10/01/2019 - With a selection of 37 projects, including those by Carla Simón, Juho Kuosmanen, Uberto Pasolini and Christian Schwochow, among others, the Berlinale’s leading co-production market is raring to go

One of the meeting rooms at the 2017 Berlinale Co-Production Market (© Silke Mayer/Berlinale)

For its 16^th edition, the Berlinale Co-Production Market has invited 37 new feature-film projects that will be taking part in four different segments and will have the chance to be presented to 600 international film professionals. Furthermore, five selected production houses will enjoy a special focus offered by the “Company Matching” programme. An integral part of the European Film Market (7-15 February), the Berlinale Co-Production Market will run for five days, from 9-13 February.

For the official programme of the market, 22 projects have been selected from among the 325 submitted. The majority are European productions or co-productions, and their budgets range from €750,000 to €6.5 million. They will all be presented by their production companies, and they must already have secured support from their home countries or a minimum of 30% of their financing. It’s worth noting that last year alone, 16 projects that had previously been selected for the market were screened at festivals and in cinemas, and another one, Syllas Tzoumerkas’ The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea [+see also:
film review
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film profile], is part of the Panorama selection this year (see the news).

Three participating projects hail from Germany: Christian Schwochow, who wrapped his latest feature The German Lesson [+see also:
trailer
film profile] recently, is coming along with his new project; Benjamin Cantu is presenting his sophomore feature after his debut, Harvest, premiered at Berlin eight years ago; and Bangladeshi director Bijon is co-producing with Razor Film for his second feature. Also, Oscar-winning Austrian director Stefan Ruzowitzky, whose latest outing, Narcissus and Goldmund [+see also:
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film profile], will be released next year, is rocking up with his new feature-length project. French companies are more tightly focused on international collaborations with acclaimed filmmakers from South America, such as Argentina’s Santiago Mitre (The Summit [+see also:
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interview: Santiago Mitre
film profile]) and Chile’s Marcela Said (Los Perros [+see also:
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film profile]), as well as Palestinian duo Arab and Tarzan Nasser (Dégradé [+see also:
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film profile]), who are preparing their sophomore feature. Belgium’s Valéry Rosier (Parasol [+see also:
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film profile]) is also bringing along a new feature, after his latest documentary Holy Tour [+see also:
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interview: Meryl Fortunat-Rossi and Va…
film profile] premiered last year.

The Nordic countries are represented by quite a varied crop of projects: Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen is preparing his third feature, after the Un Certain Regard winner The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki [+see also:
film review
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interview: Juho Kuosmanen
film profile]; Denmark’s Ask Hasselbalch is taking a break from the Antboy [+see also:
trailer
film profile] franchise with his newest project; and Norway’s Ingvild Søderlind is bringing her debut feature to the market. One of the most eagerly awaited projects is the new feature by Catalan filmmaer Carla Simón, whose previous effort Summer 1993 [+see also:
film review
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interview: Carla Simón
film profile] was a hit in the Berlinale’s Generation in 2017. Another previous Generation participant, Tallulah H Schwab, who took part with Confetti Harvest [+see also:
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film profile], is preparing her sophomore feature. Also, Uberto Pasolini is returning after his successful Still Life [+see also:
film review
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interview: Uberto Pasolini
film profile], which premiered six years ago. Finally, Greek director Thanos Anastopoulos will be present in the market with his most recent project since his Cannes-premiered The Last Resort [+see also:
film review
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interview: Thanos Anastopoulos
film profile].

In the market’s other sections, Berlinale Directors will host projects by directors who have been present at the festival before and whose new cinematic works are now in early development: here we find the latest projects by Swedish filmmaker Axel Petersén, whose The Real Estate [+see also:
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interview: Axel Petersén and Måns Måns…
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interview: Elina Psykou
film profile]. Furthermore, two film projects that will first be presented at Rotterdam’s CineMart (see the news), Olga Chajdas’s (Nina [+see also:
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film profile]) and Jenny Suen’s (The White Girl) second features, will be included as part of the special Rotterdam-Berlinale Express programme.

