Tom Tykwer’s ‘The Light’ First Look Revealed As Beta Cinema Kicks-Off Pre-Sales – EFM

German production powerhouse X Filme Creative Pool, its distribution arm X Verleih and Beta Cinema have unveiled a first look for Tom Tykwers’ new feature-length film The Light (Das Licht).

The movie marks German director’s first work for the big screen since his 2016 Saudi Arabia-set comedy-drama A Hologram for the King, starring Tom Hanks and co-written with Dave Eggers.

In the meantime, the multi-hyphenate filmmaker has been tied up with producing, writing, directing and creating the music for four seasons of hit show Babylon Berlin.

Beta Cinema, which is handling sales on The Light worldwide except for in German-speaking territories, France and North America, will start pre-selling the film at the EFM.

Set in contemporary Berlin, the drama is described as a portrait of a modern family on the verge of collapse and new beginnings that deals with the big issues of our times, in a world that is reeling.

Lars Eidinger (Dying, Persian Lessons, Personal Shopper, The Clouds of Sils Maria), Nicolette Krebitz (AEIOU, Wild), Elke Biesendorfer, Julius Gause and Elyas Eldridge feature in the cast as members of the dysfunctional Engels family.

They 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.

“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,” says Tykwer.

“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.”

Principal photography took place in Berlin and its surrounding area, North Rhine-Westphalia and Kenya until end of 2023.

Key crew included cinematographer Christian Almesberger (Cloud Atlas, The Empress), production designer Tim Tamke (A Most Wanted Man) and costume designer Pierre-Yves Gayraud (Babylon Berlin, Cloud Atlas, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer and The Three Musketeers).

The Light is a X Filme Creative Pool production lead produced by Uwe Schott, in co-production with ZDF, ARP Séléction, Gold Rush Pictures, Gretchenfilm and D.A. Filmproduktion.

The production is backed by German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), the German Federal Film Board (FFA), Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the Film-und Medienstiftung NRW.

X Verleih/Warner Bros. will release the film in German cinemas on October 17, 2024.

Tom Tykwer’s previous feature film credits include 1998 Run Lola Run, followed by Heaven (2002), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006), and The International (2009), starring Clive Owen, Naomi Watts and Armin Mueller-Stahl.