Nov 9, 2024 – Dramaturgy is worth it! DAY of FilmContentDevelopment 2024 in Berlin

A brilliant symposium with lots of content-related input. Despite the challenging organisation, it was worth it to bring so many filmmakers together in one place to discuss the topics surrounding the TAG DER FILMSTOFFENTWICKLUNG !!! And I am proud to be part of the VeDRA board that made this conference possible.
VeDRA – Association for Film and Television DramaturgyVeDRA – Association for Film and Television Dramaturgy
With an audience of almost 430 people, the TAG DER FILMSTOFFENTWICKLUNG 2024 was a wonderful success with wonderful panellists, moderators, helping hands, the silent green team and  the support of Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Filmförderungsanstalt FFA , TOBIS , Saxonia Media Filmproduktionsgesellschaft mbH, Red Pony Pictures, Bantry Bay Productions GmbH, Studio Hamburg Serienwerft, ndF: neue deutsche Filmgesellschaft mbH, studio.tv.film, Tivoli Film Produktion GmbH, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Network Movie , ICONOCLAST, NFP.
Photos: Marcel Schwickerat

Veranstaltung Filmstoffentwicklung der VeDRA

Veranstaltung Filmstoffentwicklung der VeDRA


How to be funny if you are not – VeDRA Seminar & Workshop

On October 10 and 11, the VeDRA Seminar & Masterclass: Comic Toolbox with John Vorhaus took place in Berlin, which I organized as part of my work as the person responsible for further training at VeDRA.

It was great fun to watch John Vorhaus in his creative and advertising work. He shared his knowledge with us generously and this with a lot of humor. The participants were enthusiastic and took many tips and tricks back to their writing rooms.


Oct 11 VeDRA: MASTERCLASS COMIC TOOLBOX with John Vorhaus in Berlin

Dear Colleagues,
There are only a few tickets left!!
Do not miss the VeDRA Masterclass The Comic Toolbox and learn more about comedic screenwriting with the American dramaturg and comedy coach John Vorhaus:
Cost: €28.- including taxes
Be smart and use the discounted train tickets under the following link, while stocks last.
We look forward to seeing you!
All the best,
Suzanne Pradel
VeDRA Member of the Management Board , the Association for Film and Television Dramaturgy in German-speaking countries

Jan 17th, Winner of the Sabanci Foundation 8th Short Film Competition

The Sabancı Foundation is dedicated to raising awareness of socially relevant issues around the world. Over 145 filmmakers have submitted their films on the topic of “Water Crisis”.
The jury, consisting of the Turkish film critic Alin Taşçıyan, the Dutch documentary filmmaker and producer Jamillah Van der Hulst, the Turkish actor Salih Bademci, the creative producer Suzanne Pradel and the actress Tilbe Saran has chosen the following winners:
1st prize did go to the animation film “LIFE IN DREAMS” by Can Yesiloglu
2nd prize did go to the film “TOWARDS THE END” by Cihan Yildirim
3rd prize did go to the documentary “ANTHROPOCENE” by Mehmet Gürü Avcu
 
The documentary “THE SAVAGE” by Sinan Kaldan received a special mention.
We would like to thank Zeynep Atakan and her outstanding team Zeynep Arisoy, Ahmet Selim Günaydin, Dephne Auf, Lisa Idil Demirbüken for organising this brilliant event.

BuchScout@Cinema: 19.10.23 INGEBORG BACHMANN – JOURNEY INTO THE DESERT by Margarethe von Trotta

The new film, which already premiered in competition at the Berlinale, is based on a project idea by Suzanne Pradel.

When Ingeborg Bachmann (VICKY KRIEPS) and Swiss writer Max Frisch (RONALD ZEHRFELD) meet in Paris in 1958, it is the beginning of a passionate and destructive love story. For four years, the two carry on a grueling relationship that begins in Paris and leads to Rome via Zurich. But artistic disputes and the devouring jealousy of Max Frisch begin to gradually destroy the harmony. Years later, Ingeborg Bachmann cannot let go of the memory of her love for Max Frisch. On a trip to the desert, she tries to come to terms with her relationship with Max Frisch and slowly detach herself from it.

Biographical film drama, DE/CH/AT 2023

Film distributor: Alamode Film

German Theatrical Release: 19.10.23


April 12-19: Suzanne Pradel in the jury for Best Screenplay at Achtung Berlin – new berlin film award

As part of the jury for the BEST SCREENPLAY at the ACHTUNG BERLIN – new berlin film award, I am excited to see this year’s selection of feature films.

