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A film by Produced by, BÉLA JARZYK, TOM ZICKLER BAREFOOT FILMS Produktion in co-produktion with BÉLA JARZYK PRODUCTION and WARNER BROS. FILM PRODUCTIONS GERMANY Starring, EMMA SCHWEIGER, JASMIN GERAT, SAMUEL FINZI, MERET BECKER, FRIEDERIKE KEMPTER Directed by Written by BÉLA JARZYK, CAST Henry Magdalena Katharina Tristan Charlotte Agent Maria Rob Kaufmann Patient EMMA SCHWEIGER JASMIN GERAT SAMUEL FINZI MERET BECKER FRIEDERIKE KEMPTER MIRANDA LEONHARDT MIŠEL MATIČEVIĆ KATHARINA THALBACH CREW Director Producer Script, BÉLA JARZYK, TOM ZICKLER BÉLA JARZYK, 2
Line Producer Camera Editing Music Set Design Sound Costume Make up KLAUS SPINNLER CHRISTOF WAHL, Bvk CONSTANTIN VON SELD DIRK REICHARDT, MIRKO SCHAFFER MARTIN TODSHAROW SILKE BUHR, sfk FRANK HEIDBRINK GABRIELA REUMER PAMELA GRUJIC, BRITTA BALCKE GERMAN RELEASE: 3. February 2011/Warner Bros. Pictures Germany a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment GmbH CONTACT INTERNATIONAL PRESS: Beta Cinema, Dorothee Stoewahse Tel: + 49 89 67 34 69 15 Mobile: + 49 170 63 84 627 press@betafilm.com CONTACT WORLD SALES: Beta Cinema, Dirk Schuerhoff/Andreas Rothbauer Tel: + 49 89 67 34 69 80 Fax: + 49 89 67 34 69 888 beta@betacinema.com www.betacinema.com SHORT SYNOPSIS Henry (Til Schweiger) is an unsuccessful screenwriter, and just as unhappy going from one casual relationship to another. Out of the blue he gets a fantastic job offer to co-write the screenplay of a bestselling novel together with Katharina (Jasmin Gerat). She is not only the author of the novel, but Henry s ex-girlfriend and love of his life. He now has a second chance and things couldn t get better when an 8 year old girl, Magdalena (Emma Schweiger), shows up at Henry s door and turns his life upside down. She s his daughter from a long-forgotten one night stand 8 years ago and her mother Charlotte (Meret Becker), who s attending a court hearing in the US, insists Henry takes care of Magdalena until she returns. Henry is shocked and so is Tristan (Samuel Finzi) who thought for eight years that he was Magdalena s biological father. Life will never be the same for any of them. 3
SYNOPSIS Script writer Henry Lehnbach stumbles from one hapless love affair to the next, and professionally speaking, his life has hit the doldrums, too: He writes the TV-series The Forest Warden from the Spreewald. His unsettled way of life and his chaotic work performance drive Henry's (female) agent to the edge of a nervous breakdown. All the more surprising that he receives a sensational offer: He is intended as co-writer for the film version of a bestselling book. This assignment is owing to the writer of the original novel: Katharina Meese is not only Henry's Ex, but also the love of his life. Katharina's wish to have children had led to the split between them. But since she now insists on his collaboration, Henry is apparently getting a second chance. Working together with Katharina gets Henry's life back on track until one day eight-year-old Magdalena pops up at his door and declares, that she is supposed to live with him until further notice. Henry hardly knows what hit him. A message from Magdalena's mother, Charlotte Walser, clears the situation, but makes it nothing easier: Magdalena is supposedly Henry's daughter the aftereffect of a long-forgotten one night stand with Charlotte. The child's mother and her compnay have to face charges in New York and therefore she can't look after Magdalena for a while. Henry is totally taken aback. Charlotte's husband Tristan, who for eight years thought that he was the girl's father, has similar feeelings: Because of this new situation he is separated from Charlotte. To become a father helter skelter isn't easy, even less so when at the same time you have to write the book of a lifetime and win back the love of your life. Henry cannot count on the support of the deeply wounded Tristan, so he has no choice but to care for the innocent Magdalena. Now the word is to get up early, prepare a healthy breakfast, check homework and read stories out loud. Henry starts to like his role as a father. He gets a grip on his household: For him the well-being of his child comes first. But again and again, Magdalena asks about her parents. Henry finally has to make a clean sweep. He decides to tell Magdalena, who her biological father is. And Katharina needs to know that the kid is not some neighbour's daughter. But as so often in Henry's life, the right moment for an explanatory conversation never seems to come along, and pretty soon, the situation is a complete shambles. Since Tristan in the meantime is trying to get back in contact