A new German private media fund Shalimah German Film Management is to be launched to attract investment for participation in a slate of Stateside projects and an in-house family production for the international market.

The Shalimah fund will participate in Glenn M. Stewart's investment and financing company Sherezade Film Development which has produced eight films since its launch in 2005.

The films produced by Sherezade to date have included Scott Mann's high concept action thriller The Tournament; Noam Murro's comedy Smart People, starring Dennis Quaid and Sarah Jessica Parker; Neil Burger's roadmovie The Lucky Ones, with Tim Robbins and Michael Pena; Franc. Reyes's crime drama The Ministers, with John Leguizamo and Harvey Keitel; Baillie Walsh's Daniel Craig-starring drama Flashbacks Of A Fool; and Rachel Samuels' blues musical Dark Streets.

According to the fund prospectus, Sherezade has four projects in pre-production/development including a $3.5m screen adaptation of Terrence McNally's Tony Award-winning homage to Maria Callas, Master Class, to be directed by Faye Dunaway and co-starring Val Kilmer, and the $13.5m 10-part omnibus project New York, I Love You, inspired by the 2006 omnibus film Paris Je t'aime, which already has Anthony Minghella, Joshua Marston and Fatih Akin attached as directors for individual episodes.

In addition, Shalimah is planning the in-house production of the $14m family film Harper's Fairy in cooperation with the children's charity S.O.S. Kinderdoerfer International to mark the organisation's 60th anniversary in 2009. An international cast is being sought for the project which will go before the camera in summer 2008 and is to be presented by German Oscar-winning director Caroline Link.

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