PASSION, AUTHENTICITY, INSTINCT: THE ART OF SUCCESSFUL ENTERTAINMENT AT THE 11TH EDITION OF THE BERLINALE TALENT CAMPUS

15-2-2013 — /europawire.eu/ — Thursday evening, the eleventh edition of the Berlinale Talent Campus, part of the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival, came to a successful close at the HAU Hebbel am Ufer. Headed by the theme “Some Like It Hot – Filmmakers as Entertainers”, the six-day Campus offered a unique opportunity for 300 filmmakers from 96 countries to exchange with one another and benefit first-hand from the best of the industry. 150 renowned film experts from all over the world shared their knowledge in nearly 100 workshops, training sessions, lectures and panel discussions, imparting an invaluable wealth of practical experience to Campus participants.

Prominent filmmakers like New Zealand director Jane Campion (Top of the Lake, Berlinale 2013), repeated Oscar®-winner, editor and sound engineer Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now, The English Patient), actress Holly Hunter (The Piano, Top of the Lake), Dutch-American filmmaker Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct, Black Book), Argentine director Lucrecia Martel (The Swamp, Berlinale 2001), Austrian director Ulrich Seidl (Paradise: Hope, Berlinale 2013), director and Silver Bear winner Bence Fliegauf (Just the Wind, Berlinale 2012) and many more discussed the different facets of filmmaking — from storytelling, casting and acting to sound design, production design and post-production, and further on to financing and funding.

A central theme of the eleventh Campus edition was the question of how to successfully entertain and captivate audiences. A real passion for one’s own project, authenticity and the ability to follow one’s instincts, directors Yasmin Şamdereli (Almanya, Berlinale 2011) and Fredrik Bond (The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman, Berlinale 2013) broke down the question of successful entertainment into these three basic elements. Paul Verhoeven impressively used legendary scenes from his filmsRoboCop and Basic Instinct to demonstrate how enthralling entertainment really works. Whoever wants to get ahead in Hollywood, claims the director, has to internalise Hollywood’s rules. However through unconventional casting and editing, you can manage to make up new rules of your own. “Once you stop thinking about what the next big Hollywood hit will be, only then is it possible to listen to yourself and write what’s inside you,” related screenwriter James Mano Jr (The Sopranos, Dexter) about his experience, equally valid in both film and television entertainment.

In the Berlinale Talent Campus’ numerous so-called hands-on programmes, participants had the opportunity to put these newly-acquired insights on gripping entertainment directly to the test. In the Script Station, Doc Station and Short Film Station, in the Talent Project Market, the Post-Production Studio, Sound Studio, Editing Studio, and in the Talent Actors Stage or the Talent Press, participants could expand their knowledge of creative filmmaking under the guidance of international Campusexperts.

The glamorous highlights of the Berlinale Talent Campus included awarding the Robert Bosch Stiftung film prizes during the Opening Ceremony, granting awards for the Talent Project Market during theBerlinale Co-Production Market and the bestowal of the Dolby® Sound Mark Award on Thursday. Three film teams from Germany/Morocco, Germany/Lebanon and Germany/Egypt received Robert Bosch Stiftung film prizes for their film projects in the categories “Documentary” (A Place Under The Sun,Three Mile Riders) and “Short Fiction Film” (Free Range). The prizes are endowed with up to 60,000 Euro each. At the Talent Project Market, the 10,000 Euro VFF Highlight Pitch Award was awarded (Two Guys Who Sold The World, Canada), as well as two nomination prizes at 1,000 Euro each (War, Switzerland / The Lesson, Bulgaria) and the 6,000 Euro Arte International Prize (The Lesson, Bulgaria). The Dolby® Sound Mark Award was awarded on the final Campus day to the Dutch film composer and sound designer Rutger Reinders in Cinestar 7, the first cinema in Berlin to be equipped with Dolby® Atmos. Reinders wins a one-week trip to Dolby® Labs in Los Angeles where he will be hosted by Dolby® Sound Consultants and taken behind the scenes to a wide selection of Hollywood studios.

This year’s Berlinale Talent Campus was supported for the first time by new principal partner Canon Europe, featuring renowned cinematographers Philippe Le Sourd (The Grandmaster) and Matthew Libatique (Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream) for a master class, sponsored the three-part workshop series “Change Your Lens, Change Your Story” and supported the Berlinale Talent Campus Post-Production Studio. In addition, Canon provided the Campus with technical equipment to help produce the promotional reel, Campus trailers and portraits of Campus participants. The 300 portraits of allCampus participants, taken by portrait and commercial photographer Jörg Kyas from Hanover and supported by Canon, were a great hit. Every participant could take a poster with all portraits home at the end of the Campus.

The Photos, information and up-to-date coverage can be found at www.berlinale-talentcampus.de.

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The Berlinale Talent Campus is an initiative of the Berlin International Film Festival, a business division of the Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin GmbH, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, in cooperation with MEDIA – Training programme of the European Union, Robert Bosch Stiftung, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and Canon.