The Playmaker Munich Picks Up Locarno Festival Entry ‘Monte Verità’ (EXCLUSIVE)
The Playmaker Munich, formerly known as ARRI Media Intl., has picked up Stefan Jäger’s “Monte Verità,” which world premieres in August in the Piazza Grande section of the Locarno Film Festival. The historical drama, written by Kornelija Naraks and based on true events, focuses on Europe’s first eco-community.
Set in 1906, “Monte Verità” is centered on a group of society dropouts — including the writer Hermann Hesse — who search for a paradise and find it in Ascona, Switzerland. As well as their clothes, the free-thinking radicals strive to shed the mental corsets that constrict their minds. A young mother, Hanna Leitner, is drawn to the commune to escape her middle-class life. Torn between feelings of guilt toward the family she left behind and her fascination with a life of self-determination, Hanna discovers a passion for photography, and finds her own true voice.
The cast includes Maresi Riegner (“Egon Schiele”), Max Hubacher (“The Captain”) and Julia Jentsch (“Sophie Scholl”).
DCM Film Distribution will release the film in Switzerland on Aug. 26 and in Germany on Dec. 2.
The film is produced by Katrin Renz for Tellfilm. The co-producers are KGP Filmproduktion, Coin Film, MMC Movies Köln, RSI Radiotelevisione Svizzera/SRG SSR and Blue.
The Playmaker Munich is presenting a first trailer during Marché du Film in Cannes.
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