German independent distributor Prokino and 20th Century Fox have entered into an exclusive strategic cooperative alliance which will see all of Prokino's future releases being distributed by the US major, starting with Kenneth Branagh's Love's Labours Lost.

Branagh's Shakespeare adaptation, which is showing at this year's Berlin Film Festival in the official section "out of competition", will be released through Fox in Germany on May 25. It will be followed by Matthias Lehmann's comedy Besser Als Bier (working title), which was co-produced by Prokino's production wing, on Aug 17, and Peter M. Cohen's Whipped (working title) on Sept 21.

Prokino's managing director Stephan Hutter stressed that all of the Prokino Group's business activities, in particular marketing and promotion, acquisition and license trading as well as production and development, will continue to be managed and expanded independently.

As part of the distribution cooperation, Prokino will have 6-8 films released through Fox. In addition, the Munich-based company, whose past successes include the distribution of such crossover hits as Trainspotting, Leaving Las Vegas and Run Lola Run, is planning an expansion of its production activities in Germany and Europe, focussing on both local and English language films.

According to a press communique, "German projects will be increasingly assessed according to their international potential and positioned through Prokino's global network of contacts. At the same time, Prokino wants to significantly extend its recognised creative competence in the area of marketing".

Meanwhile, Christian Grass, Senior Vice President Fox Europe, added that "the connection of Twentieth Century Fox of Germany with Prokino in Germany is an important milestone in our international strategy to bundle forces with a strong local partner."

Fox's German general manager Vincent de la Tour noted that "many synergies can be tapped together in the future, right through to a possible joint film production."

The sealing of a strategic alliance between Fox and Prokino comes just as Vaclav Vorlicek's family film Der Feuervogel and Klaus Kramer's Drei Chinesen Mit Dem Kontrabass are being lined up as the last releases in March from a strategic alliance that Fox had concluded with Jugendfilm in November 1998. This distribution and production collaboration was effectively nullified when Kinowelt acquired Jugendfilm last October.

Fox already enjoys two other local strategic partnerships across Europe, one with UGC for France, the other with Egmont for distribution in Finland and Denmark.