take a chance on something new, and an impetus on the part of the creators to tell their stories.”

The instructor underlines that a warm relationship with the participants developed, despite distance learning: “We’re still in contact and look forward to following the projects to completion.” The workshop included masterclasses on production and distribution, also conducted by Selo and Torrico. “Shooting a short film isn’t difficult from a technical perspective; anyone can do it nowadays. The challenge is to achieve a high level of storytelling and acting,” says Selo. This is the way to enter the short-film market, a niche that is often seen merely as a stepping-stone, he says.

“Which is a shame, because it’s an exciting market with an important cultural dimension and economic opportunities as well.” Info: film.idm-suedtirol.com

FA C T S & F I G U R E S

R I S I N G S TA R

190

Simone Toso

FA C T S & F I G U R E S

Shooting Days in South Tyrol A look back at the 2020 film year reveals: A total of 190 shooting days were carried out in the film location of South Tyrol. This figure reflects the long Covid-19 lockdown throughout Italy in the spring. However, there was also a long and labor-intensive summer of shooting, during which most of the planned productions were filmed and postponed projects were resumed – with the necessary safety and hygiene requirements implemented on set, of course.

190 R I S I N G S TA R

Spies and Supervillains

LANDMARK MEDIA/Alamy

Simone Toso dressed Ralph Fiennes (bottom l.) for the new Bond film

In 2021 the new Bond film No Time to Die will in all probability be finally released in cinemas, after a long wait and a turbulent journey: a journey Simone Carlo Toniato Toso, a native of Bolzano, was part of. Working under Suttirat Anne Larlarb (Slumdog Millionaire, American Gods), as principal costume stand-by he made sure that Ralph Fiennes and Christoph Waltz were dressed perfectly for their roles as spies and supervillains. Toso, who lives in London, previously worked as a costume assistant with renowned names such as Cristina Sopeña and Leesa Evans on Zoolander 2 (2015), and in 2016 supported the team of Oscar winner Lindy Hemming on Wonder Woman.

For Toso, it all began in his university town of Turin, where, after graduating cum laude with a degree in set design from the Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti art school, he established himself professionally. In 2014, an offer arrived to work on The Avengers: Age of Ultron in the neighboring Aosta Valley; he accepted immediately. During this time he met designer and costume supervisor Stefano de Nardis and worked with Oscar-winning costume designer Alexandra Byrne (Elizabeth – The Golden Age). Toso impressed both of them, and word of his dedication and passion quickly spread. The South Tyro­lean’s latest project was working under costume designer Liza Bracey (Yesterday, The Girl with All the Gifts), assisting lead actor Jack Bannon in the Batman prequel series P ­ ennyworth (2020–21).

TA K E # 1 2

NEWS

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NEWS

N E W FA C E S

Katia Fellin

Martin Rattini

Puria Safary

Whether as a prosecutor in Wild Republic or in the mafia film Il Pastore (below), Katia Fellin delves into the darker side of South Tyrol.

N E W FA C E S

Katia Fellin Katia Fellin has always been adaptable. She was born in Trento but grew up in the South Tyrolean village of Oberbozen, where she quickly learned South Tyrolean dialect in addition to her native languages, German and Italian, later adding English and Spanish. It was a talent for languages that stood the 28-yearold in good stead when it came to playing the role of prosecutor Ines Tomasi in the streaming series Wild Republic (► Production Report p. 28) which was filmed recently in South Tyrol. “My character speaks several languages, including local dialect,” Fellin says. “That gives her a more powerful connection to the story.”

The high-altitude filming locations of the MagentaTV series had a similar effect, she’s convinced: “The further you go into the South Tyrolean mountain landscapes, the more shadowy, and even powerful, are the aspects that emerge,” says the ­Berliner-by-choice, who has spent years in front of the camera for TV and cinema productions and was an ensemble member of the Mecklenburg State Theater in Schwerin in 2018/19.

Things could have turned out very differently: After graduating from school, Fellin initially studied geotechnology and mathematics. She draws surprisingly exciting parallels between the natural sciences and acting: “In my studies, I had to be very creative,” she explains. It wasn’t about mathematical engineering and fixed formulas, but about theories: about diverse, self-developed paths to a certain goal, the meaningfulness of which she first had to prove. It was a way of thinking that Fellin also applied to creating her characters. “This is achieved through trial and error, through an almost scientific collection of movements, emotions, gestures and experiences,” she says, describing her approach, which is different for each character – until she finds the right formula. Just like math.

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FILMOGRAPHY 2021: Il Pastore TV Series 2021: Wild Republic TV Series 2020: Der Palast TV Miniseries 2019: Tatort Dresden: Die Zeit ist ­g ekommen TV Series 2018: Il ladro di giorni Feature Film 2016: A Hidden Life Feature Film

NEWS

TO P 5

Film Portraits #shotinsouthtyrol TO P 5

Five Documentary Films about Extraordinary People

Becoming Me (2019) Martine De Biasi PRODUCER Helios sustainable films (IT) LOCATIONS Überetsch region (St. Michael, Kaltern, Tramin, Girlan, Montiggl) STORY Marian, a young man from South Tyrol, was once called M ­ arion. In an ­intimate portrait, his former girlfriend traces his journey towards his true self.

FILM

The Fifth Point of the Compass (2017) Martin Prinoth PRODUCER Miramonte Film (IT), Against Reality Pictures (DE) LOCATIONS Seiser Alm Alpine pasture, St. Ulrich, Meran, Bolzano STORY A young South Tyrolean travels to Brazil in 2009 in search of his birth mother. On the way back, he dies in an Air France crash over the Atlantic.

MediaArt

DIRECTOR

DIRECTOR

Ama Dablam – Holy Mountain (2018) Reinhold Messner PRODUCER Tempest Film Produktion und Verleih (DE) LOCATIONS Sulden STORY An ice avalanche hits four alpinists on the 6,814-meter-high Ama Dablam in 1979, among them Everest pioneer Sir Edmund Hillary’s son.

Against Reality Pictures

FILM

FILM

Monika Hauser – A Portrait (2016) Evi Oberkofler, Edith Eisenstecken PRODUCER Thali Media (DE) LOCATIONS Vinschgau valley, Bolzano STORY A cinematic portrait of South Tyrolean doctor Monika Hauser, who helps women traumatized by war through her organization Medica M ­ ondiale.

Thali Media

Viktoria Savs – Die Kaisersoldatin (2018) Karin Duregger PRODUCER WEGA-Filmproduktiongesellschaft (AT) LOCATIONS Meran, Dolomites, Sexten, Toblach, Fischleintal valley STORY Viktoria Savs, who fought disguised as a man on the Dolomite Front in World War I, was later styled by the Nazis as a “girl hero.”

WEGA

Lars Jacobsen

DIRECTOR

FILM

DIRECTORS

FILM

DIRECTOR

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FLASHBACK

2020

Successes

Why Not You

Flo Rainer/Amour Fou

The debut feature of South Tyrolean director Evi Romen (original title: Hochwald), produced by Amour Fou Vienna, won the Golden Eye for Best Film in the Focus Competition section of the Zurich Film Festival. It also screened as a co-premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights Festival, the Viennale and Torino Film Festival. IDM funded its development as well as the production.

Neue Visionen Filmverleih

Ahead of Me the South Pepe Danquart’s 2020 road movie (original title: Vor mir der Süden) had its world premiere at the Five Lakes Festival and screened at DOC LA Los Angeles Documentary Film Festival. A co-production of Albolina Film (South Tyrol) and Bittersuess Pictures (Berlin) funded by IDM in the amount of € 65,000, the film follows Italy’s coast in the footsteps of director and philosopher Pier Paolo Pasolini.

Sole

Kino produzioni

Director Carlo Sironi’s drama, about a petty criminal and a young pregnant woman who wants to sell her baby, won the European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI Film Critics Award at the 2020 European Film Awards. The director was also nominated for Italy’s David di Donatello award. The Italian-Polish co-production by Kino produzioni (with Rai Cinema) and Lava Films received € 20,000 in development funding from IDM.

Marco Nagel/ZDF

Eine harte Tour

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This made-for-TV movie, broadcast in 2020 and ­ roduced by Germany’s Roxy Film (Annie Brunner) and p WDR for ARD, won the German Television Award in the categories Best Director Fiction (Isabel Kleefeld) and Best Screenplay Fiction (Dominique Lorenz). South Tyrolean Anna Unterberger (left, in the photo) plays one of the leads in the tragicomedy, which was filmed in the Dolomites.

IDM funded the production in the amount of € 300,000.

FLASHBACK

2020

Funded Projects

Call #2

N O N M I U CC I D E R E

GEGEN DAS SCHWEIGEN – BREAKING THE SILENCE

Romantic horror-fantasy film.

Director: Andrea De Sica Screenplay: Gianni Romoli, Andrea De Sica, GRAMS collective Production: Vivo film (IT) Production Funding: € 450,000

I L PA S TO R E

Thriller about wine, murder and the mafia.

Director: Andreas Prochaska Screenplay: Andreas Prochaska, ­G rzegorz Muskala Production: Good friends Filmproduktion (DE) & Satel Film (AT) Production Funding: € 300,000

D I E C I G I O R N I CO N B A B B O N ATA L E

A tumultuous Christmas comedy.

Director: Alessandro Genovesi Screenplay: Alessandro Genovesi, ­G iovanni Bognetti Production: Colorado Film (IT) Production Funding: € 100,000

THE DEEP HOUSE

Horror film about a young couple trapped in a submerged house.

