In early Series Mania business, Europe’s Beta Film has pounced on international distribution rights to “30 Days of Lust,” a half-hour dramedy from Munich’s Trimafilm, in which a couple, high-school sweethearts but now knocking 30, experiment with 30 days of free sex.
Beta Film has also shared in exclusivity with Variety a first clip from the eight-part series which world premieres in International Panorama Competition at next month’s Series Mania, a section whose value is rising fast as companies seek to leverage TV festival selection as a sign of distinction in a still hugely crowded fiction TV marketplace.
In the clip, from the early going of Ep. 1, Freddie (Linda Blümchen), a pharmacist, and Zeno (Simon Steinhorst), an art restorer, hit a party given by an obnoxious acquaintance of Freddie’s from college.
In an opening scene to the series, Freddie, after good enough sex with Zeno, has run through the idea that, since they’ve never had sex with anybody else, they cannot have fulfilled all their fantasies. She proposes a 30 day open relationship.
Zeno is nonplussed about: “I’m afraid we’ll hurt each other,” he ventures. “I’m afraid we’ll hurt each other if we don’t do it,” Freddie retorts.
But at the party Freddie claims the experiment has already begun, putting Zeno on the spot. Her friend’s dominated boyfriend, Philippe, suddenly perks up and seems over interested in the experiment.
Asked how their one-night stands are going, Zeno has to make up something fast and claims a tryst with a magician who did magic tricks with her mouth. Freddie says she’s had a threesome with two guys, one of whom looked a bit like Philippe.
“Throughout the experiment, awkward dates and bizarre encounters create suspicion between them, while moments of tenderness emerge amidst the emotional rollercoaster,” Beta Film anticipates, announcing the pick-up.
30 Days of Lust
Credit: Trimafilm/Series Mania
“As day 30 + 1 approaches, the question remains: Has the experiment brought them closer, or has it been too much to ask? The dramedy offers a highly relatable exploration of navigating life when you’re almost thirty and the journey of self-discovery still proves elusive,” it continues.
Focusing on relationship dynamics and psychological observance – which makes reaction shots the key to the clip, for example – “30 Days of Lust” is directed by Bartosz Grundziecki (psychological thriller “The Wall”) and Pia Hellenthal, helmer of 2019’s “Searching Eva,” a doc-feature in which a young woman explores her fragmented personalities.
Grudziecki heads up a writing team consisting of Mercedes Lauenstein, Carolina Zimmermann, Berthold Wahjudi, Karla Kristóbal, Marie Sturm, and Hellenthal.
Founded in 2012 and headed from 2017 by Trini Götze and David Armati Lechner, Trimafilm has consistently scored awards with its directors and writers, Eva Trobisch’s “All Good” taking best first feature at Locarno in 2018 and Mariko Minoguchi’s debut film, “Mein Ende. Dein Anfang,” being awarded the German Film Critics Prize for best debut film in 2020.
Trobisch’s second feature, “Ivo,” world premieres at this year’s Berlin Encounters. Doc feature “Iron Butterflies” premiered at 2023’s Sundance Film Festival and the Berlinale.
Trimafilm is currently exploring common projects with Ingo Fleiss, producer of director Ilker Çatak’s German International Feature Film Oscar nominee, “The Teachers’ Lounge.”
German regional public broadcaster SWR co-produces “30 Days of Lust” which is funded by FFF Bayern and MFG Baden-Württemberg.
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