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"My interest in people is what drives me, I am fascinated by diversity. To assemble a cast is like building a family." (Simone Bär im SZ -Magazin)

Tár
Sisi & I
Ingeborg Bachmann - Reise in die Wüste
All Quiet on the Western Front
UNDINE
LINDENBERG!MACH DEIN DING
ES GILT DAS GESPROCHENE WORT
 RELATIVITY
PELICAN BLOOD
CHARLIES ANGELS
A Regular Woman
MUTE
TRANSIT (2017)
Hanna's Homecoming
WERK OHNE AUTOR
FRANTZ
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
ALONE IN BERLIN
 Deadly Maria

Tár

Set in the international world of Western classical music, the film centers on Lydia Tár, widely considered one of the greatest living composer-conductors and the very first female director of a major German orchestra. 

Sisi & I

 Empress Sisi of Austria from the point of view of her lady-in-waiting, Irma. Sisi traveled throughout Europe, mastered six languages, practiced high-performance sports and did not fit at all into the tight corset of the Viennese court. 

Ingeborg Bachmann - Reise in die Wüste

In the center of the film is Ingeborg Bachmann, the radical writer who lives and loves uncompromisingly. The film tells of the author's life in Berlin, Zurich and Rome, of her relationship with the author Max Frisch, her journey to Egypt and Ingeborg Bachmann's radical texts and readings, which describe the motto of her literature and her life: "The truth belongs to people reasonable".

All Quiet on the Western Front

"We are beyond proud that Edward Berger will bring this story with such a great cast to life again for Netflix“, says Sasha Bühler, Director International Film Netflix.

UNDINE

Undine is a historian who works as a museum guide in Berlin. She knows all about the Humboldt Forum, and has the knack of choosing just the right blouse and suit. She is nonchalantly beautiful, and the way she imparts her knowledge about the city that was built on a swamp is as professional as it is graceful. And yet, time and again, her gaze wanders over to the courtyard café at the Stadtmuseum to see if he is there, or is still there, or if he’s there again. Him. But Johannes is leaving, leaving her, and Undine’s world is collapsing. The magic has gone... Christian Petzold reworks the myth of the mysterious water spirit as a modern fairy-tale in a disenchanted world. His Undine defies her role as a powerless and spurned woman and falls in love anew, with Christoph, who dives into the sunken world of a reservoir. Petzold’s deeply assured work reimagines this legend by way of his own cinematic vision, in which precise everyday gestures are combined with ghostly hyperrealism. The story of a life-or-death love, splendidly and effortlessly told.

LINDENBERG!MACH DEIN DING

From his childhood in Gronau in Westphalia to his first all-important stage appearance in Hamburg in 1973; from his beginnings as a highly talented jazz drummer and his adventurous engagement in a US military base in the Libyan Desert, to setbacks with his first LP to his breakthrough with songs like "Mädchen aus Ost-Berlin" or "Hoch im Norden" and "Andrea Doria": LINDENBERG! MACH DEIN DING tells the story of a boy from the Westphalian province who never actually had a chance, but took it to become Germany's best-known rock star - an idol in East and West.

ES GILT DAS GESPROCHENE WORT

The worlds of Marion and Baran could hardly be more contrasted when they first met on the beach of Marmaris: Marion, the self-confident, independent pilot from Germany, meets Baran, the charming rogue against the background of a better life beyond the Bosphorus is dreaming. Determined, he asks Marion to take him to Germany. And she embarks on this venture, in spite of her otherwise thought-out, reserved nature, and makes a deal with him. Maybe because she's forced to rethink her life?
Marion's long-term affair Raphael is completely surprised by the new situation. Baran gives everything to take advantage of the opportunity offered to him to start a new life. This impresses Marion - their restraint begins to crumble and both come closer than planned ...

