Berlinale Talent Campus #6, February 9 – 14, 2008

In its sixth year the attraction of the Berlinale Talent Campus remains strong: 3304 young filmmakers from 120 countries applied to the Berlinale Talent Campus #6, with applications received for the first time from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and Vietnam. 350 applicants will be invited from February 9 – 14, 2008, to explore the Campus focus entitled “SCREENING EMOTIONS – Cinema’s Finest Asset”. “To examine the role of emotions in cinema is to look into the heart of the film industry,” explains Dorothee Wenner, director of the Berlinale Talent Campus. “Every cinematic craft deals with producing emotions. Yet at the same time, they are the least calculable aspect of a business that is fascinated by them and revolves around them.” Together with guests of the Berlinale and internationally renowned experts from all fields of filmmaking, the Talents will take a theoretical and practical look at the many facets of this theme. The Campus will once again take place at the ‘Hebbel am Ufer’ and its three theatres HAU1, HAU2 and HAU3, located in Berlin-Kreuzberg.

The imaginary worlds of set designer Alex McDowell
Alex McDowell has set new standards with his screen designs for film and is one of the most accomplished and renowned representatives of his field. Since the 90s he has utilized and researched the possibilities of digital design. With his innovative style that mixes classic set design with digital effects, McDowell has set a unique stage for films like Fight Club, Minority Report, The Terminal, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. During his lecture at the Berlinale Talent Campus, Alex McDowell will provide Talents with a look into the fascinating process of creating imaginary worlds – a highlight of the six Campus days, and certainly not just for the young set designers of the Campus community.

“Short films expand Cinema”
Short films have secretly become the centre of cinematographic innovation with a potential that benefits not only the film industry but other artistic domains as well. For young filmmakers, short films are a kind of business card, an access point to the film industry. The genre, however, is increasingly (re-)establishing itself as a kind of experimental playing field for advanced cinema. Short films are abandoning the traditional movie screens more and more to become the crossroads for art and cinema –simultaneously avant-garde pioneer and aesthetic trendsetter. The Berlinale Talent Campus is seizing the opportunity to tap into this evolution and, together with Forum expanded and Berlinale Shorts, will present “Short films expand Cinema“, an event that will give insight into new ways and spaces for presenting short films and the new hot spots of the short film scene. Panel guests will include the internationally successful and award-winning filmmaker and video artist Matthias Müller and the founder and curator of the international „Experimenta“ film festival in India, Shai Heredia.