Organised Matchmaking: The Berlinale Co-Production Market introduces 36 international film projects

At the sixth Berlinale Co-Production Market (February 8 – 10, 2009), 36 selected film projects from 23 countries will be presented. At the Market, their producers will meet with interested potential co-producers and financiers in individual one-on-one meetings.

The budgets of the projects in the official selection range from 1 to 10 million Euros, of which a minimum of 30% is already in place. Additional vital selection criteria are a structure suitable to co-production and internationally experienced producers.

In addition to the 22 projects (chosen from 333 submissions) in the official selection, four projects will be presented at the “Rotterdam-Berlinale-Express” in cooperation with the CineMart Rotterdam. Furthermore, 10 newcomer projects from the Berlinale Talent Campus participants will be presented at the “Talent Project Market.

The success of the Berlinale Co-Production Market is evident in the 70 films that have resulted from the first five years of the event. In 2008, 17 of these participated in international film festivals and were released theatrically.

This year’s new projects include works from Bille August (Goodbye Bafana, Smilla’s Sense of Snow) and Erik Skjoldbjaerg (Prozac Nation, Insomnia). The official selection also includes two German projects: Goodnight by Gregor Buchkremer and Silence by Baran bo Odar.

Frontrunners in country distribution are the UK and Israel, represented by three projects each.

The framework programme of the Berlinale Co-Production Market will revolve around current trends: Case studies on film financing options, “Country Tables” with information on co-production possibilities with selected countries, “Theme Talks”, in which participants and experts exchange their thoughts on special fields of interest, and the popular “Speed Matchings”. The Producers’ Lounge will serve as an informal meeting place.

The market for literary adaptations “Breakfast & Books”, a cooperation with the Frankfurt Book Fair, will also take place for the fourth time on February 10. At “Breakfast & Books”, representatives of publishing houses present bestselling and new publications whose film rights are still available to interested producers.

Main partners of the Berlinale Co-Production Market are the MDM – Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung and the European Union’s MEDIA Programme.

The Berlinale Co-Production Market is part of the European Film Market. The Berlin House of Representatives – directly across from the European Film Market in the Martin-Gropius-Bau – is once again cooperation partner and venue.

Berlinale Co-Production Market 2009, selected Projects

(in alphabetical order of production company)

- Two (Director: Oded Davidoff), 2-Team Productions, Israel

- P+K (Director: Tova Magnusson-Norling), Anagram Produktion & Rock'n'Roll Film, Sweden

- Snowhite (Director: Pablo Berger), Arcadia Motion Pictures, Spain

- Goodnight (Director: Gregor Buchkremer), Busse & Halberschmidt Filmproduktion, Germany

- Silence (Director: Baran bo Odar), Cine Plus Filmproduktion / Luethje & Schneider Film, Germany

- Seasons of Tokyo (Director: tba), Entertainment Farm, Japan

- Love Eternal (Director: Brendan Muldowney), Fastnet Films, Ireland

- The Diary (Director: Bille August), Future Films, UK

- She Is Not Crying, She Is Singing (Director: Philippe de Pierpont), Iota Production, Belgium

- Abanibi (Director: Shemi Zarhin), July August Productions, Israel

- On the Pripyat River (Director: Michale Boganim), Les Films du Poisson, France

- English Lessons (Director: Pascal-Alex Vincent), Local Films, France
- The Ardor (Director: Pablo Fendrik), Magma Cine, Argentina & Imval Producciones, Spain
- The Book of Internal Grammar (Director: Nir Bergman), Norma Productions, Israel

- Mary's Ride (Director: Thomas Imbach), Okofilm Productions & Hugofilm, Switzerland

- The Wedding Party (Director: Jeremy Lovering), Origin Pictures, UK

- Stormland (Director: Marteinn St. Thorsson), Pegasus Pictures, Iceland

- Mrs P (Director: Marek Losey), Poisson Rouge Pictures, UK

- The Repeaters (Director: Carl Bessai), Raven West Films, Canada

- Spud (Director: Donovan Marsh), Rogue Star Films, South Africa

- The Sign of the Elves (Director: Morten Tyldum), SF Norge, Norway

- Bone (Director: Ryan Redford), The Film Works, Canada

Rotterdam-Berlinale-Express:

- On the Plank (Director: Leïla Kilani), Aurora Films, France

- Zephyr (Director: Belma Bas), Filmik Production, Turkey

- Pioneer (Director: Erik Skjoldbjærg), Friland, Norway

- Hunter (Director: Bakur Bakuradze), Salvador D Production Company & CTB Film Company, Russia

Talent Project Market

(in alphabetical order of Talent Campus participant):

- Carjacking (Lars Blumers, Director/Author), France

- Fe (Alejo Crisóstomo, Author/Director/Producer), Guatemala

- New Family (Elad Gavish, Producer), Israel

- Cuando Llegues / When You Arrive (Gabriela Isas, Director/Producer), USA/UK

- The Hanji Box (Amy Lo, Producer), USA

- Palestinian Gangster (Meike Martens, Producer & Azza El-Hassan, Director/Author), Germany/Jordan

- Neither the Veil nor the Four Walls (Afia Nathaniel, Director), Pakistan

- The Other End (Felipe Sholl, Director/Author), Brazil

- Akyat-Baba, Paikot-Ikot (Margie Templo, Producer), Philippines

- Exit 47 (Theresa von Eltz, Director), UK/Germany