Berlin

An optimistic mood, numerous sales and a visible growth in the number of participants and films are the first positive conclusions that can be drawn from the European Film Market 2011 of the 61st Berlin International Film Festival.

EFM director Beki Probst announced, "We are very pleased with the outcome of the EFM 2011: more participants, more buyers, more films, more screenings and more market premieres - the international film business experienced an upswing in Berlin. It appears the downward trend has been broken and we are climbing out of recession."

Business at the EFM was further stimulated by several films from this year's festival programme, including the Iranian film in the Competition, Nader And Simin, A Separation (directed by Asghar Farhadi), the French production Tomboy (directed by Céline Sciamma) in the sections Panorama and Generation, and Khodorkovsky (directed by Cyril Tuschi) in the section Panorama Dokumente. Following their festival screenings, the respective sales agents were able to sell to numerous countries at the EFM.