Germany's Beta Cinema says it made 30 deals at this year's AFM, starting with further global success for its Stasi thriller, The Lives Of Others.

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's German Oscar entry sold to South Korea (Eureka), Singapore, Malaysia (Cathay), Portugal (Ecofilmes), Thailand (J-Bics) and Hong Kong (Edko). Talks with a Russian distributor are reaching their final phase.

Beta's Dirk Schuerhoff and Andreas Rothbauer say the film looks ready to follow Oliver Hirschbiegel's 2004 hit Downfall as a truly global film.

"Only the sales to China will most likely be blocked by censorship issues," they said.

Christ Kraus' film Four Minutes was another big AFM seller and will now be released in 20 countries.

A US deal is in the final stages of negotiations as are sales to Mexico. The film was also sold to Brazil (Bitelli Filmes), Argentina (Alfa Filmes), Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and former Yugoslavia (Prooptiki).

Bully Herbig's Hui Buh - The Goofy Ghost, a Constantin production, was sold to Brazil (Europa Filmes) and Russia (Beliven). Contracts with other East-European countries and Spain are nearing conclusion.

Manuel Huerga's Salvador, starring Daniel Bruhl, was sold to Italy (Delta Pictures) where it will by Istituto Luce. Prior to the AFM, the film had already been sold to Japan, Hungary and the Benelux. German distribution rights are still available.

Beta says it received strong interest in Florian Baxmeyer's The Three Investigators And The Secret of Skeleton Island , and Stefan Ruzowitzky's The Counterfeiter, both of which are still in post-production.

The films were sold to Brazil (Europa Filmes) and Thailand (J-Bics) on the basis of trailers and scripts. The Three Investigators was also sold to the Middle East (Italia Film).