A Scottish country estate, five stressed bankers on a team-building exercise and a crazy peacock who sees red when he sees blue - filming on the cinema comedy "The Peacock" is complete!
THE PFAU is wacky! And that doesn't just mean that the feathered magnificent animal has now unfortunately completely lost its mind. Last Wednesday saw the final take of the long-awaited movie adaptation of the SPIEGEL bestseller of the same name by Isabel Bogdan.
Front row: Lavinia Wilson, Tom Schilling, Lutz Heineking, jr. (director), Svenja Jung, Serkan Kaya
© TOBIS Film | Photo: Frank Dicks
Directed by Lutz Heineking, Jr., Lavinia Wilson, Jürgen Vogel, Tom Schilling, Serkan Kaya and David Kross play five stressed-out Frankfurt bankers who have to travel to a team-building seminar in the Scottish Highlands. The top-class ensemble is complemented by Annette Frier as the energetic cook Helen and Svenja Jung in the role of the seminar leader Rebecca. The international part of the cast is formed by Philip Jackson and Victoria Carling as Lord and Lady. Domitila Barros, Linda Reitinger and Peter Trabner also appear in other roles.
Filming took place over a total of 23 days, starting in Huy in the Walloon region of Belgium, then mostly at the MMC studios in Cologne and in the surrounding area of North Rhine-Westphalia. The shoot was completed in the Scottish Highlands, in keeping with its literary model.
DER PFAU is a production of MMC Film GmbH and eitelsonnenschein in co-production with TOBIS and Frakas. The project is supported with funds from the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, the German Federal Film Fund DFFF and the Walloon Film Fund Wallimage (Belgium).
"DER PFAU underscores the MMC Group's strategic realignment to act as a 'hands-on producer' in the series and feature film sector. We couldn't be happier to demonstrate this with the film adaptation of the great novel and, in addition, directed by Lutz Heineking, Jr. We would like to express our special thanks to the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, which has supported the project from development to production," says Bastie Griese, Managing Director of MMC Film GmbH and producer of DER PFAU.
"After very successful, joint series productions, starting with ENDLICH DEUTSCH! and ANDERE ELTERN, followed by DRINNEN and KBV - KEINE BESONDEREN VORKOMMNISSE, I am very proud and pleased to produce the debut film of Lutz Heineking, jr.", says Marco Gilles, producer of DER PFAU for the company eitelsonnenschein. "Sharp wit, grotesquely charming situation comedy and affectionate sweetness conquer the big screen. This special, top-class ensemble comedy with an extraordinary template and convincing script as well as visual uniqueness will enrich the German cinema landscape with its refreshing storytelling."
The script for DER PFAU was written by Christoph Mathieu and Sönke Andresen together with director Lutz Heineking, jr. The renowned authors Johannes Boss and Stefan Stuckmann contributed as dramaturges and edited the dialogue. Lutz Heineking, jr. advanced with the TV series ANDERE ELTERN and KBV to the shooting star of the German directing scene. His trademark: pointedly witty, cinematic storytelling.
Lutz Heineking, Jr. says about the shoot: "It was like shooting a perfect murder: fast and clean. With the ideal accomplices in cast and crew and the best accomplices: MMC, the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, TOBIS, Frakas and, of course, my best gang in the world, the eitelsonnenschein gang. I'm really looking forward to covering the tracks in the edit now. So I'm already feeling a little murderous."
Timm Oberwelland, co-producer and TOBIS managing director, is enthusiastic: "Isabel Bogdan's novel was THE surprise German-language bestseller of 2016. When Lutz Heineking, jr. with eitelsonnenschein and MMC were able to secure the film rights to the charming material, we were quick and very happy to join as co-producers." Theo Gringel (co-producer and management TOBIS) agrees: "We have been watching the work of Lutz Heineking, jr. for a long time and are now particularly happy to also bring his feature film debut to the big screen as a distributor."
The film will be distributed by TOBIS and will be released in German cinemas in 2023.
About the content:
Already when investment banker Linda Bachmann and her team arrived on
the country estate of Lord and Lady Macintosh, the signs for a relaxing weekend in Scotland are not good: the annual balance sheet is lousy, the colleagues are watching each other and their boss suspiciously, and there are rumors that a compliance employee will soon be restructuring the team. To make matters worse, the estate is not very comfortable, even the skills of cook Helen can't hide that fact, and the methods of young seminar leader Rebecca also seem rather questionable. When first the lord's favorite peacock and then the lady's favorite goose disappear, further quarrels and chaos are inevitable. And finally it starts to snow...
