German Film @ Canada - Goethe-Institut

An ongoing series of mini profiles on the blog German Film @ Canada on the movers and shakers that make the Berlinale one of the most important events in the international film calendar: the filmmakers, programmers, curators, industry promoters and fans, from rookies to veterans. This year, two female Toronto filmmakers-programmers are attending the Berlinale with a European Film Market badge as guests of the Goethe-Institut and a joint Berlinale-Goethe initiative to strengthen festival and industry access for BIPOC/LGBTQIA+/women-led organizations, organizations working towards the empowerment, advancement and growth for marginalized film and media sectors, and towards the greater inclusion, empowerment and advancement of marginalized film professionals in the mainstream industry.

Name & role: Mariam Zaidi, ED Breakthroughs Film Festival, a not for profit organization established in 2011 in Toronto, dedicated to supporting emerging filmmakers who identify as women or non-binary. She is also Associate Programmer for Canadian films at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.

This is my 1st Berlinale. Continue reading "#BerlinalePeople: Mariam Zaidi, Breakthroughs..." »

In order to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus crisis on the German film and cinema industry, the Executive Committee of the German Federal Film Board (FFA) decided an extensive package of measures and the creation of an aid fund jointly supported by the FFA, the German Ministry of Culture, and state sponsors.

“The effects of the coronavirus pandemic pose an unprecedented threat to the German film and cinema industry,” explains FFA President Bernd Neumann. Continue reading "Coronavirus crisis: German Federal Film Board's..." »

Part of a series of mini profiles on the blog German Film @ Canada on the movers and shakers that make the Berlinale one of the most important events in the international film calendar: the filmmakers, programmers, curators, industry promoters and visitors, from rookies to veterans.

Name and role:
Damon D’Oliveira, Toronto-based film producer of Conquering Lion Pictures Inc. with director Clement Virgo, … of RUDE (recently digitally restored by TIFF), LIE WITH ME (Berlin 2006), WHAT WE HAVE, THE BOOK OF NEGROES (EFM 2016), and Winner of 2016 Drama Series Days Pitch for THE ILLEGAL. 2017 CFC Award for Creative Excellence.

At 2018 Berlinale as one of “10 Canadian Producers at EFM.“

This is my xxth Berlinale.
Not sure, I lost track after my 10th! I love this festival. Like Cannes and of course my home-town's TIFF, the Berlinale is a must-go A-festival. Lots of great connections made here, having had 3 films officially selected in the Panorama and two of my earlier shorts. Plus two projects in the co-pro market and Drama Series Pitch.

As a Canadian producer, I can’t miss the EFM because …
Continue reading "#BerlinalePeople: Damon D'Oliveira, producer" »

Producer Tobias Walker (THE GARDEN), actor Frederick Lau (THE CAPTAIN), Anna von Jena (Agentur Höstermann, repping Alexander Fehling)

Fabian Massah (Endorphine Productions, ALL OF A SUDDEN) and Goethe-Institut director Uwe Rau


Goethe-Institut Program Curator Jutta Brendemuehl and Oscar-nominated composer Volker Bertelmann (THE CURRENT WAR) Continue reading "Goethe #TIFF17 Breakfast" »

I hate French films. I love Italian cinema. If someone said that to you, you'd have a pretty good idea of what they mean in terms of aesthetics, style, mood. German film? Not so much, at least post-New German Cinema with its heroes Fassbinder, Kluge, von Trotta et al. Of course there is the contemporary (and equally auteur-focused) Berlin School with its Petzolds and Hochhäuslers (which German director Oskar Roehler defined as "slow and depressing"). And recently, Germany has been very strong and internationally successful in children’s films and high-quality animation. But these are vogues or sub-industries rather than a big picture, a brand, a distinct and distinctive brand. Continue reading "What is a German/European Film?" »

Part of a series of mini profiles on the movers and shakers that make the Berlinale one of the most important events in the international film calendar: the filmmakers, programmers, curators, industry promoters and visitors.

Name & role: Sonja Heinen has 2 jobs at the Berlinale: Head of Berlinale Co-Production Market and Programme Manager, together with her colleague Vincenzo Bugno, at the World Cinema Fund. At the Berlinale Co-Production Market, she is responsible for matching 39 selected projects with 500 potential international co-producers and financiers. The World Cinema Fund is a small artistic film fund for filmmakers from countries which lack a constructive film infrastructure; it focuses on Latin America, Middle East, Central Asia, South East Asia and the Caucasus.

This is my 11 th Berlinale. I started at the festival in 2003 with the task to implement the Berlinale Co-Production segment. In addition to that, in my first year, I worked as a Line Producer for the Berlinale Talent Campus.

The most exciting co-pro country for me at Berlinale 2014: Columbia – because over the past few years this country has developed extremely and become very open. They are giving good incentives for international co-production.

German film or co-production I am most looking forward to seeing: "The Third Side of the River" by Celina Murga and "Historia del Miedo" by Benjamin Naishtat. Both Argentinean films with German co-producers which were funded by our World Cinema Fund. After having read the scripts quite some time ago, it is amazing that the films are finished now and made it into the Competition of the Berlinale. I cannot wait to see them. Also, we had supported a Turkish film which is in the Panorama and an Uzbek (!) film which will be screened in the Forum. I am all excited about those two, too.


interview by Jutta Brendemühl, Toronto

image: Sonja Heinen opens Berlinale 2013 Co-Production Market, photo Lydia Hesse c Berlinale 2013