‘Another End’ Star Gael García Bernal and Director Piero Messina Discuss the Central Question Behind the Berlin Drama: ‘What Happens After Death?’

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Kevin Spacey will appear as a character named “The Devil” in Italian director Massimo Paolucci’s psychological thriller “The Contract,” which just wrapped principal photography in Rome. The English-language film, described in a statement as having a similar storyline as Alan Parker’s “Angel Heart” and Taylor Hackford’s “The Devil’s Advocate,” also stars Eric Roberts and Vincent Spano, Italian production company TM Entertainment said. Spacey arrived in Rome last December to shoot “The Contract.” Reps for Spacey, Roberts and Spano did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Following its world premiere in the competition section of the Berlin Film Festival, Beta Cinema has revealed first sales across Europe and to Australia and New Zealand for Andreas Dresen’s “From Hilde, With Love.” The drama about anti-Nazi activists in Berlin, which is led by “Babylon Berlin’s” Liv Lisa Fries and introduces Johannes Hegemann in his first big screen appearance, will be released in France by Haut et Court, in Italy by Teodora and throughout Scandinavia by Angel Films. Beta Cinema also closed deals for Benelux (September Film), Portugal (Outsider), former Yugoslavia (Discovery), Hungary (Cirko) and Czech Republic (Film Europe). Palace Film picked up the film for Australia and New Zealand.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Playmaker has closed a raft of pre-sales deals on “Ploey 2 – The Legend of the Winds,” which was presented to international buyers for the first time at the European Film Market this month. The Playmaker screened an exclusive first-look teaser at its booth in Berlin as well as a promo for attending buyers.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Match Factory has revealed multiple distribution deals for two Berlinale competition titles: German director Matthias Glasner‘s “Dying,” which won the festival’s Silver Bear for best screenplay, and Russian director Victor Kossakovsky‘s documentary “Architecton.” “Dying,” which stars Lars Eidinger, Lilith Stangenberg and Corinna Harfouch, also picked up the Guild of German Arthouse Cinemas and the Berliner Morgenpost Readers’ Jury Award. Variety‘s review describes the film as “a profoundly affecting exploration of life and loss.” The Match Factory closed deals for the film in France (Bodega Film), Italy (Satine Film), Benelux (September Film Distribution), Norway (Selmer Media), Poland (Aurora), CIS (Provzglyad), Ex-Yugoslavia (MCF MegaCom Film), Hungary (Cirko Films), Greece (Cinobo), Romania (Freealize), Taiwan (Andrews Film) and South Korea (Pancinema).

Alex Ritman “La Cocina,” the Rooney Mara-starring drama that recently bowed in competition at the Berlinale, has been acquired for most international territories. HanWay Films has closed sales for France (Originals Factory), Australia and New Zealand (Vendetta), Spain (Avalon), Italy (Teodora Film), Benelux (Cherry Pickers), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Scandinavia (Mis.

Dahomey,” a highlight of this year’s Berlinale competition and directed by Cannes prizewinner Mati Diop (“Atlantics”), for North America, Latin America, U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Turkey and India. The feature film is represented in international markets by Films du Losange, which negotiated the deal with Mubi. “Dahomey” marks the sophomore outing of Diop, a French-Senegalese talent who is considered one of the leading figures in international arthouse cinema and of a new wave in African and diasporic cinema.

Milan Fashion Week is in full swing, and a multitude of celebrities are taking in the newest seasons of clothing!

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Berlin Film Festival hosted the 10 young European actors selected for the Shooting Stars program, run by European Film Promotion, at a gala event Monday. The presentation of the Shooting Stars took place prior to the screening of Claire Burger’s “Langue Étrangère,” which plays in competition.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Playtime has had a busy EFM, where it’s locked a raft of major deals on “The Devil’s Bath,” a period psychological thriller in competition at the Berlin Film Festival. “The Devil’s Bath” is directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, the Austrian filmmaking duo behind “Goodnight Mommy.” Set in rural Austria in 1750, “The Devil’s Bath” stars Anja Plaschg, the up-and-coming singer and composer known as Soap & Skin. Plaschg plays Agnes, a young married woman who feels oppressed in her husband’s world, which is devoid of emotions and limited to chores and expectations.

