Sommerhaus Filmproduktion GmbH

"THE STORIES OF OUR FILMS HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON: THEY NEED TO BE TOLD ON SCREEN. EACH IN ITS OWN, HIGHLY INDIVIDUAL WAY. AT TIMES TOUGH AND AWKWARD, AT TIMES FUNNY, OR POLITICAL, OR STIRRING. SOMETIMES SIMPLY ENTERTAINING. BUT ALWAYS WITH THEIR OWN DISTINCTIVE STYLE. AND ALWAYS WITH PASSION.”

Sommerhaus Filmproduktion was founded in 2006 by Jochen Laube in Ludwigsburg. Key projects included Heide and Christian Schwochow’s prizewinning film NOVEMBERKIND and Niko Apel’s Grimme Award-winning documentary SONBOL. While Laube was working as a producer with UFA Fiction together with Fabian Maubach from 2008 to 2015, the company was inactive. At UFA Fiction, Laube and Maubach were responsible for audience hits like Elena von Saucken and Florian Cossen’s THE DAY I WAS NOT BORN, demanding arthouse cinema like Anna and Dietrich Brüggemann’s STATIONS OF THE CROSS (winner of the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the 2014 Berlinale), political cinema like Martin Behnke and Burhan Qurbani’s WE ARE YOUNG. WE ARE STRONG. (nominated for the 2015 German Film Award, Golden Lola for Joel Basman), internationally-acclaimed documentaries like EAT THAT QUESTION: FRANK ZAPPA IN HIS OWN WORDS (Sundance Film Festival 2016), and international co-productions like Elena von Saucken and Florian Cossen’s COCONUT HERO.

Since 2015, Jochen Laube and Fabian Maubach have jointly headed Sommerhaus Filmproduktion. In addition to Thomas Stuber’s IN THE AISLES (2018 Berlinale Competition, 2018 German Film Award for Best Actor, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury 2018 Berlinale, Gilde Film Award 2018 Berlinale, German Screenplay Award 2015), their projects to date include Dominik Graf’s highly successful SWR Tatort episode DER ROTE SCHATTEN, broadcast in October 2017 and with nearly 10 million viewers, Sandra Nettelbeck’s WHAT DOESN’T KILL US (world premiere Piazza Grande Locarno 2018), and in 2019, Katharina Eyssen’s Netflix series HOLIDAY SECRETS directed by Samira Radsi.

WHEN HITLER STOLE PINK RABBIT, directed by Caroline Link and based on Judith Kerr’s semi-autobiographical novel, has attracted over a million cinemagoers since its launch at Christmas, 2019. It was awarded the Bavarian and the German Film Prize for Best Children’s Film.

Burhan Qurbani’s adaptation of Alfred Döblin’s famous novel BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ celebrated its world premiere at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival. The film received 5 Lolas at the German Film Awards – for Best Production Design, Best Film Score, Best Cinematography, Best Male Supporting Role and a silver Lola in the category Best Feature Film. At the European Film Awards composer Dascha Dauenhauer won the EFA Excellence Award for European Original Score.

Maggie Peren’s romantic comedy HELLO AGAIN – A WEDDING A DAY was shown in the cinema in 2020 and Sebastian Marka’s science fiction film EXIT, nominated for the Grimme Prize, was shown in the main programme of ARD. In 2021, the series I AM SOPHIE SCHOLL directed by Tom Lass became the most successful fictional German format on Instagram to date. In May 2022, the two BARCELONA CRIME movies directed by Carolina Hellsgård ensured high ratings on ARD.

Shortly before the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the international TV series THE NET – PROMISED LAND (director: Rick Ostermann) about the mafia machinations behind soccer was first broadcasted. In early December 2022, the new collaboration with director Thomas Stuber DARK SATELLITES was released in cinemas.
The historical series THE EMPRESS by showrunner Katharina Eyssen, directed by Katrin Gebbe and Florian Cossen, topped the global ranking of non-English language series after its launch on Netflix in September 2022 and won Best Drama Series at the International Emmy® Awards in 2023.

Two new episodes of BARCELONA CRIME are currently in production. Burhan Qurbani’s new feature film NO BEAST SO FIERCE and the second season of the Netflix series THE EMPRESS are currently in post-production.