On Thursday evening, February 18, the 14th edition of Berlinale Talents came to a successful close with the master class of Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney. During the six-day event, 300 film creatives and over 150 internationally renowned experts turned the HAU Hebbel am Ufer into a hub for networking, intercultural exchange and discussing the latest trends in film.

Under its theme “The Nature of Relations”, Berlinale Talents explored the inner connections of cinematic storytelling and new ways of collaborative working in production and distribution. In over 100 events the Talents met internationally noted authorities from the world of film, among them Meryl Streep, Brigitte Lacombe, Lars Eidinger, Alba Rohrwacher, Alex Gibney, Thomas Vinterberg, Denis Côté, Michael Ballhaus, Roy Andersson, Michel Franco and many others…

This year’s edition was also a tribute to the success of Berlinale Talents, together with the other programme sections of the Berlinale, in discovering, supporting and developing talent in film. 111 alumni participated with 84 films at the Berlin International Film Festival, with many also invited to the summit as experts. With over 50 Talents already having had films at previous Berlinale editions, the participants were also lead to assume a more active role and contributed with their experience in many new formats. “The level of experience was outstanding. Talents, alumni and experts met at eye-level. We are delighted that Berlinale Talents as a leading talent development programme for exchanging ideas and developing film projects was received so enthusiastically” said the heads of Berlinale Talents Christine Tröstrum and Florian Weghorn.

Kickstarter and Berlinale Talents join forces in a network partnership to promote Talents and alumni around the world and help them to bring projects to life. Film professionals with interest in crowdfunding receive exclusive mentorship by the Kickstarter team…

The new co-partner Nespresso has launched the vertical video contest “Nespresso Talents 2016”. The competition is open for entries March 7 through April 10, 2016, on www.nespresso.com/talents. Winners will be announced on May 12, 2016 and receive 6,000 Euros each and a trip to the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. (Berlinale Press Office)