Berlin's blog

The European Film Market 2012 (EFM), which took place from February 9-17 during the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, had its strongest year to date and was marked by a bustling atmosphere at the Martin-Gropius-Bau and the Marriott Hotel. This year, close to 8,000 participants from 100 countries attended the international trade fair for film and audiovisual content, a 15% increase to the previous year.

 In addition to the high volume of participants, Exhibitors reported numerous sales, including Competition titles such as Barbara, Caesar Must Die and A Royal Affair. Films in other festival sections including Panorama selection Parada and Marina Abramovic – The Artist is Present in Panorama Dokumente, or the US production Elektrick Children in Generation were sold to different territories during the EFM following their festival screenings.   “We are extremely satisfied with this year’s Market”, the EFM’s director Beki Probst sums up. “Our industry participants are reporting a very productive EFM with interesting projects and new business contacts.”   Among this year’s industry participants there were 1,739 buyers from all over the world; 760 films – of which 31 were 3D – made up the 1,138 screenings in the 39 EFM screening venues, among them close to 600 market premieres.   The response to the EFM’s initiatives and events was equally positive. Numerous filmmakers made use of the new lounge “American Independents in Berlin” in the Martin-Gropius-Bau. The 60 American Indies in the series’ “Sundance at EFM” and “IFP Selects” also enjoyed enormous popularity during the Market.   The EFM initiative “Meet the Docs” in cooperation with the European Documentary Network was more frequented this year by the documentary industry due to its newly positioned meeting point in the Martin-Gropius-Bau. In addition to the information counter, the daily sessions “Meet the Distributors” and “Meet the Festivals” took place in the EFM Lounge.   A total of around 1,000 industry participants attended the three discussion panels comprising the “EFM Industry Debates”, presented for the first time this year by official partner IFA Berlin, and the new industry talk on crossmedia, organised in cooperation with the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW.   Once again the series “German Cinema – LOLA@Berlinale” in cooperation with the German Film Academy and German Films, which presented films long-listed for a German Film Prize nomination, found widespread favour with the international industry participants.