Organisers of Berlinale Talents, a major side event of the Berlin International Film Festival said they look forward to welcoming 202 selected filmmakers to Berlin from February 17 to 22, 2024. The selected participants, according to the organisers, will be connected with the film industry and the Berlinale audience in numerous talks, workshops and public discussions under the fitting theme “Common Tongues – Speaking Out in the Language of Cinema.” For this year’s Talents from 68 countries, the six days in Berlin will be their introduction to one of the world’s most active film communities with almost 10,000 alumni on all continents. In accordance with Berlinale Talents’ integral criteria of diversity and gender balance the participants were selected over several months from a record number of 3,832 applications from 131 countries. The Talents are united by the fact that they already have around ten years of professional experience, have presented their work at international festivals or have worked on well-known projects or initiated them themselves in their up-and-coming film companies. Their passion for making an artistic and social impact can now be strengthened in the Berlinale Talents community and multiplied many times over. As usual, the range of participants goes beyond the scope of any summary. The group includes, among many other Talents, the Estonian director Anna Hints, who has already won several main prizes with her documentary Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, most recently the European Film Award last December. The film’s editor Tushar Prakash also convinced the jury with his artistic skills. An additional Talent 2024 is German director and screenwriter Sophie Linnenbaum, whose feature film debut The Ordinaries not only won the most important newcomer awards in 2023, but also received much acclaim upon its cinema release in Germany. The particular strength of Berlinale Talents lies in its diversity across all disciplines and nations: This time, Talents come from countries that are otherwise less frequently represented in the festival, for example Brunei Darussalam (director Abdul Zainidi), Guatemala (actor Enrique Fernando Salanic Alvarado) and from Nepal, which is strongly represented with a total of five participants in the disciplines of set design, sound design, acting and directing. The artistic commitment to peaceful change and understanding across borders runs through the work of many Talents. This is also particularly evident in the Talents Labs selection of projects in development, which will be presented in co-operation with the Berlinale Co-Production Market in the Talent Project Market and at the European Film Market, among others by filmmakers from Israel, Iran and Lebanon. All 202 Talents (116 female, 76 male, 10 diverse) including two Nigerians Tobi Bakre and Ini-Abasi Jeffrey, work in the disciplines of acting, cinematography, directing, film distribution, film journalism, production, set and digital set design, screenwriting, sound design, score composition, film editing, world sales and audience design (meaning curators and cinema owners). Tobi Bakre, famous for Gangs of Lagos is an actor while Ini-Abasi is a journalist and film critic. The public programme and the dates for the Berlinale Talents presentations and networking events will be published in early February.
MasterCard enablement programme promotes new change projects @ Berlinale
Organisers of Berlin International Film Festival have announced that the successful co-partnership with Mastercard will be continued for another three years, placing an even stronger focus on the support initiatives of Berlinale Talents. This year, the three-member jury of the jointly initiated Talents Footprints – Mastercard Enablement Programme consists of German actor and activist Thelma Buabeng (Berlin Alexanderplatz), Marene Arnold (Vice President Marketing & Communications Mastercard DACH Region) and Iranian director and Talents alumna Sadaf Foroughi (Ava, Summer with Hope). The trio selects applicants from the Berlinale Talents community who are establishing and further developing cinema-related places of encounter, industry networks or training programmes worldwide with a focus on greater gender equality, sustainability and inclusion. The two fellowship holders will receive mentoring and financial support over the course of a year. From now on, the Mastercard Enablement Programme will also support two particularly successful alumni of the programme each year and offer them further networking opportunities during the Berlinale. In line with the collaborative principles, this will ensure more knowledge transfer between these socially engaged pioneers and their projects. The names of the fellows will be revealed in the presence of the jury during the Dine & Shine Dinner on February 18, 2024.
Pitcher Festival host online masterclass
Young advertising and media professional, who are desirous of showcasing their talent on the global stage, have an opportunity to learn from the best. Cannes Lions is hosting a pre-festival masterclass online for all the participants of the 2024 Young Lions Competitions on February 1, 2024. Participants will through the masterclass get to know more about the competition format, the judging criteria, and the tips and tricks to create a winning entry. They will also hear from experts from around the world who will share their insights and experiences. However, the masterclass is only open to those who register for the National Young Lions Competitions in their respective countries. More information can be sourced at info@pitcherfestival.com
