Filming on the ambitious mini-series “Kafka” about the world-famous writer Franz Kafka (1883-1924) has begun in Vienna and Salzburg, as the North German Broadcasting Corporation (NDR) announced in a press release. Joel Basman (33) transforms into the prominent main character in the six-part series, numerous German cinema and series stars complete the acting ensemble.
For example, David Kross (32) embodies Kafka’s friend Max Brod. The Austrian actor Nicholas Ofzcarek (51), known from the Sky series “Der Pass”, plays Kafka’s strict father Hermann and “Babylon Berlin” star Liv Lisa Fries (32) becomes the writer Milena Jesenská, with whom the author has a short relationship led.
Also present in “Kafka” are Lars Eidinger, Katharina Thalbach, Charly Hübner, Verena Altenberger, Robert Stadlober, Marie-Lou Sellem and many other actors. Writer Daniel Kehlmann (48) is responsible for the screenplay together with director David Schalko (50). The basis is the three-volume Kafka biography by the literary scholar Reiner Stach (born 1951), who is also working as a consultant on the film adaptation.
“Kafka” is a joint production of ARD with ORF and Superfilm. The mini-series is being created on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the writer’s death in June 2024. Filming is scheduled to continue until mid-June of this year – for an expected start in spring 2024 in the ARD media library, in the first and in the ORF.
According to the press release, the aim is to show not only the writer himself but also his main companions, since Kafka got the ideas for his multi-layered, complex work “from his daily life, his family, his private environment”.
