DAILY NEWS: RoadMovies Set with New Loach Film; Wenders Project Also on Tap

DAILY NEWS: RoadMovies Set with New Loach Film; Wenders Project Also on Tap

(indieWIRE/ 10.19.00) -- The new film from Ken Loach ("Bread and Roses") has begun production in England, according to Dr. Martin Blaney, spokesman for
co-producers, Road Movies Filmproduktion GmbH. The film, entitled "The
Navigators," is a joint effort between RoadMovies, Spain's Tornasol
Films/Alta Films, and Britain's Parallax Pictures.

In an announcement yesterday, the movie was described as a "drama about a
group of railway maintenance men confronted with the privatisation and
down-sizing of their industry." It is expected to wrap production in the
middle of next month.

Previous films produced by RoadMovies and Parallax include Loach's "Land and
Freedom" (1994), "Carla's Song" (1996), "My Name Is Joe" (1997/98) and
"Bread and Roses" (2000), as well as Henrique Goldman's "Princesa" (2000).

Road Movies Filmproduktion GmbH, a company of Das Werk AG, recently
announced that company principle Wim Wenders has re-teamed with his "Paris
Texas" partner Sam Shepard to write a screenplay for Wenders' next feature
film. The movie is being produced entirely by RoadMovies and will shoot in
the U.S. early next year.

In a statement, Wenders described his new projects as "a road movie right
across the United States, a family saga and, at the same time a story which
takes place in the age of the Internet and global communication".

Other Das Werk AG projects include Stefanie Sycholt's feature debut,
"Malunde," a new film being executive produced by Wim Wenders under the
Traumwerk Filmproduktion banner. The film, shooting in South Africa, is
expected to wrap production on November 11th. [Eugene Hernandez]