The film festival ACHTUNG BERLIN – new berlin film award presents current feature films and documentaries that have been realized either entirely or in part by a Berlin or Brandenburg film production and/or have a thematic connection to Berlin. The screening of the films will be accompanied by film talks with authors, directors, producers and distributors, who will inform about its production strategies.

JURY: 

FLORIAN PLUMEYER (* 1983 in Hannover), is a screenwriter and studied Theater & Media Studies in Erlangen and Athens as well as Screenwriting at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin. Internationally awarded short films by him include Thieves and Her Son. In addition, he was a recipient of the Nuemberg Writers’ Fellowship. For the feature film Alle Wollen Geliebt Werden, he and Katharina Woll were awarded the Förderpreis for Best Screenplay at Filmfest München. His collaboration with Christoph Hochhäusler Bis Ans Ende Der Nacht(2023) was in competition at the 73rd Berlinale and won the Silver Bear for Best Acting Performance in a Supporting Role for Thea Ehre.

SUZANNE PRADEL is a creative content producer, script consultant, agent, writer as well as a script expert for various European funders. She is a member of the European Film Academy (efa), the Association of Film Dramaturgy (VeDRA) and the European Women’s Audiovisual Network (ewa), whose “Female Scriptwriter’s Residency” she supervised as Script Consultant. She is also the founder of BuchScout & SerienScout Agency Berlin, which specializes in the development and marketing of European feature films and series. Thus, she was involved in the creation of successful and award-winning films, such as most recently at the Berlinale Competition 2023 Ingeborg Bachmann – A Journey Into The Desert by Margarethe von Trotta or the Gran Prix winner at the Tokyo International Film Festival Vera Dream Of The Sea by Kaltrina Krasniqi. She is active as a lecturer and speaker at international workshops and festivals (EAVE, Bosphorus Film Lab, Antalya Film Festival, ..)

KERSTIN POLTE is a director, screenwriter and part of the feminist filmmaker collective r.O.K.S. She completed her film education in Canada, at the HfG Karlsruhe and at the Zurich University of the Arts. She was also a scholarship holder at the Drehbuchwerkstatt München. Her films have screened at numerous renowned festivals, including the Locarno International Film Festival. Her feature film Wer hat eigentlich die Liebe erfunden? was awarded the Bavarian Film Prize, among others. She wrote and directed the TV film Immer der Nase nach (ZDF) and was part of the directing team for the 1st season of the series Wir (ZDF Neo/Mediathek). Furthermore, she developed and directed the series Becoming Charlie (ZDF Neo/Mediathek), which was nominated for the German Television Award and the Grimme Award, among others.


LOS PEQUENOS AMORES by Celia Rico will be released in 2023

BuchScout is happy to announce that “LOS PEQUENOS AMORES” the latest film from Celia Rico who made a splash at the 2018 San Sebastian Festival with “Journey to a Mother’s Room,” has been acquired for international sales by Spain-based Latido Films.

Celia Rico won the Female Scriptwriter’s Residency Berlin – a collaboration between the European Women’s Audiovisual Network (ewa) and BuchScout Agency Berlin – in 2020 and was script advised by Suzanne Pradel.

The film was produced by Barcelona-based Arcadia Motion Pictures.

Rico’s second feature is set in a bucolic countryside. It weighs in as a mother-daughter two-hander sparked after strongly independent mother Ani falls over walking the dog and is forced to use a wheelchair to get around. Daughter Teresa cuts short a vacation to come to her side, their co-habitation grating and revealing multiple – sometime generational – differences as the film peels back the layers of their relation, exposing both women’s ambitions and fears.

Adriana Azores (“Grand Hotel,” “Velvet”) plays Ani, María Vázquez (“Eye for an Eye,” “Offworld”) is Teresa.

Spain-based platform Filmin, RTVE and Catalonia regional pubcaster TVC boarded the project early on in production. Rico’s feature is also backed by Spain’s ICAA and Catalonia’s ICEC, the territories’ film-TV agencies, as well as France’s CNC and European Union’s Media Programm. “Los pequeños amores” is scheduled for release in 2023.


Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert – World Premiere @ Berlinale Competition 2023

BuchScout is happy to announce that Margarethe von Trotta’s new film about the life of Ingeborg Bachmann will celebrate its world premiere in competition at the Berlinale 2023. 

