International buyers swoop in on the Berlinale and parallel European Film Market

HWith over 1,000 international buyers geared up to land in Berlin in order to promote and introduce their titles to key industry players and decision-makers, we’re shining the spotlight on some of the international buyers that have expressed their expectations and desires for this year’s EFM event. With this year’s full-on in-person return, we can expect a wide range of deals, acquisitions, and partnerships, with the industry buzzing and itching to meet face to face. From Norway to the U.K, via the U.S, here are some of the top international buyers on the scene, looking for hot-button titles set for theatrical distribution and more.

Norway’s Tour de Force

While speaking with Tor Fosse, one of those responsible for theatrical acquisitions for one of Norway’s leading theatrical distribution companies, Tour de Force, Fosse indicated a desire for titles that stand out as being nothing less than “exceptional ”, adding that “The Bergen IFF [Norway’s top film festival] is very much into documentaries – especially about political themes”. Most recently having distributed Michel Franco’s 2020 thriller New Order, which brought home the 2020 Venice Film Festival Grand Jury Prize, Tour de Force has distributed several exciting titles, including French director Stéphane Brizé’s At War, in competition at that year’s Cannes Film Festival. While indicating that every territory is relevant to the company in terms of acquisitions, Fosse spoke about Tour de Force’s recent acquisition of Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper’s French coproduced film Vesper, which the group is very excited to be releasing this year. Finally, Fosse commented that “The Bergen IFF is always hunting French titles and coproductions,” demonstrating the Norwegian appetite for French savoir-faire.

The U.K.’s New Wave Films

With a market very similar to France, the U.K. is most notably one of the territories where French films perform quite well, behind Germany and Italy. When speaking with Robert Beeson of New Wave Films, one of the country’s top theatrical distributors, Beeson indicated that his company is in the market for arthouse films, dramas, and documentaries. With their soon to come theatrical release of award-winning Irish filmmaker Treasa O’Brien’s Town of Strangers, a hybrid documentary/magical realism title, executively produced by Joshua Oppenheimer ( The Act of Killing ), it’s no surprise that the company is on the ground in Berlin on the hunt for documentaries. When asked if any French titles have stood out to him and his company so far, Beeson replied “there aren’t many French titles in Berlin that seem of interest just yet, but we wait to surprised”. Finally, Beeson wanted to remind readers that New Wave Films is interested in titles from all over the world, from Germany and France to Iran and Sudan.

Sweden’s NonStop Entertainment

One of Sweden’s top theatrical distibutors, NonStop Entertainment

(+1,000 buyers) most notably acquired the distribution rights to some very hot-button titles, such as Park Chan-Wook’s Decision to Leave and Laura Poitras’s All the Beauty and the Bloodshed. On the ground during this year’s EFM market, Le Dispatch spoke to Jakob Abrahamsson, who indicated that the group is on the hunt for “primarily theatrically driven titles with a potential to crossover, which these days is of course as hard as it ever was”. Be that as it may, the group is likely to find what they’re looking for in terms of genres, as they’re in the market for a variety of titles, from dramas and thrillers to documentaries and horrors. While confirming the group’s interest in some of the French titles being brought to market, Abahamsson commented that the group primarily acquires titles from the U.S., the U.K., Continental Europe, and South Korea, with the latter having produced some very successful titles as of late, including incredibly successful series such as Netflix’s Squid Games.

The LA-based Highland Film Group

With French executive producer Delphine Perrier at the helm of the LA-based independent worldwide sales, film financing, production and distribution company, HFG is on the ground at this year’s EFM with a particular positive attitude about the full-on return of the in-person event. While speaking with COO Perrier, the film exec. expressed great excitement and enthusiasm for this year’s edition. “We are happy to meet the buyers in Berlin and discuss our fantastic slate! We just announced Simon West’s action-comedy Old Guy starring Christoph Waltz, the western action film Place of Bones starring Heather Graham and Tom Hopper and Joe Carnahan’s survival thriller Not Without Hope starring Zachary Levi - and we’re also in post-production on William Eubank’s action thriller Land of Bad starring Russell Crowe, Liam Hemsworth and Luke Hemsworth. We’ve expanded and diversified our repertoire and are excited to offer our international distributors a wide array of exciting new titles”. The group will be on-site both as a buyer and seller, shining the spotlight on their international ambitions, “We will be actively selling in Berlin and are always looking for great projects to fit our U.S. distribution arm, The Avenue. Having a domestic distribution pipeline has allowed us to collaborate with our international distribution partners by sharing our local marketing campaigns and release plans. It’s important as it enables us to position Highland Film Group as a mini studio that offers both premium content and full marketing campaigns for our international distributors,” summed up Perrier. Finally, in regards to the group’s interest in the French market, Perrier was clear. “Highland has great relationships with all the distributors in France, as well as those around the world. We’re in constant contact with the local distributors and excited to discuss in Berlin the new ways that the French are releasing films. Also hear more about the adjustments to the French regulations toward TV movies vs theatrical movies and how it may affect the current marketplace. We always keep an eye on the French movies, which have a known reputation for remake rights. We are really interested in finding a project that we could develop and adapt for the U.S. audience via our domestic distribution arm, The Avenue.” With all that said, Highland Film Group’s EFM presence will be marked by their bevy of hot-button titles, but also by their capacity for international cross-over, as indicated by their hunt for a French title that can be adapted for American audiences, a trend that is becoming increasingly popular with George Clooney’s prodco, Smokehouse Pictures, recently having acquired the adaptation rights to an extremely popular French series, The Bureau (Le Bureau des Légendes).

Zoe Hofmann