Director: Julien Maury, Alexandre Bustillo Screenplay: Julien Maury, Alexandre Bustillo Production: Radar Films (FR) Production Funding: € 90,000

T I L L S L E E P D O U S PA R T

Drama between a dream and reality.

Director: Peter Dalle Screenplay: Peter Dalle Production: Unlimited Stories (SE) Production Funding: € 40,000

W I L D N I S E U R O PA – T I E R E D E R S U P E R L AT I V E

Documentary series about Europe’s fastest, biggest, rarest animals.

Director: Veronika Kaserer Treatment: Nadine Neumann, Veronika Kaserer Production: Gebrüder Beetz (DE) Production Funding: € 25,000

GASBARRA

Documentary about the German-Italian writer Felix Gasbarra.

Director: Martin Hanni Treatment: Gabriel Heim Production: MediaArt (South Tyrol) Development Funding: € 27,000

Documentary about sexual abuse.

Director: Georg Lembergh Treatment: Georg Lembergh Production: Albolina Film (South Tyrol) Production Funding: € 80,000

EVA MARIA

Documentary about a disabled woman’s desire to have a child.

Director: Lukas Ladner Treatment: Lukas Ladner Production: Golden Girls Filmprod. & Filmservices & Bunny Beach Film (AT) Production Funding: € 12,000

FREMDENVERKEHRT

TV miniseries about tourist development in the village of St. Pauls.

Screenplay: Aleksandra Kumorek, Gernot Werner Gruber Production: Albolina Film (South Tyrol) & Tellux-Film (DE) Development Funding: € 60,000

WIE WEIT GEHEN

Feature about the life story of ALS ­s ufferer Sarah Braun.

Director: Sabine Derflinger Screenplay: Judith Doppler Production: Helios Sustainable Films (South Tyrol) & kurt mayer film (AT) Development Funding: € 34,000

Call #3 DAS FLIEGENDE KLASSENZIMMER Modern adaptation of The Flying Classroom by Erich Kästner.

Director: Carolina Hellsgård Screenplay: Carolina Hellsgård, Gerrit Hermans Production: UFA Fiction & Warner Bros.

(DE) Production Funding: € 500,000

H E R Z O G PA R K

TV miniseries about four women who plan a murder together.

Director: Jochen Alexander Freydank Screenplay: Regina Dietl, Nadine Keil, Enno Reese Production: Letterbox Filmproduktion & Amalia Film (DE) Production Funding: € 450,000

SCHNEE

Mystery-thriller series about a crime in a mountain village.

Director: Barbara Albert, Esther Rauch Screenplay: Michael Taschek Production: Witcraft Filmproduktion (AT) & handwritten Pictures (DE) Production Funding: € 500,000

SISTERS

Family drama about two sisters in an ­o rphanage and their adoption.

Director: Linda Olte Screenplay: Linda Olte Production: Albolina Film (South Tyrol) & Fenixfilm (LV) Production Funding: € 190,000

PERSONAL

Documentary about migrant women working in South Tyrol’s tourism industry.

Director: Carmen Trocker Treatment: Carmen Trocker Production: Bagarrefilm (South Tyrol) & Peter Kerekes (SK) Production Funding: € 100,000

RISPET

Feature film about the archaic rules of a mountain village in Trentino.

Director: Cecilia Bozza Wolf Screenplay: Cecilia Bozza Wolf, Raffaele Pizzatti Sertorelli Production: Stefilm International (IT) Production Funding: € 100,000

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Call #1

VERMIGLIO

Historical drama about three sisters during World War II. Director: Maura Delpero Screenplay: Maura Delpero Production: Cinedora (IT) Development Funding: € 42,000

C I A O C I A O A U S TO KY O

Documentary about a Japanese family in a foreign culture.

Director: Martin Telser Treatment: Martin Telser Production: Ammira (South Tyrol) Development Funding: € 26,000

SOUTH TYROL: THE LAST R E D O U BT

Documentary film about SS war criminals who escaped through South Tyrol.

Director: Aaron Young Treatment: James Holland Production: Enrosadira Pictures (South Tyrol) Development Funding: € 20,000

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LO P RR OEDM U CI P TS I OUNM # 1

LO F I LRME M I P S U M

LO D I RREECMTO I PRS U M

Lorem Ipsum Resilient (2021)

Lorem Ipsum Roberto Faenza

The extraordinary story of Mario Capecchi, from street urchin to Nobel Prize winner Resilient Finds America in South Tyrol 20

LO S C R IEPMT I P S U M

LO P RR OEDM U CI P TS I OUNM

LO R E M I P S U M

Roberto Lorem Ipsum Faenza

Lorem Jean Vigo Ipsum Italia / Rhino Films / Rai Lorem Cinema Ipsum

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“We had to cut some real-life details from the screenplay, otherwise people wouldn’t have believed that it’s really a true story!”

Director Roberto Faenza on Capecchi’s eventful life

By

GABRIELE NIOLA Photos

J E A N V I G O I TA L I A R I CC A R D O G H I L A R D I LU C A Z O N T I N I

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PRODUCTION #1

FILM

D I R E C TO R

Resilient (2021)

Roberto Faenza

Mario Capecchi’s story is a South Tyrolean tale that begins in Bolzano, continues in the United States and culminates in Stockholm. The story isn’t over there, either, since the protagonist is still living. Elda Ferri’s Jean Vigo Italia has decided that now is the time to tell this story, however, in collaboration with Rhino Films and Rai Cinema, in a film called Resilient. The decision to bring Capecchi’s life to the cinema was actually made twelve years ago. But the production finally began in 2020, amidst many difficulties posed by the Covid-19 crisis.

Mario Capecchi was just five years old when his mother, an anti-Fascist, was deported to a concentration camp, leaving him in the care of farmers on the Renon Plateau, above Bolzano. Resilient starts at this point, at the height of the Second World War in 1943, when the farmers no longer have the resources to support the

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child entrusted to them. They therefore abandon him and, at the tender age of five, Mario finds himself a ­vagabond between Bolzano and the surrounding countryside.

“More than half the film takes place during this period,” says Roberto Faenza, the film’s director and screenwriter. “Even I myself, who read the whole story and talked to Capecchi, wonder how it was possible for a child to survive on his own from age five to age ten, without ever even eating a hot meal.”

Hence the title of the film, Resilient – in reference to this resilience that Mario Capecchi had even as a child.

This detail impressed the producer Elda Ferri twelve years ago, when she first came into contact with this extraordinary life story at a conference held by Capecchi in Bologna.

She had read about the event in the newspaper and had felt there was something special behind it. “I wanted to meet

PRODUCTION

Roberto Faenza

Jean Vigo Italia / Rhino Films / Rai Cinema

TA K E #1 2

SCRIPT

Begging, stealing, surviving: A large part of the film is devoted to Capecchi’s childhood as a street urchin in Bolzano.

him immediately,” Ferri recalls. “Fortunately, he had seen one of my previous films, Life Is Beautiful. That helped us a lot in convincing him that his extraordinary life could be the subject of a film.”

THREE KIDS ON THE STREETS

For nearly all of his childhood, Capecchi lived on the streets of Bolzano, a homeless boy surviving partly thanks to other children with whom he formed a small gang. These details are actually impossible to romanticize, as Faenza says: “With this story, you have to take some details out, not embellish it. Otherwise, people wouldn’t believe it’s a true tale. Three children – one six, one eight and one four-anda-half years old, the latter deaf-mute and found under the rubble – formed a little family, helped each other and survived through begging, stealing and earning the pity of rich ladies. It’s really very moving.”

If putting together such a production is already difficult, the pandemic hit just when they finally managed to get it going. It was March of 2020 and, like many other productions, Resilient was halted even before filming began.

Courageously, Jean Vigo Italia decided to start again as soon as possible: in June, and in compliance with all of the anti-Covid protocols. “We spent 108,000 euros just on testing. We had three people on set who were responsible for Covid measures. And the lead actress, being a member of the American union SAG, had to be tested three times a week,” says Elda Ferri when we visit the set in Merano.

“All of that without taking into consideration the necessary

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PRODUCTION #1

FILM

D I R E C TO R

Resilient (2021)

Roberto Faenza

distancing rules or the fact that we have to sanitize the entire set every night, including the costumes and a 300-square-meter wardrobe shop,” the latter being run by four-time Oscar-winning costume designer Milena Canonero.

P E N N S Y LV A N I A A N D A R T- D E CO

Resilient being a South Tyrolean story, the production was conceived from the beginning to be shot almost entirely in South Tyrol, thus drawing on the IDM Film Fund’s regional production fund. The second phase of Capecchi’s life, however, takes place in the US, not the Alps. After contracting typhus, he was hospitalized in Reggio Emilia. That’s where his mother, at last, found him with the help of the Red Cross. Once he recovered, they emigrated to Pennsylvania, where his maternal uncle and aunt would ensure his education. That part of the film was supposed to be shot in the United States; the locations had even been set. But the unforeseeable is always around the corner and, owing to the pandemic, the American shoot became unthinkable.

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But Jean Vigo found America in South Tyrol thanks to location manager Valeria Errighi, who then passed the ball to Giuseppe Zampella. Hailing from Milano, Zampella moved to Bolzano six years ago and, despite not being a local, has become a location manager with great results since his first experience, when Terrence Malick came to shoot part of A Hidden Life in South Tyrol.

