23/01/2024 - The German sales agent brings a quartet of titles to Berlin – one playing in Competition, one in Panorama and two documentaries for the European Film Market

Lars Eidinger in Dying (© The Match Factory)

The Match Factory is revving its engines ahead of this year’s Berlinale, set to unspool from 15-25 February. The Cologne-based sales agent and production outfit has unveiled its line-up of features, which includes one Competition title, one Panorama film and two documentaries set to be presented at the European Film Market (EFM, 15-21 February).

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The title playing in Competition is Matthias Glasner’s Dying [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Matthias Glasner
film profile]. In detail, the picture follows the individual members of the Lunies family, who haven’t been a family for a long time. Lissy is quietly happy about her husband Gerd, suffering from dementia and slowly wasting away in a home. But her newfound freedom is short-lived: diabetes, cancer and kidney failure mean that she doesn't have much time left either. Son Tom, a conductor in his early forties, is working on a composition called “Dying” while at the same time being made the surrogate father of his ex-girlfriend’s child. And Tom’s sister Ellen starts an affair with the married Sebastian, with whom she shares a love of alcohol. As Death eventually turns up on the doorstep, the estranged family members finally meet again. The cast is led by Lars Eidinger (White Noise, About Joan [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laurent Larivière
film profile]), who stars alongside Corinna Harfouch, Lilith Stangenberg, Ronald Zehrfeld and Robert Gwisdek.          

In the Panorama strand, The Match Factory will regale the festival audience with Thomas Arslan’s Scorched Earth [+see also:
film review
interview: Thomas Arslan
film profile], the latest feature by the German-Turkish director after his 2017 drama Bright Nights [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Thomas Arslan
film profile]. The story zooms in on a professional criminal called Trojan, who returns to Berlin in search of a new job after a failed coup. He cannot refuse the lucrative offer of a painting theft. But the meticulously planned heist soon gets out of hand, and then it's all about survival. The main cast is made up of Mišel Matičević, Marie Leuenberger, Alexander Fehling, Tim Seyfi and Bilge Bingül.

Fatih Akin’s Crossing the Bridge – The Sound of Istanbul is one of the two non-fiction features set to be presented at the EFM. Starring Alexander Hacke, Baba Zula, Orient Expressions, Duman and Replikas, the picture is the restored, 4K version of Akin’s 2005 documentary of the same name, Crossing the Bridge – The Sound of Istanbul [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. It follows a European musician and composer who delves into the task of capturing the musical diversity of Istanbul with his mobile recording studio to assemble an inspired portrait of Turkish music. His voyage leads to the discovery of a broad spectrum ranging from modern electronic, rock and hip-hop to classical “Arabesque”. The Match Factory team labels it as “a true crossover experience of both traditional and modern music where East meets West in the bustling Bosphorus metropolis”.

Finally, The Match Factory’s line-up is rounded off by Veljko Vidak’s documentary Cinema Laika. In it, Vidak “adeptly captures the profound impact of cinema on a community”. The feature unfolds in a small village in Finland, which has relied solely on metallurgical activities for the past two centuries. Poet and writer Mika Lätti and his friend Aki Kaurismäki are constructing their own cinema theatre within an old foundry. Employing recycled wood, metal and pre-owned furniture, Kaurismäki and the residents of Karkkila collaboratively craft Kino Laika. The venue is surrounded by Cadillacs, motorcycles, rock bars and the awe-inspiring beauty of nature, encapsulating the very essence of cinema's enchantment. The documentary is enriched by the presence of filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, actor Simon Al-Bazoon, actress Nuppu Koivu and musical duo Maustetytöt.