Berlinale Talents

Berlinale Talents (previously Berlinale Talent Campus), is the annual summit and networking platform of the Berlin International Film Festival (also called Berlinale) for 250 outstanding creatives from the fields of film and drama series, with the events taking place in February at the three venues of HAU Hebbel am Ufer Theatre in Berlin-Kreuzberg.

The initiative was founded in 2003 under the title Berlinale Talent Campus after the director of the Berlin International Film Festival Dieter Kosslick announced his plans to create a platform to support newcomers in film within the festival. The new title Berlinale Talents has been in place since October 2013. The platform is realised with the support of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Creative Europe - MEDIA programme of the European Union, Robert Bosch Stiftung and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and is coordinated by a project team under the supervision of Christine Tröstrum and Florian Weghorn.

Past Themes
  • 2017: „Courage: Against All Odds“
  • 2016: „The Nature of Relations“
  • 2015: „2015: A Space Discovery“
  • 2014: „Ready to Play? – Breaking the Rules“
  • 2013: „Some Like It Hot – Filmmakers as Entertainers“
  • 2012: „Changing Perspectives“
  • 2011: „Framespotting – Filmmakers Positioning Themselves“
  • 2010: „Cinema Needs Talent: Looking for the Right People“
  • 2009: „Suddenly it all happened – The Turning Point in Close-up“
  • 2008: „Screening Emotions – Cinema's Finest Asset“
  • 2007: „Home Affairs – Privacy, Films and Politics“
  • 2006: „At the Cutting Edge of Making Movies“
  • 2005: „Designing Your Future“
  • 2004: „Let's Get Passionate About Film!“
  • 2003: „You Always Remember the First Time“

Participants

Each year up to 3000 filmmakers from approximately 130 countries apply to the programme. An international committee selects 250 talents, inviting them to Berlin. Berlinale Talents supports the participants, who are generally in the first ten years of their career, in positioning themselves in the filmmaking industry. With experts and renowned filmmakers they can then discuss innovations and trends in the business, develop their own projects in the project labs and present them to a diverse festival public.

The Programme

Consisting of a Summit, Project labs, Studios and a programme for film critics, i.e. Talent Press, the participants can choose from up to 100 individual events to attend, many of which are open to the public.

Summit

The Summit programme of Berlinale Talents offers a range of master classes and interactive panel discussions. Approximately 35 sessions focus on an annually changing topic featuring a variety of formats and set-ups: In the ‘grand format’ sessions at the main theatre (HAU1), experts of international reputation give insights into their work. During the mid-scale ‘atelier’ sessions in HAU2 and HAU3 experienced filmmakers and the audience are invited to enter into a dialogue.

Project Labs
  • The Talent Project Market (for producers and directors) offers filmmakers the chance to present their projects at the Berlinale Co-Production Market and to get in contact with producers, financers, distributors and sales agents. Two prizes are awarded within this scheme - one worth 10.000 Euros and the other 6.000 Euros.
  • At the Script Station Talents work closely with renowned script consultants to fine-tune their scripts, deepen their stories and bring precision and life to their pages. With the support of their mentors, the participants have the opportunity to present their projects to the other attendants.
  • Doc Station enables Talents to advance their work on a particular documentary project and to make improvements with the instructions of professional mentors from the genre.
  • In the Short Film Station Talents move the development of their short film script forward and meet with potential partners to produce their film.

Studios
  • The Camera Studio (formerly Post Production Studio) passes knowledge from experts in the fields of recording, colour correction, cutting and audio mastering to selected talents, following the newest developments digital technology, cinematography and postproduction.
  • The Editing Studio accepts applicants (editors and directors) with a rough cut of their film. A master class, workshops and case studies held by noted editors enlighten the field of editing from different perspectives and offer the participants invaluable insight and tips into improving and strengthening the narrative structure of their future works.
  • In the Production Design Studio the participants learn to sharpen their skills in creating real and virtual spaces and in crafting an atmosphere to convincingly set the stories in.
  • The Sound Studio programme focuses on the use of sound in many aspects of the filmmaking process, ranging from designing a sound landscape to the intricacies of sound mixing, composing scores and exploring new technologies, considering the interdisciplinary cooperation with directors, writers and producers. Participants can discuss their current work with sound designers and composers, who will also give a workshop on sound design.
  • In the Acting Studio actors are invited to explore a wide range of training opportunities in the fields acting technique, dialogue delivery, casting and more. These rigorous workshops help Acting Studio participants to develop skills to collaborate and communicate with everyone involved in the filmmaking process.
  • The Market Studio (formerly Distribution Studio) examines how distributors, sales agents and producers can build their audience and marketing strategy as early as possible in the film production process. By using case studies, connecting to the European Film Market (EFM) and actively meeting filmmakers working on new film projects, participants will expand their network and examine current models of film distribution in various parts of the world.

