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Up until a few years ago, there was a shady little pub here in Brno, Czech Republic, that only had one desirable feature: A six-foot statue of the lovable Rockbiter creature from "The NeverEnding Story." I would even take people there to suffer bad beer just so we could marvel at that unexpected monument to Wolfgang Petersen's dark fantasy adventure. It wasn't the only legacy of the film's enduring popularity around here; Limahl's title song, which was a hit single across Europe, is still played on regular rotation on the local radio station. It is one of the many benefits of living in the Czech Republic.

"The NeverEnding Story," based on the first half of Michael Ende's epic fantasy novel, was Petersen's next project after spending three years making his tense U-boat drama, "Das Boot." The German director received an Oscar nomination for his troubles but wanted...

When you think of director Wolfgang Petersen (who passed away last year), the first thing that comes to mind is probably not a movie about ailing Empresses, heroic young boys, and giant, flying luck dragons. After all, a glimpse of Petersen's filmography doesn't really seem to suggest that he's the kind of guy too interested in fantasy movies for children. Much of his resume is studded with impressive hits like 1981's "Das Boot" and 1997's "Air Force One." Both of these films are firmly based in reality and depict both militaristic and political storylines, with "Das Boot" focusing on a German submarine in World War II and "Air Force One" honing in on a terrorist attack aboard the President of the United States' plane with not a single luck dragon is in sight.

Still, there is one movie of Petersen's that, while great, doesn't quite fit with the rest of...

Before taking the reins at the Berlin Film Festival in 2001, Dieter Kosslick had already racked up a number of impressive accomplishments in the domestic and international film sectors, and he immediately put that know-how to work in expanding and re-shaping Germany’s premier film event.

Kosslick is being honored with Variety’s Achievement in International Film Award at the Berlin Film Festival.

In 1983, Kosslick became managing director of the Hamburger Filmbüro, which oversaw cultural film funding in Hamburg, and later headed the newly launched Film Fonds Hamburg, which provided more commercial-oriented economic film support.

While in Hamburg, in 1986 Kosslick launched a number of groundbreaking, border-crossing initiatives, such as the European Low Budget Film Forum, which attracted then-fledgling filmmakers including Derek Jarman, Stephen Frears and Lars von Trier and later developed into Filmfest Hamburg. That led to the establishment of the EU Media Program and the European Film Distribution Office (Efdo...

In the latest entry in Escape from New York, Reverse Shot's ongoing series on cinephilia around the world, Giovanni Marchini Camia takes us to Berlin. Also in today's roundup of news and views: a major Carl Theodor Dreyer online resource, Rick Alverson on Kornél Mundruczó’s White God, Tom Dicillo on Noah Baumbach's While We're Young, Glenn Kenny on Woody Allen's reputation, interviews with Ondi Timoner, Ellen Burstyn, Keith David, Christopher McDonald and Mark Margolis—and remembering Helmut Dietl. » - David Hudson...

In the latest entry in Escape from New York, Reverse Shot's ongoing series on cinephilia around the world, Giovanni Marchini Camia takes us to Berlin. Also in today's roundup of news and views: a major Carl Theodor Dreyer online resource, Rick Alverson on Kornél Mundruczó’s White God, Tom Dicillo on Noah Baumbach's While We're Young, Glenn Kenny on Woody Allen's reputation, interviews with Ondi Timoner, Ellen Burstyn, Keith David, Christopher McDonald and Mark Margolis—and remembering Helmut Dietl. » - David Hudson...

The German film and TV industries were mourning on Monday the death of director, writer and producer Helmut Dietl from lung cancer. He was 70.

Once described as “the German answer to Woody Allen”, Dietl was known to international audiences largely for his send-up of the fake Hitler diaries saga in the 1992 film Schtonk!, which was subsequently nominated for a best foreign language film Academy Award.

Bavarian-born Dietl had already made a name for himself before Schtonk! on German TV with critically praised audience favourites such as Münchner Geschichten (1974/5), Der Ganz Normale Wahnsinn (1979/80), Monaco Franze and the six-part series Kir Royal, a biting satire on Munich high society and tabloid journalism.

According to the late TV commissioning editor Jörn Klamroth of Cologne’s Wdr, the inspiration for Kir Royal came to Dietl in 1984 when he and the director saw a photo in a cafe showing Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict) sitting together with the conservative Bavarian politician...

The German film and TV industries were mourning on Monday the death of director, writer and producer Helmut Dietl from lung cancer. He was 70.

