Keith Gordon’s anti-war film A MIDNIGHT CLEAR, filmed in 1991 and released in 1992, was based on William Wharton’s novel and tells the story of six young US soldiers, played by Ethan Hawke, Gary Sinese, Peter Berg, Frank Whaley, Arye Gross and Kevin Dillon, in the Ardennes forest in December 1944. Now, for the first time ever worldwide, Gordon’s cult classic will be released in a brilliant new transfer and in the correct aspect ratio of 1:1.85, by Second Sight Films in Great Britain, and hopefully in other territories as well. (Home entertainment rights are available through Hollywood Classics, London.) The DVD will feature an audio commentary by Gordon and Hawke, half an hour of deleted or extended scenes, and a newly produced 50-minutes Fiction Factory documentary, »A Winter’s War«, directed by Robert Fischer. Filmed in early December 2011 in his home in Los Angeles, director-writer Keith Gordon discusses all aspects of the filmmaking process, from adapting Wharton’s novel and finding the actors to shooting in snow-covered Utah and marketing the film. A passionate, captivating monolgue by one of America’s most dedicated independent filmmakers!

Oliver Stone’s excellent TALK RADIO (1988), based on Eric Bogosian’s acclaimed off-Broadway play about a fearless, self-destructive radio shock jock, is arguably the filmmaker’s most underrated movie. Made between WALL STREET and BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, it somehow slipped through the cracks — and yet it features on many cinephiles’ lists as their favourite Stone film, or is singled out as the exception by people who generally do not care for Stone. Bogosian, who also stars in the film, based his bravura performance on Alan Berg, a real-life Denver radio talk show host who was fatally shot by members of a white nationalist group. For Carlotta Films’ French DVD release of TALK RADIO (street date in France: 18 January 2012), Fiction Factory has now visited Oliver Stone in his L.A. office and created a 27-minute documentary, FILMING RAGE: OLIVER STONE ON TALK RADIO. All previous US and international DVD releases of TALK RADIO were bare of any special features — a flaw that Fiction Factory (Munich), Carlotta Films (Paris) and Mr. Stone himself were only too eager to adjust. FILMING RAGE was produced and directed by Robert Fischer and co-produced by Vincent Paul-Boncour.

On 17 August 2011, Fiction Factory filmed an interview with veteran Canadian director Ted Kotcheff, concentrating on the filming of the comedy mystery, WHO IS KILLING THE GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE? (1977). Kotcheff talked in New York City on the set of the popular crime series, LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, on which he serves as an executive producer. As funny and sharp as ever, Kotcheff reminisced about shooting CHEFS in four European cities (Munich, London, Venice and Paris), using some of the world’s top restaurants and hotels as the backdrop for murder, romance, comedy and haute cuisine. Kotcheff, who also directed RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD, WAKE IN FRIGHT, THE APPRENTICESHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ, WEEKEND AT BERNIE’S and other cult favourites, explains why comedy is more difficult than action or drama, confesses to his preference of screwball over slapstick, and pays tribute to his first-class collaborators on CHEFS, stars Jacqueline Bisset, George Segal, Robert Morley and Philippe Noiret, screenwriter Peter Stone, cinematographer John Alcott, production designer Rolf Zehetbauer, editor Thom Noble, and composer Henry Mancini. Robert Fischer’s 60-minute documentary TED KOTCHEFF’S GOURMET CINEMA: THE MAKING OF WHO IS KILLING THE GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE will have its world premiere as part of a Kotcheff retrospective at the Oldenburg Film Festival on Sunday, 18 September, 12 o’clock noon, at the »Cine k« cinema (free entrance). Both Kotcheff and Fischer will be in attendance. Fiction Factory produced in association with Bavaria Media (co-producer: Christoph Meiser).

Fiction Factory is currently wrapping production on the latest addition to their series of documentaries on legendary German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder: THE CINEMA AND ITS DOUBLE – RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER’S “DESPAIR” REVISITED chronicles the making of Fassbinder’s first multi-million dollar production, shot completely in English and starring Dirk Bogarde and Andréa Ferréol. Filmed in 1977, it was first shown in competetion at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival. The beautifully restored version of DESPAIR was recently shown as part of the Cannes Classics program at this year’s edition of the festival, with Andréa Ferreól and editor Juliane Lorenz in attendance. THE CINEMA AND ITS DOUBLE will present interviews not only with Ferréol and Lorenz, but also with director of photography Michael Ballhaus, assistant director Harry Baer, actor Alexander Allerson, production supervisor Dieter Minx, Bogarde biographer John Coldstream, and Bogarde nephew Brock Van den Bogaerde. As a special highlight, a newly rediscovered, never-before-published interview with Fassbinder himself, filmed at the Cannes film festival in 1978, will also be included in this 70-minute documentary, written, produced and directed by Robert Fischer.

