Dear Readers,

The hopes of the international cinema industry were very high for 2022 – hope that the pandemic would finally be over, that cinemas would be able to open permanently and without restrictions, and that festivals and film markets would once again take place physically, with business as usual. Omicron put the brakes on those hopes right at the start of the year – with festivals such as Sundance and Rotterdam unfortunately having to go online at short notice.

But at the same time, there is light at the end of the tunnel – the EFM has had to go online, but at least the Berlinale is taking place physically. And that is good for German films and the start of the 2022 cinema year. It is also pleasing that two German films have made it into the Berlinale Competition this year: Actor-director Nicolette Krebitz’ romance drama AEIOU – A Quick Alphabet of Love, and Andreas Dresen‘s human rights drama RABIYE KURNAZ VS. GEORGE W. BUSH. The screenplay for this film was written by Laila Stieler, who participated in our FACE TO FACE WITH GERMAN FILMS campaign in 2020.

While that season of FACE TO FACE focused only on screenwriters, German Films will now be presenting the new 2022 talent campaign FACE TO FACE WITH GERMAN FILMS – THE FILMMAKERS at Berlinale. It is the second year that German Films broadened its scope to include various disciplines in order to display the diversity of exceptional talent across the entirety of this collaborative craft. Included are talent across a range of sectors such as film editing, documentary directing, cinematography or acting. Who are the new FACES 2022? Find out in this magazine!

German Films promotes up-and-coming talent not only with FACE TO FACE, but also in the form of an annual nomination for the German EUROPEAN SHOOTING STAR in cooperation with European Film Promotion (EFP) – and we have been doing so for 25 years! In this anniversary year, the German-Moroccan actor Emilio Sakraya (ELECTRO GHETTO, 4 BLOCKS, THE SALVATION OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT), who has just finished shooting Fatih Akin‘s new film RHEINGOLD, is Germany’s Shooting Star. Congratulations!

Another key focus of our work is supporting up-and-coming producers and talents in the creative field, e.g., through the Berlinale Visitors Programme. Especially for newcomers, it has been difficult to make new contacts and establish themselves within the international film network during the pandemic. Because there is so much catching up to do, German Films will continue its cooperation with various film markets and talent programmes in 2022.

Generally speaking, a lot of interest in German films is still being shown at many international festivals, and we hope to see plenty of new German films and talents in the competitions of 2022!

Yours, Simone Baumann
Managing Director