The projects for the ninth Berlinale Co-Production Market (February 12-14, 2012) have been selected: 39 selected film projects from 30 countries will be presented. In Berlin, their producers will meet with interested potential co-producers and financiers in individual one-on-one meetings.

 

In addition to the 25 projects (chosen from 352 submissions) in the Official Selection, three projects will be presented at the “Rotterdam-Berlinale-Express” in cooperation with the CineMart Rotterdam. Furthermore, eleven newcomer projects from the Berlinale Talent Campus participants will be presented at the “Talent Project Market.”

 

The 25 projects in the Official Selection will be presented by internationally experienced producers who already have at least 30% of their financing in place. The projects all have budgets between one and seven million euros.

 

A large number of the projects selected for 2012 are by directors who have presented films in the past at the Berlinale: Gustavo Taretto (Medianeras, Panorama), Giulio Manfredonia (Qualunquemente/Whatsoeverly, Panorama) and Marcela Said (El Mocito, Forum) all screened their last films at the Berlinale 2011. Also Taika Waititi, Hans Petter Moland, Alexei Popogrebsky, Petri Kotwica, Ruben Östlund, Ineke Houtman, Tudor Giurgiu and Chico Teixeira are well known for their earlier works shown at the Festival. Awaited with great suspense as well are new projects by “WCF director” Ciro Guerra (The Wind Journeys); a directorial debut by Stéphanie Weber Biron, known for her camera work on Xavier Dolan’s films; and the first Indian project in the official selection, Bobby Bedi’s Kutch.For the complete list of projects, please see Project Selection

 

“Comedies and art-house films are not a contradiction for us this year,” comments Sonja Heinen, head of the Berlinale Co-Production Market: “Among the entries, we had a particularly large amount of humorous projects, among which were some truly great comedies that are going to have audiences leaving cinemas in good spirits or even laughing. These films have huge audience potential and so we expect them to be especially interesting for many financiers.”

 

In addition to the selected projects, the third day of the Berlinale Co-Production Market, will again focus on the "Company Matching” Programme as well as the twelve selected "Books at Berlinale" 2012. The selected participants be announced end January.

 

Many projects have found their financing in Berlin during the past eight editions of the Berlinale Co-Production Market. In the meantime, more than 120 projects from previous years are already in production or have been completed, and many more are underway.

 

Click on the pop-up link below, to view the list of realised projects since 2004:

 

 

Some exciting films that were looking for partners at the Berlinale Co-Production Market in the past are returning this year – just completed, they are celebrating their premieres at the Berlinale: Barnaby Southcombe’s I, Anna, starring Charlotte Rampling and Gabriel Byrne, will screen in the Berlinale Special; and Olivia Silver’s Arcadia has been selected for Generation Kplus. Additional films are eagerly awaited.

 

In 2011, four films from previous Berlinale Co-Production Markets were presented at the Berlinale: Israeli director Nir Bergman’s Intimate Grammar, which had already won awards at festivals in Jerusalem and Tokyo, screened in Generation Kplus. Rosario García-Montero met her co-producers from Barry Films, Germany, while taking part in the “Talent Project Market” in 2007. Her film Las Malas Intenciones/The Bad Intentions, lateron won the support of the Berlinale’s World Cinema Fund and finally celebrated its world premiere in Generation Kplus. Two more films were shown in the Panorama: Invisible/ Lo Roim Alaich by Michal Aviad from Israel, andMan at Sea by Constantine Giannaris.

 

Films that have premiered at A film festivals last year also include the Cannes entries Elena by Andrey Zvyagintsev (Certain Regard), Hunter by Bakur Bakuradze (Certain Regard) and On the Plank by Leila Kilani (Directors' Fortnight), as well as the French-German-Polish co-production Land of Oblivion by Michale Boganim which screened at Venice as part of the Critics' Week.