RELATIVITY

For Nora and Aron, it's love at first sight when they meet in the subway one rainy day. A complete chance meeting, Nora says. Everything is fated, says Aron. But then, the young couple winds up in the middle of a bank robbery. Aron is shot by one of the masked robbers and dies in Nora's arms. Time stands still for Nora. She tries to numb her pain, spending a night with a stranger – Natan. He offers Nora support and stability. She has the odd feeling she already knows him, without realizing what they really share… 

PELICAN BLOOD

Wiebke, a woman horse trainer adopts little Melva. Soon she discovers the girl suffers from an attachment disorder and doesn’t build any feelings to relatives around. Melva starts putting others at risk, especially her older adoptive sister. After a visit to a neurologist a dilemma begins for Wiebke

CHARLIES ANGELS

Reboot of the 2000 action comedy based on the 1970s television series. A new generation of private detectives working for the mysterious Charlie.

A Regular Woman

From a family of strict Sunni Muslims and the oldest daughter of nine siblings, Hatun “Aynur” Sürücü (the likeable Almila Bagriacik, whose first film role was in “When We Leave”) was forced to leave her Kreuzberg school in 1998, age 16, and marry a cousin in Istanbul. In her voiceover, which outlines the expectations assigned to a dutiful daughter, Aynur calls it “a change of owner,” as control over her person shifts from father to husband. Her mother (Meral Perin) repeatedly stresses that family and honor are everything and cautions her to observe tradition and religious rules.

After the pregnant Aynur rebels against her abusive husband and returns to the overcrowded family home in Berlin, her family feels shame and tries to persuade her to return. But when she leaves them, too, taking her child and finding refuge in a home for underage mothers, and subsequently eschews the head scarf and begins to work and enjoy her life, her challenges to male domination and control begin to trigger the conditions for an honor killing, as outlined by the German Federal police.

It briefly looks as if Aynur will find happiness with Tim (Jacob Matschenz), a working-class guy who shares her love of dancing and gets on well with her young son, but the continued harassment from Aynur’s brothers who phone at all hours, spouting abuse (“I’ll kill you, whore”), and other young Turkish-Kurdish men who publicly challenge their relationship, finally scares Tim off. Like “When We Leave,” “A Regular Woman” makes it a tad difficult to understand why Aynur continues to seek the company of the relatives that treat her so vilely, but as Aynur tells her social worker Ms. Beck (Lisa Wendel), sometimes she loves her family and sometimes she hates them. When she eventually informs the police about the threats she is receiving, she learns that they can do nothing unless something happens to her.

Showing events in the aftermath of Aynur’s slaying is another way in which “A Regular Woman” sets itself apart from “When We Leave.” Hormann makes cinematic use of true-crime tropes such as a quick pause for a still photo of each of the many characters with their name emblazoned large and incorporates actual video footage and photos of her main character. Aynur’s voiceover describes how Evin (Lara Aylin Winkler), a young German-Turkish woman, becomes involved with her youngest brother Nuri (Rauand Taleb) and later testifies against him at his trial, something which forces her and her mother into witness protection — where they still are today.



MUTE

Berlin. Forty years from today. A roiling city of immigrants, where East crashes against West in a science-fiction Casablanca. Leo Beiler (Skarsgard), a mute bartender has one reason and one reason only for living here, and she's disappeared. But when Leo's search takes him deeper into the city's underbelly, an odd pair of American surgeons (led by Rudd) seem to be the only recurring clue, and Leo can't tell if they can help, or who he should fear most.

TRANSIT (2017)

TRANSIT basiert auf dem 1942 in Marseille entstandenen gleichnamigen Roman von Anna Seghers. In einer atemberaubenden, fast schwebenden Begegnung des historischen Stoffs mit der Gegenwart des heutigen Marseille erzählt Christian Petzold die Geschichte einer großen, fast unmöglichen Liebe zwischen Flucht, Exil und der Sehnsucht nach einem Ort, der ein Zuhause ist. 

