Satirical Thriller ‘The Protected Men,’ Set in a World Ruled by Women, Picked Up by the Playmaker (EXCLUSIVE)

Leo Barraclough

27 June 2024 at 6:09 am·2-min read

The Playmaker has acquired international sales rights to the provocative satirical thriller “The Protected Men,” based on the novel “Les hommes protégés” (The Virility Factor) by Robert Merle.

The film is set in Germany, where a mysterious disease afflicting only men strikes, leading to a women-led government takeover. A group of scientists, the “protected men,” are tasked with developing a vaccine. However, the self-proclaimed chancellor, Sarah Bedford, secretly sabotages the vaccine efforts in a bid to stay in power. Her best friend Anita Martinelli has a decision to make: Can she stop the repressive government’s plans before it’s too late?

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Frieder Schlaich, the film’s producer, said: “Although the novel ‘The Virility Factor’ is nearly half a century old, it remains a magnificent source to spur on the debate regarding gender roles. This whimsical and boisterous story fits perfectly into that discourse: how would the world be without men? The movie ‘The Protected Men’ is a relentless farce that works through the eventuality of men vanishing from earth. Topical and told from a female perspective, it features hairy men unable to control their sexual urges, incorruptible women’s libbers, castrated yes-men, testosterone ingesting dominatrices, corrupt politicians and uniformed lesbian Amazons on horseback. And as extravagant as the characters are, they all contain a kernel of truth.”

The film is written and directed by Irene von Alberti (“Tangerine,” “The Long Summer of Theory”), and is produced by Filmgalerie451, who will also distribute the film in Germany. The Playmaker team will present the film at the German Film Previews (July 3-6), offering select international buyers an exclusive first look.

Von Alberti is a co-founder of Filmgalerie 451. In 1995, she and Frieder Schlaich co-directed “Paul Bowles – Halfmoon,” a film adaptation of three short stories by the American cult author Paul Bowles. Her credits include an episode of the omnibus film “Berlin Stories” (2005), her first full-length feature film “Tangerine” (2008), and “The Long Summer of Theory” (2017). She has also produced films by Robert Schwentke, Heinz Emigholz, Omer Fast, Elfi Mikesch and Monika Treut.

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