Munich, September 18th 2017
Michael Bully Herbig is back behind the camera again: today was the first day of principal photography for Balloon a thriller with a stellar cast: Friedrich Mücke (SMS For You), Karoline Schuch (Katharina Luther), David Kross (The Reader), Alicia von Rittberg (Charité) and Thomas Kretschmann (Valkyrie) to name a few. Based on true facts Michael Bully Herbig narrates the story of one of the most spectacular flights from East Germany. On September 16th 1979 the families Strelzyk and Wetzel managed to flee from East Germany in a handmade hot air balloon and land safely in the Federal Republic of Germany.
Michael Bully Herbig is excited to stage this sensational escape for the big screen: “I have been working on this unbelievable and nerve-wracking story for quite a few years. De facto this thriller is my biggest adventure in making movies as yet.”
You can find a first photo of the director and his cast on presse.studiocanal.de.
Balloon – director: Michael Bully Herbig, script: Thilo Röscheisen, Kit Hopkins,
cast: Friedrich Mücke, Karoline Schuch, David Kross, Alicia von Rittberg, Thomas Kretschmann and many more.
THEATRICAL RELEASE: September 27. 2018, DISTRIBUTED BY STUDIOCANAL
Balloon is a herbX film production in collaboration with STUDIOCANAL Film and SevenPictures Film as coproducers, and is subsidised by Filmfernsehfonds Bayern, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg as well as Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, FFA Filmförderungsanstalt and the DFFF Deutscher Filmförderfonds. Worldwide distribution will be conducted by STUDIOCANAL. Principal Photography will take place in Bavaria, Thuringia and Berlin until the end of November 2017.