Christopher Vourlias Following on the heels of his Oscar-shortlisted “Refugee,” veteran U.S. producer Brandt Andersen (“Everest,” “Lone Survivor”) makes his feature directorial debut with “The Strangers’ Case,” a kaleidoscopic and deeply felt portrait of the refugee crisis that world premieres Feb. 23 as a Berlinale Special Gala.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor International sales company Iuvit Media Sales has closed multiple deals at the European Film Market in Berlin for the suspense horror slasher “Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Death and Porridge.” Buyers include Gussi Films for Latin America, Pioneer for the Philippines and Front Row for the Middle East. Directed by Craig Rees (“Annabellum,” “Whispers”) and starring Olga Solo, Abigail Huxley, Rees and Julian Amos, “Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Death and Porridge” is an “intelligent” horror slasher, in the vein of Wes Craven horrors, and with comparables such as “The Strangers” and “The Purge.” In this adaptation of the fairy tale, Goldilocks and the three bears live together in an isolated house in the woods.

EXCLUSIVE: After we broke news of the studio acquiring Margot Robbie starrer Big Bold Beautiful Journey, we can reveal that Sony Pictures has boarded another of the European Film Market’s most in-demand projects: Past Lives director Celine Song‘s next movie, Materialists, which A24 is selling.

Christopher Vourlias Greek filmmaker Yorgos Zois, who’s set to bow his sophomore feature, “Arcadia,” in the competitive Encounters strand of the Berlin Film Festival Feb. 18, is developing his first TV series. “Play” follows a lone cinephile who joins a mysterious group of strangers that reenact scenes from movies in real life.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor When Laila Stieler’s script for “From Hilde, With Love,” which world premiered Saturday in competition at the Berlinale, first came to director Andreas Dresen he was a little reluctant to take the project on. The issue was not the script but the subject-matter: set in Nazi-era Berlin, “From Hilde, With Love” is a love story about two real life members of the pro-Communist, German resistance movement known as the Red Orchestra, Hilde and Hans Coppi. More than 50 members of the group were guillotined in Berlin’s Plötzensee Prison between 1942 and 1943, including the Coppis.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Jean Labadie’s Le Pacte and sales agency Film Factory have joined Spanish pay giant Movistar Plus on the next film from Alberto Rodríguez (“Marshland”), which is shaping up fast with as one of the biggest packages from Spain this year at the Berlinale’s European Film Market. Le Pacte will co-produce the thriller out of France and handle French distribution rights. Film Factory is launching international sales at Berlin.

Sal (Gael García Bernal) exists in a limbo — not the religious notion of a space between life and death, but a nonspace. He lives in a large apartment but appears to have no job or vocation.

What would you do if you could extend loved ones’ lives through their memories?

“This is a very, very romantic film,” Gael García Bernal said of his Berlin competition title, Another End. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Highland Film Group has locked key territory deals for sci-fi thriller “The Astronaut” from “A Quiet Place” producer Brad Fuller Pic stars Kate Mara (“A Teacher”), Laurence Fishburne (“John Wick” films) and Gabriel Luna (“Terminator: Dark Fate”). The film wrapped shooting late last year in Ireland. “The Astronaut” has sold to Signature Entertainment for the U.K., Capelight Pictures for Germany, Blue Swan Entertainment for Italy, Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais for Portugal, DeAPlaneta for Spain, Spentzos Film for Greece, Cinemania Group for former Yugoslavia, Shoval Film Production for Israel, Falcon Films for the Middle East, Filmfinity for South Africa and Roadshow Films for Australia and New Zealand.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Upscale crossover sales agent Latido Films has acquired international sales rights to “Re-creation,” directed by legendary Irish filmmaker Jim Sheridan, whose “In the Name of the Father” won a Berlin Golden Bear in 1994. Starring Vicky Krieps, a Cannes’ Un Certain Regard winner for “Corsage,” the docu-drama is co-written and co-directed by Irish artist and filmmaker David Merriman (“Rock Against Homelessness”). It will be unveiled to buyers at the European Film Market.