Sally Potter, Mira Fornay Films Among 34 Projects Being Presented at Berlinale Co-Production Market

The Berlin Film Festival, which runs Feb. 15-25, has revealed the lineup of its Berlinale Co-Production Market.

Producers of 34 film projects from 27 countries will be pitching to potential financing and co-production partners at the 21st Berlinale Co-Production Market, which runs Feb. 17-21. Seventeen projects are directed by women. There were 318 submissions, a slight increase from last year.

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Eighteen of the projects are already partly financed with budgets ranging between Euros 600,000 ($656,000) and Euros 5 million ($5.47 million). Among the directors whose new works are likely to spark interest are Ukrainian filmmakers Kateryna Gornostai, who won a Crystal Bear for “Stop-Zemlia” in 2021, and Antonio Lukich, the director of “Luxembourg, Luxembourg,” which played in Venice in 2022, Italy’s Andrea Pallaoro, Serbian director and actor Mirjana Karanović, and the Chinese-Japanese directing duo Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka.

The Berlinale Directors section features three brand-new projects by directors who have had films at the Berlinale in the past: “Alma” from Sally Potter, who has shown four of her films in the Berlinale Competition; ” Twist the Rabbit” from Mira Fornay, who won best film in Berlin’s Generation Kplus with “She – Hero”; and “Londoner” from Babatunde Apalowo, who won the Teddy Award for “All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White.”

Two projects will be looking for partners as part of the Rotterdam-Berlinale Express at both CineMart in Rotterdam and the Berlinale Co-Production Market: “The Diplomats” from Andreas Fontana, who was in Berlin’s Encounters in 2021 with “Azor,” and “Hold Time for Me” from Fradique, whose “Air Conditioner” premiered in Rotterdam in 2020.

A hybrid project combining documentary and fiction film, “Zone | Myths” by Daria Yurkevich, will be presented in the World Cinema Market section in cooperation with the Berlinale World Cinema Fund.

To date, over 360 films have emerged from Berlinale Co-Production Market projects, including the following Berlinale Bear winners: “20,000 Species of Bees” (2023), “Alcarràs” (2022), and “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn” (2021).

Official Selection of Projects, Berlinale Co-Production Market 2024
“Antonivka” (director: Kateryna Gornostai), Moon Man, Ukraine & Just a Moment, Lithuania
“Burnings” (director: Jerry Carlsson), Verket Produktion, Sweden
“Divorce During the War” (director: Andrius Blaževičius), M-Films, Lithuania
“Folk Play” (director: Mirjana Karanović), This and That Productions, Serbia
“Fragments of This Beauty” (director: Burak Çevik), Vayka Film, Turkey & Fol Films, Turkey
“The Girl With the Leica” (director: Alina Marazzi), Vivo Film, Italy
“Ich bin Marika” (director: Hajni Kis), Proton Cinema, Hungary
“Idda’s Breath” (director: Irene Dionisio), Kino Produzioni, Italy
“Last Trip” (director: Ziad Kalthoum), Mayana Films, Germany
“Marriage by Abduction” (director: Sophia Mocorrea), NiKo Film, Germany
“My Hands” (director: Eoin Heaney), Feline Films Limited, Ireland
“Next Apparition” (director: Julieta Amalric), Cimarrón Cine, Argentina / Uruguay
“Remains of Life” (director: Sevda Shishmanova), Red Carpet, Bulgaria
“Screaming Girl” (director: Antonio Lukich), ForeFilms, Ukraine
“The Side Effects of Trusting Life” (director: Ahmad Ghossein), Abbout Productions, Lebanon
“To Die on Your Feet” (director: María Paz González), Quijote Films, Chile
“To the Wedding” (director: Andrea Pallaoro), Good Question Media, Canada
“A Woman Builds” (directors: Huang Ji & Ryuji Otsuka), Akanga Film Asia, Singapore & YGP-Film, Japan & Island X Pictures, Taiwan

Berlinale Directors Projects
“Alma” (director: Sally Potter), Adventure Pictures, U.K. & Sixteen Films, U.K.
“Londoner” (director: Babatunde Apalowo), Polymath Pictures, Nigeria, Cato Street Productions, U.K. & Sixteen Films, U.K.
“Twist the Rabbit” (director: Mira Fornay), Cineart, Czech Republic & Mirafox, Slovak Republic

World Cinema Market Project
“Zone | Myths” (director: Daria Yurkevich), Doppelplusultra Filmproduktion, Germany

Rotterdam-Berlinale Express
“The Diplomats” (director: Andreas Fontana), Alina Film, Switzerland
“Hold Time for Me” (director: Fradique), Seera Films, Germany

Talent Project Market Projects and Selected Producer Talents
“Astana Internet Stars” (director: Assel Aushakimova), Risk Pictures (producer: Assel Aushakimova), Kazakhstan
“Bad Gays” (director: Loïc Hobi), Cloud Fog Haze Pictures (producer: Michael Graf), Switzerland
“Eau de Colony” (director: Veronica Spedicati), Alcor (producer: Giorgio Gucci), Italy
“Little Lying Wild” (director: Samantha Aldana), Valerie Steinberg Productions (producer: Valerie Steinberg), U.S. & Belize
“More Than a Hug” (director: Christian Zetterberg), Snowcloud (producer: Liselotte Persson), Sweden
“The Numbered Days” (director: Agustina San Martín), Mil Monos (producer: Maximiliano Monzon), Argentina & Spain
“Pogana” (director: David Kapac), Eclectica (producer: Rea Rajčić), Croatia
“Silence Sometimes” (director: Álvaro Robles), Cartuna (producer: Mireia Vilanova), U.S. & Spain
“So the Lovers Could Come Out Again” (director: George Peter Barbari), Btrswt Pictures (producer: Christelle Younes), Lebanon
“Uptight Ass” (director: Matija Gluščević), Naked (producer: Čarna Vučinić), Serbia

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