The Future of Film: Intercontinental connections at Berlinale Talent Campus

The Future of Film: Intercontinental, Collaborative and Cross-media
“In the Limelight”: French Director and Screenwriter Claire Denis

“Cinema Unlimited – Intercontinental Connections”
One of the Berlinale Talent Campus' most fundamental goals is to support collaborative filmmaking that goes beyond national and cultural boundaries. When it comes to successful collaboration, however, the right contacts are necessary, especially when working in regions where there is no major support from the regional film industry to work internationally. The panel "Cinema Unlimited - Intercontinental Connections" brings together four filmmakers from four continents who successfully worked outside the borders of their respective countries and were able to become part of an international network: the Iranian director Rafi Pitts (The Hunter, Berlinale Competition 2010), the Cameroonian director based in France, Jean-Marie Téno (Clando, Le Malentendu colonial), the Argentinian director Natalia Smirnoff (Rompecabezas, Berlinale Competition 2010) and the two-time National Film Award winner Madhusree Dutta, one of India's leading documentary filmmakers, whose installation Cinema City will be presented as part of the Forum Expanded programme. The panel participants will discuss, amongst others, what is important when creating a team and what shape a successful international collaboration may take (Monday, 15.02.3010, 11:00 - 12:30, HAU 1).

“The Indie Filmmakers Guide to Cross Media”
For one hundred years of cinema, film stories have been restricted by running times and distribution formats and platforms. However, new technologies are having a profound impact on film production and storytelling: how does the art of storytelling change when audiences can engage with the production process across multiple platforms and move from a passive viewing experience to active collaboration? How does one develop stories and characters that speak to audiences across different screens and devices? The Berlinale Talent Campus' series "The Indie Filmmakers Guide to Cross Media" will examine these questions. Pioneers of the cross media movement and experts from interactive and immersive storytelling will describe how to build story worlds that span multiple platforms and engage audiences in powerful new ways. Additionally, these experts will address issues like how to access new financing sources, marketing strategies and distribution possibilities that take into account cross media models. The series will be moderated by Liz Rosenthal, a pioneer in digital film production and marketing who works as the Digital Distribution Strategy Advisor of the UK Film Council and founded "Power to the Pixel" (from 14:00 - 15:30 on Monday, 15.02.2010, HAU 2, Tuesday, 16.02.2010. HAU 3, and Wednesday, 17.02.2010, HAU 3).
“In the Limelight”: Claire Denis
On Monday, February 17, 2010 (17:00, HAU 1), the acclaimed French director and screenwriter Claire Denis will give Talents personal insight into her work as part of the Campus' "In the Limelight" series. Denis' first film, Chocolat, brought her straight to Cannes, screening in competition in 1988. In 1996, Denis won the Golden Leopard in Locarno for Nénette et Boni and in 2005 she presented Towards Mathilde in the Forum section of the Berlinale. Her latest films are 35 Shots of Rum and White Material, which was screened in competition at the Venice International Film Festival in 2009.

The Berlinale Talent Campus is an initiative of the Berlin International Film Festival, a business division of the Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin GmbH, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media upon a decision of the German Bundestag, in co-operation with MEDIA - Training programme of the European Union, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg as well as Skillset and UK Film Council.