Gropius Bau © Juliane Eirich 2023

The European Film Market (EFM) at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival will open its doors for seven days from February 15 to 21, 2024. Two months before the start of the festival, the stands at the two market venues Gropius Bau and Marriott Hotel are almost already fully booked. Once again, the EFM is expecting more than 11,500 market participants, exhibitors, rights holders, producers, buyers and investors to visit Berlin in February. As one of the world’s leading marketplaces for high-quality audiovisual content, the European Film Market is a trading platform as well as a source of inspiration for ongoing trends and innovations. It is also one of the industry’s most pivotal networking platforms and acts as a barometer for the coming film and business year.

In the words of EFM director Dennis Ruh: “This year’s edition of the European Film Market promises to be a busy one – not only because the exhibition areas are almost sold out. This being the first market after the conclusion of the SAG-AFTRA strike, we are receiving positive, promising feedback from sales agents and other market participants. They will bring projects to the EFM which were interrupted temporarily or even held back, but are ready to resume or be put on sale now that the strike is over. They will encounter buyers coming to Berlin with their new annual budgets in search of fresh films and series. Once again, the distribution year will get off to a flying start at the EFM: It all starts here!”

Centralising the EFM around Potsdamer Platz made the infrastructure of the market even more efficient last year. At the upcoming edition, the Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation – close to the Gropius Bau – will be used as a venue for meetings and events, and the CinemaxX will be the central place to attend market screenings. Visitors can look forward to a new venue at Gropius Park, the Gropius Dome, which provides space for events such as networking get-togethers, parties for up to 300 people and food offers at lunchtime.

It All Starts Here: Taking the EFM Motto Literally

True to the motto “It all starts here”, the Caribbean umbrella stand successfully hosted for the first time in February 2023 by the EFM in conjunction with UNESCO’s Transcultura programme is going to be continued: film professionals from the Caribbean joined forces after the EFM 2023 to form CAFTPro, the Caribbean Alliance of Film and Television Professionals, and they will be participating at the EFM 2024. The now well-established Arab Cinema Centre (ACC) also took its first steps at the EFM: the first-ever platform for Arab filmmaking worldwide, founded by MAD Solutions, was launched in 2015. The ACC will be appearing for the tenth time at the EFM 2024.

Other umbrella stands such as the Native Indigenous Cinema stand, organised by imagineNATIVE and a number of other Indigenous film organisations, as well as the South Africa umbrella stand will be building on last year’s successful market participation and return to the EFM. Latin American industry participants, organised in the Latin American Corner at the Gropius Bau, will also attend the EFM 2024. After many years, the German sales company Global Screen – a Telepool brand will again be officially represented with a stand at the EFM. There will also be several companies exhibiting for the first time in Berlin, including Ginger & Fed, Federation Studios’ new sales label.

EFM Industry Sessions, New Offers and Partner Events

International guests discuss highly topical industry issues, developments and forward-looking strategies at the EFM Industry Sessions. From February 16 to 20, 2024, keynotes, case studies, analyses and presentations will provide vital impulses, challenge the industry to reflect, and initiate lively discussion on urgent issues arising in the upcoming film year. Parallel to the conference programme there will be a series of think tanks, workshops and podcast episodes in “Industry Insights – The EFM Podcast”, the latter co-funded by Creative Europe MEDIA. In planned meetings in the formats “Meet the Festivals” and “Consult the Experts”, market participants can pose questions to selected industry guests, network and make new business contacts. The Archive Market takes place on February 20, 2024 as part of the EFM Industry Sessions.

In addition, the EFM hosts partner events such as Winston Baker’s Entertainment Finance Forum, focusing on exploring the current state and future growth of film financing and funding opportunities on a global scale. The first edition of AfroBerlin, organised by Yanibes, is a platform for participants to discuss issues with key players in the African film industry and so gather valuable information about the market potential of content by African and Afro-diasporic filmmakers.

Reel Time is a new offer enabling distribution companies to present their latest titles. Hosted on February 14, 2024, one day before the official start of the EFM, it will show promo reels at CinemaxX, grouped according to genres and themes such as animation, arthouse or horror.

Activities for Ukrainian filmmakers are also being planned for 2024. Together with the Ukrainian Institute and the Filmmakers Union of Ukraine, the EFM is organising a presentation by selected producers and a panel discussion on the state of the industry.

Ten-year Anniversaries – Berlinale Series Market and EFM Startups to Celebrate 

Two market initiatives will be celebrating their tenth anniversaries at the EFM 2024: The Berlinale Series Market, a platform for top-quality serial content, was first presented at the EFM in 2015. In its tenth edition, the platform has firmly established itself, providing panel discussions, showcases, screenings, and the curated series Berlinale Series Market Selects.

In 2015, the EFM also offered ten young entrepreneurs with forward-looking business ideas in the audio-visual spectrum an opportunity to establish contacts with the international film and media industry and present innovative tools and business models to the market participants in the first edition of EFM Startups. The five-day programme will again offer a stage to start-up companies from all over the world in the fields of production, marketing and distribution.

Italy is 2024 EFM “Country in Focus”

Italy will be “Country in Focus” at the EFM 2024. The programme will shed light on the Italian film industry from different perspectives and grant an opportunity for networking with producers, distributors, investors and experts.

More programme highlights and special formats will be announced in January.

Market Badges can still be acquired at the Early Bear rate until December 6. The regular rate will be charged from then until January 9, 2024, and a late fee will apply from January 10. Accreditation details and more information is available on the EFM website.