Resilient’s location managers found Pennsylvania on the Salten plateau: “The mountains and vegetation there lend themselves very well to the American story,” explains Zampella, adding that, contrary to what you might think, it wasn’t difficult to find landscapes that could represent the US. Roberto Faenza himself describes it as a stroke of good fortune that he didn’t shoot in the States after all, because the places from Capecchi’s youth, as Faenza says, are completely different today. Whereas, having found them in South Tyrol, the director could work within landscapes just as they used to be in the United States, 70 years ago. And the production was able to create what was missing: An entire Quaker village,

SCRIPT

PRODUCTION

Roberto Faenza

Jean Vigo Italia / Rhino Films / Rai Cinema

TA K E #1 2

A stroke of luck: Roberto Faenza was unable to shoot in the US due to the pandemic, but then found ideal locations in South Tyrol for Capecchi’s American youth.

consisting of house façades, was rebuilt, together with a school; a period doctor’s office was also built in Merano.

The problem, the location manager explains, was the interiors, if anything: “In South Tyrol, the interiors are quite characteristically Alpine, but we needed American, historical ones. Finding a 1930s American art-deco building in these parts wasn’t easy,” explains Zampella, whose job in these cases is to go around, get to know people, and talk to them to find the perfect spot: “First you go to areas close to other locations for reasons of logistics. Then you’ll come into contact with someone local, show some photos of what you’re looking for and it often turns out that they know somebody with similar interiors.”

It was the renowned set designer Francesco Frigeri who was responsible for the look of the interiors, including planning the American towns and the sequence of Mario

Capecchi’s voyage to America, for which Jean Vigo rebuilt the deck of a ship in a studio, with a green screen to digitally create the rest of the vessel.

A SOUTH TYROLEAN EPIC

Starting from there, the film traces Capecchi’s life in America, where he arrives illiterate, without knowing anything about life and especially with no knowledge of English, so much so that the teachers consider him rather unintelligent. It will be his aunt and uncle, whose education and scientific mindset – his uncle in particular had been among the first to design a color television set – allows them to understand how to improve the boy’s academic performance.

On the day we visit the set, it is those very school scenes that are being shot, reconstructed perfectly at the

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PRODUCTION #1

FILM

D I R E C TO R

Resilient (2021)

Roberto Faenza

“A genuine South Tyrolean epic”: The ­R esilient set in Neumarkt (large photos); director Roberto Faenza and the Ritten set (small photos)

Cesare Battisti Barracks in Merano: a perfect example of what has changed in South Tyrol’s film industry in the last ten years. The influx of productions has created a new mentality, so much so that the barracks and its many unused rooms and large spaces regularly house film productions. “They’re practically little studios,” explains Giuseppe Zampella, “because it’s a protected, closed area with disused buildings that lend themselves to a variety of different productions, including horror and thrillers.

We’ve rebuilt police stations and orphanages here … everything. And this isn’t the only place that has embraced this production,” continues the location manager. “Hearing the story of Resilient persuaded even those who are not familiar with being on set, and perhaps dubious about the whole thing, to make space and property available.

When I tell the story, it convinces everyone. Because it is a South Tyrolean epic with many different levels of interpretation.”

And the region has given us some of its own, says Zampella: “While it is true that today, in South Tyrol, we mostly host productions, there is a great desire to start

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producing locally as well.” Many local film professionals who worked on Resilient got their job training in the ­province, like Zampella himself.

S T U N T M E N A N D S TO C K H O L M

Roberto Faenza is enthusiastic: “The know-how of the crew members is amazing here, yes, but then there are also the faces! The kids we use for the scenes set in the school are fantastic and extremely intelligent: They understand everything.” The director cites stunt coordinator Jakob Watschinger as an example of the great skill of local professionals; the production’s general organizer Raffaella Cassano says he’s one of the best she has worked with.

And the special effects studio Impact Productions, which, among other things, recreated the explosion set off by the young Capecchi in a bus on its way to school, in order to punish a bully.

These are the most spectacular and harshest sides of Mario Capecchi’s life, who was struggling to integrate into the new American school because of the aggressiveness he developed during his years on the streets. His aunt and

SCRIPT

PRODUCTION

Roberto Faenza

Jean Vigo Italia / Rhino Films / Rai Cinema

TA K E #1 2

RESILIENT is produced by Jean Vigo Italia (producers Elda Ferri and Milena Canonero) with Rai Cinema and the US-based Rhino Films (Rex Glensy). Shooting took place over 40 days from the end of August 2020 at various South Tyrolean locations such as Merano and Neumarkt, as well as on the mountain plateaus Salten and Ritten. The production, in which numerous South Tyrolean team members were involved, received production funding of € 800,000 from IDM Film Fund & Commission.

uncle found it necessary to divert all that passion into sports, wrestling in particular, so that he would learn to control it. The stunt coordinator was needed especially in the wrestling scenes.

It is at this point in 1947, when Capecchi is finally ready for a normal life, that the film ends: “What we recount is his entering into a new society and a new dimension of life, with all the resilience that he has gained in those few years,” explains Faenza. To tell the truth, though, there’s still one last thing to tell. Having overcome the first difficulties in America, Capecchi will become a scientist.

And decades later, his DNA research will earn him a Nobel Prize in Medicine, together with his colleagues Martin Evans and Oliver Smithies. It was at this juncture that the final feat of production took place: Thanks to modular construction inside one of the local studios in South Tyrol, the production recreated the façade of the Stockholm Konserthuset. It was there that the prize was awarded to T # 12 Capecchi: the crowning of an incredible life.

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PRODUCTION #2

SERIES

Wild Republic (2021)

A high-concept series about seven juvenile delinquents on the lam, plus an innovative partnership between a streaming service and public broadcasters.

A recipe for a hit show?

Wild Republic

By

FA B I A N T I E T K E Photos

LAILAPS PICTURES X F I L M E C R E AT I V E P O O L LU I S Z E N O K U H N B E R N D S PA U K E

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One dead man. And seven teenage delinquents.

They were supposed to learn responsibility, obedience and team spirit at their youth camp at the foot of the Alps, but everything turns out much differently. Did their counselor die in an accident or was he murdered? It doesn’t matter: The youths aren’t taking any chances after their previous experiences with the justice system. They flee into the mountains, find refuge in a cave and begin living according to their own rules.

The South Tyrol shoot of Wild Republic wrapped in November 2020. This marked the start of post-production on the series, which was produced at great expense and will be available for streaming on MagentaTV – the on-demand service of German Telekom – from April 2021, as well as broadcast on public television in Germany (ARTE, WDR, SWR, ONE) one year later. Munich-based Lailaps Pictures

D I R E C TO R S

PRODUCTION

L. Ruff / M. Goller

Lailaps Pictures / X Filme / handwritten Pictures

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Banding together: In Germany, unlike in the US, production costs of up to € 2 million per episode can be raised only through collaborations between TV stations, streaming services and public film funding bodies.

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PRODUCTION #2

SERIES

Wild Republic (2021)

WILD REPUBLIC is the story of a group of juvenile delinquents who have lost faith in the education and justice systems. After one of their counselors at a rehabilitation camp dies, they flee into the mountains. Battling against nature and their own aggressions, they form a new society with their own laws. The 8-episode 45-minute series is produced by Lailaps Pictures (Nils Dünker), X Filme Creative Pool (Uwe Schott) and handwritten pictures (Eric Bouley, Christopher Sassenrath) in co-production with Deutsche Telekom, ARTE, WDR, SWR and ONE. Beta Film is the international partner for world distribution. The young acting ensemble includes Emma Drogunova (Der Trafikant) and Rouven Israel (Club der roten Bänder). The shoot in South Tyrol took place over 42 days; IDM Film Fund & Commission awarded the series a production grant in the amount of € 500,000.

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produced the series, together with Berlin-­based X Filme (Uwe Schott) and the X Filme sub­sidiary handwritten Pictures, out of Cologne. The German Motion Picture Fund of the FFA, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, South Tyrol’s IDM Film Fund, and Filmförderfonds Bayern participated as funding partners.

Over eight 45-minute episodes, the series, which was directed by Lennart Ruff and Markus Goller, tells the story of the group’s autonomous life in the mountain cave and its Alpine surroundings. Following a period of initial enthusiasm about their freedom, their lives together are soon shaken by internal conflicts: Power struggles, rivalries and mistrust bubble to the surface. The series unfolds its narrative by means of the seven main characters, flashing back to the backstories of the young people and delving deeply into the characters.

The original idea came from Eric Bouley, who, together with Nils Dünker of Lailaps, developed the concept into a series, having initially considered making it into a feature film. Jan Martin Scharf, Arne Nolting, and Klaus Wolfertstetter run the show as creators. Nolting and Scharf already worked together on VOX’s Club der roten Bänder (the German remake of Spanish hit series Polseres vermelles) and Netflix’s Barbarians; Wolfertstetter was head author for the VOX series Milk & Honey and is an alumnus of IDM’s RACCONTI Script Lab. In the three years of development, only minor changes were made to the

D I R E C TO R S

PRODUCTION

L. Ruff / M. Goller

Lailaps Pictures / X Filme / handwritten Pictures

M O U N TA I N S , S N O W S TO R M S , A N D A PA N D E M I C

Filming began last February at the MMC Studios in Cologne. Production designer Claus Rudolf Amler, who has already created the sets for series such as 4 Blocks and films such as Andreas Prochaska’s Das finstere Tal (The Dark Valley), and his team built a huge artificial cave in a 2,000-square-meter studio. Shooting in a real cave was dismissed early on due to the huge logistical effort involved.

