{"id":496701,"date":"2026-06-26T14:33:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T14:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/496701\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T14:33:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T14:33:09","slug":"feel-good-comedy-agnes-amir-picked-up-by-beta-cinema","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/496701\/","title":{"rendered":"Feel-Good Comedy ‘Agnes & Amir’ Picked Up by Beta Cinema"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tBeta Cinema<\/a> has picked up international sales rights to feel-good comedy \u201cAgnes & Amir\u201d ahead of its premiere on Sunday at the Munich Film Festival<\/a>. The film, directed by Helena Hufnagel<\/a>, is based on a true story.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film follows Iranian Amir, who is waiting to hear if his refugee status in Germany will be accepted or whether he\u2019ll be deported. He moves into the Berlin apartment of Agnes, a 101-year-old who is trying to avoid being sent to live in a retirement home. Despite their differences, the flatmates form a close bond that helps them confront the challenges that life throws their way.<\/p>\n

\n\tX Verleih will release the film in German theaters on Nov. 19.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe screenplay is written by Malte Welding (\u201cText for You,\u201d \u201cLove Again\u201d), based on a story by Paul M. Feldmann.<\/p>\n

\n\tHufnage first gained international attention with her short film \u201cWilla\u201d (2014), adapted from a Stephen King story, which screened at major festivals, including Palm Springs. She made her feature debut with \u201cPretty Far From Okay\u201d (2017), earning a Bavarian Film Award. Her feature \u201cCommitment Phobia,\u201d which premiered at Munich, became one of the most successful German theatrical releases of 2021. Hufnagel\u2019s \u201cSilver and the Book of Dreams,\u201d produced by Constantin Film for Amazon Studios, premiered at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in 2023, and was nominated for the German Television Award.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe cast is led by Katharina Thalbach, one of Germany\u2019s most acclaimed and beloved actresses. Internationally, she is best known for her performances in Volker Schl\u00f6ndorff\u2019s Palme d\u2019Or- and Oscar-winning \u201cThe Tin Drum\u201d (1979) and Alan J. Pakula\u2019s \u201cSophie\u2019s Choice\u201d (1982). Thalbach is also an Officier des Arts et des Lettres, awarded by the French Ministry of Culture.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe stars opposite emerging actor Bardo B\u00f6hlefeld (\u201cJesus Cries,\u201d \u201cDarkroom\u201d), who was nominated for best new actor at Munich in 2022 for \u201cAll Russians Love Birch Trees.\u201d The ensemble cast also includes Ulrike Kriener, Noah Saavedra, Ronald Zehrfeld, Rainer Bock, Jannik Sch\u00fcmann and Sara Fazilat.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAgnes & Amir\u201d is produced by Fabian Halbig and Florian Kamhuber of Nordpolaris, in co-production with ZDF and Arte. It is supported by MBB, FFF Bayern, MDM, FFA and DFFF.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe director of photography is Aline L\u00e1szl\u00f3 (\u201cThe Colony\u201d), with music by Martin Kohlstedt (\u201cA Higher Law\u201d).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Beta Cinema has picked up international sales rights to feel-good comedy \u201cAgnes & Amir\u201d ahead of its premiere…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496702,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[248472,156,248473,409,248474,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-496701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-beta-cinema","tag-entertainment","tag-helena-hufnagel","tag-movies","tag-munich-film-festival","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}