The first look has been revealed of “The Light,” Tom Tykwer’s return to the big screen after seven years and four seasons as writer and director of the hit series “Babylon Berlin.”
Beta Cinema is handling sales for all territories except German-speaking territories, France and North America and will start selling the film at the upcoming European Film Market.
In “The Light” (Das Licht), which is set in present day in Berlin, Tykwer draws the portrait of a modern family between collapse and new beginnings and deals with the big issues of our times, in a world that is reeling.
“The Light” stars Lars Eidinger (“Dying,” “Persian Lessons,” “Personal Shopper,” “The Clouds of Sils Maria”), Nicolette Krebitz (“AEIOU,” “Wild”), Elke Biesendorfer, Julius Gause and Elyas Eldridge as the Engels family, who seemingly have nothing left to hold them together when housekeeper Farrah (Tala al Deen) enters their lives. The mysterious Syrian woman puts the Engels’ emotional world to an unexpectedly wild test.
Tykwer commented: “After quite a long time, which I spent with ‘Babylon Berlin’ in the roaring 20s, I can finally turn my attention back to our present. In ‘The Light,’ there is arguing, struggling and fighting, but there is also laughter, singing and dancing. The film aims to challenge the spectrum of emotions and the corresponding narrative possibilities. And the characters are very familiar to me. I want to try to reflect their inner turmoil and make their deep bond tangible for the audience.”
“The Light” is produced by Uwe Schott at X Filme Creative Pool. X Verleih/Warner Bros. will release the film in German theaters on Oct. 17. Principal photography took place in Berlin and surroundings, North Rhine-Westphalia and Kenya until end of 2023.
Director of photography is Christian Almesberger (“Cloud Atlas,” “The Empress”), the production design is by Tim Tamke (“A Most Wanted Man”) and the costumes were designed by Pierre-Yves Gayraud (“Babylon Berlin,” “Cloud Atlas,” “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer,” “The Three Musketeers”).
“The Light” is co-produced by ZDF, ARP Séléction, Gold Rush Pictures, Gretchenfilm and D.A. Filmproduktion, and is funded by the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), the German Federal Film Board (FFA), Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW.
Tykwer is one of Germany’s most respected film directors. After his breakout hit “Run Lola Run” (1998), he directed “Heaven” (2002), “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” (2006) and “The International” (2009). He collaborated with The Wachowskis as co-director for “Cloud Atlas” (2012), starring Tom Hanks, and the Netflix series “Sense 8” (2015-2018), and worked as a composer on the score for Lana Wachowski’s “The Matrix Resurrections” (2021). He is the co-creator of “Babylon Berlin” (2017-2023).
