Berlinale 2023
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With the market gearing up for its full-on in-person return, the EFM Director, is looking forward to this year’s edition, while still keeping in mind the lessons learned from the previous hybrid editions, linked to Covidera restrictions. With renewed excitement running throughout the international industry, this year’s event is sure to bring about new partnerships, new networking opportunities, and of course, the chance to discover some of the most hot-button titles.
programme, which aims to connect the Caribbean and European Unition through culture and creativity. In addition the African umbrella stand unites companies from or working with the African continent. South Africa will be represented with its own umbrella stand. There will also be many activities to support the Ukrainian film scene. The EFM is bringing a Ukrainian delegation to Berlin, supporting their paperwork, and the market will host the Ukrainian umbrella stand. A financing panel at the EFM will shed light on the status quo regarding financing options and new opportunities for Ukrainian audio-visual content. With the Ukrainian Institute we organize a “Producers Presentations” to support their search for international partners. And the Odesa International Film Festival will hold their Project Pitches at the EFM as an associated event.
This year’s Berlinale and parallel EFM is taking place during the post-Covid era, what are your expectations for this year’s event? Are you hoping for ‘business as usual’ or renewed attendance and excitement?
We are very excited that the European Film Market is returning once again as a physical edition. The excitement my team and I feel is reflected by almost every one in the industry I am in contact with these days. Every one is looking forward to travel to Berlin and attend the market “for real”. So, to answer your question: My impression is that we will have “business as usual” complemented by an additional eagerness to finally meet industry contacts in person again, attend physical screenings and to reconnect with business partners. Looking at our participation figures this year, we expect the market to be a busy one. Our exhibition spaces in both Gropius Bau and Marriott Hotel are completely booked and the registrations are at the same level as in pre-pandemic years, if not higher. How important do you feel these types of in-person markets are? After years marked by hybrid online/in-person events?
Looking back at two online respectively hybrid editions in the pandemic years, we have learned a lot. We worked hard to recreate the market experience in the virtual space, to organize online exhibition stands, online screenings, digital networking formats and a virtual conference programme. Returning to the physical edition does not mean on the other hand that we have dropped everything from the online years. We kept and integrated useful online tools such as online screenings and VoD after the market into the physical edition to offer our participants a state-of-the-art market experience. The result is a wider range of benefits and offers. This being said our attendance figures show us that the physical market is apparently an experience that is crucial to the industry’s business. Film business is a people’s business and cannot be replaced completely in the virtual space. Can you speak to this year’s market attendance and any
While you can’t pick favorites... are there any ambitious titles that you feel will create a buzz within the market?
Dennis Ruh « My impression is that we will have business as usual complemented by an additional eagerness » this year are for example our featured “Countries in Focus” which are the Baltic states Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The market will be welcoming a delegation of filmmakers from the vibrant film scene of the Baltic states offering them a special platform to introduce themselves and their activities as well as upcoming projects. For the first time, there will also be a Caribbean umbrella stand at the market, realized in cooperation with the UNESCO Transcultura
countries that stand out as market favorites, whether that be via hot-button titles or the number of buyers/sellers?
As mentioned, the number of participants is comparable to the prepandemic time, even if the world has changed in the meantime. I’m, very pleased to seeing the players from South Korea and Japan returning to the market, including the sales agents and the buyers. Countries standing out
There are far too many titles to pick from to focus on just a fews. The titles in the festival’s main sections are usually titles to look out for at the market. The Berlinale being the largest audience festival in the world offers the unique opportunity to provide distributors and buyers with a feedback from a “real audience”. This audience’s reaction to and perception of the festival’s titles tells a lot about which titles will be hot or not. As the Berlinale Series Market is now in its 9th year and has become a well established and well received format, the featured series in the screenings, under the curated label “Berlinale Series Market Selects” as well as the showcases of upcoming series from all over the world are always interesting to keep in mind. What sets the EFM apart from other international industry markets?
The European Film Market is alongside the Marché du Film in Cannes and the American Film Market in Los Angeles one of the largest film markets worldwide. At the beginning of the year the EFM acts like a barometer for the upcoming film year identifiying and setting trends and featuring up-todate developments in the audiovisual industry. Furthermore, the EFM with its extensive conference programme, the EFM Industry Sessions, is also a platform for innovation and transformation discussing the latest trends, challenges and changes within the industry. With initiatives like EFM Startup the market explores cutting edge technology and dives into the intersections with other industry to find out what can enrich and complement the film and media industry. Zoe Hofmann
15 février 2023 / Écran total n°1410
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13/02/2023 21:36