The new generation of German cinema is the focus in the Federal German Film Board's (FFA) latest round of production funding which totalled Euros 2.5m.

Backing between Euros 100,000 and Euros 270,000 was given to feature debuts by Marco Kreuzpaintner (Ganz Unz Gar) and Joachim Masannek (Die Wilden Kerle) and second features by Achim von Borries (Die Liebe In Gedanken), Leander Haussmann (Die Kleine Schwester), Marco Petry (90/99) and Hendrik Handloegten (Liegen Lernen).

While Kreuzpaintner attracted attention through his short Der Atemkuenstler and Masannek has been working mainly as a screenwriter, Borries and Haussmann became known to German and international audiences through their directorial debuts England! And Sun Alley (Sonnenallee) respectively. Petry is being reunited with producer Uschi Reich of Bavaria Film for his new project after they hit the box office jackpot last year with his first film Schule. German Film & Television Academy graduate Hendrik Handloegten, who also co-scripted von Borries' new project as well as his own, came to attention last year with his film Paul Is Dead.

Other projects backed by the FFA are Jan Schuette's adaptation of Leon de Winter's novel Supertex, Sherry Hormann's psychological thriller Die Suenderin, and Max Faerberboeck's reflection on the events and aftermath of September 11 from the German perspective in September.