Annual Top Films Lists

Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2016: #74. Fatih Akin’s Tschick

Published on January 7, 2016

Tschick

Director: Fatih Akin
Writer: Hark Bohm

While Fatih Akin’s epic cap to his loose trilogy The Cut (2014) didn’t live up to expectations, we’re curious to see his latest, Tschick, an unexpected foray into ‘family film.’ Based on a cult novel by late writer Wolfgang Herndorfs, the story centers on 14-year-old Maik Klingenberg, part of a wealthy but dysfunctional family in Berlin. During this particular summer vacation his mom enters rehab while dad absconds on a romantic getaway with his secretary. Left to his own devices, Maik decides to take off with Tschick, a Russian immigrant classmate who shows up one day with a stolen car. The screenplay was adapated by actor/write/director Hark Bohm, who appeared in several feature by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Cast: Anand Batbileg, Tristan Gobel, Nicole Mercedes Muller

Production Co.: Lago Film

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. TBD (domestic) StudioCanal (international).

Release Date: The project is said to be ready for the third or fourth quarter of 2016, so Akin may return to Venice, or it may be snagged by TIFF as distributor StudioCanal unleashes it on their domestic market.

Nicholas Bell

Los Angeles based Nicholas Bell is IONCINEMA.com's Chief Film Critic and covers film festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, Cannes and TIFF. He is part of the critic groups on Rotten Tomatoes, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and GALECA. His top 3 for 2021: France (Bruno Dumont), Passing (Rebecca Hall) and Nightmare Alley (Guillermo Del Toro). He was a jury member at the 2019 Cleveland International Film Festival.