Filming came to a halt in mid-March as the number of Covid-19 infections rose. In August, after the completion of the studio work and a few exterior shoots in the Cologne area, the exterior shoot in South Tyrol could finally start. It was the last date possible with the promise of stable weather conditions. South Tyrolean crew members joined the team as planned, with some positions doubled up in order to be able to continue work if someone got infected with coronavirus. About 120 people in total were thus involved in the South Tyrol shoot.

Work on the South Tyrolean set lived up to the challenging reputation of a mountain shoot: Every day, the crew and equipment were transported up the mountain to 2,100 meters above sea level and back down again. In October, early onset of winter brought new challenges; on some days, the crew was even snowed in on the set. The production was able to reschedule and move locations with

the help of the South Tyrolean team. When filming ended in early November, after more than 100 days of shooting, Covid-19 and the weather conditions had delayed completion by almost four months. The fact that Wild Republic managed to wrap at all in the midst of the pandemic was due in no small part to the success of the hygiene concept that the producers had devised. In addition to the usual measures such as distance, masks, gloves and sanitizers, the set was divided into zones to minimize contact between the teams; stringent Covid tests were also carried out. The happy result: not a single on-set infection.

A R E C I P E F O R S U CC E S S M A D E I N E U R O P E ?

In terms of exploitation, Wild Republic has adopted a successful model from series like Babylon Berlin: bringing together streaming services and public broadcasters as ­partners. This makes it possible to create series with a proportionately higher budget. In the case of Wild Republic, each episode costs up to € 2 million: production costs which, in Germany, can only be raised through combining broadcasters, streaming services and public film subsidies.

As a result, German quality series are currently taking a different path than US providers did at the beginning of their new phase of high-end series. In order to compete with the broad appeal of the major American networks, companies like HBO had been betting on series aimed at a niche audience, which could be equally lucrative. This was particularly true if the niche came from an audience segment that commands high prices on the advertising market.

TA K E #1 2

screenplay: The basic structure of narrative and flashbacks, as well as the pace of the story, plot twists and character development, were retained.

A young cast, an Alpine backdrop and a modern narrative structure, with flashbacks and plot twists: Wild ­R epublic is designed to appeal to the coveted under-30 target audience.

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PRODUCTION #2

SERIES

Wild Republic (2021)

In view of the generally smaller audience in the German TV market, though, high-quality German series are instead trying – for all their innovation – to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. Additionally, the hope is that a high-concept series like Wild Republic will have a good shot at the international TV market: Beta Film has been tapped as a partner for the international distribution.

The expectations that the partners – streaming providers on the one hand, broadcasters on the other – have for a series like Wild Republic are extremely different, both as regards narrative structure and the visual ­language. Producer Nils Dünker puts it in a nutshell: “A viewer who pays ten euros a month for Netflix wants something different than someone who pays the licensing fee for public ­broadcaster ARD.” Wild Republic is the third original production for MagentaTV, which will initially be offered exclusively to customers of the streaming service. However, due to the youthful cast and the dramatic Alpine backdrop, the series is aimed at younger viewers – those under 30, say – than its predecessors Deutsch-Les-Landes, a comedy series, and Spy City, an espionage thriller co-produced with ZDF. In the event of success, MagentaTV will be just as happy about this younger audience as the public broadcasters will be a year later: Young viewers are in high demand among German public stations, in order to safeguard the broadcasters’ future. Producing a series that will satisfy the expectations of success of all those involved is somewhat analogous to trying to square the circle. In the case of Wild Republic, all the partners worked together towards this exceedingly ambitious goal, for example through ­all-hands-on-deck screenplay meetings. Much like the young people who create their own new society while sitting around a campfire, in a cave in the middle of T#12 the Alps.

An elaborate studio set, an adventure-packed mountain shoot in South Tyrol and strict Covid-19 protocols made Wild Republic a complex project.

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DOSSIER

D I G I TA L I Z AT I O N

Technological Innovation in Film Production

The rise of streaming is just the tip of the iceberg: Digitalization and new technologies are transforming production, as well. And we’re only at the beginning Focus on Technology By

F LO R I A N K R A U T K R Ä M E R Illustrations

OSCAR DIODORO

DEAR READER,

Just a few decades ago, our collective vision of the future involved flying cars and the ability to travel quickly and comfortably from one continent to another. Computers that control everything belonged in movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey and were not viewed in a very positive light. Today, nobody talks about flying cars anymore, yet it’s only a matter of time before there will actually be self-driving, computer-controlled vehicles on the roads.

In 2020, physical travel has been supplanted by video ­conferencing due to the coronavirus, and by now, digitalization has taken over every last inch of our daily lives.

In the film industry, this has been one of the defining

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­ iscussions for quite some time now. While the transition d from analog production and screening technology to digital capabilities is essentially complete, the transformation goes on and on through continuous innovation.

That’s reason enough to take a more in-depth look at some of the transformations and visions that are driving production, post-production, and education. Let me state in advance, though, that film locations and real-life encounters are, and remain, crucial.

Florian Krautkrämer TAKE #12 Editor-in-Chief

D I G I TA L I Z AT I O N

Technological Innovation in Film Production

TA K E ##11 2

DOSSIER

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DOSSIER

D I G I TA L I Z AT I O N

Technological Innovation in Film Production

Film Is Technology.

The Digital Revolution Behind the Camera

Film’s founding myth is about a handheld camera that was also a projector: Thanks to this new-found technology, images of an arriving train were projected, making the audience jump from their seats in fright. We know today that this story is just as overblown as it is wrong to assume that from that point on, the development of film technology proceeded in a straight line towards today’s standards. From its very beginnings, film was an art for tinkerers and inventors. With each production, new technology was developed – also with regard to playback. Audio, color and longer running times were not simply attributes that were added to the moving images, but rather formed part of a displacement process: Productions had to acquire new equipment and suitable personnel, and cinemas had to upgrade.

At the same time, however, technological modifications also made possible new aesthetics and different storytelling. Thanks to portable sound-recording systems such as the Nagra in the 1950s, for example, it became possible to shoot fast-moving productions on the streets, without having to spend a lot of time and money cordoning off the area. Digital technology makes ever smaller cameras possible, in addition to longer hours of recording. Steven

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Soderbergh used an iPhone to shoot High Flying Bird (2019), and released the film on Netflix rather than in traditional cinemas. In terms of playback, the shift from analog to digital projection – as well as a fundamental restructuring that has seen streaming platforms take on increasing importance – has been an issue for some time, but what are the consequences for production?

HARDWARE

Differentiation and plurality are defining characteristics of a digital transformation. This is also noticeable in production.

Niels Maier founded the Maier Bros., a German equipment rental company which also operates a branch in Merano, more than 30 years ago. Maier describes the rapid pace of developments and the resulting diversity of the market as the industry’s biggest change: “Considerably more suppliers are producing similar products, some of which are aging even faster than before. Counting on one or two lamp suppliers is no longer enough,” Maier says. His company rents out the big-ticket items: cranes, trucks, and all kinds of lighting equipment. It’s not something that you can just buy on the off chance, storing multiple units in your garage. But

DOSSIER

D I G I TA L I Z AT I O N

Technological Innovation in Film Production

TA K E ##11 2

Monitoring the market and in-house research and ­d evelopment: Nowadays, film rentals must keep pace with extremely rapid technical advances.

how can you anticipate trends in order to have the right equipment – the things that will then be in demand – at your shop? How can bad investments be minimized?

One strategy, Maier explains to me, is to decide as late as possible, waiting until the equipment appears on film production order lists.

Being closely involved in research and development oneself is also beneficial. The Maier brothers learn about new products at trade fairs and through the manufacturers, often testing the equipment themselves, which helps to ensure their success on the market. “That’s always been the case, though,” says Maier. Just not at this pace and with such variety.

The transfer of know-how and the guidance of consultants are also very important and should not be underestimated, especially in connection with green film shoots and sustainable production. For example, it’s not enough to simply rent energy-saving LEDs; you also do need to know how to use them correctly, otherwise their effect can quickly turn into the exact opposite. On the other hand – as Philip Gassmann described in his interview in TAKE #11 – there’s a lack of experience in dealing with equipment that has

already been deployed in other areas in an energy-saving manner, but is still untested for the requirements of a film production.

SOFTWARE

The importance of consultancy and continuing education is crucial in post-production, as well. Cine Chromatix, a post-production house with several locations in Germany, relies heavily on cooperation with the ZeLIG Film School in Bolzano and local producers in South Tyrol, where it operates a large offshoot, Cine Chromatix Italy.

“You can only really harness the potential of post-production if you integrate it into the production right from the start,” says studio manager Florian Geiser. That’s why Cine Chromatix Italy (► see Studio visit p. 50) makes contact early on by participating in producer workshops. With the ever-growing capabilities of digital post-production and effects, it’s becoming increasingly important to encourage producers to involve post-production and VFX supervisors while they’re still working on the script. That way, shooting and post-production are well coordinated and costs don’t get out of hand in the end.

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DOSSIER

D I G I TA L I Z AT I O N

Technological Innovation in Film Production

With remote working on the rise and faster Internet connections expanding, you’d imagine that face-to-face contact wouldn’t be so important anymore, especially in this field.

