A profitable Berlinale for The Match Factory

by Bénédicte Prot

27/02/2007 - Cologne-based sales outfit The Match Factory can rejoice a good harvest at the recent Berlin Film Festival, where it reaped two awards (including a Silver Bear for Yella [trailer]) and over 20 sales.

The outfit’s competition title Yella proved the talent of Christian Petzold and Nina Hoss to critics and buyers alike, with Hoss taking the Best Actress Bear and the title selling to six European territories.

The disturbing film, in which dreams and reality overlap, was picked up by the UK (Artificial Eye), Romania (Independenta Film ), Greece (cinemax), Switzerland (Frenetic Films), Austria (Stadtkino Filmverleih) and Portugal (Atalanta Filmes). Negotiations with other territories are underway, including the US and Scandinavia.

Meanwhile, Özer Kiziltan’s German/Turkish co-production Takva – A Man's Fear of God [trailer], which screened in the Panorama sidebar where it won the FIPRESCI Prize, attracted Scandinavian and Swiss buyers (Cineworx Gmbh). Fellow Panorama title Gucha – Distant Trumpet (Germany/Serbia/Bulgaria/Austria) by Dusan Milic was sold to the CIS (Carmen Video), Italy (Lady Film ) and Sweden (Starlet Media).

Maria Speth’s Forum title Madonnas, a Pandora Filmproduktion co-production with Switzerland and Belgium, was snapped up by Portugal’s Atalanta Filmes.

Kino Swiat picked up Russian helmer Ivan Vyrypaev’s directorial debut Euphoria for Poland, and negotiations on the title are in the final phase with Greece.

Sven Taddicken’s Emma’s Bliss [trailer] (starring Jürgen Vogel) continues to lure buyers. Korea and Canada have acquired rights to the title to date and Sweden and Greece are next in line.

The Match Factory regularly works with popular directors. While Pyramide Distribution (France), Intercinema (Russia) and Rosebud (Greece) have bought Aki Kaurismaki’s latest title, other buyers have revealed their interest for upcoming films by Fatih Akin (On the Other Side, in production), Hans Weingartner (Free Rainer, in pre-production) and Norwegian helmer Bent Hamer.

(Translated from French)