As well as providing a showcase for international films, the Berlinale is also a platform for German cinema. There are more than 130 German films and co-productions screening across the festival and the European Film Market.
Pre-pandemic, in 2019, 237 German films were produced a year, but only 10 to 20 a year perform well internationally, according to Simone Baumann, managing director of German Films, which promotes Teutonic movies abroad. Of the total worldwide admissions for European films in 2019, 6% were German films, compared with 18% for French films, according to the European Audiovisual Observatory.
To up the performance of local films, German Films is seeking to begin its promotional work earlier in the life of a project, such as at works-in-progress sessions at festivals like Les Arcs. The objective is to catch the eye of festival programmers, distributors and sales…