Talent Press

Talent Press, an initiative of Berlinale Talents in collaboration with FIPRESCI and the Goethe-Institut, is a platform for young film critics and journalists from around the world to acquaint themselves with current trends in world cinema and to review films and events throughout the entire festival. Under the tutelage of prominent film critics they share their impressions and insights through their articles for the Berlinale Talents website and those of its partners - FIPRESCI and Goethe-Institut.

“Kompagnon” Fellowship

Berlinale Talents and Perspektive Deutsches Kino have joined forces to award the inaugural “Kompagnon” fellowship in 2017. The fellowship will be awarded annually to two directors or screenwriters residing in Germany to support their artistic and professional development.

Eligible to apply are directors and screenwriters of short or feature films who were part of the last edition of Perspektive Deutsches Kino, as well as permanent residents of Germany who will participate in the “Script Station”, “Doc Station” or “Short Film Station” at the upcoming edition of Berlinale Talents. In addition to a stipend of 5.000 Euros (2.500 Euros for short films) for the independent development of a screenplay or project, the “Kompagnon” also provides a mentoring programme to help strengthen the filmmakers’ artistic signature, alongside professional coaching and improved industry networking opportunities.

International Talent Initiatives

While the roots of Berlinale Talents are firmly planted in Berlin new shoots of the initiative have been sprouting internationally. The Talents International editions, Talents Beirut in Lebanon, Talents Buenos Aires in Argentina, Talents Guadalajara in Mexico, Talents Durban in South Africa, Talents Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Talents Tokyo in Japan have the familiar structure and purpose of their German counterpart; all the while retaining a regional perspective and finding support and the necessary amenities in a locally based international film festival or film school. International Talents initiatives are supported by local partners as well as by the Goethe-Institut. Additionally, International Talent Press programmes take place in Buenos Aires, Rio, Sarajevo, Durban and Guadalajara.

Berlin Today Award

The Berlin Today Award was a short film competition open to current and former participants of the Berlinale Talent Campus. To enter the competition, filmmakers had to submit an idea for a short film project. Five of these projects got selected and were realised with the support of German production companies and the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg. These films were then premiered at the opening of the next Berlinale Talent Campus, with one of them additionally being awarded with the Berlin Today Award. The last edition of the Berlin Today Award took place in 2012.

Awards

Berlin Today Award

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  • 2012: Batman and the Checkpoint (Director: Rafael Balulu)
  • 2011: Hackney Lullabies (Director: Kyoko Miyake)
  • 2010: Jonah and the vicarious nature of homesickness with Jens Winter (Director: Bryn Chainey)
  • 2009: Wagah (Director: Supriyo Sen)
  • 2008: Match Factor with Anneke Kim Sarnau, Navíd Akhavan und Sebastian Schwarz (Director: Maheen Zia)
  • 2007: Wasserschlacht — The Great Border Battle (Director: Katarzyna Klimkiewicz & Andrew Friedman)
  • 2006: BerlinBall (Director: Anna Azevedo)
  • 2005: Alright Love (Director: Samuli Valkama & Roman Sorger) and București—Berlin (Director: Anca M. Lăzărescu & Cristian Mungiu)
  • 2004: Berlinbeirut (Director: Myrna Maakaron), Best of the Wurst (Director: Grace Lee) and Berlin Backstage (Director: Stéphanie Chuat & Véronique Reymond)

Score Competition

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  • 2012: Christoph Fleischmann
  • 2011: Felix Rösch
  • 2010: Camilo Sanabria
  • 2009: Atanas Valkov
  • 2008: Conrad Oleak
  • 2007: Ilja Coric
  • 2006: Alasdair Reid
  • 2005: Ognjan Milosevic
  • 2004: Tom Third

Garage Studio

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2008

  • E.D.D.I. (Director and Screenwriter: Victoria Hayford)
  • The String Puppet (Director and Screenwriter: Alexander Frank)
  • It Could Happen To You (Director and Screenwriter: Juliane Block)
  • On Time (Screenwriter: David Bradley Halls, Director: Ted Chung)

2007

  • Resigned (Director and Screenwriter: Tamara Maloney)
  • One of These Days (Director and Screenwriter: Sadaf Ahmadi)
  • Click-Clack-Clack (Director and Screenwriter: Amira Lopez)
  • The Discreet Charms of the Refugee (Director and Screenwriter: Colm Quinn)

Talent Movie of the Week

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  • 2006: High Maintenance (Director: Philipp Van)
  • 2005: Cataract with Andreas Schmidt and Sesede Terziyan (Director: Sainath Choudhury)
  • 2004: Funeral Etiquette (Director: Martin Romanella)
  • 2003: Dangle (Director: Phil Traill)

Quotations

„I feel privileged and extremely lucky to have had the opportunity to listen to such a varied and distinguished gathering of masters from Mike Leigh to Ken Adam and Walter Murch to Derek Malcolm.“

– Pádraig Trehy, Ireland

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