European Film Market 26

EUROPEAN FILM MARKET INDUSTRY SESSIONS AT BERLINALE 2026

From hosting a pitching series German Animation Studios in the Spotlight: Pitching Excellence to the interactive case study of The Last Whale Singer, the focus was on long-term collaboration in animation. First in a fire-side chat producer Kristine Knudsen (Knudsen Pictures), and then the creators of The Last Whale Singer Maite Woköck (Telescope Animation), Fanny-Laure Malo (La Boîte à Fanny), Jiří Mika (PFX Group), and director Reza Memari, discussed what it takes to bring an original animated feature to life across borders - and why strong, reliable partnerships are essential.

Creative Europe MEDIA: Lessons for the Future
AC led a policy-focused panel reflecting on a decade of MEDIA funding and looking ahead to future priorities. Contributors included producer Ada Solomon (Chair, European Film Academy), Mathias Holz (President, Europa Cinemas), Marysabelle Côté (Administrative Director, ARTE France), Eduardo Escudero (President, Europa Distribution), and Oliver Fegan (Co-Founder & CEO, usheru). The discussion addressed audience reach, territoriality, innovation and competitiveness within the European framework, and included presentations by Sophie Beernaerts (Director of the European Education and Culture Executive Agency), Erika Jakab (Policy Officer at the European Commission) and Martin Dawson (Head of MEDIA unit).

Marketing That Works: Turning Change into a New Advantage
With Oliver Fegan (usheru), Marina Kosten (Senior Fellow, Center for the Digital Future, USC Annenberg), and Adriana Trautman (Founder, AT Consulting; former Amazon and Paramount marketing executive), the session examined shifting audience behaviour, first-party data strategies and AI-driven discovery. A central takeaway: marketing begins with defining the audience, not with tools or media spend.

As usual, AC hosted Largo’s Pitch Perfect, bringing their energy on stage - producers pitched while AI forecasts projected market viability.

Film i Väst – “The Film Industry’s Got Talent?”
Designed as a talent show format about public film funding reform, held alongside the Berlinale as a side event, the session invited four industry leaders to pitch concrete ideas for change: Carlo Cresto-Dina (Tempesta), Nataša Bučar (Managing Director, Slovenian Film Centre), Juan Gordon (Morena Films), and Anna Croneman (CEO, Swedish Film Institute). The jury — producer Louise Vesth (Zentropa), former Eurimages Executive Director Susan Newman-Baudais, and Mia Bays (Director, BFI National Lottery Filmmaking Fund) — responded live. The discussion was framed by Tomas Eskilsson, Head of Film i Väst Analysis and author of the Public Film Funding at a Crossroads report series.

EFM