After being showcased at this year’s Marché du Film (14-22 May), Georg Maas and Judith Kaufmann’s The Glory of Life has sold to key territories worldwide. The picture, handled by Denmark’s TrustNordisk, is a biopic delving into the last year of famed Bohemian writer Franz Kafka (1883-1924), played by Sabin Tambrea (Ludwig II [+], The Whistlers [+
Because of the power of love, his last days prove to be his happiest. He has never before been able to allow himself to experience intimacy, as he suffers from tuberculosis and is dependent on his overbearing family. But the worldly wise Dora Diamant (portrayed by Henriette Confurius) accepts him as he is, and he accepts her. The two meet in 1923 on the Baltic Sea coast, where he is convalescing and she is working in a Jewish Volksheim. Together, they go to Berlin and, when Franz’s health deteriorates rapidly, to a sanatorium in Austria. Barely a year after they meet, he dies. The memory of their time together will shape Dora for the rest of her life.
Since Cannes, TrustNordisk has sealed distribution deals with North America (Menemsha Films), France (Condor), the Benelux region (September Film), Spain (Divisa Red), Italy (Wanted Cinema), Turkey (Ozen Film), the former Yugoslavia (Cinemania Group), Taiwan (Swallow Wings) and Australia (Moving Story).
Susan Wendt, managing director of TrustNordisk, commented: “We are all thrilled about the global response to The Glory of Life. This widespread interest is a testament to the enduring fascination with Kafka’s extraordinary life and love story, and we find our selected distributors to be the ideal partners for the film’s international release.”
Meanwhile, Neil Friedman, founder and president of Menemsha Films, the distributor for North America, added: “Menemsha is always delighted to do business with TrustNordisk, and particularly now with The Glory of Life, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Kafka’s passing.”
Kaufmann, who worked together with Maas on the 2012 feature Two Lives [+], also served as the picture’s DoP. Gisela Zick and Hansjörg Weißbrich were attached as the editors.
Budgeted at €4.7 million, The Glory of Life is based on the bestselling novel by Michael Kumpfmüller, and was penned by Maas with Michael Gutmann. The producers were Helge Sasse and Solveig Fina for Tempest Film (Germany) and Tommy Pridnig for Lotus Film (Austria), with backing from the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, MV Filmförderung, Filmstiftung NRW, FFA Filmförderungsanstalt, Deutscher Filmförderfonds, Österreichisches Filminstitut, ÖFI+, ORF Film/Fernseh-Abkommen and Filmfonds Wien. Majestic Film released the movie locally on 14 March.
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