"I like to come to Berlin," says Duncan Clark, president of Columbia TriStar International Distribution. With 8mm screening in competition tonight and a string of high-profile competition successes at Berlin, such as The People vs. Larry Flynt and The Silence of the Lambs, Clark definitely classes as a festival regular. A newer tradition is for Clark to confirm from Berlin the ever-greater involvement of Columbia TriStar Int'l in local film and TV industries. Last year saw the announcement of a German production arm at Babelsberg and a film production arm in China, now up and running through a Hong Kong-based facility. Headed by Barbara Robinson, appointed md of Columbia Pictures Film Productions Asia, it has two Zhang Yimou films in the works, Not One Less and My Father, My Mother.

This year, Clark believes, Columbia TriStar could raise its film and TV production presence in Spain. Under John Calley, Sony Pictures Entertainment's chairman, Columbia TriStar is "not very Hollywood-centric at all," says Clark. "We see this as a world-wide business, which means being active in local industries."

Under Ernesto Vitoria, president of Columbia TriStar Films, Spain, CTSI has already had regular success distributing films, such as Berlin Competition player, Entre las piernas (Between the Legs). According to Clark, CTSI now plans to be "slightly more ambitious", which could well see its entry into film and especially TV production aimed at the Spanish market. One scenario could have CTSI co-producing with local partners such as César Benítez's BocaBoca Producciones, which has a high-flying TV production arm and is readying a raft of movies of the week.

South East Asia is another key territory where CTSI would make indigenous pictures aimed primarily at the local market. Although an exec with specific production responsibilities for the area has yet to be appointed, Columbia TriStar is, claims Clark, "close" to a deal.

"Making indigenous films, you can integrate them far better into a society," explains Clark. "If you make them at the right price, there is a remarkable chance of breaking even." This would also build library assets: "If you have a library built up over 10 years, there has to be a potential for the many blossoming satellite and cable operations."

Closer to home, he also reckons he could be on to a winner with Panorama screener Still Crazy, the story of a group of 40-something rock 'n' rollers who reform to try to recapture their glory, glory days of youth.

With projects from, among others, Luc Besson, Neil Jordan, and Sydney Pollack all in the pipeline, things are looking pretty healthy for the future too. Nevertheless, says Clark, "Whatever the budget, the important thing is to make films people want to see." John Hopewell/Silke Schütze