with Magdalena, and is coming to terms with Charlotte as well, Henry is in danger of losing the girl at the precise moment where he has started to love her. Katharina uncovers the deception on her own; disappointed, she ends the collaboration as well as all private contacts with Henry. Henry summons up his courage: He fights for time together with his daughter. But he also has to prove to Katharina that his love for her is sincere ABOUT THE PRODUCTION Scriptwriter and producer Béla Jarzyk ( Reine Formsache ) was until a few years ago the manager of the talent agency Players and Til Schweiger's agent. Early in 2010 he offered the first draft of Kokowääh (= Coq au vin) to Schweiger: His subject matter, conceived as a drama, tells of a little girl who as a cuckoo child has to deal with two fathers. We thought the idea was wonderful, states producer Tom Zickler, who for years has, alongside Schweiger, led production company Barefoot Films. And since little Emma Schweiger has delighted audiences in Rabbit Without Ears and Rabbit Without Ears 2, we immediately imagined her as Magdalena. But we had the impression that Béla's story would work even better as a comedy. Our approach to that was similar as with Knockin on Heaven s Door : Basically, the story is very sad, but audiences perceived the film as a 4
comedy. Kokowääh works the same way. Béla Jarzyk as writer and Til Schweiger as future director then worked on the script intensely for five months. The final draft with the Schweiger- Touch was written by Til in good spirits, during the Football World Championship, after the German 4:1-win against England, remembers Zickler. Then we knew: We are on the right path. Not until early May 2010, a decision was made for the production of Kokowääh. The filming then started at rather short notice, on 21 st July. Filming went on for 38 days, until 17 th September. The date was preset, for the film team was dependent on the summer holidays of seven-year-old lead actress Emma. Two fathers for Magdalena: the cast Casting was relatively easy this time. If you're casting a Til Schweiger film, all the most celebrated actors in Germany will line up, but this time the choice was simple, for Samuel Finzi was to a 100 % Tristan as we had imagined him; and in the screen tests with Jasmin Gerat and Til the exact affection, tension and chemistry evolved, which are so important for this couple. We immediately wanted for Jasmin to accept the part of Katharina. But Til also knew from the beginning that bestselling author Katharina in his film should wear her hair short, and he asked Jasmin that very day to have her long hair cut before filming began. Jasmin has such a beautiful, distinctive face that Til imagined it with a modern short haircut. Many contemporary films are technically brilliant, but at the end of the day everything depends on the chemistry between the actors being right. In the best case, the filmmakers find out during casting, or at the latest during production, after the first two or three days of shooting. Tom Zickler relates his experiences: Our success might basically be traced back to the fact that we manage to get actors together who match each other. This was the case in Rabbit Without Ears with Til and Nora Tschirner, and this time it leads to very moving and emotional scenes between Emma and her two film-fathers. It works, and from that arises the kind of stardust which will enchant not only a few, but hopefully millions of cinemagoers. For me it became clear rather quickly that Emma would have to play Magdalena, Zickler continues. Til had played two or three scenes with her as a test, and Emma showed great eagerness to make the film. Each week she kept asking: Papa, when will we start shooting? She enters into it with enthusiasm, and Emma's 13-year-old sister Luna will also take on a cameo in Kokowääh. But 28 days of filming are a great challenge for a seven-year-old kid. Then there are the legal restraints to be considered: Emma was only allowed to work for three hours each day. To be able to carry out the shooting schedule all the same, the filmmakers coordinated it with the Health and Safety Office. During lighting adjustments, or whenever Magdalena, e.g. during dialogue scenes, is only seen from behind because the camera is on her partner, one of four doubles was used. Zickler says: We casted them in such a way that looked very similar to Emma. They wore the same costumes and the same hairdos it was really funny, to have four versions of Magdalena romping about the set! About the concept of Barefoot, Zickler says: Like in the earlier films, we wanted to show Berlin as a metropolis, precisely not just Kreuzberg and Linie 1, but as a city able to compete with London and Paris. Kirsten Niehuus, head of the Filmförderung Berlin-Brandenburg, confirmed before shooting, that Rabbit Without Ears gave Berlin as movie town an immense boost, because ever since, foreign productions interested in filming in the capital make inquiries, too. Therefore we stick to this concept, and search out attractive locations. 5
