If there was one movie that really proved that the Berlinale meant business this year, it was Søren Kragh-Jacobsen's competition screener Mifunes sidste sang (Mifune's Last Song), which played early in the festival but remained a talking point right through to the end. Sony Pictures Classics moved to the front of the pack in the bidding for US and Australian rights, outpacing Goldwyn Films and Fine Line Features, as well as October Films, which had distributed Mifune's fellow DOGMA 95 feature, Thomas Winterberg's Festen, in the US.

Scand regard

Where possible, Trust sold Mifune in a package with Swedish box-office hit Fucking Åmål (Show Me Love), which screened in the Panorama. Indeed, Åmål was something of a surprise in itself. It was largely an unknown quantity before the fest, despite its status as Sweden's foreign-language Oscar submission, but many people felt it was strong enough to have taken a place in the main competition. Alliance Pictures took both films for Canada and the UK, while Lucky Red did likewise for Italy.

Mifune alone sold to Golem in Spain, Paradis in France and Concorde in Germany, after Kinowelt balked at Trust´s aggressive negotiating strategy. Kinowelt topper Rainer Koelmel was outraged by procedures that saw Trust double the asking price twice, then still ask for more. "Usually, when you meet the asking price, the film is yours," he said. "We met it both times, then still they wanted to raise it."

Bertrand Tavernier's Ça Commence aujourd'hui, the tale of a schoolteacher battling to bring hope back to a depressed industrial town, was as big a critical hit in the competition as Mifune, and sold almost as strongly in the market. Canal+ closed sales in Canada, Italy, Spain, Australia, Japan, Belgium, Switzerland and the UK, among others.

The only American sellers to have a strong presence at this year's market were Good Machine International and the ubiquitous Miramax International. Miramax split its current slate in Germany between Kinowelt and Concorde, with Kinowelt taking Daddy and Them, Hamlet, Reindeer Games, In Too Deep and the restored version of A Hard Day's Night. Miramax also had a couple of select invitation-only screenings of its pricey Sundance pick-up Happy Texas, with Concorde taking Germany and sales also closing in Greece and Switzerland in advance of the big push at the AFM.

Good Machine, with The Last Days and Three Seasons in the main selection and Trick in the Panorama, had a busy Berlin market. Kinowelt took The Last Days for Germany, with Mikado buying Italy and Bac taking France. Trick went to Tobis in Germany and Mikado in Italy.

Following the sensation that Tom Tykwer's Run, Lola Run caused at Sundance, buyers were anxious to see the trailer of Gigantic, the next film from Lola producer X-Filme Creative Pool of Berlin.

German competition entry Nachtgestalten (Night Shapes) was warmly received, with Bavaria Film International expected to close deals with several European territories soon. One quiet favourite to emerge was a Forum entry: Didi Danquart's directorial debut Viehjud Levi, which Arsenal took for Germany.

Rotterdam buzz film Romance sold on the back of extra screenings to Kinowelt in Germany. Despite the prospect of a ratings battle Stateside, the picture has had several offers from US distributors.

The Sundance docu audience award winner, the Belic brothers' Genghis Blues, sold to Arsenal, which is flush with cash after Kinowelt´s recent purchase of a majority interest in the company. The pic was part of the IFP's sidebar at the European Film Market, run by Beki Probst.

Spanish films were also well represented at this year, with five pics either competing or screening in the Panorama. The most notable reaction was an upbeat audience screening of Trueba's La niña de tus ojos (The Girl of Your Dreams), which drew large applause. In fact, it went down far better at Berlin than it did at Mifed.

España in the works According to Marie Vine of Vine International Pictures, La niña has closed Korea and Benelux among larger territories, and was, by Thursday, in very advanced negotiations for Germany, while prospects looked good for France.

Manuel Gómez Pereira's Entre las piernas (Between the Legs) also started to roll out sales in Berlin, closing Italy (Lady Films, aka Academy Pictures) and Scandinavia. It is in negotiations for Japan and will be eyeballed by US buyers at the AFM. Also in competition was the Portuguese Glória, which was picked up for worldwide distribution by France's Leonor Films.

Fernando Pérez's La vida es silbar (Life is to Whistle) emerged as one of the hotter small pics at the EFM, having sold to France (Paradis), Italy (Mikado), Switzerland (Trigon Films), Hungary (Budapest Films), with offers for Germany, Switzerland and the US. Both Miramax and Sony Pictures Classics are reportedly looking at José Luis Garci's El abuelo (The Grandfather), the only picture nominated for a best foreign-language Academy Award that does not yet have US distribution. Moving Pictures correspondents