MarcoKreuzpaintner's first English language feature Welcome To America is one of 34 projects to receive atotal of Euros 5m in the latest round of funding by the Bavarian Film &Television Fund (FFF Bayern).

Welcome ToAmerica is one of thefirst productions from the Reelmachine outfit formed at the end of 2004 byRoland Emmerich and private media fund manager Andreas Schmid of VIPMedienfonds,

Euros 300,000was awarded to Welcome To America which was previously known as The Girl Next Door and has been scripted by TheMotorcycle Diariesscreenwriter Jose Rivera. The $15m Stateside-set drama about female sex-slavesbrought across the border from Mexico is being produced by Reelmachine withMunich-based Claussen+Woebke Filmproduktion who were the producers ofKreuzpaintner's coming out drama Summer Storm (Sommersturm) last year.

(Other projects inReelmachine's slate include actress Desiree Nosbusch's feature directorialdebut Niagara, from a screenplayby The Patriot composer HaraldKlose, and Emmerich's own UK-based film Soul Of The Age, which explores the origins of Shakespeare's plays.)

Thelargest amount of funding, however - over Euros 1.42m, including Euros 400,000from the Bavarian Bank Fund - was allocated to the third edition of the familyentertainment franchise The Wild Soccer Bunch, Die Wilden Kerle 3, which will again be directed by JoachimMasannek for SamFilm with the cast of Uwe, Jimi Blue & WilsonGonzales Ochsenknecht, Sarah Kim Gries, Constantin Gastmann all reprising theirroles.

So far thisyear, the second Wild Soccer Bunch film has been the most successful German film released with overEuros 7m taken at the box-office. In addition, a sequel to last year'sbox-office hit 7 Dwarfs (7 Zwerge - Maenner Allein Im Wald), 7 Zwerge - DerWald Ist Nicht Genug,has been given a "success loan" of over Euros 265,000.

Among the otherprojects also supported at this session were a new feature documentary by HellOn Wheels director PepeDanquart, At The Limit (Am Limit) about two brothers Alexander and Thomas Huber who attempt tobreak the world record in speed climbing on El Capitan in California's YosemiteValley; Trixter Productions' family entertainment animation feature Drachenjäger to be directed by Francois Hemmen andGuillaume Ivernet with Michael Coldewey; and Hans Horn's thriller Godspeed, starring Susan May Pratt, Kip Pardue,and produced by Orange Pictures with Peter Rommel Filmproduktion, ShotgunPictures and Universum Film.