And while Covid-related restrictions were in place, working in far-flung locations was a good – well, the only – way to push projects forward. But Geiser doesn’t see it as the only future scenario. “Having two people working directly in the room with each other on the visuals or audio does allow decisions to be made more quickly,” he says. That’s why his company built a working cinema in Merano a few years ago, not without risk. “Of course, in 2018 we asked ourselves whether building a cinema now was the right decision,” Geiser says. Who knows how long a big screen will actually be the standard for which one produces? But so far, the investment has been worth it, Geiser says. And: “The expansion of VFX and post-production services here in South Tyrol is also a way to bring talent back who had to emigrate to England, Canada or New Zealand, for example, after

completing their training, due to a lack of jobs,” says the studio manager. However, this also raises the question of how future developments can be anticipated in time, because post-production possibilities and technologies are also steadily increasing and developing at an ever-faster pace.

I N N O V AT I O N

For a field that is truly driven by innovation, it is primarily private-sector investment that is needed for the development and expansion of promising future technologies – and consequently also for research that leads to new applications.

Public film funding and grants cannot necessarily provide this. In addition, production funding is tied to specific ­projects, and development funding is firstly limited and ­secondly usually awarded for content rather than infrastructure.

So how can one set trends in developing new techniques and visual worlds? A producer friend of mine has

In order to optimize the ever-growing VFX possibilities, producers are advised to collaborate with post-production from the very beginning – whether on-site or remotely.

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DOSSIER

D I G I TA L I Z AT I O N

Technological Innovation in Film Production

TA K E ##11 2

posed the following hypothetical question to me: Let’s assume it’s 1995 and someone here in Europe has the idea for the film The Matrix. Could the bullet-time effect be developed here as well and brought to market with the film? I don’t have to think about it for long: It seems unlikely.

That’s why the French film-funding body CNC has created an instrument called Aides aux industries techniques, innovation et relief, which can be used to provide targeted support for the digital processing of (interactive) films, among other things, but which also favors investments in infrastructure. Investments in environmental initiatives can even be subsidized in a targeted manner.

It is not just a question of time and money, however; it is also important to have a culture of exchange and discourse. Anyone flipping through the monthly magazine American Cinematographer will quickly discover that, in addition to showcasing talent, the main focus is on highlighting inventiveness. There are meticulous descriptions of efforts to develop special mounts, for example, that make it possible to film a parachute jump in ways never before seen.

In addition to funding and interest in developing prototypes, there must also be a platform where people can share their ideas in a prominent way.

TRAINING

The focus of training, today, is also on teaching methodological skills as opposed to having students practice with software that may be outdated by the time they graduate.

“The important thing is not so much which software is learned, but learning how to learn software,” confirms ­Professor Jürgen Haas, who heads the animation department at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.

The increasing quality and importance of open source programs is also changing education, because students are now applying with work that is already very advanced – sometimes with a technical quality that could previously only be expected at the end of a degree program. As a result, some type of research in the technology field is becoming important at universities as well: not only to be able to teach and apply new technologies, but also to impart a culture that is not satisfied with procuring high-quality equipment, but rather can go beyond that.

The very special and equally challenging thing about film is that you can’t just reduce it to technology and the constraints that come with it; but its possibilities for expressing content can’t be separated from the technology either.

Money and equipment are important, yes, as is the correct operation of new technology; but in film, it’s ultimately the work done on the content and dramaturgy that counts.

SCHOLARSHIP Every year, IDM awards a scholarship for a 12-month course in lighting and camera staging at Maier Bros. headquarters in Cologne. IDM pays the entire course fees; the scholarship holder from South Tyrol (who must speak German) is compensated through a part-time job at Maier Bros.

Info: film.idm-suedtirol.com

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DOSSIER

D I G I TA L I Z AT I O N

Technological Innovation in Film Production

Heidi Gronauer, the director of ZeLIG in Bolzano, explains to me that the documentary school was able to respond effectively to the lockdown in Italy from March to June of last year with online courses, particularly because digital classrooms have been part of their European program ESoDoc for several years. She says that, while the handling and operation of cameras can’t be learned online, editing and an understanding of visual dramaturgy certainly can be.

Heidi Gronauer also attaches particular importance to working collaboratively: “Whether online or in the classroom, students need to learn to work in a team, to rely on one another – and they need to learn how to learn from one another.” No new innovation or technological solution can replace that. On the contrary: Learning to work together also makes it easier to adapt to the changes brought about by digitalization.

In closing, I asked Heidi Gronauer whether she was optimistic about the technology-driven future of her graduates. Since this is not a question that can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no,” she didn’t. In her view, one of the current challenges – irrespective of whether students are on site or online – is to support their development of a unique view of reality. And to encourage them to actively shape new developments in the audiovisual sector. The Covid crisis in particular has added another layer of difficulty. While services such as Netflix are gaining market share and thus providing ample employment, will enough diversity be maintained to reflect the complexity of the world? With all the changes that the industry is undergoing, it’s important to maintain the uniqueness of different voices. “When it’s not clear where the market is going,” Gronauer says, “it’s that much more important to not just follow fads, but to lay the T#12 foundation for your own voice.”

These days, the software you learn to use in film school quickly becomes obsolete. ­C ollaborative effort and a constant willingness to learn new things are more important.

R E N TA LS , T E C H N O LO G Y, P O S T- P R O D U C T I O N : SOME SUPPLIERS IN SOUTH TYROL

► CINE CHROMATIX ITALY

VFX and post-production, Merano/Meran www.cine-chromatix.it

► JENNESSEN MOTION PICTURES camera rental, Merano www.m-p-j.eu

► MAIER BROS.

equipment rental, Merano www.maierbros.it

► PANALIGHT SÜDTIROL

equipment rental, Bolzano/Bozen www.panalight.it

► REC SÜDTIROL

camera rental, Bolzano www.rec-roma.com

► ZELIG SCHOOL FOR DOCUMENTARY, ­T ELEVISION AND NEW MEDIA

Film school with two technology-related curricula: Photography/Light as well as Editing/Post-Production, Bolzano www.zeligfilm.it

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FULL SERVICE POST-PRODUCTION PICTURE POST

SOUND POST

ON SET DIT DATA SERVICE ON SET VFX SUPERVISION DATA BACKUP DAILIES EDITING SUITES CONFORMING VISUAL EFFECTS GRADING MASTERING

SOUND EDITING SOUND DESIGN ADR RECORDING FOLEYS SOUND MIX

SERVICE PRODUCTION PLANNING AND ORGANISATION STUDIO / ON LOCATION SHOOTING VIRTUAL PRODUCTION CO-PRODUCING FROM SCRIPT TO FINAL DELIVERY SUBSIDY APPLICATIONS IDM FILM FUND ITALIAN TAX CREDIT

MERAN/O | BERLIN | COLOGNE | LEIPZIG | STUTTGART soon in: LISBON | PUNE

Italy

CINE-CHROMATIX.IT AMMIRAFILM.COM

PRODUCTION #3

FILM

D I R E C TO R

Why Not You (2020)

Evi Romen

«I’m deeply touched by just how lost young people can feel.»

Director Evi Romen on religion and masculinity, the constraints of village life and her feature film debut Hochwald (Why Not You) Interview by

DORIS POSCH Photos

ANDREAS JAKWERTH

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PRODUCTION

Evi Romen

Amour Fou Vienna

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SCRIPT

“The older I got, the more I yearned to make ­s omething myself.” Evi Romen worked as an editor for many years before her directorial debut, Why Not You.

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PRODUCTION #3

FILM

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Why Not You (2020)

Evi Romen

Twenty-year-old Mario (Thomas Prenn) longs to leave village life behind and become a dancer. At Christmas, he bumps into his childhood friend Lenz (Noah Saavedra), who as a wealthy winegrower’s son has had more opportunities handed to him in life and dreams of an acting carreer.

The pair make a hasty decision to head to Rome together, but their dreams are shattered when Lenz is killed in a terrorist attack. Mario is left to deal with the highs and lows of a life torn to pieces.

Having already enjoyed a career as a film editor, Evi Romen decided to turn her hand to directing with her first feature film Hochwald (Why Not You). Set in the microcosm of a small mountain community in South Tyrol, it tells the story of the impossible dream of escaping the shackles of village life. We met the director for a chat at Filmcasino in Vienna. In this interview, she explains how her film was inspired by the 2015 terrorist attack on the Bataclan theater in Paris. She also talks about dealing with death, how the doctrines of the Catholic Church promote a culture of blame and homophobia, and the fear of accepting fate.

After spending so many years as an editor, how did you find your new role as a director?

E V I R O M E N I’ve always seen my career as an editor as preparation for becoming a director. I studied at the Vienna Film Academy and my original plan was to start making films straight away. But then, quite unexpectedly, I found that I had a talent for editing – and editing is actually the best job in film! That said, the older I got, the more I yearned to make something myself. Directing came pretty easily to me; the only aspect I was worried about was directing the cast. But here, too, editing stood me in good stead, as it has given me a really good eye for detail. I was also able to relax during filming because I knew that any issues could be ironed out during the edit – the only thing we had to get right were the emotions.

“The fact that good fortune or wealth cannot save you from your fate has always left a deep impression on me.” Evi Romen during the TAKE interview at Filmcasino Vienna.

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Why Not You is set in a rural community that is very familiar to you. Why did you decide to use a South Tyrolean village as the backdrop for the various issues you wanted to tackle?

E R I hadn’t intended to film in South Tyrol at all. But it so happened that I was in South Tyrol when the Bataclan terror attack in Paris took place. I heard about this global event through the local news, including the reports that a young South Tyrolean may be among the victims. With South Tyrol being such a small, close-knit region, I immediately wondered if I knew him.

