Razor Film is to produce Turkish filmmaker Asli Özge's next feature film Asphyxia (working title).
The Berlin-based production house was co-producer on Ari Folman's Oscar-nominated Waltz With Bashir.
Speaking at the German - Turkish Delight Co-Production Meeting in Berlin, Razor Film's Roman Paul revealed that he met Özge at the 2005 Thessaloniki Film Festival.
There, he served as a judge on the Balkan Fund's International Jury which awarded Özge a $13,400 (Euros 10,000) development grant.
Since then, Özge has worked with German screenwriters Judith Angerbauer and Adrienne Bortoli on the story of several generations of a bourgeois family in modern-day Istanbul.
The project will begin shooting in 2010.
Paul, who is currently producing Benedek Fliegauf's Womb commented on Özge's approach, 'Asli's way of directing actors is very accessible for international audiences.' Paul said.
Meanwhile, Özge's Men On The Bridge, will have its Turkish premiere on April 15 as part of the Istanbul Film Festival national competition.
The film was produced by Fabian Massah's Endorphine Production with Istanbul-based Yeni Sinemacilik, and will be theatrically released in Germany by Farbfilm Verleih.
The co-production meeting, which was organised by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the local MEDIA Antenne, was attended by Turkish companies including Anka Film, Pi Film, Sarmasik Sanatlar, Ustaoglu Film and Yeni Sinemcilik as well as distributors Bir Film & Tiglon and Maxximum Film.
Their German counterparts included Corazon Film International, Filmfabrik, Flying Moon Filmproduktion, Neue Road Movies, Wüste Film Ost and zero fiction film.
New features by Yesim Ustaoglu (Limbo), Dervis Zaim (Shadow And Faces), Hüseyin Karabey (Come To My Voice!), and Seyfi Teoman (Our Grand Despair) were among the Turkish projects pitched to attract potential German co-producers.
Speaking to ScreenDaily, director-producer Karabey of Asi Film Production revealed that he is also developing an omnibus film of six shorts Don't Forget Me! (Unutma Beni!).
The omnibus will be directed by a number of directors including Omar Shaqrawi, Hany Abu-Assad, Aida Begic, Stefan Arsenijevic and Karabey himself.
The films will present the filmmakers' personal view of Istanbul's cosmopolitan history and may receive support from the organisation staging Istanbul's European Capital Of Culture celebrations next year.
The Turkish Film Week opened on Thursday evening with a screening of the award-winning Turkish-German co-production Autumn and includes screenings of such films as My Marlon & Brando, The Market, Nokta - Dot, and Three Monkeys.
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