‘Barbarians’ Outfit Gaumont Teams With ‘Bahnhof Zoo’ Screenwriter Annette Hess For Miniseries ‘The German House’

Andreas Wiseman
·2 min read

EXCLUSIVE: Narcos, Lupin and Barbarians producer Gaumont is teaming up with author and screenwriter Annette Hess on a likely in-demand miniseries adaptation of Hess’s 2018 bestseller The German House.

The German House, which is being made by the studio’s German division, tells the coming-of-age story of a young woman set against the 1960s backdrop of post -World War II Frankfurt. The compelling story focuses on Eva Bruhns, a fun-loving, naive and smitten twenty four-year-old who’s life takes an unexpected turn when she is hired as a translator for the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials. Caught between societal and familial expectations and her unique ability to speak truth to power, she fights to expose the dark truths of her nation’s past.

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In-demand German scribe Hess recently co-created and wrote the remake of Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo (We Children From Bahnhof Zoo) as a series for Amazon Prime. She previously received a Grimme Award and a German Television Award for the ARD series Weissensee and a German Television Award for ZDF multi-part series Kudamm 56, which she created.

Sabine de Mardt, President, Gaumont Germany, commented: “What makes this story so powerful is its ability to portray the importance of acknowledging the things we don’t want to admit because they might be too painful. However, this is almost always the path to meaningful change in both how we think and act. In my opinion, this is also where the relevance of the material lies. We are honored to have been chosen by Annette Hess to work together on this highly sought-after project.”

Hess explained: “This very personal book also tells part of my own family history, which for me, as for the main character Eva, was only fully revealed during the writing process. For me, the book is about concealment and repression. Blind spots exist in almost every family. At any time and in any nation. In the young Federal Republic of Germany, silence about the past was cultivated as never before. Eva Bruhns exemplifies the people who, against society, find the courage to break the silence and demand the truth – even if they have to pay a high price for it.”

Gaumont Germany recently produced Netflix series Barbarians with a second season in the works. Also currently in production are the film adaptation of Benedikt Gollhardt’s novel Westwall as a miniseries for ZDF and series The Wasp, set in the world of darts, for Sky International.

Gaumont is in production on the sixth season of Narcos, the second season of Lupin and a fifth season of F is for Family. High in the Clouds, the animated feature developed with Paul McCartney is also in the works. The studio is also in production on multiple shows with Amazon and Apple+.

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