PRODUCTION

Evi Romen

Amour Fou Vienna

EVI ROMEN was born in Bolzano/Bozen in 1967 and lives in Vienna. She has more than 20 years of experience as an editor of series and films for TV and cinema, including The Bone Man, Silentium and Braunschlag. She won the Diagonale Prize for Best Artistic Editing of a Feature Film for My Best Enemy in 2011 and the Austrian Film Award for Casanova Variations in 2016. In 2017, she was awarded the Carl Mayer Screenplay Prize for Why Not You, her directorial debut, which won her the Golden Eye in the Focus Competition at the 2020 Zurich Film Festival.

The film was inspired by the Bataclan theater attack of November 13, 2015. On top of that, you’ve chosen to weave in several other issues, such as homophobia. Why this issue in particular?

E R The decision to explore homoeroticism was very deliberate. I wanted to take a more modern approach to it.

Homophobia still exists today, but young people are more fluid and, to them, it’s no longer so important to fit into a particular box.

The fictitious attack in Why Not You is shown from Mario’s perspective, yet you also use a microphone to give one of the attackers a voice. Why did you choose to portray it like this?

E R I knew from the outset that the attack had to be fictitious. Gay clubs are sadly still vulnerable to attack. I’ve always found this perplexing because we live in a man’s world so the amount of homophobia around is surprising. I kept changing my mind when deciding how to film the scene.

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SCRIPT

At one stage, I left the attack out of the script completely, only to then depict it in a lot more detail. Nobody ever imagines that something like this will happen to them.

From a filmmaker’s point of view, it was interesting to ­explore what it’s like to be totally unsuspecting and to only realize what’s going on as you are dying.

Radicalization has been dealt with by a number of films in recent years. Most of these center around young, white, lower-class men in a suburban setting.

Why Not You explores both an ideologically motivated attack and the religious practices of Muslims. These issues are often conflated in the media, but you chose to examine them side by side. Why is that?

E R My film is a document of our times and I wanted to show one way people can lose their lives in our present reality. It wasn’t my intention to create a film about an attack or radicalization. It was more a case of acknow­ ledging a possible threat.

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PRODUCTION #3

FILM

D I R E C TO R

Why Not You (2020)

Evi Romen

Your talent for observation in this film can make for uncomfortable viewing. Life in the village is very superficial and a lot of value is placed on keeping up appearances. Nevertheless, in the intricate relationships between the characters, we get a real insight into what’s going on beneath the surface.

E R The superficiality of village life protects you from ­having to enter into deep and meaningful conversations.

Villagers develop their own type of language that helps them co-exist. In a small rural community, it’s hard to share your opinion with everyone. Over the centuries, this has led to a way of communicating that seems superficial at first glance, but which actually carries a lot of meaning, not least if you look closely at the speaker’s face. Superficiality also offers salvation in those moments when words fail you and you feel a need to fall back on clichés or empty phrases.

For example, when somebody dies and it’s impossible to know what to say.

“Nobody can escape where they come from.” In her film, Evi Romen uses a tragic event to address the constraints imposed by small villages, gender roles and religion.

Did you always have German actor Kida Khodr Ramadan in mind to play the character of Mami, an imam who gives Mario a sense of belonging?

E R I felt it was important for my story to be told by normal people and not by huge stars. But for this particular character, I wanted someone famous. Kida Khodr Ramadan ­initially turned down the role because he didn’t want to play an imam. But I wrote him a letter and explained to him that this part was different from those he had played before. And luckily, he changed his mind. I needed a ­rabble-rouser, someone who the boys would like.

Why did you decide to put Catholicism so center stage?

E R Catholicism still has a very strong presence. Not every-

one goes to church and prays, but its doctrines have been drilled into us over the centuries and that’s hard to let go of. Whenever fate has a hand in things, people have a habit of turning to the religion and rituals they are familiar with.

These days, the threat of Islamist terrorism means that we are constantly confronted by religion.

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There are stark differences between Mario’s and Lenz’s parents. Mario’s mother is very stuck in her ways.

When Mario reveals that he was sexually abused by the butcher, she even sides with the man instead of supporting her own son. Meanwhile, Lenz’s mother blames Mario for her son’s death and says that Mario should have been the one to die. Why did you portray the two mothers in this way?

E R I’ve known both these types of people. Both mothers want the best for their child, but each of them has a different life experience. For a woman like Lenz’s mother, it is unfathomable that someone seemingly so lucky in life could suffer such misfortune. That’s why my film includes the line: “It’s better to live in a hovel filled with laughter than in a palace filled with sadness.” The fact that good fortune or wealth cannot save you from your fate has ­always left a deep impression on me. I also wanted to use the character of Lenz’s mother to explore homophobia and to ask what happens when you start to suspect that your own son is something completely unexpected.

Mario spirals into confusion and feels increasingly lost, as is seen through his relationships with father figures and friends, his sense of longing and his inability to imagine the future.

E R Most young people I know feel trapped by their lack of direction and purpose. At the age of twenty, they have the power to change the course of their life. They also feel completely unique, but then confusion creeps in. They start to experiment with who they are, but in doing so can feel very lost and alone. I find these complex feelings very inter-

SCRIPT

PRODUCTION

Evi Romen

Amour Fou Vienna

esting to film. I’m deeply touched by just how lost young people can feel despite their air of self-confidence.

WHY NOT YOU (original title: Hochwald) by Evi Romen was produced by Amour Fou Vienna (Alexander DumreicherIvanceanu, Bady Minck) in co-production with Take Five (Belgium) and is being distributed internationally by True Colours.

The main role of Mario is played by South Tyrolean actor Thomas Prenn and Noah Saavedra is cast as Lenz. The cast also includes South Tyrolean actors Katja Lechthaler, Lissy Pernthaler and Andreas Hartner. Filming took place across several locations in South Tyrol and Austria.

The IDM Film Fund granted the film € 45,000 of pre-production funding and € 650,000 of production funding.

Flo Rainer/Amour Fou

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You use a wig as a recurring motif throughout the film.

The wig steals the show from Mario and puts Lenz in the limelight even more than normal. At the same time, Mario wears it to help him become someone else.

E R I came up with the idea of the wig before the story had even taken shape! Wigs are like jester hats – they turn you into someone completely different. But, equally, because they attract so much attention, they offer little protection.

The wig represents Mario’s journey. At first, he wants to use it to stand out from the crowd, but he lacks the confidence.

His best friend, however, has no such qualms and steals the show. Mario later takes the wig back off him and then, following the tragic turn of events, keeps it as a token of his grief. Finally, Mario dares to do something which he wasn’t brave enough to attempt at the start – he wears the wig for everyone in the village to see. And this ends up being the most courageous thing he does in the entire film.

The forest plays a very important role in the film as both a place of refuge from the confines of village life and as a symbol of the world as a dangerous place.

Does the final scene in the forest suggest that Mario will never realize his dreams?

E R There are many ways to interpret what the end of the film could mean for Mario’s future. The tree trunks are intended to represent a prison. It’s clear that he’ll never be able to escape the small village community, even if he does end up moving away at some point. Just like Mario, I spent a long time trying to deny my roots. But you can’t evade them; nobody can escape where they come from. This – and the notion that returning home doesn’t necessarily have to be something negative – is one of the ideas running through my film. There are some things in life you just have to accept. That’s why I decided that Mario should parade through the village festival in just his wig. I wanted to use the end of the film to portray that feeling of: He’s one of us.

And he’s someone who can never escape, be it physically or T # 12 psychologically.

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“I’m a really lucky guy.” Assistant Director Giuseppe Tedeschi on his multi-­ faceted film career

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LO C A L TA L E N T S

A S S I S TA N T D I R E C TO R

Giuseppe Tedeschi

SIBERIA Filmed mostly in South Tyrol, Siberia marked cult director Abel Ferrara’s return to Berlin: The film, a meditation on the inner life of protagonist Clint (played by Willem Dafoe, above), was screened in competition at the 70th Berlinale in 2020.

Produced by Vivo film with Rai Cinema, maze pictures and Piano, the project succeeded partly thanks to initial funding from IDM. Filming took place in 2019 at locations throughout South Tyrol, including a mountain hut in Pustertal valley, a Bolzano bunker and an abandoned barracks.

By

Photo

M A R I A N N A K A S T LU N G E R

MICHAEL PEZZEI

Giuseppe Tedeschi is an optimist. Someone who is undeterred by ­ ifficulties, because his mind is always on the move in search of solutions. d “Certain personality traits are essential to cultivating productive relationships on set,” he explains. They are: “Calmness, curiosity, loyalty and honesty. You have to convey a sense of serenity and teach with kindness.” He continues, “Only doing so results in being at your best.”

We meet him in his hometown, Merano, where he has just returned after a few weeks of work on a TV series in Bari. A quick glance at the list of projects he has worked on as a second unit director or assistant director shows an eclectic mix of productions, starting with Piccola patria (Small Homeland) in 2013, a Venice success: “That was a film I just loved – making it, viewing it, sharing it. It’s a real gem, in which documentary filmmaker Alessandro Rossetto tells a fictional story with a grammar all his own.”

Vergine Giurata (Sworn Virgin) followed in 2015 along with the Hollywood film Everest, which Tedeschi remembers fondly: the “rather biting” temperatures on the glacier, the film blizzard that happened for real, and the satisfaction of learning from the craft of assistant director Fabrizio ‘Roy’ Bava. “It was beautiful to shoot in Schnalstal valley, a place I know well from childhood, together with the fantastic characters who live there.” Over the course of the following years, he would work on Zoolander 2 (2016), The Two Popes and Siberia (2019).