In den Hauptrollen spielen Franz Rogowski (European Shooting Star 2018) und Paula Beer (nominiert zum Europäischen Filmpreis für ihre Hauptrolle in François Ozons FRANTZ).

http://www.transit-der-film.de/

Hanna's Homecoming

Fourteen-year-old Hanna returns to her hometown for the summer vacations, which is sheltered behind the moor. The sworn village community met with suspicion Hanna, because now she looks strikingly similar to her missing mother. This was described as a witch and has allegedly lured three men to their deaths. With Hanna's return, the old story is revived and brings out the deepest burial. Alone Hanna tries to counter this, until suddenly the self-confident Eva stands before her. In her Hanna finally finds the counterpart that she was missing. In the village, however, the strange events are piling up: people are disappearing, animals are dying, and mysterious accidents are haunting the villagers.

WERK OHNE AUTOR

Werk ohne Autor ist ein deutscher Film des Regisseurs Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, der voraussichtlich 2018 in die Kinos kommt. Die Hauptrollen übernehmen Tom Schilling, Sebastian Koch, Paula Beer, Saskia Rosendahl und Ina Weisse

FRANTZ

 In the aftermath of WWI, a young German who grieves the death of her fiancé in France meets a mysterious Frenchman who visits the fiancé's grave to lay flowers. 

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

ALONE IN BERLIN

Alone in Berlin is a 2016 war drama film directed by Vincent Pérez and written by Pérez and Achim von Borries, based on the 1947 fictionalized novel Every Man .

Deadly Maria

Maria lives with her husband Heinz, who is a loveless and cold player, in a restrictive and monotonous relationship. Maria fills her day with the care of her tyrannical, bedridden father, who vegetates in the room under the roof. In this desolate situation, Maria falls in love with her neighbor Dieter, who is a quiet and timid man. Suddenly, she has the hope of escaping from her prison and taking revenge on her tormentors.

alexmontag.casting

Simone Baer founded the "CastingStudio" in 1990. Her longtime experience as an assistant director was only one of the reasons she decided to take up casting professionally.

In 2002 Simone Bär received the "German Award for Casting" at the Cologne Conference, in 2018 she was awarded the Grimme-Preis for her work in Dark, a TV Series of Netflix.

In 2002 I was lucky enough to meet Simone Bär. Our meeting led to firs cooperation just a year later. From then on, we cast many national and international films and series. Consequently, we founded the "Simone Bär Casting GbR" together in 2019. Since Simone's death in January 2023, which was far too early, I have continued our work as "alexmontag.casting". In June 2023, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) invited me as Academy member recognising my work as Casting Director.

Cooperation mit Filmmakers.eu

alexmontag.casting uses Filmmakers.eu to organize and conduct auditions, research and select actors and submit cast proposals. Filmmakers.eu is the largest database of professionala ctors in the EU and is allowing the seamless management of selftapes, proposals and selections. Here Alexandra Montag hosts her own extensive database of german and international Actresses and Actors and can also dirctly connect to online-auditions and actor-profiles on Filmmakers.eu (...). This enables the fast and intensive research through the relevant European actor-profiles.

Professional actors can upload current portrait, CV, and showreel directly and free of charge to Filmmakers.eu (...).

Television

"I always try - without prejudice - to propose the best fitting actor for a role. A well-balanced mix of prominent and new discovery or unusual ideas make a good cast. The desire of the studios for a prominent cast is great, but the past has also shown that a good film does not depend on the prominent cast. Bad films will not become successful by only adding some well-known actors."  (Simone Bär im Interview in Blickpunkt:Film )

Munich Games
UNTERLEUTEN
DARK
BABYLON BERLIN
MACHT EUCH KEINE SORGEN
DIE PROTOKOLLANTIN
BERLIN STATION
COUNTERPART
HOMELAND - Season 5

Munich Games

 The show is set 50 years after the Munich Massacre, the terrorist attack on the Israeli Olympic team in 1972. “It’s now 2022, and on the anniversary of the attack, Munich is hosting a ‘friendly’ soccer game between an Israeli and a German (soccer) club,” according to a show summary. “Tensions and nerves are running high, with the political stakes even higher as the eyes of the world watch on. Everything is being done to make the match a safe and peaceful event. But when things start to fall apart, it seems history might be repeating all over again.” 

