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    MDM Film Location Sites

    By Ron Holloway | December 31, 2008

    “Sexy Anhalt” is how Oscar winner Helen Mirren described the region in northern Saxony-Anhalt while the Hollywood project, Michael Hoffman’s The Last Station, was being filmed last April to June. That the attraction of Middle Germany as location site is generally increasing, this is proven by several other large-scale projects produced in the region. Stephen Daldry shot parts of his Hollywood adaptation of Der Vorleser (The Reader) in Görlitz, a site already discovered in 2004 by Frank Coraci with Jackie Chan when the duo were shooting there a Paris-set scene for their action comedy Around the World in 80 Days. French film star Julie Delpy found the locations for her historical film The Countess on the Wartburg and Königstein Fortress, among other sites, while Sönke Wortmann is directing the film adaptation of bestseller Die Päpstin (The Popess) in grand style and partly on Burg Querfurt. By contrast, Schiwago Film discovered its own 1910 Vienna in Zittau. There the company spent 23 days shooting the grotesque drama Mein Kampf, based on the stage classic by George Tabori.

    Also, contemporary themes can be filmed in Middle Germany. For his thriller Flightplan, starring Jodie Foster, Robert Schwentke shot at the Leipzig-Halle Airport. Alain Gsponer’s Lila, Lila, starring German top actors Daniel Brühl and Henry Hübchen, was shot on several locations in Leipzig proper. By contrast, Oliver Mielke’s comedy Ossi’s Eleven attracted a top-class ensemble to the highrise housing estate at Wolfen.

    In the meanwhile, almost 800 Middle German motifs have been collected in the MDM Location Guide. It takes only a few minutes for producers and location scouts to embark on a journey through historic Germany via online offers – a broad spectrum reaching from medieval castles over art nouveau houses to unrestored Plattenbauten (fabricated highrises). Also, the three federal republics offer everything landscape-wise from high mountains to coastal shores to satisfy a producer’s heart. This appeal for the film industry guarantees a positive image of the region and dispenses with prejudices. Last but not least, film as a cultural and commercial commodity boosts the area overall in respect to companies based there. Among other things the tourism branch profits from the current film boom in Middle Germany.

    Topics: German Film, MDM Leipzig | Comments Off on MDM Film Location Sites

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