How varied the 44-year-old Tedeschi’s background really is becomes apparent when he recounts that he once aspired to something else entirely: biology. “I was fond of ecology, but I never was a very good biologist,” he confesses. He put scientific pragmatism to good use, though: It helped him to organize his ideas and led him to the decision to devote himself to his love of photography and reportage. “It was a desire to tell stories that led me down this path,” he says. At the ZeLIG school in Bolzano, he immersed himself in documentary filmmaking and then moved on to narrative filmmaking, learning to “surf”, as he puts it, riding the crest between doc and fiction. “Two similar worlds, but with different perspectives,” he sums up. Who knows, maybe one day he’ll feel like going back to his roots and make his own documentary. In the meantime, he surfs the waves of his assignments with his innate optimism: “I travel a lot. I see beautiful things. And I meet people with cultural backgrounds I T # 12 can draw on,” he concludes. “I’m a really lucky guy.”

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From documentaries to arthouse cinema, from Italian to American TV series, Giuseppe Tedeschi is riding the crest of the cinematic wave Eye on Talent

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STUDIO VISIT

SERVICE PROVIDERS IN SOUTH TYROL

Cine Chromatix Italy

Tucked away in a former pasta factory in Merano lies a young VFX company, with a first-rate post-production cinema and big ambitions A Studio Tour of … Cine Chromatix Italy

“We want to grow and build our reputation in the European film landscape by impressing others with our skills.”

Operations Manager Matthias Keitsch, VFX Supervisor Nicola Nardone and Studio Manager Florian Geiser (from left) in the studio’s common room.

By

M A R I A N N A K A S T LU N G E R Photos

PAT R I C K S C H W I E N B A C H E R

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From the outside, the old Pobitzer mill on the outskirts of Merano/Meran looks a bit faded and outdated.

But first impressions can be deceiving, because inside is a thriving hub for film and media professionals of all kinds, including the Italian subsidiary of Berlin-based Cine ­Chromatix with its top-of-the-range post-production stations. As soon as you step through the doors, the ­atmosphere is inspiring – and not just thanks to the ­industrial chic decor with its untreated wooden floorboards, high ceilings and huge windows. Today, as Matthias Keitsch, Operations Manager for Cine Chromatix Italy explains, the former mill, pasta factory, and carpentry workshop is “a lively center that brings people

STUDIO VISIT

SERVICE PROVIDERS IN SOUTH TYROL

Cine Chromatix Italy

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together” – or at least it will be again when the safety restrictions put in place due to the pandemic allow. He and his colleagues are all in their mid-thirties or younger and come from Berlin, South Tyrol and other regions of Italy.

“This melting pot of people from different backgrounds enriches our creativity,” explains Nicola Nardone, VFX Supervisor from Apulia in southern Italy.

The strict Italian lockdown last spring did nothing to dampen the team’s appetite for hard work: “We just had to work on the effects for Help, I Shrunk My Friends from home,” explains Keitsch. “Which meant we had to take the whole of our work equipment home with us,” adds Nardone. The company’s young team had an extraordinary 2020 and are starting to make a real name for themselves in the VFX field. In 2019, their projects included Abel Ferrara’s Siberia (Data Managing) and the German children’s film Sprite Sisters (DIT and VFX), while in 2020 they worked on Roberto Faenza’s Resilient (► see report on Resilient on p. 20). With its nine permanent staff members, an international network of freelancers and a proactive acquisition strategy, which includes workshops for young talent, Cine Chromatix Italy has established itself as the largest company in the boutique South Tyrolean film industry.

“We’re really helping to strengthen this local industry,” chimes in Studio Manager Florian Geiser during our relaxed meeting. We’re sitting in the bright, spacious common room in the heart of the old building. This warm welcome is just one of the company’s many qualities that are so valued by its visitors and clients alike.

A V FX R E T R E AT W I T H M O U N TA I N V I E W S

Fueled up on caffeine, it’s time to step into the production rooms. In addition to the VFX workstations and admin offices, the company’s top-quality facilities include the jewel in its crown: its in-house cinema with a DCI projector and room-in-room design for color grading and sound mixing. “This infrastructure allows us to offer producers filming here lots of different solutions,” explains Geiser.

Cine Chromatix Italy sees itself as a full in-house service provider – and a bridge between north and south. Regardless of whether they’re from Berlin or Rome, their clients relish the opportunity to work in Merano. As Keitsch explains: “The town has become a kind of retreat for our clients. They come here and work extremely hard for weeks on end, but can enjoy the delicious food, mountain vistas and South Tyrolean countryside in their spare time.”

It’s a comprehensive package that Cine Chromatix Italy first offered for the full post-production of Effetto Domino in 2019 – to much praise: “The film’s sound designer, Paolo Segat – who, by the way, is also Paolo

Inspiring atmosphere: Nine employees work behind the façade of the old Pobitzer Mill.

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STUDIO VISIT

SERVICE PROVIDERS IN SOUTH TYROL

Cine Chromatix Italy

Comprehensive service provider: Cine Chromatix Italy has high-quality VFX work­ stations at its disposal and an on-site cinema for color grading and audio mixing.

Scouting am Penser Joch im Sarntal: Die Balance zwischen Produktionsbedürfnissen und dem Schutz der alpinen Natur ist Defranceschi ein besonderes Anliegen.

RESILIENT Cine Chromatix Italy was involved in Roberto Faenza’s feature film project (▶ article p. 20) from the very first location visits. Services rendered included CG animation, set extension and post-production.

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STUDIO VISIT

SERVICE PROVIDERS IN SOUTH TYROL

Cine Chromatix Italy

Sorrentino’s sound expert – absolutely loved working here,” reveals Nardone. The trio feel confident about the future: “We want to grow and build our reputation in the European film landscape by impressing others with our skills.”

D I F F I C U LT T I M E S A N D H U G E A M B I T I O N S

It could all have turned out very differently, however. Cine Chromatix Italy was founded in 2017 as a joint venture between the Berlin-based Cine Chromatix and the South Tyrolean production firm Ammira Film. The merger primarily owed its success to the enthusiasm and networking skills of Ammira’s founder and then managing director Wolfgang Fliri. When Fliri passed away suddenly in 2018, Keitsch, Geiser and Nardone were left reeling and found themselves at a complete loss. “Besides dealing with our personal grief, we had to decide who would take over the

reins now that we had lost Wolfgang, our friend and the brains of the operation,” recalls Keitsch. “Through that period we became a really tight-knit unit,” he says, looking back. The work was divided among the core group of people and the company was acquired fully by Cine Chromatix in Berlin, who, as Keitsch explains, “were truly friendly and helpful throughout.” It has been expanding and building on its success ever since.

“Despite the adversity we’ve had to overcome in the beginning, we’re determined to strengthen South Tyrol’s film industry,” says Geiser – and the company’s continuous growth is proof that they’re on the right track. “Perhaps we’ll transform the old mill into a huge media center one day,” he imagines. His two colleagues laugh, teasing him for his grand ideas. “Well, the old pasta factory is big enough, if nothing else,” quips Nardone, grinning. Stranger T # 12 things have happened, after all.

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P R O D U C T I O N TA L K

PRODUCER

Donatella Palermo

“I’ve come to understand that art changes people’s lives.”

D. Palermo

A Chat with Donatella Palermo

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Interview by

M A R G H E R I TA B O R D I N O

DONATELLA PALERMO pictured with director Gianfranco Rosi: After his award-winning documentary Fire at Sea, she also produced his new effort Notturno, this year’s Italian Oscar entry.

P R O D U C T I O N TA L K

PRODUCER

Donatella Palermo

A very young Donatella Palermo wrote comics, but then became an acclaimed producer. When did cinema enter your life?

DONATELLA PALERMO I am from the provinces. And in the provinces, it’s really quite difficult to say, “I want to make films.” When I started out, I’d collect stories from friends and turn them into comic strips; it was fun, but something was missing. I’m a sociable person and prefer working with others rather than being alone. One day, I found a lost dog on the street and brought it home.

I placed ads in the newspaper and put posters up in stores.

It turned out that the dog belonged to an American ­producer. We became friends, and she’s the one who first got me into film.

A while ago you said, “The craft of producing is a kind of school where you never finish learning.”

What have you learned thus far?

DP I’m not an artist. I don’t have that type of talent. But I’m a good advocate: I defend artists, support them, understand their dispositions. For the rest, cinema is changing and always will. In these months I’ve been thinking about what kind of films people will want to see after their experience in 2020. If someone had told me before that I’d be locked in my house for months and afraid to hug people, I wouldn’t have believed them. And today I am, as much as anyone, a different person in an imperceptible way. So what is it that people want to talk about next? I’m reflecting on the films of the post-war period, when a completely new type of filmmaking arose.

I think that producers – and filmmakers themselves – will

now have to figure out what the sentiment of this era is, and it’s not at all easy.

We’ll need to reflect about the way we watch films as well...

DP For me, the cinema is everything. It’s magic. I can’t imagine a film without the actual movie theater. I used to be a projectionist myself and know exactly what it means when the projector is turned on in a darkened cinema, and the film begins. It’s not the same as turning on the television – not in any way, shape or form.

What does producing a film actually mean to you?

Giving life to something that is immaterial at the beginning, then becomes a piece of paper, then an image; the creativity of many people flows within that image.