UNTERLEUTEN

Unterleuten is a fictional village in the Brandenburg province. Here they live together: Wende and Wende loser, Ostalgiker, capitalists, traveled city dwellers and long-established residents. When a wind farm is to be built in the immediate vicinity of the village, this divides the residents. Friends become enemies and vice versa. Based on the bestseller from Juli Zeh. Director: Matti Geschonneck

DARK

Dark is a German science fiction thriller web series co-created by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese. It is the first German-language Netflix original series, and debuted on Netflix's streaming service on December 1, 2017. The first season received mostly positive reviews from critics. Positive and negative comparisons were made to the Netflix series Stranger Things.[4][5][6] A second season has been green-lit by Netflix, with production to begin in 2018.

BABYLON BERLIN

Babylon Berlin is a German period drama television series based on novels by Volker Kutscher (de). The series takes place in 1929 during the Weimar Republic and follows police inspector Gereon Rath, who has been transferred from the city of Cologne to Berlin, and aspiring police inspector Charlotte Ritter. The first series premiered on 13 October 2017 on Sky 1, a German-language entertainment channel broadcast by Sky Deutschland. The first novel of the book series, which put a premium on historical accuracy, is titled Der Nasse Fisch (literally "The Wet Fish") (2008). It has been renewed for two more series. 

MACHT EUCH KEINE SORGEN

The evening meal of the Schenk family is disturbed by the arrival of officials of the State Criminal Police Office. They are told that their son Jacob is noThe evening meal of the Schenk family is disturbed by the arrival of officials of the State Criminal Police Office. They are told that their son Jacob is not, as expected, in Spain, but has joined the IS in Syria. A shock to the parents. The father manages to embrace his son on an adventurous journey to the Syrian border. But back in Germany, the environment of the family reacts suspiciously. Did Jakob come home of his own accord and renounced IS ideology, or was he sent home as a sleeper?t, as expected, in Spain, but has joined the IS in Syria. A shock to the parents. The father manages to embrace his son on an adventurous journey to the Syrian border. But back in Germany, the environment of the family reacts suspiciously. Did Jakob come home of his own accord and renounced IS ideology, or was he sent home as a sleeper?

DIE PROTOKOLLANTIN

Freya Becker (Iris Berben), Protokollantin beim LKA Berlin, lebt zurückgezogen und unauffällig. Den Verlust ihrer Tochter Marie (Zoe Moore), die elf Jahre zuvor spurlos verschwand, hat Freya nie verwunden, zu sehr quält sie die Ungewissheit über Maries Schicksal. Als sie mit einem Fall konfrontiert wird, der sie an den ihrer Tochter erinnert, und kurz darauf Maries mutmaßlicher Mörder aus dem Gefängnis entlassen wird, beschließt Freya der Wahrheit auf den Grund zu gehen – koste es, was es wolle. Nicht ahnend, dass ihr neuer Chef Henry Silowski (Peter Kurth) ihr gefährlich nah kommen wird und ihr Bruder Jo 8 Moritz Bleibtreu) ebenfalls tragisch verstrickt ist.

BERLIN STATION

Berlin Station is an American drama television series created by Olen Steinhauer. The series stars Richard Armitage, Rhys Ifans, Leland Orser, Michelle Forbes, and Richard Jenkins. Bradford Winters has been the showrunner since its launch.[1][2]

A ten-episode first season premiered on Epix on October 16, 2016. On November 17, 2016, Epix renewed Berlin Station for a second season, originally planned to contain ten episodes, which premiered on October 15, 2017 and concluded a nine-episode-season-run on December 3, 2017.[3] On December 6, 2017, Epix renewed the series for a third season that is set to begin production in spring 2018 and premiere sometime in late 2018 or early 2019.

