At the fifth Berlinale Co-Production Market (February 10-12, 2008), a selection of 35 film projects from 25 countries were presented. The projects were chosen from 378 submissions for the official selection, and another 172 applications for the Talent Project Market.
The 2008 project selection included works by such renowned directors as Deepa Mehta (e.g. Fire, Earth and Water), Agnieszka Holland (Europa Europa, Goraczka and Copying Beethoven) and Andrei Zvyagintsev (The Return, The Banishment). Two new Romanian projects were chosen, Outskirts by director Anatol Reghintovschi, based on a screenplay by Cristian Mungiu (4 Weeks, 3 Months and 2 Days); and Aurora by Cristi Puiu. Philip Gröning (Into Great Silence) participated from Germany with his project My Brother Robert.
David Garrett (Summit Entertainment) and Moderator Peter Wetherell at the Berlinale Co-Production Market 2008
In addition to the more than 1000 pre-scheduled one-on-one meetings, there was a diverse side programme, allowing each participant to put together his/her own schedule based on his/her personal interests. Some examples include:
- Case Studies on Berlinale films like Feuerherz (Heart of Fire) and Love And Other Crimes – both of which had been presented as projects in the Berlinale Co-Production Market and “returned” to the official programme of the Berlin Film Festival as finished films.
- Theme Talks where experts and interested producers exchanged ideas on selected topics,.
- Country Tables with information on co-production opportunities in selected countries.
- “Breakfast & Books” with representatives of the publishing industry.
- Informal Speed Matching sessions with other producers.
The well-visited side programme was designed to cover different areas of interest and offer suitable alternatives for the participants’ diverse levels of experience.
The 450 participants also made frequent use of the Producers’ Lounge, the central meeting place at the Berlin House of Representatives to arrange their own additional meetings.
You can download the following transcripts of the two Case Studies on Berlinale films that took place at the fifth Berlinale Co-Production Market:
Case Study Love and Other Crimes (850 KB)
Case Study Heart of Fire (682 KB)