Queer tennis continues its winning streak even with Challengers in the rearview mirror. Felix Kammerer will play Gottfried Van Cramm in a World War II drama film called Break.
The film tells the story of von Cramm, a darling of Nazi Germany who Hitler wanted to use as the poster boy for Nazi propaganda.
Von Cramm turned down the advances from the infamous regime, something that saw him be prosecuted on charges of homosexuality.
Von Cramm was a tennis player whose breathtaking sporting career was set against the rise of the Third Reich. He shot through with political and personal complexity and a high-stakes love triangle, which meant he went into the 1937 Davis Cup in Wimbledon playing for his life.
While married to his first wife, Baroness Elisabeth “Lisa” von Dobeneck, von Cramm began a relationship with silent movie star Manasse Herbst.
Their relationship brought a lot of trouble to von Cramm’s personal and professional life. When he refused to be the poster boy for Aryan supremacy, he was arrested in 1938.
Von Cramm was tried and imprisoned but was out on parole after six months. High-profile athletes and his friend, King Gustaf V of Sweden, wrote letters to Hitler pressuring him.
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ Team Reunites on ‘Break’
Break reunites Kammerer with Daniel Brühl (Becoming Karl Lagerfeld), with whom he starred in the award-winning Nazi-era film All Quiet on the Western Front. The film won 4 Oscars in the 2023 Academy Awards.
Malte Grunert and Edward Berger were part of the All Quiet film and will be producers on Break.
Brühl directs the film from a script by Hossein Amini adapted from Marshall Jon Fisher’s A Terrible Splendor: Three Extraordinary Men, a World Poised for War, and the Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played. The story will be told in German and English.
Grunert, producer, founder, and managing director at Amusement Park, said:
“The story of Gottfried von Cramm is one of personal heroism displayed with unassuming elegance. At a time when the freedom and liberty we enjoy are once again under threat from rising nationalism and far-right politics, it feels as timely as ever.”
Malte Grunert
Brühl spoke about von Cramm’s story, saying,
“From a contemporary perspective, the extraordinary story of Gottfried von Cramm is one that demands to be told. Gottfried is a hero for our times.”
Daniel Brühl
Production is yet to begin.