Execs launch Opium with a humanist touch
'Flower,' 'Rabe' in works at Teuton co.
"Desert Flower" is an adaptation of Somalian human rights activist Waris Dirie's bestselling autobiography, recounting her journey from the deserts of Somalia to the catwalks of international fashion shows and finally to the UN, where she's currently an advocate for the abolition of female genital cutting.
Peter Herrmann Filmproduktion is producing. Opium is also taking on "John Rabe" from Academy Award-winning helmer Florian Gallenberger and producer Hofmann & Voges Entertainment.
Pic tells the story of the German businessman who sought to rescue more than 250,000 Chinese from slaughter by Japanese soldiers during the Nanjing Massacre in 1937. Opium further solidifies Groenewold's growing clout as one of Germany's most active players.
Company is Groenewold's latest venture following the takeover in April of Munich-based Odeon Film by his GFP Medienfonds, marking that company's transition from a private film fund operator into a bona fide production group.
For Herrmann, it's a return to the limelight after exiting Senator in April in a management reshuffle at the company, where he headed both the Senator Film Verleih distrib division and Senator Film Produktion.
Opium also has come aboard "Nordwand," a drama from Boris Schoenfelder's Berlin-based MedienKonto Movie. Unveiling the new company at the Munich Film Fest last week , Hermmann invited "all the many creative filmmakers in Germany to come to us," with Groenewold describing Opium as a "small but fine home" for the local industry. Opium will have offices in both Munich and Berlin.
