13/02/2013 - German sales outfits report great business at the market

Sales outfits such as Coproduction Office, Beta Cinema or Aktis Film International report that they closed various great deals at the European Film Market. "For us, it was a super market,", said Philippe Bober, General Manager of the Coproduction office. "Ulrich Seidl's Paradise: Hope [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] (photo) is the best received film of this trilogy." After presenting Paradise: Love [+see also:
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film profile]  in Cannes and Paradise: Faith [+see also:
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interview: Ulrich Seidl
film profile] in Venice, the sales team received the biggest interest for Paradise: Hope that the Coproduction Office sold in more than twenty territories. Among the distributors are Happiness in France, StadtKino in Austria, Praesens Film in Switzerland, Golem in Spain, Archibald in Italy and Strand Releasing in the US.

The German sales company Beta Cinema came up with the surprise hit Oh Boy! [+see also:
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interview: Jan Ole Gerster
film profile], that was sold in several key territories. The black and white film by first time writer/director Jan Ole Gerster has already attracted more than 200,000 cinemagoers in Germany and won dozens of internationals awards, and received the attention of the foreign buyers at the EFM. Among the distributors who signed a deal was Diaphana in France. "It was a great market for us," said Thorsten Ritter, EVP Acquisitions, Sales & Marketing. Beta Cinema also closed a couple of deals for the Romanian film Child's Pose [+see also:
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interview: Calin Peter Netzer
film profile], as well as for the Til Schweiger comedy Kokowääh 2 [+see also:
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 "The buyers are still very selective," underlined Stelios Ziannis, CEO of the German sales boutique Aktis Film International. "You have to offer them the right product."Among his EFM best sellers is the light summer comedy St. Petersburg, which takes place during the white nights. "The TV and video rights are demanded again. Some TV stations are buying directly from us," added Ziannis. "After all the business has been much better than last year."

Buyers are also lining up at the booth of The Match Factory in the Martin Gropius building. "We have a very busy time here," said Managing Director Michael Weber. Besides the competition entries Gold [+see also:
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interview: Thomas Arslan
film profile] and Layla Fourie [+see also:
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film profile], the sales team is also handling the upcoming premieres Prince Avalanche and An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker [+see also:
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interview: Danis Tanović
film profile].