Berlinale Talents 2014: 300 Talents from 79 Countries / Cinematographers Agnès Godard, Franz Lustig and Christopher Doyle to Mentor Talents / New Initiative “Berlinale Talents Market Hub” Powered by Canon

From a pool of 4167 applicants, an international jury selected 300 Talents from 79 countries and across the board of filmmaking disciplines. The Talents are invited to the HAU Hebbel am Ufer in Berlin from February 8^th  to 13^th, 2014 for the twelfth edition of Berlinale Talents, where they will meet with top-class experts under the theme “Ready to Play? Breaking the Rules”.

The programme will feature several sessions in which creating images for the big screen will play a central role. Confirmed experts include Agnès Godard (Bastards and Beau Travail by Claire Denis, Sister by Ursula Maier, Berlinale Competition 2012), Franz Lustig (How I Live Now by Kevin MacDonald, Don't Come Knocking and Palermo Shooting by Wim Wenders) as well as Christopher Doyle (The Limits of Control by Jim Jarmusch, In the Mood for Love and Happy Together by Wong Kar Wai). French cinematographer Agnès Godard will give a master class sharing experiences in creating her well-known images in close collaboration with various directors she worked with. German cinematographer Franz Lustig will host a workshop for Talents giving insight in using Canon camera equipment for the shooting of How I Live Now, and Australian legendary director of photography Christopher Doyle will shine his light on working with different camera formats and discuss these with attending Talents.

To bring invited Talents even closer to what's happening in the industry, Berlinale Talents will be represented for the first time at the European Film Market (EFM) with its own stand in the Martin-Gropius-Bau. The joint initiative of Berlinale Talents and EFM is called “Berlinale Talents Market Hub” and is supported by Canon. It not only offers Talents insight into the structures of the EFM, it also provides a prominent platform through which Talents can present themselves to industry professionals and establish lasting contacts. EFM visitors get a taste of the 40 film projects in development at the project labs, can exchange ideas with aspiring professional distributors and producers, and are invited to discover outstanding new Talents.

“For Berlinale Talents, it's extremely important to have a direct connection to the industry opportunities occurring at the Berlinale. For the second time, we are inviting ten talented distributors for whom the ‘Berlinale Talents Market Hub’ at the EFM will be an important meeting point for their work,” comments project manager Christine Tröstrum.

In addition to this presence at the EFM, selected Talents will again have the opportunity in 2014 to pitch their film projects to industry professionals in the Berlin House of Representatives, venue for the Berlinale Co-Production Market.

With the support of Canon, Berlinale Talents will increasingly put a spotlight on the 300 selected Talents. Portrait and commercial photographer Jörg Kyas from Hanover will create 300 portraits of the Berlinale Talents participants in 2014. The photos will be posted on www.berlinale-talents.de during Berlinale Talents, presented in the HAU Hebbel am Ufer and used for the Talents trailer. For the first time, Canon will also organize a short film competition for the selected Talents, who can apply in advance with a treatment. Canon contributes equipment and a production budget to support the winner in realising his or her vision.

For more information, go to: www.berlinale-talents.de