The 58th annual Berlin International Film Festival came to a glamorous close in mid-February. The European Film Market — which took place alongside the Festival —was equally successful, and in expansion mode. The festival, commonly knows as the Berlinale, closed its curtains with an Awards ceremony in the Berlinale Palast before 1,600 special guests. The Golden Bear prize went to Brazilian Jose Padilha’s Tropa de Elite ( The Elite Squad), while the Silver Bear for best director went to Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood. The festival, spanning 11 days, offered over 1,200 screenings and welcomed celebrities such as the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Penelope Cruz, Martin Scorsese, and There Will Be Blood star Daniel Day-Lewis, among others. Contributing to the event’s success was its strategic position — close to the Oscars and far away from both the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals. The closing figures for the market –– known as the EFM, as if to challenge the AFM in Los Angeles, California –– were a record 430 exhibiting companies, with the majority setting up shop at the Martin-Gropius-Bau (MGB) building, the main market venue. Another 40 distributors exhibited on the fifth floor of one of the sleek buildings on Potsdamer Platz, known as EFM Exhibitor Offices. A large number of film distribution companies exhibited in their countries’ V I D E O • A G E AP R I L 2 0 0 8 38 B e r l i n R e p o r t Film Biz and Glamour Get a Big Bear Hug own umbrella stands, such as the Italia Pavilion, British in Berlin, German Films, Canada Sales Desk, Scandinavian Films and the Korean Film Council. The total number of acquisition executives in attendance was 1,073 from 54 countries, a three percent increase over last year. Business was brisk from day one with the hallways and large bar area on the MGB ground floor bustling with activity throughout the day. An efficient system of shuttle cars connected the larger MGB venue with the Exhibitor Offices and Film Palast in the Potsdamer Platz hub and also guaranteed transportation to the hotels located in areas which were further away. Notwithstanding, some attendees felt that the long treks were somewhat of a problem, especially in cold weather — not an issue this year, but definitely brutal during previous editions. Imma Vitelly, an acquisition executive from Italy’s Mediaset/RTI, was one of those trying to frantically keep up with appointments scattered in different locations. Adding to the problem was the preference of some distributors to exhibit in hotel suites. A total of 60 companies were based in local hotels — mostly at the Ritz Carlton, Marriott and Maritime hotels. Melissa Wohl of California-based Allumination FilmWorks was very happy with her Maritime hotel location and confirmed having secured her suite for Rai Trade's Carlo Nardello, Alessandra Sottile, Sesto Cifola at Spazio Italia Allumination FilmWorks’ Melissa Wohl at the Maritime hotel Screen Media Ventures’ Michael Dwyer and Almira Malyshev at the Ritz Carlton Lakeshore’s Elizabeth Costa De Beauregard at her MGB stand (Continued on Page 40)
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