No emotion without music: the soundtrack For Kokowääh the soundtrack is created in cooperation with Sony Music. Since some of our titles are still in the demo-stage, we can talk to the artists and have our wishes heard, before the tracks will eventually be produced, Tom Zickler reports. The music business knows, since the success story of Apologize (from Rabbit Without Ears ) and I Like ( Rabbit Without Ears 2 ), what kind of an importance, what a snowball effect, the participation in a Til Schweiger Film can have. Therefore the doors of the labels are always open for us. Family celebrations, on camera and off We appeal to large family audiences, designing the concept to a U-rating, for young children should be able to watch Kokowääh. It has become clear from the previous films how much the kids love our Emma, says Tom Zickler. We noticed at the half-way party, at other set-partys, again and again. Even my 15-year-old son, who is usually more into action movies, is enthusiastic about Emma. She is a modern-day Pippi Longstocking: All the children who have watched scenes from our film beforehand, are keen to have the same pyjamas like the ones Henry cuts for Magdalena! Zickler continues: Patchwork families are a part of everyday life now for Til it is reality in his private life, it's the same for me, for many of our friends. The new social family structures have become established. In any case, it is about getting over traumas, respecting each other and always putting the wellbeing of the children first: That's the bottom line. About working in the Barefoot team, Tom Zickler says: For Til, creativity is always the most important. Occasionally it can be strenuous to enable him to do this. But the result speaks for itself. There is never any doubt on set that it's Til Schweiger who holds the reins. Til is an authoritarian director, who, while he may always be ready with a joke, must not be disturbed when he is working in concentration, says Zickler. There is no other way to do this, because as a director he not only needs to keep track of the whole, but also has to direct himself as an actor, needing to change constantly from behind the camera to in front of it, while he has to direct the other actors as well and give them cues. Emma herself is very much interested in film-making. She is irresistibly charming and extremely intelligent unbelievable, how quick on the uptake she is. Exactly how compelling the story of Kokowääh is, can be proven by the best reassurance Til Schweiger whether as a real or a cinematic dad received from Emma during the prepping of the movie: Father and daughter had just finished a read-through of the whole script, and Emma understood that Magdalena in the film is torn between two fathers. She reflected about it and finally said: Oh, Papa, I would settle for you in the long run! 6
ACTORS Henry Tilman Valentin Schweiger was born on 19 th December 1963 in Freiburg. He started reading German and wanted to become a teacher, but then he attended drama school in Cologne, gained first experiences on stage and in 1991 accepted the part of Jo Zenker in the cult series Lindenstraße. His TV appearances include popular series Die Kommissarin, Lemgo, Adrenalin, A Girl Called Rosemary and Die Halbstarken. Racin in the Streets made him known to cinema audiences, Ebbies Bluff brought him the Max- Ophüls-Award as Best Newcomer. With the huge success of Maybe Maybe not he rose to stardom and received the Bambi. Hits followed in close succession: Männerpension (second Bambi), The Superwoman, Knockin on Heaven s Door (Actor's Award in Moscow) and The Devil and Mrs D. For his first English-speaking part in Brute he won the Film Award, as first foreign actor, at the Polish Filmfestival. Since then, the German superstar has gained a footing in Hollywood as well: After his debut in The Replacement Killers there followed Judas Kiss with Emma Thompson, SLC Punk!, Magicians, Alan Rudolph's Investigating Sex and Renny Harlin's racing driver movie Driven with Sylvester Stallone and Burt Reynolds. In Steve James TV-film Joe & Max Schweiger embodied boxing legend Max Schmeling. This was followed by Lara Croft Tomb Raider The Cradle of Life, In Enemy Hands, King Arthur, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, his