Franz | Agnieszka Holland

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Films Boutique has reunited with “Green Border” director Agnieszka Holland on her Franz Kafka biopic “Franz,” currently in pre-production.

Set to begin principal photography in April in the Czech Republic and Germany — during the centenary of the author’s death — the film has already been acquired for theatrical distribution by Bac Films Distribution (France), X Verleih (Germany), Bioskop (Czech Republic) and Kino Świat (Poland).

Newcomer Idan Weiss will play Kafka, while Jenovefa Bokova limns Kafka’s friend and translator Milena Jesenska with Maria Schrader as his mother. Peter Kurth, Ivan Trojan, Josef Trojan, Katharina Stark, Sebastian Schwarz and Gesa Schermuly round out the cast. Cinematographer Tomasz Naumiuk — also behind “Green Border” and Holland’s “Mr. Jones” — will lense the film. +

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[Jaymole]

Definitely looking forward to this as Kafka is one of my favorite authors.

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Agnieszka Holland on Bringing Kafka Back to Life With 'Playful' Biopic 'Franz': 'I Don't Like the Cliché of Kafka Being Dark, Moody and Depressed'

Agnieszka Holland, the director of Oscar nominated films like “Angry Harvest,” “Europa Europa” and “In Darkness,” has completed post on her latest film, Franz Kafka biopic “Franz,” and will launch it at a fall festival, but which one exactly she will not say.

Speaking exclusively to Variety in her suite at the baroque Grandhotel Pupp in Czech spa town Karlovy Vary – an establishment reminiscent of the hotel in “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and a key location in James Bond movie “Casino Royale” – Holland explains how the film took shape, and her take on Kafka, best known for “The Metamorphosis,” “The Trial” and “The Castle.”

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFPrlEa294Q

[Heinz-Klett]

Trailer with alternative material:

Franz (2025) HD trailer /původnÃ* znÄ›nÃ*/ - YouTube

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Variety: "Never Stands Still, but Never Finds Its Stride"

Eye for Film: "Playful biopic that rips up chronology and frequently tears down the fourth wall"

The Daily Beast: "A refreshingly eccentric spin on the staid biopic."

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