Fiction Factory is currently wrapping production on a new 75-minute documentary, STARTING OUT: THE MAKING OF JERZY SKOLIMOWSKI’S “DEEP END”. Skolimowski’s highly praised coming-of-age drama DEEP END has enjoyed a cult following ever since its initial release in 1970. The film was recently restored in HD by Bavaria Media and CinePostproduction in Munich and will come out on Blu-ray and DVD all over the world in 2011. The new documentary was written and directed by Robert Fischer. It will feature in-depth interviews with director/writer Skolimowski (filmed at his house in Masuria, Poland), director of photography Charly Steinberger (filmed in Grünwald and Munich), and the film’s two stars, Jane Asher and John Moulder-Brown (both filmed in London, pictured above). Also on board are actor Christopher Sandford, production designer Anthony Pratt, and editor Barrie Vince.

Am Samstag, 3. Juli, erlebt die neue 60-minütige Fiction-Factory-Dokumentation VON DER LIEBE UND DEN ZWÄNGEN: MUTMASSUNGEN ÜBER FASSBINDERS »ICH WILL DOCH NUR, DASS IHR MICH LIEBT« ihre Uraufführung im offiziellen Programm des Filmfest München. Ort: Filmmuseum im Münchner Stadtmuseum (St.-Jakobs-Platz 1), Beginn: 15 Uhr. In Anwesenheit von Filmemacher Robert Fischer und zahlreichen weiteren Gästen.

Zum Film: Im November und Dezember 1975, zwischen den beiden Drehphasen von SATANSBRATEN, drehte Rainer Werner Fassbinder noch einen Fernsehfilm, der zweifellos zu den persönlichsten Werken seines Autors zählt. Anlässlich der 2010 in Angriff genommenen Restaurierung und Wiederaufführung des Films entstand diese 60-minütige Dokumentation. Auch wenn dieser Fassbinder-Film auf Gesprächsaufzeichnungen mit einem verurteilten Mörder basiert, gibt es kaum eine andere Figur in seinem Werk, mit der sich der Regisseur so stark identifiziert wie hier mit dem jungen Bauarbeiter Peter (Zeplichal). Die Gründe dafür – besser: die möglichen Gründe – werden in dieser Dokumentation erforscht. So entstand nicht nur eine Art verspätetes Making-Of, sondern auch ein Film über den Menschen Rainer Werner Fassbinder und dessen künstlerische Motivation.

Die Schauspielerinnen Elke Aberle, Katharina Buchhammer und Erni Mangold, der Hauptdarsteller Vitus Zeplichal, Kameramann Michael Ballhaus, Aufnahmeleiterin Susi Dölfes, Tonmeister Karsten Ullrich und der Fassbinder-Experte Hans Günther Pflaum erinnern sich an die Dreharbeiten, Produzent Günter Rohrbach erläutert, wie er Fassbinder fürs Fernsehen gewann, und der dänische Fassbinder-Biograph Christian Braad Thomsen analysiert wichtige Szenen und Motive.

Aus Anlass der restaurierten Fassung von Rainer Werner Fassbinders Film ICH WILL DOCH NUR, DASS IHR MICH LIEBT (1976) drehte Robert Fischer in mehrmonatiger Arbeit die einstündige Dokumentation VON DER LIEBE UND DEN ZWÄNGEN. Zu Fischers Interviewpartnern zählen die Hauptdarsteller Vitus Zeplichal, Elke Aberle, Erni Mangold und Katharina Buchhammer, Kameramann Michael Ballhaus, Tonmann Karsten Ullrich, Aufnahmeleiterin Susi Dölfes und Produzent Günter Rohrbach sowie die Fassbinder-Spezialisten Hans Günther Pflaum und Christian Braad Thomsen. Gedreht wurde in München, Berlin, Wien, Gars am Kamp (Niederösterreich) und Freilassing. Bavaria Media bietet auf dem Filmmarkt in Cannes nicht nur die restaurierte Fassung von ICH WILL DOCH NUR, DASS IHR MICH LIEBT an, sondern auch die dazugehörige Dokumentation der Fiction Factory Robert Fischer Filmproduktion, so dass mit einem Erscheinen beider Filme auf DVD in den nächsten Monaten gerechnet werden kann.