07/02/2013 - EFM Director Beki Probst on the latest themes and trends in the market

As the director of one of the largest film markets in the world, Beki Probst receives many requests. The focus, however, at the European Film Market, is clearly on the business. Probst sets a limit for panel discussions and seminars: “We don‘t want to make an industry out of it like the AFM does,” she underlines.

Cineuropa: At this year‘s EFM, the booths were sold out early. How many buyers and sellers will attend the market?
Beki Probst: At the moment, there are 455 companies from 58 countries with 111 stands at the Martin-Gropius-Bau and 61 at the Marriott. There are 1,658 buyers from 67 countries registered. The total number of participants at the EFM, including buyers, sellers, producers, lawyers, financiers and filmmakers comes to 7,474. But we know from experience that there are always some people who arrive at the last minute and ask for accreditation.

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Are any countries represented more strongly than before?
We actually have participants from two new countries, Mauritius and Singapore. It is good to know that our name has even reached as far as Mauritius.

How many films and screenings will be presented at the EFM? Are there any new screening facilities?
We will show 813 films in 1,116 screenings; 590 of these are market premieres. This year, we have 40 cinemas in total - the screenings will take place partly in the CinemaX, partly in the Cine-Star. We have to share some of the theatres with our colleagues from Panorama, Forum and Generation. In the three studios at the Marriott we can only show videos and HDCAM. In addition, we will use the cinema in the Martin Gropius Bau, where all the different types of formats can be projected. Last year, we also started to exhibit films at the Cubix, where we have seven screens this time. For this reason, there will be more shuttle buses running between Cubix and Potsdamer Platz.

Is the EFM also changing in regards to new techniques such as video-on-demand?
Video-on-demand is developing. We have some working groups in the festival that are checking out the possibilities. We will see what happens with it.

For the first time, film trailers can be watched at the EFM website. How is this being appreciated?
It was a test for us, but apparently it has been very well received, so we might expand it in the future. Right now we are experimenting, at the end of the market we will see what the response is.

The EFM is not only a platform for the film-trade business but also for discussions. Is there a growing demand for events such as panel discussions?
We have commenced Industry Debates with the international trade papers, and they have become a tradition and are very much appreciated. But we don‘t want to make an industry out of it like the AFM does. Every year, we receive a lot of demands for seminars and so on. Instead of discussing, I prefer that people act. They have a very busy schedule in Berlin because they are not just attending the market but also the competition and all the sidebars at the festival. They don‘t have time to sit down and discuss for hours. I don‘t want to just have talking heads for ten days.

One subject at the Industry Debates is how the crisis in Europe is affecting the film industry and that there are fewer presales. Is this a development that you also see occurring at the EFM?
No, it was suggested by a German art-house distributor, who wrote to me because it is really getting difficult as television stations are not buying art-house films any more. They only want mainstream and stupid shows, and the trade papers picked up on this.

What is the biggest challenge for you?
We have more than 1,100 screenings so it is not possible that there are no hiccoughs. But I hope that everything will go smoothly.