13/02/2025 - BERLINALE 2025: The head of the market offers some insights into this year’s diverse selection and the ever-evolving challenges of international co-productions

(© Ali Ghandtschi/Berlinale)

The Berlinale Co-Production Market (15-19 February) continues to foster international collaboration, amplifying underrepresented voices and exploring themes that resonate with contemporary societal issues. The market remains a barometer of industry trends, and its head, Martina Bleis, shares some insights on this year’s selection, the challenges of international co-productions and the impact of younger audiences on industry dynamics.

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Cineuropa: This year’s edition features a strong focus on diversity and emerging talent. How does the Berlinale Co-Production Market contribute to shaping the future of international co-productions, particularly in amplifying underrepresented voices?
Martina Bleis: Our selection always aims to cater to diverse tastes and industry needs. While prioritising projects with strong market and festival potential, we emphasise inclusivity and diversity. The Berlinale’s close ties with filmmakers ensure that we attract outstanding applications, including LGBTQI+ stories, coming-of-age narratives, world cinema and indigenous projects. We’ve consistently maintained a high percentage of female-directed films, often at or above 50%. Emerging filmmakers and producers have a strong presence, especially through Berlinale Talents. This year, we’re excited about several genre or arthouse-genre projects, particularly from Latin America, Africa and Asia, offering a fascinating mix. The interest from industry professionals has been overwhelming, with our meetings nearly fully booked. We received over 2,500 meeting requests for 1,500 slots, highlighting the strong demand for these projects. Supporting underrepresented voices means ensuring these projects have both artistic and structural strength, so they can stand alongside more established names. By curating our selection carefully and providing guidance where needed, we ensure that new voices gain meaningful international exposure.

With projects exploring themes like self-determination, identity and dysfunctional families, how do these reflect broader societal conversations, and what trends are shaping international filmmaking?
Our projects often mirror contemporary societal discussions. This year, several themes stand out, including floods, cannibalism and female empowerment. Many protagonists are grappling with trauma, loneliness, and breaking free from oppressive environments, navigating with their moral compasses in challenging settings. While many stories are set in realistic contemporary or historical worlds, others incorporate elements of fantasy or absurdity, often blending drama with dark humour. One key trend is the shift beyond traditional arthouse drama, with a notable rise in genre projects and hybrid storytelling. Many arthouse films now incorporate horror or fantastical elements. While last year saw a surge in projects blending diverse styles, reflecting a fragmented world, this year continues that trend in a more focused manner.

The new Gen Z Audience Award highlights younger perspectives. How do you see their involvement influencing both project development and industry reception?
The award is going to be a recognition for a timely project and subject matter, which speaks to this generation, and I think this is a very important aspect of the prize: the visibility of Gen Z and of a project that a jury of Gen Z representatives finds attractive and representative of their mindset. For the projects, it means taking this age group as a target audience into account early on, in a very hands-on way: through their direct feedback and questions. This should be useful input for projects targeting this audience segment and help them refine their audience strategy, even though it is, of course, no representative test group, more a “taste” of the audience. On the other hand, we would also hope for a market boost for the award-winning project – in the sense that this project, with its seal of approval to be attractive for the 20-28 age group, should also gain additional attention among potential partners and buyers.

What are the main challenges in facilitating international co-productions, given the growing demand for diverse, high-quality content? How does the Berlinale Co-Production Market address these challenges?
As one of the largest and most influential co-production markets, we take our responsibility seriously. Identifying projects at the right stage – when they are both artistically compelling and structurally sound – is crucial. Producers and filmmakers must also be prepared for the extensive feedback they will receive here. A project showcased in Berlin immediately gains industry attention, including from producers, sales agents, buyers and festival programmers. The challenge is selecting projects that are both strong and at the right stage, ensuring we can arrange meaningful meetings. Sometimes, a promising project is submitted too early, and we must decide whether to wait until it is more fully developed. The evolving financing landscape means projects increasingly require multiple co-production partners. Compared to a few years ago, filmmakers often need one additional partner to finalise their budgets. This makes co-production markets even more essential. Additionally, we help participants stay informed about shifting co-production opportunities across different territories, ensuring they can navigate these complexities effectively.

The Co-Pro Series strand continues to present high-calibre, diverse projects. How does it foster creative collaboration and inspire new storytelling styles?
We’re thrilled with the variety and quality of this year’s Co-Pro Series projects. The line-up includes period dramas addressing environmental and moral issues, a humorous Irish series about a chef confronting mental-health struggles, a biographical drama about a world-renowned Canadian author, and an episodic tale of a skateboarding wizard from New Zealand. Additionally, we have political and legal thrillers set in various time periods as well as deeply personal stories. One striking trend this year is the prevalence of true stories.

Co-productions have gained importance in the series landscape, especially as streamer buyouts become less common. Today, creative collaboration and international co-financing play a much larger role, and we facilitate meaningful connections for these projects. In terms of storytelling, innovative series have a unique ability to reach global audiences quickly, often serving as catalysts for new and eclectic narrative styles. This fosters cross-border inspiration and encourages producers and financiers to consider projects from territories they might not have previously explored.