Sandra Huller will play male German author and artist Wolfgang Herrndorf in Maria Schrader’s Work And Structure for Studiocanal.
Production on the film is scheduled for early 2027, with Studiocanal handling world sales and releasing the film in Germany, France and Italy in 2028.
Herrndorf was a writer and artist who began documenting his life online after being diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour in 2010. He committed suicide in 2013; his blog Work And Structure was published later that year in book form.
The book is a reflection on creativity, illness and mortality, and is considered a landmark of modern German literature.
The film will be written by Schrader and Jan Schomburg, and produced by Janine Jackowski, Jonas Dornbach and Maren Ade for their Komplizen Film. Caroline von Senden is commissioning editor for ZDF, with Huller, Schrader and Schomburg as executive producers.
The film is co-produced by Studiocanal, ZDF and Haut et Court. It is funded by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, the Film- and Media Foundation NRW, the Federal Government’s jury-based cultural film fundiung programme, the German Federal Film Board FFA, and Creative Europe Media Slate Development.
“Arbeit und Struktur [the German title] is a solitary and intimate record of what it means to be alive,” said Schrader. “A man fights with words against his disappearance and, in the face of death, becomes more alive than ever before.”
“Ever since my first encounter with Wolfgang Herrndorf’s work, I have been unable to let go of his writing,” said Huller. “His texts are at once surprising, unsettling, and comforting.”
“With Sandra Hüller, Maria Schrader, and Jan Schomburg, we have brought together an exceptional creative team for this very special project, something we are immensely proud of,” said Jackowski.
“Arbeit Und Struktur brings together everything that defines great cinema: a singular voice, a deeply personal story and creative talent of the highest international standing,” said a statement from Studiocanal’s Hooman Afshari and Lutz Rippe.
Studiocanal previously adapted Herrndorf’s novel Why We Took The Car, and released the film in Germany.
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