Berlin-based GrandHotelPictures has unveiled its development slate which includes Iranian-born Reza Memari's adaptation of Ronny Blaschke's Versteckspieler, a biography of the gay footballer Marcus Urban from former eastern Germany.

The biography was published in Germany last year

'It is a kind of coming of age story for adults where we will carefully add fictional elements to the real-life story in order to create a stronger message out of Marcus Urban's biography,' producer Norbert Kneissl explained.

His partner at GrandHotel Ken Duken added: 'We want to give a more sensitive treatment of the subject similar to the tonality of films like Billy Elliot.'

GrandHotelPictures produced the Perspektive Deutsches Kino opening film Distance.

In addition, the company is preparing writer-director Ben Bernschneider's teenie slasher movie Sturm & Drang and the feature debut by GrandHotelPictures' third partner Bernd Katzmarcyk, Schwarze Sonne, which is being developed in collaboration with the First Movie Program at the Bavarian Film Centre Geiselgasteig and distributor Farbfilm Verleih.