Three nominations for the German Film Prize for the cine plus co-productions: HAPPY AS ONE and INTO GREAT SILENCE

Berlin 24 March 2006 | At yesterday's press conference in Berlin, Minister of State Bernd Neumann and the GERMAN FILM ACADEMY announced the nominations for the GERMAN FILM PRIZE 2006. Three nominations for cine plus co-productions are among them.

HAPPY AS ONE (KOMM NÄHER) by Vanessa Jopp (K5 Film, Oliver Simon), recently launched in the cinemas, was nominated for the category "Full-Length Feature Film" and Meret Becker for the Best Female Supporting Role. The second cine plus co-production among the films nominated is the documentary INTO GREAT SILENCE (DIE GROSSE STILLE) by Philip Gröning (Philip Gröning Filmproduktion), shot predominantly using HDCAM, which has already been awarded the Bayerischer Filmpreis (Bavarian Film Prize), the Preis der Deutschen Filmkritik (German Film Critics Award) and the Special Prize of the jury in Sundance. It is one of two films nominated for the prize in the category "Full-Length Documentary Film".

"After our co-production RHYTHM IS IT! was awarded two prizes at the German Film Prize last year, we are all the more delighted about this year's nominations for the two films INTO GREAT SILENCE and HAPPY AS ONE. What distinguishes both productions is not only the unique stories of how they came about, but also the fact that they are outstanding works in terms of both content and form in their respective genres. And last but not least, they provide impressive proof that digital cinematography can hold its own against any other technique. We wish everyone involved good luck and are keeping our fingers crossed," said a delighted Frank Evers, CEO of the cine plus group and co-producer of both films.

HAPPY AS ONE

Tender, raw and moving – with a great lightness of touch, HAPPY AS ONE tells the story of people in the city, of encounters and relationships, the first and subsequent steps. Precisely observed and with a fine feeling for nuances and situations, Vanessa Jopp (FORGET AMERICA / VERGISS AMERIKA) interweaves seven destinies to make a tragicomic, wondrously realistic urban "round dance" about love in times of loneliness.

HAPPY AS ONE came into being as a result of observations of people and situations. The point of departure was the individual characters developed by Vanessa Jopp and her actors in detailed improvisations, observations and rehearsals. In a second step the authors wrote the film narrative – which was unknown to the actors during shooting, however. Thus, HAPPY AS ONE tells a story in a way that allows both the audience and the actors to experience events directly and spontaneously.

- HAPPY AS ONE -
A film by Vanessa Jopp

Cast: Meret Becker, Hinnerk Schönemann, Stefanie Stappenbeck, Marek Harloff, Fritz Roth, Heidrun Bartholomäus, Marie-Luise Schramm, Jana Pallaske

Directed by Vanessa Jopp
Written by Adrienne Bortoli
Co-author: Stefan Schneider
Camera: Rainer Klausmann
Film editing: Brigitta Tauchner
Sound: Kai Lüde
Costume design: Petra Kray
Make-up: Iris Kettner
Scenery: Tommy Stark
Film music: Loy Wesselburg
Editors: Annette Strelow, Birgit Kämper, Tatjana Röber, Katja de Bock
Co-producers: Frank Evers, Christian Colmorgen
Producer: Oliver Simon

A K5 FILM production in co-production with Radio Bremen,
ARTE, WDR und cine plus

Berlinale presentation funded by FilmFernsehFonds Bayern
Distributed by Piffl Medien
Further information and cinema finder:
http://www.happy-as-one.com

INTO GREAT SILENCE

The Grande Chartreuse, the monastery where the legendary order of Carthusian monks was founded, is in the French Alps. INTO GREAT SILENCE is the first film ever to be made about life behind monastery walls. Silence, repetition, rhythm.

The film is a very severe, virtually silent meditation about monastery life in its purest form. No music except for the chanting of the monks, no interviews, no commentaries, no additional material. Only the passage of time, the change of the seasons and the one constantly repeating element of the day: prayer. A film that is itself more like a monastery than a portrayal.

A film about awareness, about absolute presence – and about people who in all clarity have consciously devoted their lives to God. Contemplation. A journey into great silence.

- INTO GREAT SILENCE -
A film by Philip Gröning

Directed by Philip Gröning
Written by Philip Gröning
Camera: Philip Gröning, Anthony Dod Mantle
Film editing: Philip Gröning, Karl Riedl
Editors: Anne Even, ZDF/ARTE, Walter Graifenstein, BR
Executive production: cine plus, produktion2, Jörg Schulze
Co-producers: Frank Evers, Jörg Schulze
Producers: Philip Gröning, Michael Weber, Andres Pfäffli, Elda Guidinetti

A Philip Gröning Film production in co-operation with Bavaria Film, Ventura Film SA, cine plus, TSI, Bayerischer Rundfunk and ZDF in cooperation with ARTE, funded by the Film Foundation of North Rhine-Westphalia and the FFA. Distributed by X-Verleih AG

Im Verleih der X-Verleih AG

Further information:
http://www.intogreatsilence.de