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Coproduction Office

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Coproduction Office
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Coproduction Office, founded in 1987, is composed of four production divisions in Berlin, Paris, Copenhagen and London, and an international sales company, all specialised in Auteur Cinema. Coproduction Office’s founder Philippe Bober has produced forty films to date with twelve of these having been selected to screen in Competition in Cannes, winning two Golden Palms: Triangle of Sadness and The Square both by Ruben Östlund.

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Over the last two decades, it has mainly produced and handled films by Ulrich Seidl, Jessica Hausner, Roy Andersson, Michelangelo Frammartino, Kornél Mundruczó, Ilya Khrzhanovsky, Carlos Reygadas, Ruben Östlund, and has also sold films by, among others, Gust Van den Berghe, Takashi Miike, Antonio Campos, Cristi Puiu, Corneliu Porumboiu and Thomas Clay.

As one of Europe’s leading international sales agents, Coproduction Office handles the international distribution of its films as well as a selection of other exceptional films, such as the meticulously restored masterpieces of Roberto Rossellini.

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History

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Founded in 1987 by Philippe Bober, the company was named after its efforts to raise funds for Europa by Lars von Trier (winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes in 1991).[1] Europa was a four-country coproduction supported by Eurimages during its very first session in 1989[2] for which Bober acted as associate producer for Germany and France.[3] For von Trier's following project, The Kingdom, Coproduction Office was involved both as German co-producer and international sales agent, closing deals in territories where the four-hour-long television series was distributed theatrically[4] (by October Films in the U.S.; ICA Projects in the United Kingdom; Haut et Cour in France; Shochiku in Japan, Key Films in Italy; Essential Films in Germany - the then newly created, Berlin-based production arm of Coproduction Office).[5] Coproduction Office then went on to produce Breaking The Waves for the joint production venture Libérator Productions with Zentropa in 1999, and has established ongoing relationships with Scandinavian directors; Roy Andersson, Dagur Kári, producing the film Nói Albinóitogether with Iceland's Zik Zak Filmworks, as well as Ruben Östlund.[6]

Coproduction Office expanded its production activities adding production divisions in Paris[7] in 2000, in Copenhagen in 2007, and in London in 2020. Coproduction Office and the Sarajevo Film Festival have cooperated since 1995 with Philippe Bober being artistic director and thereafter programmer of the new currents section. "Having freedom of choice has always been an obsession of mine," notes Bober, highlighting that he "also spent three months per year for over 15 years viewing films, going to festivals, looking for information about directors: focusing on a few films is a deliberate choice and the result of this work."[8] It is thanks to his role at the Sarajevo Festival that Philippe Bober invited Roy Andersson’s short films Something Happened (1987) and World of Glory (1991), as well as Jessica Hausner’s graduation film Inter-View (1999), Ulrich Seidl’s film Models (1999) and Ruben Östlund’s short film Autobiographical Scene Number 6882 (2005), subsequently establishing long working relationships with all four directors. “In the end, I’m loyal to auteurs” comments Philippe Bober, “I’ve been working with Michelangelo Frammartino since 2003, with Jessica Hausner and Ulrich Seidl since 1999, and with Roy Andersson since 1996. The auteurs and the company grow together."[9]

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Film Library

The films produced or sold by Coproduction Office mostly premiered in Cannes (with 12 nominations in the official Competition, 8 first features and 13 awards across sections), Venice (with 6 nominations in the official Competition, 5 first features and 8 awards across sections) and Berlin (4 nominations in Competition). 21 of these Competition titles were produced or co-produced by Philippe Bober.

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Awards

The Rossellini Project

In collaboration with Istituto Luce, Cineteca di Bologna and CSC Cineteca Nazionale, Coproduction Office undertakes the restoration and promotion of ten key films of Roberto Rossellini’s filmography:[10]

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Coproduction Office Classics and Restoration

Coproduction Office is active in restoring its films, and whenever possible, working closely with the directors.

In 2021, director Lou Ye supervised the Coproduction Office restoration of his film Suzhou River (2000), working from the original 16mm A-B negative of the image. The restored classic has been presented at Berlinale Classics 2022. Carlos Reygadas’ Battle in Heaven has been newly restored from the original negative, in full 4K resolution and with Dolby Atmos sound, this process was entirely supervised by the director. Of Reygadas’ titles Japòn, has been restored in 2K, as well as Post Tenebras Lux. Coproduction Office’s restoration efforts also extend to the Rossellini Collection.

Restoration of Dagur Kari and Jessica Hausner’s films is in process.


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Filmography

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References

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