Christian Petzold desires Nina Hoss and Paula Beer to feature in his upcoming film.

      When speaking with Christian Petzold last fall, the German filmmaker mentioned he was working on two films: one a crime story for German television, which would be the fourth installment of Polizeiruf 110, and the other focusing on “political-left witches who are killing capitalists.” He has since taken on another project that would create a collaboration that Marvel could only dream of: a drama featuring Nina Hoss and Paula Beer.

      “I’m considering making a film with both of them,” Petzold shared with Letterboxd. “I've jotted down some of the script. If I can complete the writing after this police drama, I believe Nina and Paula would both be interested. It revolves around a theater group facing pressure—they’ve lost their theater because it has been sold to a malicious individual. This will be their final season. They are staging a Chekhov play, but their cast is not very strong. However, knowing that the group is about to perish, they deliver their best performance ever. That’s the premise, with Nina and Paula as part of the cast.”

      Hoss gained international recognition in Petzold’s films including Something to Remind Me, Wolfsburg, Yella, Jerichow, Barbara, and Phoenix. Beer, who first made her mark with François Ozon’s Frantz, has starred in Petzold's last four features: Transit, Undine, Afire, and Miroirs No. 3, which releases in U.S. theaters today. Such a reunion would certainly be a significant acting achievement of the decade, so we hope this project progresses.

      Petzold also expressed his thoughts on Berlinale’s recent political controversy, remaining silent regarding the genocide in Gaza. He told Variety about his experience on the 2024 jury, saying, “During my time on the jury, we had a lot of people onstage. There were individuals from Gaza who stated their desire for a ceasefire. The Germans had a substantial dilemma. [The Germans] are the perpetrators; they orchestrated the Holocaust. Now they aspire to be the good ones. Thus, they assert that antisemitism is the worst thing in the world. And it is. It’s the worst. Terrible. Yet, there's a quote by [philosopher Theodor] Adorno — he argues that a philosemite is an antisemite who loves Jews. Now they seek to be philosemites.”