05/19/2005

Shooting Paul Verhoevens Black Book will start end of August

Legendary director and Academy Award winner Paul Verhoeven (BASIC INSTINCT, TOTAL RECALL, TURKISH DELIGHT) marks his return to European filmmaking after 20 years in Hollywood with the WWII thriller BLACK BOOK.

VIP Mediafonds (MONSTER, UPSIDE OF ANGER, SEVEN DWARFS), the European market leader in motion picture funding and producing, has come on board as the majority financier of BLACK BOOK, which is scheduled to start principal photography in mid August on location in the Netherlands and at Studio Babelsberg. Cast includes the rising Dutch star Carice van Houten, award winning actress Halina Reijn and top Dutch actor Thom Hoffman. The lead German parts are played by Sebastian Koch and Christian Berkel.

The $20m picture is a Dutch/German/UK co-production between Fu Works, Egoli Tossell Film, Clockwork Pictures and Motel Films. San Fu Maltha (COSTA, TOO FAT TOO FURIOUS) is producing through Fu Works with producers Jens Meurer (SHOOTING DOGS, RUSSIAN ARK) for Berlin based Egoli Tossell and Teun Hilte (INFERNO) for London based Clockwork Pictures. Amsterdam based Jeroen Beker and Frans van Gestel produce for Motel Films (PHILEINE SAYS SORRY, IN ORANGE).

The collaboration comes at a significant moment for the German film industry, as BLACK BOOK illustrates how the German media funds can operate successfully within the European arena. “The media funds’ German investment heralds a powerful future for the German and European film industry”, said Andreas Schmid, CEO of VIP. The film will be made in its authentic languages: Dutch, German and English. Verhoeven: "Having made Dutch and American movies, I'm looking forward to making my first European film"

An original screenplay by Verhoeven and his longtime collaborator Gerard Soeteman, BLACK BOOK tells the story of a young German Jewish woman, who herself narrowly survives the war in Holland, but in the last days of the hostilities has to discover who betrayed her family.

BLACK BOOK is backed by the Netherlands Film Fund, CoBO Fund, AVRO, Studio Babelsberg Motion Pictures, Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg, FFA, Pro7/Sat1 and Eurimages. The Netherlands’ No. 1 independent distributor A-Film will be releasing along with Timebandits, Tartan, Pathé and others. The film will be ready for delivery in June 2006.
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For more information, please contact: Annick Smit (+31615013414)