Robert Gwisdek Drama Leads Traumfabrik Babelsberg Slate

German production company Traumfabrik Babelsberg is doubling down on its investment in international moviemaking, with a burgeoning slate of productions with global appeal in the works, as well as its first series.

The company was founded in 2017 by Tom Zickler and Christoph Fisser, when the latter also was managing director of Babelsberg, the major film studios on the edge of Berlin, which was its parent company. Zickler was best known as the producer of German star Til Schweiger’s films up until 2016. The company takes its name from its first film, 2019’s “Traumfabrik,” which translates as “Dreamfactory.” Sadly, Zickler died of cancer in 2019 at the age of 55.

Following Fisser’s departure from Babelsberg at the beginning of last year, Traumfabrik Babelsberg was reborn as an independent entity, led by Fisser and Sebastian Fruner, who has been at the company since it began. They were then joined by Konstantin Mayer, the former COO at Veronica Ferres’ company, Construction Film Produktion. Since then, the company has been reinvigorated, and has a number of high-profile projects on its books.

Talking to Variety, Fruner said that when he met Mayer in Cannes it was a “match made in heaven” as the two producers had a similar desire to make ambitious projects with the potential to find an international audience.

One film has already wrapped production and post. It is a theatrical feature produced with Kreisfilm, which is directed by Robert Gwisdek and stars Christian Friedel, best known for “The Zone of Interest” and “The White Lotus,” and Corinna Harfouch, whose credits include “Downfall” and “Never Look Away.”

The film, which is at present untitled, is described as a “philosophical drama.” It is, in part, inspired by the death of Robert Gwisdek’s father, which is intriguing as Harfouch is the director’s mother. The film will be released next year and Fruner hopes it’ll have a strong festival run, with an eye to a premiere at Berlin or Cannes. Discussions with potential German distributors are ongoing.

The film marks the beginning of a long-term collaboration with Kreisfilm, according to Traumfabrik Babelsberg, with two additional major international films now being packaged and seeking financing.

Another project is teen horror film “Bali Demons,” which is in development. It is based on an idea by Mayer, with the script written by Sophia Vester. The film is “about the conflict between cultural tradition and mass tourism,” Mayer says. He notes that in the past year or so this has become a bigger issue with public protests against mass tourism in several tourism hotspots, such as Venice, Majorca and Barcelona.

Mayer says the film is intended to be the first in a franchise, and will be followed by “Venice Demons” and “Tokyo Demons.” He says it is about “tourists behaving badly in holy places,” adding, “Nobody would go in a bikini in a church in Munich and have sex there but in Bali that happens all the time. It is disrespectful to their culture, their ancient tradition.”

In the film, “there’s a group of tourists, young, beautiful people,” he says. “I call this ‘Scream’ on Bali, or ‘Scream’ in exotic places, because one after another gets killed by a figure who has a traditional mask on.” Mayer adds, “The people start thinking, ‘Maybe the demons want to have their island back.’”

He says that some people have described it as a cross between “Scream” and “Midsommar.”

It stars Indonesian singer Adriana Raisa, German actress Helena Zengel (“The Legend of Ochi,” “News of the World,” “System Crasher”) and U.S. actor Gianni Paolo (“Ma,” “Power”). A major U.S. star and the director will be revealed soon.

The film is likely to shoot next year in Bali and is produced in association with Bo Holmgreen of Viking Sunset Studios and Orlando Bassi of Movie Studios Bali.

Traumfabrik Babelsberg is also planning to produce its first series, young adult romance “Because of You,” based on Nadine Kerger’s bestselling novels of the same name. The showrunner is Martin Schreier, whose “Maxton Hall” became the most successful non-U.S. Prime Original worldwide. The series is set at a boat club on Malta, where they plan to shoot in March 2027, with backing from German public broadcaster SWR.

The company is also producing crime comedy “Himmel, Herrgott, Hirschgeweih,” which is set in Bavaria, Southern Germany. It has been developed with German distributor Tobis Film and will receive a theatrical release. It is envisioned as a franchise.

Traumfabrik Babelsberg is also developing a spoof comedy with David Zucker, Mayer says, which will be released worldwide with a yet-to-be announced partner.

Traumfabrik Babelsberg has also experimented with AI on “Einstein – Bringing a Legend Back to Life.” Using cutting-edge AI they have brought Einstein back to life, based on a performance by actor Heiner Lauterbach, but using Einstein’s own words. The film, which is two hours and 22 minutes long, is entirely composed of AI-generated content. It was released on the Meet Your Master platform last month. Traumfabrik Babelsberg is now developing a fiction feature, “Einstein,” using the same technology.