Both of the Studio Babelsberg productions ANONYMOUS and CHICKEN WITH PLUMS will be taking part in the world’s leading film festivals: Roland Emmerich‘s Shakespeare drama ANONYMOUS will have its world premiere at the 36th Toronto International Film Festival (September 08-18). The festival in Toronto is regarded in the film industry as an indicator for the Oscar nominations. Marjane Satrapi‘s CHICKEN WITH PLUMS will be showing in competition at the Venice International Film Festival (August 31 – September 10) as a world premiere and will also have a special screening in Toronto. Both films were shot completely at the studios and exterior sets in Babelsberg in 2010 with Studio Babelsberg serving as the executive production company.
Along with the Berlinale and Cannes, the film festivals of Toronto and Venice number amongst the world’s most important festivals. We are very pleased about the invitations and congratulate Marjane Satrapi and Roland Emmerich, in particular, as well as the whole team, our producer partners and the funders.
Christoph Fisser
COO Studio Babelsberg
Co-producer of ANONYMOUS and CHICKEN WITH PLUMS
Christoph Fisser, board member of Studio Babelsberg AG and the producer of both films: „Along with the Berlinale and Cannes, the film festivals of Toronto and Venice number amongst the world’s most important festivals. We are very pleased about the invitations and congratulate Marjane Satrapi and Roland Emmerich, in particular, as well as the whole team, our producer partners and the funders.“
ANONYMOUS is a Centropolis/ Anonymous Pictures Limited/ Studio Babelsberg production. The lead roles are taken by Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, David Thewlis, Xavier Samuel and Derek Jacobi. Roland Emmerich is the director. Roland Emmerich, Robert Leger and Larry Franco are the producers. John Orloff, Volker Engel and Marc Weigert are the executive producers. Charlie Woebcken, Christoph Fisser and Henning Molfenter of Studio Babelsberg are serving as co-producers. The screenplay is by John Orloff. Anna J. Foerster is Director of Photography. Production design is by Sebastian Krawinkel who has already worked on several Babelsberg productions in the past. Lisy Christl is Costume Designer. The musical score was written by Harald Kloser.
CHICKEN WITH PLUMS is the new film by the Oscar-nominated director of Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi. The film is a German-French co-production between Celluloid Dreams Productions (Paris) and TheManipulators, the new production outfit founded by Studio Babelsberg together with Celluloid Dreams and Clou Partners from Munich. The cast includes Isabella Rossellini, Mathieu Amalric, Maria De Medeiros, Chiara Mastroianni, Golshifteh Farahani, Eric Caravaca and Jamel Debbouze. Marjane Satrapi wrote the screenplay with Vincent Paronnaud. They were also both responsible for the direction. The creative team includes the director of photography Christophe Beaucarne, production designer Udo Kramer, costume designer Madeline Fontaine and make-up artist Nathalie Tessier. Hengameh Panahi (Celluloid Dreams) and Francois-Xavier Decraene produced the film. Charlie Woebcken, Christoph Fisser and Henning Molfenter (all from Studio Babelsberg) and Torsten Poeck (Clou Partners) are the co-producers.
Short synopsis ANONYMOUS
Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabethan England, ANONYMOUS speculates on an issue that has for centuries occupied numerous academics and brilliant minds from Mark Twain and Charles Dickens through to Henry James and Sigmund Freud, namely: who was the author of the plays credited to William Shakespeare? Numerous experts have debated, books have been written, and scholars have dedicated their lives to protecting or debunking theories surrounding the authorship of the most renowned works in English literature. ANONYMOUS offers one possible answer, focussing on a time when political intrigues, illicit romances in the Royal Court and the scheming of greedy nobles hungry for the power of the throne were reflected at one of the most unusual of places: the London stage.
