European Film Market Seeks New Balance at Berlin as Streamers Ease the Pressure

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Cannes’ Marché du Film has named Spain its Country of Honor for the upcoming 2023 edition which will take place May 16-24 during the 76th edition of the Festival de Cannes. The Marché du Film will work with ICEX Spain Trade & Investment and ICAA – Institute of Cinematography & Audiovisual Arts to showcase Spanish talent and content, ranging from cinema to documentary, animation and extended reality. Spain follows India which became Cannes’ first official Country of Honor in 2022. The industry event launched the initiative last year to spotlight and celebrate different nations at each market edition. Spain’s cinema sector has been having a banner 2023. Last month, Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s debut feature “20,000 Species of Bees” won three awards at the Berlinale, while Albert Serra’s “Pacifiction” won two Cesar awards, and Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts” won the Cesar award for best foreign film. Recent successes last year also include Carla Simón’s “Alcarràs” which won last year’s Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and Alberto Mielgo’s “The Windshield Wiper” which won best animated short film at The Academy Awards).

Ed Meza @edmezavar The new genre-focused Fantastic Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival’s Marché du Film has unveiled plans for a series of six yet-to-be-announced special market screenings as well as an original logo that promises to unlock the imagination. Due to the strong response and interest from independent producers, sales agents and distributors – seen again at Berlin’s European Film Market — Fantastic Pavilion organizers are presenting the Fantastic Pavilion Galas. Offering a prime example of what participating sales companies will be offering to worldwide buyers at the Marché du Film, the six special market screenings will serve “as a magnifying glass, giving them a wide promotion to stand out among the crop of content available at the market,” organizers said. The Galas’ six films will be announced prior the Cannes market. Interested parties may contact Fantastic Pavilion organizers via their website.

Bill Murray and star Jeannie Berlin set foot on the red carpet of the 2023 SAG Awards holding hands.Murray and Berlin appeared quite close when they arrived together for Sunday's soiree at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles. The star wore a black tuxedo with a colorful bow tie, while Berlin sported an all-black suit and shades.Berlin, who portrayed Hadassah Fabelman in the Steven Spielberg film, was there for the film's nomination in the Best Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture category.

can be found here.MAIN COMPETITIONGolden Bear for Best Film: “On the Adamant” (“Sur l’Adamant”), Nicolas PhilibertSilver Bear Grand Jury Prize: “Afire” (“Roter Himmel”), Christian PetzoldSilver Bear Jury Prize: “Bad Living” (“Mal Viver”), Joao CanijoSilver Bear for Best Director: Philippe Garrel, “The Plough”Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance: Sofia Otero, “20,000 Species of Bees”Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance: Thea Ehre, “Till the End of the Night”Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: Angela Schanelec, “Music”Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution: Hélène Louvart for the cinematography of “Disco Boy”ENCOUNTERSBest Film: “Here,” Bas DevosBest Director: “The Echo,” Tatiana HuezoSpecial Jury Award: “Samsara,” Lois PatiñoSpecial Jury Award: “Orlando, My Political Biography,” Paul B. PreciadoGWFF Best First Feature Award: “The Klezmer Project,” Leandro Koch, Paloma SchachmannSpecial Mention: “The Bride,” Myriam U.

The competition winners of the 73rd Berlinale are about to start rolling in as the festival draws to a close Saturday evening.

Slowthai has announced the UK and European legs of his ‘UGLY’ 2023 world tour – see the dates below and buy tickets here.The Northampton rapper’s forthcoming third album, also titled ‘UGLY’, is due out on March 3 via Method Records. So far, it’s been previewed by the singles ‘I Know Nothing’, ‘Selfish’ and ‘Feel Good’.This September, he will bring the new album on his biggest UK and European tour to date, featuring a full band for the first time and support slots from Nia Archives and Sainté.The dates begin in Glasgow at the Barrowland Ballroom on September 20, before other UK dates in Manchester, Birmingham and at London’s Alexandra Palace.He’ll then head to the continent for gigs in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and Brussels.Tickets for the ‘UGLY’ UK and European tour will go on sale on Friday, March 3 at 10am GMT.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Global indie streamer distributor and producer MUBI has acquired all rights in several key European territories to “Passages,” the erotic drama by Ira Sachs that bowed with a splash at Sundance and just had its European premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. Following the world premiere of “Passages” at Sundance MUBI last month snapped up all rights for the U.S., U.K., Ireland and Latin America to the U.S. indie darling director’s first film shot in France. Now MUBI has acquired additional European territories on “Passages” including for Germany, Austria, Italy, Turkey and Benelux. The Benelux pickup is in partnership with Belgium’s Imagine Film Distribution.

