18/02/2021 - This year, the leading Berlinale initiative is welcoming 205 Talents who are keen to dream and collaborate

The 19^th edition of Berlinale Talents has published its “dreamy” programme and aims to retain its encounter-led character for this online version. Under this year’s theme of “dreams”, the summit, which runs during the European Film Market (1-5 March), is inviting 205 film professionals to collaborate, share solidarity and explore the collectivity of new visions as a source of courage in the face of the pandemic, but also as a way out of it.

This time, the Berlinale Talents will have a chance to meet a number of prominent guests in the virtual “sDream”, including Céline Sciamma, whose Petite Maman is in the 2021 Competition; Thai auteur Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Cemetery of Splendour [+see also:
trailer
film profile]); and American filmmaker Ava DuVernay (Selma). The latter will be in conversation with ARRAY and Berlinale filmmakers Takeshi Fukunaga, Hepi Mita and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, and the Berlinale’s international jury will be featured in Talents Tabletalk with Carlo Chatrian, the artistic director of the festival. As for the mentoring sessions, documentary filmmaker Kirsten Johnson (Cameraperson) will be guiding the Talents in the Camera Studio, and production designer Uli Hanisch will present the sets from The Queen’s Gambit that seem American, Mexican and Russian, but which are actually all located in Berlin.

Regarding the events that will offer a chance for active audience participation, co-producers Marie Dubas, Thao Dong and Weijie Lai will follow the intercontinental journey of their film Taste [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], selected for Encounters this year, and involving Vietnamese, Singaporean, Thai, Taiwanese, French and German production companies. In co-operation with the World Cinema Fund, a conversation will be organised between the fund’s head, Vincenzo Bugno, and the public with script consultant Franz Rodenkirchen on the topic of "Non-Scripted: Can We Write Cinema?" Another subject set to be explored is censorship and self-censorship, which will be the focus of the public webinar "Censored: Limits on Our Dreams".

In a more creative way, the Berlinale Talents are fighting against “Zoom fatigue” with a series of rich public experiences. Sound designers Rana Eid from Lebanon, Tim Nielsen from the USA and Alastair Sirkett from the UK have created a singular experience involving acoustic journeys through cityscapes across the world, which were collected during the pandemic. Cinematographer Tristan Oliver, who worked on Wes Anderson's animated movies, will make another work of art, in miniature. Meanwhile, our relationship with our bodies and our encounters with those of others will be one of the topics of a webinar involving actor-director Welket Bungué (Mudança) and Natascha Noack, who works in the realms of dance, movement, language and film.

The entire programme, including all of the guests and events, can be found here, and the public events will be streamed live, free of charge, on social media platforms and, later, on demand via berlinale.de. The Talents Lab Presentation on 4 March will also be available to an audience (requests for access should be made in advance), while Berlinale Talents is launching a new series of podcasts in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut, called "Berlinale's House of Talents".