IFC Films announces the upcoming release of two films from acclaimed German director Dennis Gansel: WE ARE THE NIGHT, a sexy and suspenseful thriller about a young woman initiated into a trio of beautiful female vampires, and THE WAVE, a story of a high school experiment in fascism gone badly wrong.
Both films are making their way to U.S. audiences following commercially successful runs in Europe and will have nationwide VOD releases and a limited theatrical run.
Jonathan Sehring, President of IFC Entertainment said, “We are thrilled to be introducing Dennis Gansel to U.S. audiences with the release of these two exciting films. Gansel is a smart and entertaining filmmaker with the rare ability to blend big themes, realistic young characters and strong filmmaking techniques into very commercial movies. With vampires at the forefront of popular culture, WE ARE THE NIGHT is a great addition to our IFC Midnight lineup. Additionally, we were captivated by the edgy teen political drama THE WAVE when we saw it at Sundance and think it’s a real conversation starter.”
WE ARE THE NIGHT and THE WAVE are being released theatrically in New York City in rep on May 27th at the presitgious ReRun arthouse theater. WE ARE THE NIGHT will be available nationwide on video-on-demand beginning May 25th and THE WAVE will begin a VOD run June 8th.
A sexy, suspenseful and adrenaline pumping vampire film, WE ARE THE NIGHT is an edgy tale of a provocative gang of female vampires living large, making their own rules and leaving a merciless trail of blood. The film centers on a 20-year-old Berlin native LENA (Karoline Herfurth) who gets by as a petty thief. On one of her nightly job runs through an underground club, she meets 250-year-old LOUISE (Nina Hoss). Don’t let her age fool you. LOUISE is a glamorous vixen, who is not only the owner of the club, but also the leader of an unusual all-female vampire trio – the other two members being wild child NORA (Anna Fischer) and elegant CHARLOTTE (Jennifer Ulrich). Louise falls head over heels in love with the scruffy Lena and bites her during their first night together. Once bitten, LENA discovers the curse and the blessing of her new, eternal life. She revels in the glamour, parties and infinite freedom. But she quickly discovers that the endless blood thirst and murderous appetite of her new girlfriends come at a steep price. When Berlin police commissioner TOM SERNER (Max Riemelt) begins investigating the women, it is just a matter of time before their day comes and events spiral out of control.
Based on Morton Rhue’s classic youth novel which has been required reading material in many German schools for years, THE WAVE is a work of fiction, but one based in fact: the original experiment was conducted by history teacher Ron Jones at Cubberley High School in Palo Alto, CA in 1967. With the setting updated to contemporary German, a high school teacher (Jürgen Vogel) comes up with an experiment in order to explain to his students how totalitarian governments work. A role-playing game with tragic results begins. Within a few days, what began with harmless notions like discipline and community builds into a real movement: THE WAVE. By the third day, the students start ostracizing and threatening others. When the conflict finally erupts into violence at an intramural water polo game, the teacher decides to break off the experiment. But it’s too late. THE WAVE is out of control…THE WAVE premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
More biographical information about Dennis Gansel is below. Please let us know if you would like a screener of either film for coverage consideration. Interview opportunities are available with Gansel and Jennifer Ulrich who appears in both films.
About Dennis Gansel
Dennis Gansel was born 1973 in Hanover. While at Munich Film School, he shot the short films THE WRONG TRIP und LIVING DEAD in 1995 and 1996, respecively. Both were produced by his fellow student Christian Becker and won the F. W. Murnau Short Film Prize. He followed them up with another short 1998, IM AUFTRAG DES HERREN(“A Mission from God”). After graduating from film school, Dennis Gansel shot his debut film, THE PHANTOM, a political thriller about the Red Army Faction, also starring Jürgen Vogel and produced by Christian Becker, which went on to win a Jupiter Award, the Adolf Grimme Prize and the 3SAT Audience Award in 2000 for Best TV Movie.
2001 saw his theatrical debut with teen sex comedy GIRLS ON TOP, which was a breakout commercial success and launched several young careers, including Karoline Herfurth’s (PERFUME). Dennis went on to pen the script for NAPOLA (BEFORE THE FALL) together with Maggie Peren. In 2003, their script about an elite Nazi boarding academy won a Federal Film Prize as Best Unproduced Script. The intense drama was released theatrically in 2004. BEFORE THE FALL won the audience award at the Hamptons Film Festival in New York, Best Film at Viareggio European Film Festival, and a Bavarian Film Prize 2005 for Best Direction. Lead actor Max Riemelt (“Marco”) won Best Actor at Kalovy Vary International Film Festival for his performance in BEFORE THE FALL.
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