Press Releases
European Film Market & Co-Production Market

For the 15th time, the Berlinale Co-Production Market (February 17 – 21, 2018) will give ca. 550 producers and financers an opportunity to form new partnerships. The current selection comprises 36 new feature film projects that are looking for co-producers. In addition, five high-profile production companies will be introduced in the exclusive “Company Matching” programme.

Interested co-producers, world sales agents, distributors, broadcasters, film funds and financiers from all over the world will come together in Berlin in more than 1,200 prescheduled one-on-one meetings with the producers of the selected projects from a total of 28 countries. Each meeting will be organized based on specific partnering needs for each project.

The success of this targeted matchmaking can be seen in the more than 260 completed films that have resulted from the previous years’ markets. Two films to emerge from previous Co-Production Markets have already been confirmed for the Competition section of the upcoming Berlinale – Figlia mia (Daughter of Mine) directed by Laura Bispuri and Mein Bruder heißt Robert und ist ein Idiot by Philip Gröning.

For the 2018 market, 21 promising feature film projects, with budgets ranging from 750,000 to six million euros, were selected from 326 submissions. The projects, which will be presented by producers with international experience, already have either production support from their home countries, or financing of at least 30 percent in place.

Two additional film projects will participate in both the CineMart Rotterdam and the Berlinale Co-Production Market as part of the “Rotterdam-Berlinale Express”.

In the “Berlinale Directors” part of the market, three promising projects by directors whose work has already been seen in the festival will be introduced; those projects are in the early stages of seeking co-production and financing partners.

And the “Talent Project Market”, organised in cooperation with Berlinale Talents, will give ten new producers a chance to present their projects, which were selected from an additional 142 submissions in that category.

17 of the projects selected for the Berlinale Co-Production Market have women at the helm, meaning female directors make up almost 50 percent. They include well-known directors such as Aisling Walsh (Maudie) and Anna Muylaert (The Second Mother, Don’t Call Me Son), who have already had films in the festival, Katrin Gebbe (Nothing Bad Can Happen) and Franka Potente, whose producers are looking for co-production opportunities for the actor's feature directing debut. Other prominent directors with projects at the market include Todd Solondz, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Koen Mortier, Boris Khlebnikov, and Andreas Dalsgaard.

In addition to the meetings with potential partners, the producers of the selected projects have a chance to win high-profile prizes endowed by various entities, such as the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award (20,000 euros), the VFF Talent Highlight Award (10,000 euros), and the ARTE International Prize (6,000 euros).

The 550 participants can also ask for meetings with four companies from Germany, France, Uruguay and Lebanon as part of the “Company Matching” programme, aimed at discussing structural relationships or a production slate, and potentially establishing long-term cooperations.

An extensive side-bar programme will also provide participating producers with chances to network and get up-to-date information on current production issues.

The main partners of the Berlinale Co-Production Market are MDM - Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung and the Creative Europe - MEDIA Programme of the European Union.

The Berlinale Co-Production Market is part of the European Film Market. The Berlin House of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus) is once again a partner and the main event venue; it is directly across from the Martin-Gropius-Bau, which houses the European Film Market.

The official project-selection for the Berlinale Co-Production Market 2018
(in alphabetical order by production company):
- The Hole in the Fence (D: Joaquín del Paso), Amondo Cine, Mexico
- The Woman With the Gun (D: Yorgos Servetas), Argonauts Productions, Greece
- Home (D: Franka Potente), Augenschein Filmproduktion, Germany
- Nobody Likes Me (D: Tomas Weinreb, Petr Kazda), Black Balance & Love.Frame & Arizona Productions, Czech Republic / France
- Haunted (D: Koen Mortier), Czar Film & TV, Belgium
- Motel Acacia (D: Bradley Liew), Epicmedia Productions & Potocol, Philippines / Singapore
- Dr. Glas (D: Aisling Walsh), Fantastic Films & Makar Productions, Ireland / United Kingdom
- The Sound of Animals Fighting (D: Sibs Shongwe-La Mer), Fireworx Media, South Africa / Brazil
- Three (D: Juanjo Giménez), Frida Films, Spain
- My Camino (D: Louise Archambault), Item 7, Canada
- Pelican Blood (D: Katrin Gebbe), Junafilm, Germany
- The Siren (D: Sepideh Farsi), Les Films d'Ici & Lunanime, France / Belgium
- An Empty Goal (D: Sergio Castro), Manufactura de Películas & Bigbonsai, Chile / Brazil
- The War Has Ended (D: Hagar Ben Asher), Match Factory Productions & Madants & Transfax, Germany / Poland / Israel
- Abdullah and His Sons (D: Esen Isik), Maximage, Switzerland
- Advantages of Travelling By Train (D: Aritz Moreno), Morena Films & Señor & Señora, Spain
- My First Time of Dying (D: Cristiane Oliveira), Okna Produções, Brazil
- I, Alex (D: İlker Çatak), Riva Filmproduktion, Germany
- Soul Hunter (D: Andreas Dalsgaard), Savage Productions, Ireland
- The Quarters (D: Todd Solondz, Anna Muylaert, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Arsinée Khanjian), Six Island Productions & Green Productions & Impulse Pictures, Canada / Israel
- When I'm Done Dying (D: Nisan Dag), Solis Film, Turkey

“Berlinale Directors” projects:
- Doi Boy (D: Nontawat Numbenchapol), Anti-Archive & Mobile Lab Project, Cambodia / Thailand
- Three Minutes of Silence (D: Boris Khlebnikov), CTB Film Company, Russian Federation
- The Strangers of the Cold Mountain (D: Albertina Carri), El Borde, Argentina

“Rotterdam-Berlinale Express”:
- Mon legionnaire (D: Rachel Lang), Chevaldeuxtrois & Wrong Men, France / Belgium
- A White, White Day (D: Hlynur Pálmason), Join Motion Pictures & Snowglobe, Iceland / Denmark

“Talent Project Market” – projects and selected production talents
(in alphabetical order by production company):
- Nudo Mixteco (D: Ángeles Cruz), Amard Bird Films (P: Paula Alamillo), Germany
- The Empty House (D: Rati Tsiteladze), ArtWay Film (P: Rati Tsiteladze), Georgia
- Mascot (D: Remy van Heugten), Bind (P: Joram Willink), Holland
- Lynx (D: Sharipa Urazbayeva), Filmstar.kz (P: Sharipa Urazbayeva) & Tandem Production, Kazakhstan / Germany
- Tropical Memories (D: Shipei Wen), Foolish Old Man Production (P: Jing Wang), People’s Republic of China
- Milk (D: Maya Kenig), Green Productions (P: Maya Fischer), Israel
- The Far Mountains (D: Mitra Tabrizian), Sonatine Films (P: Zadoc Nava), United Kingdom
- The Isle of the Demoiselle (D: Micha Wald), Stenola Productions (P: Anton Iffland Stettner), Belgium
- Flee (D: Jonas Poher Rasmussen), Sun Creature (P: Charlotte de la Gournerie) & Final Cut for Real, Denmark
- Sáve - The Last of the First (D: tba), The End (P: Khalid Maimouni), Norway

“Company Matching” programme (in alphabetical order by company):
Heimatfilm, Germany
Indie Prod / Indie Sales, France
Mutante Cine, Uruguay
Schortcut, Lebanon

Press Office
January 12, 2018