German Newsletter

Esteemed clients, dear friends of ARRI,

Enclosed please find the most recent edition of the ARRI Film & TV newsletter, this time on the occasion of the theatrical release of Hanna and Under Control.

Director Joe Wright brought a fairytale quality to Hanna a thriller featuring an impressive cast (Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett) and captivating images. Volker Sattel meanwhile takes a close look at the once again highly controversial issue of nuclear power in his documentary Under Control.

Enjoy the read!

All the best,

Angela Reedwisch and Walter Brus

OPENING IN GERMAN THEATERS MAY 26, 2011: Hanna

Director: Joe Wright            Screenplay: Seth Lochhead, David Farr                   Screenplay/Story: Seth Lochhead                    DoP: Alwin Küchler                       Editor: Paul Tothill Production Company: Holleran Company, Studio Babelsberg German Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing   ARRI Services: Lab ARRI Rental: Camera, Lighting, Grip

Acclaimed director Joe Wright (Atonement, The Soloist, Pride and Prejudice) chose a visual style reminiscent of fairytales for his action-adventure thriller Hanna. The film was shot in Europe (in Berlin and Studio Babelsberg among other places) and in Morocco by DoP Alwin Küchler. The Holleran Company produced Hanna, in co-production with Studio Babelsberg. Sony Pictures is releasing the film in Germany.

Studio Babelsberg entrusted ARRI Film & TV with the film's lab work. ARRI Rental provided camera (ARRICAM ST/LT, ARRIFLEX 435 & 235, 3-Perforation), light and grip equipment for the project. 

Left: Saoirse Ronan (Hanna); Right: Director Joe Wright on set in Finland. © 2011 Sony Pictures Releasing GmbH

Hanna (Academy Award nominee Saoirse Ronan) is 16 years old. She is bright, inquisitive, and a devoted daughter. Uniquely, she has the strength, the stamina, and the smarts of a solider; these come from being raised by her widowed father Erik (Eric Bana), an ex-CIA man, in the wilds of North Finland. Erik has taught Hanna to hunt, put her through extreme self-defense workouts, and home-schooled her with only an encyclopedia and a book of fairy tales.

Hanna has been living a life unlike any other teenager; her upbringing and training have been one and the same, all geared to making her the perfect assassin. But out in the world there is unfinished business for Hanna's family, and it is with a combination of pride and apprehension that Erik realizes his daughter can no longer be held back.

This turning point in Hanna's adolescence is a sharp one; she is separated from Erik and embarks on the mission that she was always destined for. Before she and her father can reunite as planned in Berlin, Hanna is captured by agents dispatched by ruthless intelligence operative Marissa Wiegler (Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett). Marissa, a career agent, has long been harboring secrets that tie her to Hanna and Erik. Detained for observation and held beneath the Moroccan desert, Hanna soon turns the tables on her captors. Her daring escape to above-ground thrusts her into an unfamiliar landscape and world which she must quickly learn to comprehend and navigate. Marissa secretly sends a team of agents after Hanna, and joins the deadly pursuit herself. As Hanna journeys across Europe and nears her ultimate target, she faces startling revelations about her existence and unexpected questions about her humanity.

OPENING IN GERMAN THEATERS MAY 26, 2011: Under Control

Script, Research, Director: Volker Sattel in Cooperation with: Stefan Stefanescu DoP: Volker Sattel Editor: Stephan Krumbiegel, Volker Sattel Production Company: credo:film German Distributor:  farbfilm verleih   ARRI Services: Lab, Grading, Film Recording, HD Mastering ARRI Rental: Camera, Grip

Writer, director, DoP and editor, Volker Sattel's Under Control is a fascinating and controversial documentary. It had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year and later opened the 26th DOK  Fest in Munich. The film takes a look at the day-to-day at a nuclear power plant, the people and the buildings but also at what happens when plants are being shut down. Under Control is a credo:film production. Farbfilm is releasing the film theatrically in Germany.

credo:film / farbfilm entrusted ARRI Film & TV with the film's post production, including lab, grading, film recording, and HD mastering. ARRI Rental Berlin provided camera (ARRIFLEX 235, 2-Perforation) and grip equipment.

Left: Elevator to the access to core reactor areas; Right: Swing carousel in the cooling tower of the "Schneller Brüter" (fast breeder reactor) in Kalkar © Stefanescu/Sattel/Credofilm

The documentary Under Control unfolds a panorama of atomic energy in Germany. Its broad perspective reveals the real challenges and enormous efforts that nuclear power demands from humankind. The control over the nuclear fission process is not depicted chronologically but rather as a prism of places and sites that not only refracts the stations of the German atomic age but also reflects beyond the current situation. The examination of a technol­ogy once synonymous with progress also touches on elements of the history of civilization.