Here is the official project selection for the 2019 Berlinale Co-Production Market:

A Responsible Adult – Shira Geffen
Producer: Marker Films (Israel)

Alcarràs [+see also:
film review
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interview: Carla Simón
interview: Carla Simón
interview: Giovanni Pompili
film profile] – Carla Simón
Producer: Avalon PC (Spain)

Gaza mon amour [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (working title: Apollo) – Arab Nasser, Tarzan Nasser
Producer: Les Films du Tambour (France)

Chica_Chile_Norway – Ingvild Søderlind
Producer: Miso Film Norge (Norway)

Compartment Number Six – Juho Kuosmanen
Producer: Aamu Film Company (Finland)

Dominion – Boo Junfeng
Producer: Peanut Pictures (Singapore)

Farewell to Earth – Ask Hasselbalch
Producer: Snowglobe (Denmark)

For Real – Benjamin Cantu
Producer: Rohfilm Factory (Germany)

Happy Sheep – Valéry Rosier
Producer: Wrong Men (Belgium)

Hinterland – Stefan Ruzowitzky
Producers: FreibeuterFilm (Austria), Amour Fou (Luxembourg)

Home Away – Thanos Anastopoulos
Producers: Mansarda Production (Italy), Fantasia Audiovisual (Greece)

Je suis Karl [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christian Schwochow
film profile] – Christian Schwochow
Producer: Pandora Film Produktion (Germany)

Nowhere Special – Uberto Pasolini
Producer: Red Wave Films (UK)

Paradise – Bijon
Producers: Goopy Bagha Productions (Bangladesh), Razor Film Produktion (Germany)

Petite Fleur – Santiago Mitre
Producers: Maneki Films (France), La Unión de los Ríos (Argentina)

Reshma Shera – Megha Ramaswamy
Producer: Jar Pictures (India)

Rule 34 – Sibs Shongwe-La Mer
Producers: Esquina Filmes, Bubbles Project (Brazil)

Slash/Back – Nyla Innuksuk
Producers: Stellar Citizens, Scythia Films, Mixtape VR (Canada)

The Hunt for the Puma – Marcela Said
Producer: Cinéma Defacto (France)

The Kidnapping – Wang Yichun
Producers: Huace Pictures, Voilà Pictures (China)

The Property – Dana Modan
Producers: July August Production (Israel), Extreme Emotions (Poland)

The Souls – Tallulah H Schwab
Producer: PRPL (Netherlands)

Berlinale Directors

A Golden Shotgun – Alex Anwandter
Producers: Araucaria Cine, Panchito Films Anti-Archive (Chile)

Shame on Dry Land [+see also:
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interview: Axel Petersén
film profile] (working title: From Malta to Oblivion) – Axel Petersén
Producer: Flybridge (Sweden)

Patrimonial Fears and Other Symptoms – Elina Psykou
Producers: Homemade Films, StudioBauhaus (Greece)

Rotterdam-Berlinale Express

Stillborn – Olga Chajdas
Producer: Apple Film Production (Poland)

Peaches – Jenny Suen
Producers: White Sea Pictures (Hong Kong), Salty Pictures (China), Nanyang Brothers (Malaysia), Rapid Eye Movies (Germany) – also part of Berlinale Talents

Company Matching

Bord Cadre Films (Switzerland)
Heretic (Greece)
One Two Films (Germany)
Pimienta Films (Mexico)
Proton Cinema (Hungary)

The selection is rounded off by the 11 projects being presented at the Talent Project Market, which is taking place in collaboration with Berlinale Talents 2019 (see the news), where up-and-coming producers will have a chance to showcase their projects.

The selected projects are also eligible for some of the most sought-after prizes at the Berlinale Co-Production Market, such as the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award (€20,000), the VFF Talent Highlight Award (€10,000) and the ARTE International Prize (€6,000). The Berlinale Co-Production Market is organised in partnership with MDM - Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung and the European Union’s Creative Europe - MEDIA programme.