Margarethe von Trotta, who was honored by the European Film Academy for her remarkable life’s work, created the film based on a project idea by Suzanne Pradel.

“Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert” tells the story of Ingeborg’s love affair with Max Frisch, her journey to Egypt, as well as her radical texts and readings.

Filming took place in Cologne, Vienna, Zurich, Rome, Jordan and Luxembourg. Vicky Krieps as Ingeborg Bachmann and Ronald Zehrfeld as Max Frisch shine in the leading roles, and Tobias Resch, Basil Eidenbenz, Luna Wedler and Marc Limpach also star.

The film is a co-production of Heimatfilm (D), tellfilm (CH), Amour Fou Vienna (AUT) and Amour Fou Luxembourg (LUX). The film was funded by NRW, FFA, DFFF and Eurimages.

 


April 7-10, Suzanne Pradel will lecture @ 1st European edition of the American Writers Lab (TWL)

BuchScout is happy to announce that Suzanne Pradel will teach at the first European edition of the successful American Writerrs lab (TWL)

The Writers Lab (TWL), the script development programme for women and non-binary writers over 40.

The non-profit initiative will run virtually from April 7-10, and is designed to discover an intersectional range of diverse new voices in the film sector. The successful participants will be connected with leading screenwriters and producers in the industry. 17 writers from 13 countries have been selected.

Mentors and guests include directors Susanne Bier (The Night Manager), Jasmila Žbanić (Quo Vadis, Aida?), Isabel Coixet (Secret Life Of Words), Nadine Labaki(Capernaum), Agnieszka Holland (Europa Europa), producer and writer Jantje Friese(Dark), playwright and writer Christina Ham (Them), and producer Ameenah Ayub Allen (Rocks, Ali and Ava), script consultant Suzanne Pradel (BuchScout Agency).

TWL Europe is produced by co-founders Elizabeth Kaiden and Nitza Wilon in partnership with Untamed Stories, lead by Julia Berg and Ruth Spencer. The UK and Ireland TWL programme backed by Cate Blanchett´s Dirty Films was launched last year, whilst the US iteration started in 2015, is produced by NYWIFT and counts Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman among its supporters.

The 17 participants of The Writers Lab Europe 2022:

  • Regine AnourUnderdoc (Comedy, Austria)
  • E Coleman, Dumas (Historical Drama, Switzerland)
  • Ilaria Freccia & Bebetta Campeti, Hold Me Tight (Feature Drama, Italy)
  • Mumta Mala Ghedia, No Monsters in Berlin (Drama, Germany)
  • Virginie Gourmel, Concussion (Feature Thriller, Brussels – Belgium)
  • Tuija Halttunen, Hard Boiled Eggs (Feature Comedy, Finland)
  • Orla Hannon, Bereft of a Talisman ( Drama, Ireland)
  • Marta Hopfer-Gilles, Good Enough (Comedy, Norway)
  • Nicole van Kilsdonk & Marijke Schermer, Breakwater (Feature Drama, Netherlands)
  • Tereza Kotyk, Faith: A Fair Balance of Pain (Feature Drama, Austria)
  • Álfrún Örnólfsdóttir, Shitballs (Feature Comedy, Iceland)
  • Carlota Pereda, The Blondes (Feature Comedy/Thriller, Spain)
  • Ninon Schubert, The Plague Doctor (Feature Horror, Germany)
  • Raquel Stern, Imperfect Cadence ( Comedy, Germany)
  • Francesca Tasini, Unclean (Drama, Italy)
  • Dorotea Vucic, Hadi ( Sci-Fi, Croatia)
  • Agnieszka Zwiefka, She (Feature Drama, Poland)

Feb: Vera Dreams of the Sea at Ingmar Bergman Competition @ Göteborg Film Festival

BuchScout is happy to announce that “Vera Dreams of the Sea” premieres in #Sweden this #February– We are honored that our film is selected in #IngmarBergmanCompetition of the 45th edition of Göteborg Film Festival
In selectors words:
“The moving feature film debut is a sophisticated portrayal of female compliance and empathic capabilities in collision with a male honour code.”

More information: https://program.goteborgfilmfestival.se/en/program/vera-dreams-of-the-sea?fbclid=IwAR3UF3nQXlPOjIiKtRuRVV3-Q6e0ZEMuPL4RcNRrdz7m2o_tn_xgBcGXCu8