Die Tribute von Panem: The German Title for The Hunger Games

The upcoming 2023 Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, is neither the first Hunger Games film nor the first major Hollywood picture to be filmed in Germany in recent decades.

One of the first Hollywood productions to film extensively in and around Berlin was the 2005 science-fiction picture Aeon Flux, starring Charlize Theron. That film prominently featured an interesting Berlin filming location that also appears in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, the Veterinary Anatomy Theater, originally constructed in 1790.

Rachel Zegler stars as tribute Lucy Gray Baird in the 10th annual Hunger Games in the new “Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” prequel set for release in November 2023. On Twitter, in November 2022, she posted two pictures taken during filming at the Veterinary Anatomy Theater in Berlin. The same location was used in the 2005 sci-fi film AEON FLUX starring Charlize Theron. Unlike many Berlin film locations, you can actually visit this one yourself. More below. PHOTO: @rachelzegler/Twitter

Germany and Berlin as Hollywood Filming Locations
Germany, Berlin, and the Studio Babelsberg facility in Potsdam have long been a popular for Hollywood and other international film projects. In addition to actual, real-life locations in various German cities, the sound stages and other production facilities at Studio Babelsberg have attracted German, Hollywood, and international moviemakers for decades.

OTHER HOLLYWOOD FILMS MADE IN GERMANY
and at Studio Babelsberg (Potsdam)
Aeon Flux (2005), Atomic Blonde (2017), The Bourne Supremacy (2004), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), Bridge of Spies (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Hanna (2011), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015), Jason Bourne (2016), John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023), The Matrix Resurrections (2021), Tár (2022)

Some films, such as Tár, featuring an outstanding performance by Cate Blanchett (speaking German as part of her role as a philharmonic conductor), are shot in Berlin, with the city playing the role of its authentic, contemporary self. But in most cases, productions use authentic Berlin locations to represent a fictional place and time. A good example is the last two films of the four Hunger Games pictures, Mockingjay – Parts 1 and 2. Tempelhof Airport, which closed down as an airport in 2008, and is now a park, was the location for some battle scenes for Part 1. Part 2, which premiered at the Sony Center in Berlin on 4 November 2015 before opening in the US on 20 November, also filmed in Berlin and at Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam.

The Veterinary Anatomy Theater in Berlin as it appeared in AEON FLUX. The 2005 sci-fi film turned the site as a ghostly lecture chamber where Francis McDormand’s character (top) exchanges information with Charlize Theron’s character (bottom) – in a scene triggered by the release of mysterious mind-altering pills. PHOTO: Paramount Pictures (DVD still)

The futuristic Aeon Flux film was set in a fictional dystopian city, originally to be played by Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. However, in the end Aeon Flux was shot primarily on location in Berlin and Potsdam, with sound stage work done at the Studio Babelsberg facilities in Potsdam. In fact, some of the Berlin locations used for filming Aeon Flux in 2004 will also be seen in the upcoming Hunger Games prequel to be released in November 2023.

Filming the Fifth Installment of The Hunger Games
Filming for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (Lionsgate) has been completed, and the picture is now in post-production. Let’s look at some of the filming locations in Germany and Poland.

On 19 May 2020, Scholastic published American author Suzanne Collins’ new Hunger Games novel. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a spinoff and prequel to her original Hunger Games trilogy (which became four motion pictures). It is primarily the background story of President Coriolanus Snow, set some 64 years before the timeline of Collins’ original Hunger Games trilogy. Snow is only 18 years old, and still many decades away from the lofty position he will later hold. Soon there were plans to turn the new novel into the fifth Hunger Games film.

Filming for Songbirds and Snakes began in Berlin, Germany in June 2022, helmed by director Francis Lawrence, who also directed all of the previous Hunger Games pictures, including the last two Hunger Games: Mockingjay installments (Parts 1 and 2) also shot in part in Germany. The new cast has both some familiar names and several newcomers you may know from various streaming series. Viola Davis plays the film’s villainous Dr. Volumnia Gaul, while Peter Dinklage plays Casca Highbottom, the inventor of the Hunger Games. The two lead stars are Rachel Zegler, as the young tribute Lucy Gray Baird, and Tom Blyth, as the 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow, who is assigned to coach Lucy.

Zegler, age 22, appeared as Maria in the 2021 West Side Story by Steven Spielberg, and as Anthea in Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023). The 28-year-old Blyth is an English actor who has appeared in several motion pictures, including Benediction (2021), and three TV series, most notably in the lead role for Billy the Kid (2022).

Filming for Songbirds and Snakes was not confined to Berlin. Other shooting locations in Germany included industrial sites at the Landschaftspark in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. In August 2022, the cast and crew also shot interior scenes at the “Völki” in Leipzig, a massive monument known as the Völkerschlachtdenkmal in German (Monument to the Battle of the Nations).

The monument is one of the largest in Europe. It was built in 1913 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of victorious battle against Napoleonic troops in the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813. A coalition of armies from Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Sweden were led by Tsar Alexander I of Russia and the Austrian general Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg. There were Germans fighting on both sides, as Napoleon’s troops also included conscripted Germans from the French-controlled left bank of the Rhine, as well as troops from the German Confederation of the Rhine. But in essence, the Germans defeated Napoleon’s French forces. The battle was the beginning of Napoleon’s downfall, and it clearly demonstrated the insanity of war.

The interior has artistic and architectural features that the filmmakers thought would work well for the movie. These include stone knights several meters in height, arranged inside a large rotunda, as well as ringing the monument’s dome. I’m not sure if the exterior will also appear in the finished picture, but it is also impressive, as you can see in the photo below.

The “Völki” monument in Leipzig at night in 2014. PHOTO: StefanSch89, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Poland
Other Songbirds and Snakes filming locations included the historic Centennial Hall in Wrocław, Poland (formerly Breslau, Silesia). This interesting round structure was constructed according to the plans of architect Max Berg in 1911–1913, when the city was part of the German Empire. In the motion picture the hall’s large domed interior becomes the arena for the 10th Hunger Games, thanks to a bit of CGI and clever camerawork.

The Trailer for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
If you watch the trailer for The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes you’ll see some other Berlin area locales that were also used in the earlier Aeon Flux film (e.g., the Krematorium Baumschulenweg as the interior of a mansion), but the new film also features locations not seen in that earlier film: the Altes Museum (front columns), Berlin’s Olympic Stadium (exterior), and Strausberger Platz (as a part of the Panem capital).

The Veterinary Anatomy Theater was designed by architect Carl Gotthard Langhans (1732-1808) and constructed in 1790 as a veterinary medical training facility, it is now a protected landmark known officially as the Tieranatomisches Theater der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The project was initiated by King Friedrich Wilhelm II as key element of a new Prussian college of veterinary medicine. An extensive restoration of the building was completed in 2012. The site is now used by the Hermann von Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik as an exhibit space for art and other projects.

The Veterinary Anatomy Theater is open to the public, without charge, from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Located on the North Campus of Humboldt University, the Tieranatomisches Theater is the oldest academic building in Berlin and was used as an anatomical theater for animals where students could watch veterinarians perform surgery on various animals. Today, this historic building is an event space and is known for hosting unique art exhibits.

Address: Philippstraße 12/13, Berlin, Germany, 10115
Website (in English): TA T – Tieranatomisches Theater
Website (in English): TA T – The Building

I’m looking forward to the November 2023 release of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. If you know of any filming locations we missed here, let us know in the comments or on our German Way Facebook Page. If you don’t want to wait for the film, you can read Suzanne Collin’s novel (Amazon.com partner link above).

– HF