Shut up the second time: Saxon Film Academy on the road
On the agenda: The annual conference of the Filmverband Sachsen e.V. and a press conference on the set of the event series "Torstraße 1"
It was an eventful start for the Saxon Film Academy: Two exciting invitations in a single week provided opportunities for networking and exchange.
Annual Meeting of the Saxon Film Association (Filmverband Sachsen e.V.)
The Saxon Film Association (Filmverband Sachsen e.V.) hosted three roundtable discussions and networking sessions in a relaxed atmosphere at Villa Ida in Leipzig. During the discussions, which featured prominent participants such as Oliver Schenk, Minister of State for Federal Affairs and Media; Klaus Brinkbäumer, Program Director at MDR; Dr. Wolf Osthaus from Netflix; and Peter Dinges, Executive Director of the German Federal Film Board (FFA), there were lively discussions on “Saxony as a Film Region,” “Cinema as a Place,” and “Saxony’s Skilled Workforce.”
Sebastian Riedel from the Saxon Film Academy was a guest at the panel discussion “Saxony’s Skilled Workforce” and reported on the current status of planning for the content and structures of the Film Academy in Görlitz. On this occasion, he also introduced his new colleague, Bernd Hölsken, who will be taking over planning coordination for the Saxon Film Academy.
Exclusive Press Event for “Torstraße 1”
The lavish miniseries “Torstraße 1” is currently being filmed in Görlitz. It tells the story of extraordinary women, a legendary department store, and a great love—beginning in Berlin in the late 1920s and spanning several decades of a turbulent century.
To mark the occasion, the Berlin-based film production company X-Filme hosted an exclusive press event at the main filming location— , the former Hertie department store in Görlitz, built in 1912–13.
Against the backdrop of an opulently decorated 1920s luxury department store, the Minister President of the Free State of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer; the Mayor of Görlitz, Octavian Ursu; Claas Danielsen from the Central German Media Fund, producer Stefan Arndt, as well as key members of the film crew, the Görlitz Film Office, a small group of hand-picked journalists—and... the planning team from the Saxon Film Academy, including Sebastian Riedel and Bernd Hölsken. Following the press conference, the planning team had the opportunity to speak with producer Stefan Arndt about the status of the project and the need for a locally rooted film academy in Görlitz.
The prominent guests expressed great confidence in Görlitz’s future as a film location. Saxony’s Minister President Michael Kretschmer was impressed by the film set’s backdrop:
"Görlitz is the hotspot for film production in Saxony and is one of the most attractive film locations in Germany and Europe. (...) I am sure that the infrastructure that we are currently building up with the film office, for example, will help us to establish Görlitz as an international film location in the long term."
”The mayor of Görlitz, Octavian Ursu, emphasized the esteem in which Görlitz is held by film productions:
“Film producers value our city as a unique and diverse filming location where they feel very welcome. (...) By establishing the Film Office and the Film Academy, and with the structural support of our university, we aim to create a reliable infrastructure to attract and retain film productions in our city on a long-term basis.”
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