Alex Pettyfer & Karl Markovics Join Clive Owen In Historical Thriller ‘Kristallnacht’
EXCLUSIVE: Alex Pettyfer (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare) and Karl Markovics (The Counterfeiters) have joined Clive Owen in historical thriller Kristallnacht.
Stefan Ruzowitzky, who teamed with Markovics on 2008 Oscar winner The Counterfeiters, is directing. International Film Trust is selling at this week’s American Film Market in Las Vegas.
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Set on the brink of World War II in Berlin, the true story unfolds in a city turned into a powder keg after the assassination of a German attaché in Paris, which is wrongfully branded a “Jewish terrorist attack” by Nazi propaganda. Pettyfer plays Kai Lehmann, a young and impressionable police officer, who, alongside his superior Lieutenant Krützfeld, played by Owen, navigates the turbulent streets of Berlin as citizens turn violently against the perceived “enemy within,” descending on Jewish neighborhoods.
Kristallnacht translates as Night of Broken Glass, a reference to the thousands of shops, businesses and synagogues destroyed by the Nazis across the two nights in November 1938.
Markovics portrays Isaac Roth, a Jewish man caught up in the day’s terror as he is wrongfully accused of murder. As chaos engulfs Berlin over a harrowing twenty-four hours, Krützfeld and Lehmann are confronted with a profound moral dilemma: uphold the system or take a stand for what is right.
Michael Benaroya (Margin Call), Benaroya Pictures CEO and International Film Trust co-founder, is producing. Benaroya Pictures and Dor Film are co-financing the U.S.-Austrian co-production with principal photography set to begin in early 2025 in Austria.
Danny Krausz of Dor Film, Marcelo Gandola, and Daniel Zuta are also producing. Ben Sachs, Seth Renshaw, and Gregory McLachlan are executive-producing for Benaroya Pictures, and Florian Krügel for Dor Film. Cinelaunch co-founder Chris K. Daniels also serves as an exec producer.
IFT is representing worldwide rights and sales President, Christian de Gallegos, is on the ground in Las Vegas introducing the project to buyers.
“It’s really exciting to have such a great cast continue to come together on this project,” said Benaroya. He added: “Alex and Karl are fantastic actors, and we couldn’t be happier to have them, and Clive, on board to bring this important and timely true story to the screen.”
Pettyfer is repped by Giacomo Palazzo, Independent Talent Group and James Ireland at Dark Dreams Entertainment.
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