Press release, Stuttgart/Berlin, July 7, 2006: Niama-Film is delighted to announce the beginning of principal photography of The Red Baron directed by Niki Müllerschön, starring Matthias Schweighöfer and Lena Headey, as well as Til Schweiger, Jan Josef Liefers, Hanno Koffler, Volker Bruch, Tino Mewes, Maxim Mehmet and Steffen Schroeder.
About the production: The Red Baron is an international star and icon. Exemplifying both a sense of honor and valor, he is the symbolic figure of aviation. In “Peanuts”, even Snoopy’s aspirations revolve around the Red Baron. Leading food manufacturers, restaurants and auction houses from around the world have named their products after the German “ace of aces”. And yet, even though people across the globe are familiar with the pilot’s name, hardly anyone knows who Manfred von Richthofen really was and in which war he fought. Was he merely a war hero? Or an extraordinary, multi-faceted personage?
Director Niki Müllerschön tells the moving and heroic story of the Red Baron for the big screen; a story of the joy of living, the fascination of flying, the search for freedom and independence; and the story of a great love.
In the most elaborate German movie of all times, Niama-Film is producing a breathtaking screen adventure with a brilliant cast and CGI by Plxomondo. Since day one, Niama-Film has been striving to set new standards with this film and so create an unparalleled cinema event for the international market.
Synopsis: Europe in 1916. Thirsting for adventure and carried away by the euphoria of the moment, 24-year-old Manfred von Richthofen (Matthias Schweighöfer) goes off to war like thousands of other young men. As celebrated fighter pilots, he and his comrades soon become cult figures for the soldiers on the battlefields, admired by friends and foes alike.
Marked by sportsmanlike conduct and ambition, technical exactitude and knightly propriety, they have their own code of honor. They decorate their aircrafts in a whole range of motifs. Manfred von Richthofen’s red Fokker DR I becomes a symbol of the feared but revered flying squadrons of the First World War.
Though it is not long before von Richthofen begins to understand that his hero status is deceptive. His love for Käte (Lena Headey), a nurse, opens his eyes to the brutality and viciousness of war. A war which leaves no room for valiant deeds and, even worse, eliminates many of his friends, who lose their lives in reckless aerial combat.
When Manfred from Richthofen comes to realize that he is being misused by the military regime for propaganda purposes and so actually contributing to encouraging thousands of soldiers – who worship him blindly – to rush headlong to their destruction, he decides to escape his fame. A decision that makes him legendary… but with tragic consequences.
Press contact:
LimeLight PR
Petra Schwuchow & Sandra Paule
Köthener Str. 44
D – 10963 Berlin
Tel.: + 49 – 30 – 2639 698 18
Fax: + 49 – 30 – 2639 698 77
Email: petra.schwuchow@limelight-pr
For the latest news about the production please go to www.redbaron-themovie.com