performance as the legendary Lucky Luke in Les Dalton as well as Body Armor, Already Dead, Far Cry and Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. In 2011 Schweiger can be seen alongside Reese Witherspoon in the action-comedy This Means War and in the thriller The Courier with Mickey Rourke. In Germany he scored a huge success as space cowboy Rock in Bully Herbig's Dreamship Surprise Period 1, which won him the Bambi and the German Comedy Award. Further Films are: What to Do in the Case of Fire?, Where is Fred?, The Red Baron, Phantom Pain and Men in the City. This will be followed in 2011 by the sequel Men in the City 2. He could be heard in the animated film of Janosch's The Trip to Panama as Little Tiger. In 1998 Til Schweiger directed himself in Der Eisbär. Another hit was his second work as a director, Barefoot, where he also co-starred with Johanna Wokalek. For this achievement, Schweiger was awarded a further Bambi. In 2007 he registered a huge success as co-author, director and star with Rabbit Without Ears, which had more than six million viewers in cinemas. Schweiger won the audience award at the Bavarian Film Award ceremony, the Ernst-Lubitsch-Award, as well as (together with Nora Tschirner) another Bambi and the German Comedy Award. This was followed by action-comedy 1½ Knights - In Search of the Ravishing Princess Herzelinde, with himself in the starring role, which he again saw through as director and producer. In 2009 he produced and directed Rabbit Without Ears 2. In this fast paced romantic comedy he again took on the male lead alongside Nora Tschirner. This sequel, too, was an outstanding success, clocking up four million viewers. Apart from this he produced Thomas Jahn's Auf Herz und Nieren, Lars Büchel's Now or Never and Peas at 5:30, and also Reto Salimbeni's One Way, in which he stars as well. As co-producer he was involved in Desert Flower and Phantom Pain. 7
EMMA SCHWEIGER Magdalena Emma Tiger Schweiger (born 2002) is Til Schweiger's youngest daughter and gave her screen debut at the age of four, as Cheyenne-Blue in the hit movie Rabbit Without Ears. She repeated that part in Rabbit Without Ears 2. Magdalena in Kokowääh is her first leading role. JASMIN GERAT Katharina Jasmin Gerat was born in Berlin in 1978. In 1997 she had her first movie part in War of Neighbours (Director: Felix Dünnemann). In 1998 starring roles followed in I Love You, Baby (Director: Nick Lyon) and in Michel Bielawa's TV-movie Cecile. In 1999 she appeared a.o. in the ZDF-miniseries Das Herz des Priesters, and Sönke Wortmann cast her in his production of The Cripple of Inishmaan at the Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf. In 2003 she accepted a leading part in the film Girls on Top 2 (Director: Peter Gersina), before starring in director Lars Becker's ZDF-serial Nachtschicht a part which the critics, as well as she herself, considered one of her most important. After that she filmed the drama Zwischen Liebe und Tod in South Africa, with Sigi Rothemund; and with Markus O. Rosenmüller Die Mandantin as mysterious beauty alongside Barbara Rudnik. From 2005 to 2006 she accepted a lead part in the series Soko Köln (ZDF). In 2005 she also made Sat.1-thriller Erased with Tobias Moretti and Wotan Wilke Möhring directed by Isabel Kleefeld. After giving birth to her daughter in 2007, she returned in front of the cameras in 2008. In 2009 Ausgerechnet Afrika was produced in South Africa, and was broadcast on RTL in 2010. She played the female lead, director was Axel Barth. The same year and also for RTL, she filmed a part in Alarm für Cobra 11 ; for the ZDF she played, among other things, a guest role in Rosa Roth and Til Schweiger won her for a cameo in his hit movie Rabbit Without Ears 2. The following year, 2010, she played leading roles in Der Alte, the ZDF-movie Wohnungstausch and in a Tatort, which was directed by Zoltan Spirandelli, before starting the shoot for Kokowääh. SAMUEL FINZI Tristan Finzi hails from Bulgaria, his training took place at the National Academy for Theatre and Film in Sofia. In the 1990's he established himself on the German-speaking stages he did theatrical stints in Düsseldorf, Cologne, Bochum, Zurich, Hamburg, at the Burgtheater in Vienna and the Deutsches Theater Berlin. Among his parts in films are Headshots, Kill Daddy Good Night, In Between Days, Family Rules, Measures to Better the World, Ein ganz gewöhnlicher Jude, The Miracle of Bern and Now or Never. November 2009 saw the start of police procedural series Flemming with Finzi in the part of profiler Vincent Flemming. MERET BECKER Charlotte Meret Becker has worked with notable directors like Sönke Wortmann, Doris Dörrie, Caroline Link, Dominik Graf, Helmut Dietl, Joseph Vilsmaier, Dani Levy, Neele Leana Vollmar and Steven Spielberg. In 1991 she received the Adolf-Grimme-Award as Best Newcomer for her part in Fremde, liebe 8
