The sixth Berlinale Co-Production Market has selected 36 film projects from 23 countries that will be presented from February 8-10, 2009. From 333 submissions, 22 projects are in the official selection, four projects will be presented at the “Rotterdam-Berlinale-Express” in cooperation with the CineMart Rotterdam, and 10 newcomer projects from the Berlinale Talent Campus participants will be presented at the “Talent Project Market.” At the Market, the projects’ 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. Seventy finished films that have resulted from the first five years of the Market. In 2008, 17 of these participated in international film festivals and were released theatrically.
This year’s new projects include works from Bille August and Erik Skjoldbjaerg, while the UK and Israel are the most largely represented countries, with three projects each.
The framework 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 “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.”
Selected projects of the 2009 Berlinale Co-Production Market
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
Selected projects of the Rotterdam-Berlinale-Express
On the Plank (Director: Leila Kilani), Aurora Films, France
Zephyr (Director: Belma Bas), Filmik Production, Turkey
Pioneer (Director: Erik Skjoldbjaerg), Friland, Norway
Hunter (Director: Bakur Bakuradze), Salvador D Production Company & CTB Film Company, Russia
Selected projects of the Talent Project Market
Carjacking (Lars Blumers, Director/Author), France
Fe (Alejo Crisostomo, 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
A Story of a 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
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