Bavaria Backs New Matthias Schweighofer Comedy

COLOGNE, Germany – Bavaria's film financing body the FFF will put up $1.23 million (€1 million) in production financing for the latest romanic comedy from German star Matthias Schweighofer.

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The romcom Vaterfreuden is based on the bestseller "Frettsack" by writer Murmel Clausen. The story follows a former sperm doner who, after an accident makes him infertile, tries to track down and woo a married woman who used his sperm to become pregnant.

Schweighofer will direct and star in Vaterfreuden, which his Berlin-based shingle Pantaleon Films will produce. Warner Bros. will release the film in Germany under its four-picture deal with Pantaleon. Warner snatched the red-hot Schweighofer from 20th Century Fox, which released Schweighofer's debut, What a Man last year and will bow his follow-up, Schlussmacher, in January 2013. What a Man, which stars Schweighofer and Game of Thrones actress Sibel Kekilli, took in an impressive $15.5 million at the German box office.

The FFF, however, is looking to attract more than just local talent to shoot in Bavaria. The regional subsidy body this week announced it will boost its annual film funding by $9.5 million (€7.8 million) next year, $7.3 million of which will be earmarked for international productions that shoot in the southern German state. The FFF currently provides some $34 million in subsidies for the development, production, distribution and exhibition of films and computer games in Bavaria.