Fremde. For her efforts in The Promise and The Invincibles she was awarded the Bavarian Film Award in 1995. She won the 1997 German Film Award as best supporting actress for Comedian Harmonists, which also brought her the German Golden Camera Award as best actress. In 2004 she received the Max-Ophüls-Preis for the soundtrack music to the film PiperMint das Leben möglicherweise. Her cinematic releases are, among others, Das Leben ist zu lang, Fliegende Fische, Boxhagener Platz, Friedliche Zeiten, Die Glücklichen, Merry Christmas, Munich, Happy As One, 3 kälter, Polly Blue Eyes, Nogo, Poem, 12 Past Midnight, Annaluise and Anton, The Volcano, Liebe Lügen, Hundert Jahre Brecht, Rossini, Painted Angels, Life Is All You Get, The Blue One, Happy Birthday!, Little Sharks and Alone Among Women. In parallel to her work as an actress, she developed her career as singer, sound explorer and composer. Two live albums were released nationally and internationally, also two albums of her own compositions and one CD with film music. Meret Becker gives concerts in France, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Japan, Canada and Australia. BEHIND THE CAMERA Screenplay, Director, Producer See Cast TOM ZICKLER Producer Tom Zickler (born 1964) grew up in Thuringia/Germany. From 1986 to 1988 he worked at the DEFA-studio for feature films. From 1988 to 1994 he studied at the HFF Babelsberg. Zickler has been working with Til Schweiger since 1996: From 1996 on he was manager and partner in their coowned company Mr. Brown Entertainment, from 1999 to 2003 manager and partner of Checkpoint Berlin. Since 2004 he has been the manager of Barefoot Films. Among his films are 10 Tage im Oktober, Varieté, Der unbekannte Deserteur, Knockin on Heaven s Door, Der Eisbär, Marmor, Stein & Eisen, Falling Rocks, Planet B: The Antman, Planet B: Detective Lovelorn und die Rache des Pharao, Planet B: Mask Under Mask, House of Fear (TV), Barefoot, One Way, Rabbit Without Ears, 1½ Knights - In Search of the Ravishing Princess Herzelinde and Rabbit Without Ears 2. BÉLA JARZYK Screenplay, Producer Jarzyk was born in Helmstedt in 1964 and from 1996 to 2007 he was managing partner of the talent agency players agentur management GmbH, Berlin. Besides that, he founded his own production company, with which, in 2006, he produced his first feature film, written by him: Reine Formsache (Director: Ralf Huettner). Kokowääh is his second screenplay and as producer, his first collaboration with Til Schweiger, whose agent he had been for many years. 9
CHRISTOF WAHL Camera/Co-director Christof Wahl had already photographed Barefoot for Til Schweiger, which won him a nomination for the German Camera Award. He also worked with Schweiger on Rabbit Without Ears 2, Rabbit Without Ears (also nominated for the German Camera Awards), 1½ Knights - In Search of the Ravishing Princess Herzelinde (camera and co-director), One Way (scenes filmed in New York and Vancouver), Auf Herz und Nieren (additional cameraman), Now or Never (steadicamoperator) and Der Eisbär (steadicam-operator, second unit camera). Besides that, Wahl filmed Body Armour, with Til Schweiger in the cast. Further films are: Auf der Suche nach dem G. (TV), Hitman Zero (TV), D.I.K. Jagd auf Virus X (TV), Todesstrafe Ein Deutscher hinter Gittern (TV), Marmor, Stein & Eisen and Schwere Beute. He was involved in many further productions as additional cameraman, steadicam-operator or second unit cameraman, among them Siegfried, Les gaous, The Blind Flyers, Ma femme s appelle Maurice, Operation Rubikon, Frau2 sucht HappyEnd, The Runner (TV), Catching the Stars, Curiosity & the Cat, Run Lola, Run, Das Geheimnis der Kormoraninsel and Sexy Sadie. BETA CINEMA (World Sales) Beta Cinema is the theatrical division of Beta Film. Launched in 2001, Beta Cinema has established itself as a "boutique operation" for independent feature films with strong potential for theatrical distribution. Beta Cinema's philosophy is to limit its selective acquisition policy of 10 to 15 titles per year in order to fully develop the theatrical potential of each title according to its individual character. Beta Cinema s portfolio includes outstanding productions like JOHN RABE, which won four German Film Awards 2009, Cannes 2008 Jury Prize-winning IL DIVO, Academy Award 2008- winning THE COUNTERFEITERS, Academy Award 2008 nominated MONGOL, Academy Award 2007-winning THE LIVES OF OTHERS and the Academy Award 2005-nominated DOWNFALL. 10