EXCLUSIVE: César winner Mélanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds), Bradley James (Vikings: Valhalla), and Steven Berkoff (Beverly Hills Cop) have joined Stefan Ruzowitzky’s historical thriller Kristallnacht, which IFT will continue selling in Cannes.
Production is currently underway in Vienna, Austria, with principal photography set to wrap next week. Above and below is a first look image.
Kristallnacht translates as Night of Broken Glass, a reference to the thousands of shops, businesses and synagogues destroyed by the Nazis across the two nights in November 1938.
Set on the brink of World War II in Berlin, the true story unfolds in a city turned into a powder keg after the assassination of a German attaché in Paris, which is wrongfully branded a “Jewish terrorist attack” by Nazi propaganda. Pettyfer plays Kai Lehmann, a young and impressionable police officer, who, alongside his superior Lieutenant Krützfeld, played by Owen, navigates the turbulent streets of Berlin as citizens turn violently against the perceived “enemy within,” descending on Jewish neighborhoods.
Mélanie Laurent plays Krützfeld’s wife, Berta, who has to confront her own moral dilemma during the fateful night; Bradley James as ruthless chief of police Helldorf, and Steven Berkoff as Rabbi Goldstein. Previously announced Karl Markovics is no longer aboard.
As we previously revealed, Wild Bunch has acquired the project for Germany and Italy. Deals have also been struck for Spain (YouPlanet), Eastern Europe (Monolith/Blitz), Middle East (Falcon Films), Greece (Spentzos), Israel (Red Cape Distribution), Portugal (Pris Audiovisuiais), and CIS (MGN/Paradise).
Michael Benaroya (Margin Call), Benaroya Pictures CEO and International Film Trust co-founder, is producing. Danny Krausz of Austrian outfit Dor Film, Marcelo Gandola, and Daniel Zuta are also producing.
Clive Owen in ‘Kristall Nacht’ first look
