Germany gets Summertime Blues, Antichrist invoked in Spain

UK:

The UK sees only a couple of indie releases this weekend, competing against heavyweights Dance Flick, I Love You Beth Cooper, and Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds.

Vertigo gives German production Chiko a limited release from August 21. Directed by Özgür Yildirim, the crime drama is set in a Hamburg ghetto and follows the eponymous protagonist determined to make his name in the local drug trade.

Antonio Campos’s US indie Afterschool also debuts, through Network Releasing. Set in an elite private school, the film examines the YouTube generation through the experiences of Robert (Ezra Miller), a young pupil at the school who accidently captures on camera the death of two fellow students.

Germany:

Erica von Moeller’s Fräulein Stinnes Fährt Um Die Welt, about the first women to circumnavigate the globe by car in 1927, was opened by RealFiction in selected cinemas in key cities. Additional cinemas in towns around Germany are booked for the coming weeks.

Constantin Film give a nationwide release for Germany’s “national treasure” Hape Kerkeling’s political comedy Horst Schlämmer - Isch Kandidiere!, produced in a matter of months in order to coincide with the campaign for this year’s Bundestag election. Film critics expressed annoyance that they had not been given a chance to see the film in press screenings, but the distributor explained that the final print had not been delivered until last weekend. The film’s premiere in Berlin was itself put back until last Monday (Aug 17).

Thomas Kronthaler’s love story Write Me - Postcards To Copacabana opened through Movienet in 10 cinemas across Germany. Based on Stefanie Kremser’s novel, the film is a co-production between Munich’s Avista Film, broadcaster BR and La Paz-based Pegaso Producciones.

Marie Reich’s feature debut Summertime Blues was released by Universum in over 20 cities throughout Germany. The coming of age drama, adapted from the novel by Julia Clarke, had its premiere at this year’s Filmfest Emden-Norderney in June.

France:

SND’s release of 9, the animated Summit film, fell into second place behind Quentin Tarantino’s latest effort Inglourious Basterds with 33,381 admissions on Wednesday (August 19) from 443 screens. The sci-fi adventure is set in the near future after a war between man and machine has ravaged the Earth. When a scientist creates a group of fragile creatures who band together as a family, the ninth one has other plans. The film, directed by Shane Acker, stars the vocal talent of Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly and Crispin Glover.

This Is The End (Les Derniers Jours Du Monde) from Wild Bunch Distribution is another apocalyptic tale albeit with a romantic comedy bent. The film opened number three this week with 13,610 admissions on 182 screens. Starring Mathieu Amalric, Catherine Frot and Karin Viard, the counter-programmed picture was directed by the Larrieu brothers Jean-Marie and Arnaud.

Spain:

Local outfit Aurum will be hoping Ong Bak 2 can match or better the success of the original installment, which took $2.2m in Spain back in 2005. The Thai martial arts drama is directed by and stars Tony Jaa as a young man born into nobility who seeks revenge for the death of his parents.

Local distributor Golem picked up the rights to Lars Von Trier’s controversial horror Antichrist at Cannes, where it divided the critics’ opinions. So far the film has failed to make much of an impact at the box offices across Europe, taking just over $1m in France, but shock horror films have a tendency to do well in Spain.

Manga Films will be hoping to improve on what has been a disappointing box office tally so far for Vadim Perelman’s thriller The Life Before Her Eyes, starring Uma Thurman as the survivor of a school