European Film Market which at one and the same time has underscored the challenges still facing the international independent film business.  Following by way of an industry wrap, a dozen takeaways on the 2023 Berlin market, including its Berlinale Series Market, an ever more building proposition at the Festival.  The Verdict If the European Film Market is anything to go by, broadly, the international movie market is in some ways making a international comeback, despite still vastly challenging circumstances. On Thursday, the EFM reported “record results” of a total of over 11,500 market participants from 132 countries. “It was a rather busy market, with no single must-have, but much mid-sized product,” recognizesConstantin’s Martin Moszkowicz of this year’s Berlin European Film Market, noting that Constantin received about 90 project submissions prior to market, “which is a lot.” “There’s been more deals happening at the EFM than at Sundance and we sense a new vibrancy in the international markets,” says Nick Shumaker, at Anonymous Content’s AC Independent.

Naman Ramachandran Berlin’s just concluded European Film Market (EFM), which had a physical edition this year after two online editions in 2021 and 2022 due to the pandemic, has reported “record results” according to the organizers. There were 230 stands and 612 companies from 78 countries and more than 11,500 market participants from 132 countries. Some 773 films were shown in 1,533 screenings, including 647 online screenings and 599 market premieres. The total number of buyers also rose to 1,302. 629 film projects were presented on the new Producers & Project Pages. “After the past two irregular years, we’re pleased to return to the physical in full force, and with a vibrant, bustling and strong market. The exhibition areas at Gropius Bau and the Marriott Hotel were sold out, and the exhibitors reported strong sales and good business. The decision to group all the market happenings together with the Berlinale Series Market and the market screenings at Potsdamer Platz, and to provide the industry with an efficient infrastructure, was extremely well-received by our market participants,” said EFM director Dennis Ruh.

Makoto Shinkai’s latest pic Suzume is the first Japanese animated picture to play in competition at Berlin in two decades. However, Shinkai told a press conference in Berlin that a successful festival run has never been high on his list of priorities.

Ed Meza @edmezavar “Snow,” an Austrian-German co-production and one of 16 titles presented in the Berlinale Series Market Selects showcase, weaves the timely issue of climate change and local folklore into a suspenseful mystery drama set in the picturesque Austrian Alps. Brigitte Hobmeier stars as Lucia, a physician who with her husband and children moves to the village, where she is replacing the local doctor, who is retiring. Things take a troubling turn when her daughter is visited by a strange woman at night. The series presentation at the EFM event brings the title back to Berlin, where it came together in 2020 at the Berlinale Co-Production Market’s Co-Pro Series event.

Christopher Vourlias First-time writer-director Malika Musaeva is set to make history at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, where her female-centered coming-of-age drama “The Cage Is Looking for a Bird” is the first Chechen-language film ever selected by the venerable German fest. Musaeva’s debut, which world premieres Feb. 22 in the festival’s competitive Encounters section and is being repped internationally by Totem Films, focuses on a group of Chechen women living in a remote rural village, where they must defend their freedom and the right to live their own lives. At the film’s heart is a friendship between two teenage girls, played by first-time actors Khadizha Bataeva and Madina Akkieva. On the precipice of adulthood, the duo seeks refuge in each other as they navigate difficult decisions about their futures.

Willem Dafoe gets a dream role with Inside, a combo of art film in more ways than one, psychological thriller, heist movie, and survival tale all rolled into one in which Dafoe’s Nemo is center stage, alone, the entire time.

The audiences at Berlin International Film Festival tend to be respectful and engaged.

Shades of Blue creator Adi Hasak didn’t mince his words when discussing the state of U.S. television at the EFM’s Berlinale Series Market today.

Anthony Mackie picked up Steve Rodger’s iconic shield and became Captain America in the final episodes of his Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. However, is his character Sam Wilson going to follow in Chris Evans‘ footsteps and lead the rest of the Avengers?

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Coming of age thriller “The Gymnasts,” one of the most recent titles from Europe’s public broadcaster partnership The Alliance, has been licensed to over 30 territories, London-based super indie All3Media International confirmed on Monday at the Berlinale Series Market.     Based on Ilaria Bernardini’s bestselling novel “Corpo Libero” (“The Girls Are Good”), the six-part series is produced by the Oscar-winning team at Indigo Film, behind “The Great Beauty,” in co-production with ZDF Neo’s German company Network Movie.  The series has been made in collaboration with Rai Fiction and Paramount+, and in association with All3Media International.

Israeli film producer Yoav Roeh spoke passionately at the Berlin Film Festival on Sunday about the threat to freedom of speech in Israel under a proposed overhaul of the country’s judiciary by Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right government.

Christopher Vourlias In a day that was in turns hopeful, angry, determined and defiant, industry stakeholders set the stage Thursday in Berlin for a concerted, pan-European push to boost diversity, inclusion and representation in the continent’s screen industries.   The Equity and Inclusion Pathways Seminar, which took place Feb. 16 during the European Film Market, laid out an action plan that the day’s participants said would have a transformative impact on policy frameworks across Europe. “I think there’s an awakening,” said Victoria Thomas, of the Anti-Racism Taskforce for European Film (ARTEF). “We don’t have to explain to people anymore. There’s a general consensus that something needs to be done.”

Newen Connect CEO Rodolphe Buet is happy to be back in person at the Berlinale’s European Film Market after the three-year Covid-19 hiatus.