MUNICH – Beta Cinema has picked up worldwide rights to Sandra Nettelbeck’s latest feature What Doesn’t Kill Us, which will bow this summer at Locarno’s Piazza Grande.

Nettelbeck, whose credits include the internationally acclaimed Mostly Martha and Mr. Morgan’s Last Love, has created a heart-wrenching yet delightful mosaic of stories just past the midlife crisis.

What Doesn’t Kill Us, produced by Sommerhaus Filmproduktion (Berlinale competition entry In The Aisles) and starring August Zirner, Mark Waschke, Johanna ter Steege, Deborah Kaufmann, Barbara Auer and Christian Berkel, will premiere on Friday 3 August, at the Swiss Festival.

Populated with a colourful range of characters, the tragicomedy What Doesn’t Kill Us deals with matters of the heart and identity, of everyday struggles and long-time conflicts.

It takes a tender and humorous look at the highs and lows that can either save us or haunt us when we realise that the second half time is already well on its way – when we feel that we should have arrived by now but are still navigating, and when we hopefully come to understand that it is never too late to gamble everything for love.

Director Sandra Nettelbeck said: “It’s impossible to say that this is my most personal film, for each one based on an original script seems to be just that at the time. But it certainly feels like my most reflective, page-turning one to date. A declaration of love for life in the face of loss, a love letter to humour in the face of tragedy, and above all, a passionate pledge for hope. Because hope is what keeps us alive, keeps us going, and hope will save us if we let it.”

What Doesn’t Kill Us is produced by Sommerhaus Filmproduktion (Jochen Laube, Fabian Maubach) in coproduction with ZDF, Cine Plus and Ruhrsoundstudios supported by Filmförderung FFHSH, Filmstiftung NRW, MFG Baden-Württemberg and BKM. The German distributor is Alamode Film.