For me, a film is a fixed thought. I have to believe in the director and his or her story. That’s why I let my intuition guide my choices, rather than logical reasoning. I am deeply moved by cinema del reale, which I discovered thanks to Gianfranco Rosi. He helped me discover a different kind of filmmaking, in which everything has an ethical value. Rosi says that the most difficult thing is ­establishing that distance from reality when one is faced with the camera. That distance holds the key to the story, to your feelings. With that concept alone, he opened up a world of understanding to me. I learned that improper distance can mean overpowering, even violating, both the image and its meaning.

DP

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She won the 2012 Golden Bear at the Berlinale with the Taviani brothers’ Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die). In 2016, she went on to win the same award with ­Gianfranco Rosi’s Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea), a film that ­propelled her into Oscar history with a nomination for Best Documentary in 2017. Sicily-born Donatella Palermo is one of the many female producers who, in recent years, have contributed to the renaissance of Italian cinema del reale, or documentary filmmaking.

One particularly important meeting for you was with director Roberta Torre, whose Tano da morire (To Die for Tano) you produced. How did that film, a Venice festival success, come about?

DP Roberta came to me with the idea for a documentary about Tano Guarrasi, a small-time Mafioso. A fantastic, true story! We decided together that this story should be… a musical. It was a crazy idea to make people laugh about the Mafia, to make real Mafiosi dance and sing: No wonder I couldn’t raise the money for it. Then one day Giovanni Tantillo, then the director of Rai1, advised me to make a

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P R O D U C T I O N TA L K

PRODUCER

Stemal Entertainment

Donatella Palermo

Middle East docudrama Notturno, Mafia musical To Die for Tano, cult documentary Faith: Difficult ­p rojects are in good hands with ­D onatella Palermo.

little documentary on Tano, to see if it could open other doors. So we made Appunti per un film su Tano (“Notes for a film about Tano”), where we told his story and showed the auditions we had done for the hypothetical film. We presented this little piece at Venice Film Festival Critics’ Week, where it was a success and allowed us to make the whole film. Without that bold idea we might never have made To Die for Tano.

And then came your encounter with the Taviani brothers. And Caesar Must Die was awarded a very important accolade: the Golden Bear at the Berlinale.

DP That was a magical experience. We were filming in a prison, in the maximum-security block that housed the murderers and drug traffickers. One of our protagonists had killed four people in prison. Our protagonists’ individual life stories were terrible and we never wanted to force

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them into the open. But while improvising a scene of the film, one of them said “My life is no longer the same now that I have experienced art,” and that’s how I came to understand that art changes people’s lives. When we came back from Berlin, we went to Rebibbia Prison to show them the Golden Bear and that was incredible. Everyone took pictures of themselves with the award and sent them to their loved ones. Suddenly, their families were proud of them for the first time. And then later on, with Fire at Sea, I experienced first-hand that when cinema is art, it can change society.

More recently, you produced Rosi’s new documentary, Notturno. That film and Fire at Sea took one and three years to shoot, respectively. As a producer, what does time mean to you?

DP Regarding Gianfranco Rosi – who shoots alone, takes care of photography and sound, rarely has an assistant – time is not a luxury but an unavoidable necessity. In my opinion, Rosi already is one of the greats of film history.

I worked with him from Rome throughout the making of Notturno. I had his route maps with me and followed him through Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. My day was punctuated by phone calls with him. I felt that I had taken a journey of my own, from inside my office. I think Notturno is the most important film I’ve ever made. It has ethical, historical and artistic value.

The year 2020 was extraordinary for cinema as well.

Very few festivals were held with physical attendance, but among them was the Berlinale, where Faith was presented. Sadly the director, Valentina Pedicini, very recently passed away.

DP Valentina was an extraordinary director, and one of the finest human beings I have ever met. She gave so much love, and many of us mourn her. We already had plans for another film. Now it’s just an idea on a sheet of paper. Vale taught documentary filmmaking in Palermo, and her students wrote something really beautiful: “Now all we can do is dream about the films she would have made.” My sentiments exactly. We all lost something very dear when Valentina passed away. When we screened Faith at the IDFA, two beautiful Variety articles appeared within one week. I spoke to Gianfranco Rosi on the phone and, even with machine guns and sirens in the background, he said to me happily, “You see, finally Valentina has been recognized by international cinema, as she rightly deserves!”

And he was right. Also, through Valentina, I met South Tyrol’s IDM Film Commission, who showed great understanding for our film.

PRODUCER

S P OT L I G H T

Donatella Palermo

Wilfried Gufler

DONATELLA PALERMO, born in Catania, lives in Rome. A producer since the early nineties with Stemal Entertainment among others, she garnered a Nastro d’argento nomination for To Die for Tano (1997) and won an award at the Rome Film Festival for Liscio (2006). Over the course of her career, she has produced feature films such as Viol@ (1998) and Notturno bus (2007) as well as non-fiction like the docudrama Caesar Must Die (2012). She produced Gianfranco Rosi’s documentary Fire at Sea (2016), about refugees landing in Lampedusa, which won several awards including the Golden Bear for Best Film at the 66th Berlin Film Festival and an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary. She also produced Rosi’s Notturno (2020), a documentary about lives marked by war in the Middle East, as well as Valentina Pedicini’s Faith (2019), a documentary about a religious sect.

The rapport between producers and film commissions isn’t always so positive.

DP It’s extremely important, though. And not just because of the funding. Working with film commissions makes you feel part of a whole, and not a stranger wandering alone. I think that their role should be protected and encouraged, both financially and structurally.

What are you working on at the moment?

If the 2020 Cannes Film Festival had taken place, ­Jonathan Nossiter’s Last Words would’ve been in Competition. It stars Nick Nolte, Charlotte Rampling, Alba Rohrwacher and Stellan Skarsgård: a brilliant cast with whom I could only have dreamt of working. The film tells the story of the end of humanity and of a young man, Kalipha Touray, who travels through a desertified world.

When he arrives in Bologna, among the ruins of the Cineteca, he discovers cinema in the form of film clips, which represent the memory of what has been lost. Then I’m also working again with Roberta Torre, on two projects. We are both very happy about collaborating again; we both missed it. And I’m working with Paolo Taviani on his new film, Leonora Addio. Paolo still has great freshness and daring, as well as the pure heart of a director. I’m very proud to be working with him. All I can say about myself is that I’ve been lucky in life: I’ve met wonderful directors who have T #1 2 given my work purpose and significance.

DP

WILFRIED GUFLER ,

51, is currently producing his first feature film: Sisters, an adoption drama, is a co-production of his Bolzano-based company Albolina Film with Latvia’s Fenixfilm.

Having founded Albolina in 2012, Gufler worked for several years as an enterprising service producer, bevor venturing into self-produced films, initally documentaries: the impressive Lake Reschen documentary The Sunken Village, Pepe Danquart’s road movie Ahead of Me The South were festival successes. Soon, Albolina, now a five-person team, will premiere My Upside Down World, the portrait of a female climbing cham­ pion. “As a locally-based producer, I always jump at the opportunity to take up local issues in a sensitive and timely way,” says Gufler. Such as in his next documentary project Breaking the Silence about sexual abuse.

Gufler, who has a background in business, is more than happy to relieve creative minds of the tiresome number-crunching, he says. “I have become something of a generalist in the industry by working with film­ makers,” says the producer. “All the more reason to appreciate working with specialists.” That’s part of his recipe for success: “A feel for good stories, thinking internationally and, above all, surrounding myself with people who are great at what they do,” he says. “The film industry isn’t for lone wolves.” www.albolina.org

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C LO S I N G C R E D I T S

QUESTIONNAIRE

Carlo Sironi QUESTIONNAIRE

Carlo Sironi Answers the TAKE Film Questionnaire

WHAT’S THE LAST FILM YOU’VE SEEN?

Passe ton bac d’abord (Graduate First) by the late, great auteur and actor Maurice Pialat, at home. Lately I’ve been watching a lot of films about adolescence. In the theater, the most recent one was Rosi’s Notturno, our Oscar entry: a film I’d like to see again on the big screen, hopefully soon.

WHICH SERIES IMPRESSED YOU MOST?

So many. I’m a huge Mad Men fan. I watch it again and

Jacopo Salvi

again, just like those books that leave a lasting impression and you end up reading them more than once. In it, I find the American literature I love: Sherwood Anderson, John Cheever, John Updike.

WHAT FILM HASN’T BEEN MADE THAT YOU THINK SHOULD BE?

An adaptation of The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Philip K. Dick’s masterpiece. It would require a stroke of genius to see that idea in a different way and perhaps in another time.

And you’d have to stay true to the novel’s complexity.

CARLO SIRONI, born in Rome in 1983, first gained attention with three shorts: Sofia (2010, in competition at the Turin Film Festival), Cargo (2013, in competition in Venice; nominated for the David di Donatello Best Short Film Award) and Valparaiso (2016, in competition at Locarno). In 2019, he directed the feature Sole, which premiered at the 76th Venice Film Festival and screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and Berlinale 2020. Sironi received two Best Debut Director nominations for Sole, at the Nastri d’argento and David di Donatello Awards; he won the Prix FIPRESCI Best European Revelation at the 33rd European Film Awards.

ON WHAT WOULD YOU NOT SPEND ANOTHER PENNY?

Junk food. I just don’t like it anymore, not even as a guilty ­pleasure. Life is way too short to eat badly.

WHAT’S THE LAST PHOTO YOU TOOK?

The last butterflies I saw, which were stitched onto a towel.

I can hardly wait to be out in nature and see some real ones.

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