X FILME Creative pool
Germany
Company Profile
When producer Stefan Arndt and directors Wolfgang Becker, Dani Levy and Tom Tykwer got together in 1994 in order to found their mutual production company X Filme Creative Pool, the thought behind it was that in pooling their resources, they could be stronger, and could create a platform for diversity ideas. They modelled themselves on «United Artists» with the aim of producing challenging (audience) films - or as «Variety» called them: «smart movies people want to see.»
These films have been awarded numerous prizes and have scored considerable success in cinemas and foreign sales, which proves the merit in the idea of producing German films which are both challenging and accessible for an international audience. Lately, Michael Haneke’s AMOUR (winning the ACADEMY AWARD for best foreign language film and receiving FOUR ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS, as well as numerous additional awards including the PALME D’OR and the GOLDEN GLOBE) and THE WHITE RIBBON, met this claim (winning the PALME D’OR in Cannes, the GOLDEN GLOBE as well as GERMAN and EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS), and so does the X Filme production CLOUD ATLAS. Directed by Tom Tykwer and Lana & Andy Wachowski, this production (being the most expensive independently financed European production) proves that there is no need to go to Hollywood in order to produce remarkable international feature films.
X Verleih distribution company was founded in 2000, taking care of marketing and distribution – in cinemas, on DVD or VoD, always striving to find new and unusual ways and cooperations. X Filme are made from the same mould – from conception to production to distribution.
X Filme and X Verleih are currently made up of more than 40 people, who continually work in friendly dispute towards creating a label for good films. A label which doesn’t represent one individual film but which creates a reliable and recognisable name (particularly for normal audiences) from all its films – international co-productions, major German feature films or high-quality TV productions.
Michael Polle
Company Highlights
BABYLON BERLIN 2017
Format: TV series
Director: Tom Tykwer, Henk Handloegten, Achim von Borries
Screenplay: Tom Tykwer, Henk Handloegten, Achim von Borries
Cast: Volker Bruch, Liv Lisa Fries, Peter Kurth
Berlin in the Roaring Twenties: It is a metropolis for those with talent and ambition, for those in a hustle. It is BABYLON BERLIN. But beneath the glittering surface, the impoverished masses strive for a better life. It is a time of organized crime and political extremism. The old militaristic elites have not yet abdicated, while an even more dreadful monster starts flexing its muscles.
Gereon, a Cologne police officer, is new to the vice squad at the Red Fort, Berlin’s monumental police headquarters. Though calm and sincere at first sight, he carries a haunting burden.
The squad is headed by Bruno Wolter, a loyal and caring colleague, whose hidden agenda becomes a serious threat.
Caught between these two men is Charlotte, a bright young woman struggling to improve her family’s miserable living conditions and is leading a double life.
When a freight train from the young Soviet Union arrives, it draws attention from many corners: to some, its treasure is the key to political power, to others it secures a life in freedom and wealth, but first and foremost it is a deadly trap to everyone trying to approach it.
9 German Television Awards
European Film Awards for Best European Achievement in Fiction Series 2019
FRANTZ 2016
Format: Drama
Director: Francois Ozon
Screenplay: Francois Ozon, Philippe Piazzo
Cast: Pierre Niney, Paula Beer
In a small German town after World War I, Anna mourns daily at the grave of her fiancé Frantz, killed in battle in France. One day a young Frenchman, Adrien, also lays flowers at the grave. His presence so soon after the German defeat enflames passions.
In Competition at Venice Intl FF 2016
Paula Beer received Marcello Mastroianni Award (Best Young Actress) at Venice Intl FF 2016
César Award 2017 for Best Cinematography (Pascal Marti) etc.
AMOUR 2012
Format: Drama
Director: Michael Haneke
Screenplay: Michael Haneke
Cast: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert
Georges and Anne are in their eighties. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, who is also a musician, lives abroad with her family. One day, Anne has an attack. The couple’s bond of love is severely tested.
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film 2013
Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival 2012
CLOUD ATLAS 2012
Format: Action / Drama / Mystery
Director: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, Tom Tykwer
Screenplay: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, Tom Tykwer
An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.
5 German Film Awards 2013
2017 - HAPPY END
2017 - MITTELREICH
2016 - STEFAN ZWEIG – FAREWELL TO EUROPE
2016 - JUNCTION 48
2015 - ALONE IN BERLIN
2014 - A HOLOGRAM FOR THE KING
2013 - THE DARK VALLEY
2013 - SOURCES OF LIFE
2012 - CLOUD ATLAS
2012 - AMOUR
2010 - THREE
2009 - THE WHITE RIBBON
2007 - MY FUHRER
2004 - AGNES & HIS BROTHER
2004 - SOUNDLESS
2004 - LOVE IN THOUGHTS
2003 - GOODBYE LENIN!
2002 - HEAVEN
2000 - THE PRINCESS AND THE WARRIOR
1999 - ABSOLUTE GIGANTEN
1998 - LOLA RENNT
1997 - WINTERSLEEPER
1997 - LIFE IS ALL YOU GET
1995 - STILLE NACHT – EIN FEST DER LIEBE