X Filme Creative Pool, X Verleih and Beta Cinema are proud to reveal the first look of "The Light," Tom Tykwer’s return to the big screen after seven years and four seasons as writer and director of the worldwide hit series "Babylon Berlin." Beta Cinema is handling sales for all territories except German-speaking territories, France and North America and will start selling the film at the upcoming European Film Market. In "The Light" (Das Licht), which is set in present day in Berlin, Tykwer draws the portrait of a modern family between collapse and new beginnings and deals with the big issues of our times, in a world that is reeling.
"After quite a long time, which I spent with Babylon Berlin in the roaring 20s, I can finally turn my attention back to our present. In The Light, there is arguing, struggling and fighting, but there is also laughter, singing and dancing. The film aims to challenge the spectrum of emotions and the corresponding narrative possibilities. And the characters are very familiar to me. I want to try to reflect their inner turmoil and make their deep bond tangible for the audience," Tom Tykwer said.
"The Light" is produced by X Filme Creative Pool (producer: Uwe Schott) and Beta Cinema will start presales at the upcoming European Film Market in Berlin. X Verleih/Warner Bros. will release the film to German cinemas on October 17, 2024. Principal photography took place in Berlin and surroundings, North Rhine-Westphalia and Kenya until end of 2023. Director of Photography is Christian Almesberger (Cloud Atlas, The Empress), the production design is by Tim Tamke (A Most Wanted Man) and the costumes were designed by Pierre-Yves Gayraud (Babylon Berlin, Cloud Atlas, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, The Three Musketeers).The Light stars Lars Eidinger (Dying, Persian Lessions, Personal Shopper, The Clouds of Sils Maria), Nicolette Krebitz (AEIOU, Wild), Elke Biesendorfer, Julius Gause and Elyas Eldridge as the Engels family, who seemingly have nothing left to hold them together when housekeeper Farrah (Tala al Deen) enters their lives. The mysterious Syrian woman puts the Engels' emotional world to an unexpectedly wild test. "The Light" is a production of X Filme Creative Pool in co-production with ZDF, ARP Séléction, Gold Rush Pictures, Gretchenfilm and D.A. Filmproduktion. Funded by the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), the German Federal Film Board (FFA), Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW.
Tom Tykwer is one of Germany’s most respected film directors. After his breakout hit "Run Lola Ru"n (1998) he directed "Heaven" (2002), "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" (2006), and "The International" (2009), starring Clive Owen, Naomi Watts and Armin Mueller-Stahl among others. He collaborated with "The Wachowskis" as co-director for "Cloud Atlas" (2012) with Tom Hanks and the Netflix series "Sense 8" (2015–2018) and worked as a composer on the score for Lana Wachowski's "The Matrix Resurrections" (2021). He also is the co-creator of the internationally acclaimed German television series Babylon Berlin (2017-2023).