Once described as “the German answer to Woody Allen”, Dietl was known to international audiences largely for his send-up of the fake Hitler diaries saga in the 1992 film Schtonk!, which was subsequently nominated for a best foreign language film Academy Award.

Bavarian-born Dietl had already made a name for himself before Schtonk! on German TV with critically praised audience favourites such as Münchner Geschichten (1974/5), Der Ganz Normale Wahnsinn (1979/80), Monaco Franze and the six-part series Kir Royal, a biting satire on Munich high society and tabloid journalism.

According to the late TV commissioning editor Jörn Klamroth of Cologne’s Wdr, the inspiration for Kir Royal came to Dietl in 1984 when he and the director saw a photo in a cafe showing Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict) sitting together with the conservative Bavarian politician...

The Golden Lola for best feature film went to veteran director Edgar Reitz’s Home From Home - Chronicle of a Vision at the German Film Awards.Scroll down for full list of winners

The black-and-white epic, set in a fictitious village in Germany’s Hunsrück region in the mid-19th century, also received awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay (shared with co-author Gert Heidenreich) after being nominated by the members of the German Film Academy in a total of six categories.

The co-production with Margaret Ménégoz’s Les Films du Losange is handled internationally by Arri Media Worldsales and was released theatrically in Germany by Concorde Filmverleih.

The prizes were handed out at the 64th annual film awards, held in Berlin.

Austrian accent to ceremony

The night belonged to Austrian film-maker Andreas Prochaska and his producers Helmut Grasser of Allegro Film and Stefan Arndt of X Filme Creative Pool with their Alpine western The Dark...

Cologne, Germany -- "Hector's Journey," the new feature from "The Last Station" producers Egoli Tossell, has picked up further financing, securing a €500,000 ($670,000) subsidy from the German Federal Film Board.

Katja von Garnier ("Blood and Chocolate") is directing the picture, which is based on Frank Lelord's best-selling novel about a psychiatrist who travels the world to find the secret of happiness. Egoli Tossell is co-producing with Warner Bros. Germany.

Maria von Heland, who wrote and directed the Egoli Tossell/Deutsche Columbia co-production "Girls Don't Cry" (2002) is penning the script. Shooting is set to start this summer in Germany and around the world. Regional funding body Mdm, which helped back "The Last Station," has put up €400,000 ($ 535,000) towards "Hector."

The Ffa also committed a half million Euros $736,000 towards the production of "7 Dwarves 3," the latest entry in the hugely successful German comedy franchise; and $670,000 for "Berlin Mitte," a high society satire from veteran director...

Cologne, Germany -- "Learning Italian," a spy comedy starring Kevin Costner and directed by Kevin Reynolds, has picked up €1.1 million ($1.5 million) in production funding from regional funding body FFF Bayern and the Bavarian Bank Fund.

Reynolds has teamed with Costner on "Waterworld" (1995) and "Robin Hood -- Prince of Thieves" (1991). The director's last feature was period actioner "Tristan + Isolde" (2006). Costner's latest is John Wells' downsizing drama "The Company Men," which was an audience favorite at Sundance.

"Learning Italian" is being set up as an international co-production between Diplomat Films and Germany's Bavaria Film Partners. Reynolds, Costner and Howard Kaplan are producing.

Fff Bayern also put up $1.5 million towards "Berlin Mitte," from veteran director Helmut Dietl. The feature, which Dietl co-wrote with Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre ("Solo Album"), is a modern-day update of Dietl's cult 1980s TV series "Kir Royal," which lampooned Munich high society. The new film is set in Berlin...

BERLIN -- Production company Teamworx said Thursday that German television celebrity Harold Schmidt will star as former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt in the big-budget miniseries Storm Tide for leading commercial broadcaster RTL. The two-part series from producer Nico Hofmann (The Tunnel) follows the real-life story of a catastrophic 1962 flood in Hamburg. Schmidt will star alongside Gotz George, Ottfried Fischer, Hannelore Elsner, Elmar Wepper, Nadja Uhl and Heiner Lauterbach. Schmidt, often called Germany's David Letterman, wrapped up his critically acclaimed eponymous late-night talk show in December. Schmidt is currently shooting the romantic comedy Vom Suchen Und Finden Der Liebe (Looking and Finding Love) with director Helmut Dietl. Schmidt's feature film debut as an actor was Dietl's 1999 satire Late Show.