COUNTERPART

Counterpart is an American science fiction thriller television series created by Justin Marks on the premium cable network Starz. It has been picked up for two 10-episode seasons. The first episode was directed by Morten Tyldum. The premiere episode first aired on December 10, 2017.

HOMELAND - Season 5

The fifth season of the American television drama series Homeland, premiered on October 4, 2015, and concluded on December 20, 2015, on Showtime, consisting of 12 episodes. The series started as a loosely based variation of the two-season run of the Israeli television series Hatufim (English: Prisoners of War) created by Gideon Raff and is developed for American television by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa. The fifth season was released on Blu-ray and DVD on January 10, 2017.

Set two years after the previous season, Carrie is no longer working for the CIA, and is working for a philanthropic foundation in Berlin, the Düring Foundation. The season includes several real world subjects in its storylines, including ISIS, Vladimir Putin, Bashar al-Assad, the Charlie Hebdo shooting, Edward Snowden, and the European migrant crisis.

Team

Simone Bär †

Casting Director, AMPAS member

Alexandra Montag

Casting Director, AMPAS member

Simone Bär

In memory of Simone Bär

Casting a film is akin to constructing a family constellation, and Simone Bär was a congenial architect.

The 57-year-old casting director died on 16 January 2023 in Berlin. Over the course of a career spanning decades, she brought many actors and directors together – making us realize that perfect pairing of the two can reshape a film entirely.

Simone Bär elevated casting to an art form unfathomable for most people, characterized by her unique intuition and curiosity about people, about life. She was one of the profession’s finest judges of character, always on the lookout for a new face, a new inspiration, always ready to confound predictions and go overboard in order to create the perfect ensemble or cast a leading actress or actor she believed in.

We will very soon feel the tension between Bachmann and Frisch in Ingeborg Bachmann – Reise in die Wüste by Margarethe von Trotta and perhaps bear witness to the presentation of an Academy Award to Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front, with its dazzling new cast or to TÁR by Todd Field. We look forward to whatever journey the new film from Christian Petzold, Roter Himmel, will sweep us away on, and to how much Sissi und ich by Frauke Finsterwalder will capture our hearts. Simone Bär cast the hit series Babylon Berlin by Tom Tykwer, Hendryk Handloegten and Achim von Borries; she also worked repeatedly with Christian Petzold, Matti Geschonnek, Florian Gallenberger, Robert Thalheim, Baran Bo Odar and with Sherry Hormann on Nur eine Frau.

As an authority on international arthouse cinema, she worked with Stephen Daldry (The Reader), Quentin Tarantino (Inglorious Bastards), Steven Spielberg (War Horse), Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest), Francoise Ozon (Frantz), Martin Zandvliet (Land of Mine) and Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel). Yet she also supported emerging filmmakers with great enthusiasm, guiding directors like Ilker Catak, Barbara Ott and Philip Koch through their debut films, always working hand-and-hand with the artists. She was deeply invested in long-term collaborations, shaped by deep trust in her creative partners.

When asked what casting means to her, she once answered: “authenticity, coherency… in the roles, so that the characters captivate and enchant me. You cannot make generalizations; you must cast a comedy quite differently from a drama, but the actors always have to advance the script to the extent possible.” She searched out actors and found them in the most ingenious way: finely nuanced acting was key to the casting of the Netflix series Dark and worked tirelessly to perfectly align the dialects of the actors playing younger and older versions.

Advancing the careers of actors like Nina Hoss, Sandra Hüller, Paula Beer, Vicky Krieps, Peter Kurth and Christoph Waltz, Simone Bär’s skills and expertise brought her international recognition. As the result of her shrewd decisions and deep knowledge, a number of films have gone on to receive awards, including multiple Academy Award wins and nominations, Golden Globes, German Film Awards, European Film Awards and the Grimme-Preis.

Antje Schlag (18.01.2023)

Media

Simone Bär & Christian Schwochow – Folge 7

Christian Schwochow spricht mit Casting Director Simone Bär

Contact

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Our office and casting-studio is situated in the center of the Berlin municipality Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf.
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