11/03/2024 - The 18th iteration of the event runs from 12-14 March in Malmö, spotlighting reshaped media creation, AI, Germany and human rights

Malmö Town Hall, the venue for m:brane 2024 (© m:brane)

Once again, it’s that time of year when the city of Malmö, in southernmost Sweden, turns into a Mecca – namely, for “Smart Content for Savvy Young Audiences”, as the m:brane youth and children’s media financing forum defines its area of expertise. Fully prepared for the 18th edition, running from 12-14 March in the grandiose Malmö Town Hall, the managerial-creative team consisting of Lennart Ström and Annette Brejner presents an itinerary devoid of inactivity but with plenty of inspiration, stimulation and food for thought during three jam-packed days.

Starting it all off, the platform’s day-long Opening Industry Conference offers a vibrant line-up of speakers, experts and panel events, hinging on the “m:brane Learning: The Non-Didactic Universe” strand and also centring on the key axiom “Igniting New Perspectives: Reshaping Media Creation”. From the UK, innovation and environmental guru Mark Shayler will talk about the theme of revolutionary renewal in his keynote “Do Disrupt: Change the Status Quo or Become It!”. From the USA and France, respectively, the well-travelled museum-expert duo of Nina Diamond (New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art) and Maïté Labat (The Louvre and Versailles) join forces for some fresh perspectives in their session “Between the Real and Virtual, Who Are We and Where Do We Want to Go?”. Bona fide virtual industry insiders will also take the stage, in the guise of innovative Danish AI team Matias K Seidler (KHORA) and Christian Villum (Spraengfarlig ApS), who will require some audience participation for their interactive session “Meet Flora Fikzioni”. For the classically yet adventurously inclined, there’s a VR version of Sergei Prokofiev’s symphonic tale Peter and the Wolf, complete with Oculus headsets to bring in the immersive aspect. The producer is Sönke Kirkhof, of INVR.SPACE, one of several participants from this year’s annual m:brane focus country, Germany. This spotlight will also include Elisabeth Wenk and Christina Maria Schollerer, of the Golden Sparrow German Children's Film and Media Festival in Erfurt, who will present the case study “Exploring Excellence in Digital Storytelling for Young Audiences”. In this year’s pitch project programme, running from 13-14 March, Germany will be presenting, in all, seven of the 25 selected projects in search of financing and partnerships.

A brand-new m:brane collaborator this year is RWI, the Raoul Wallenberg Institute, actively taking part in a joint initiative called “Human Rights and Children’s Rights Under the Microscope”. Celebrating its tenth anniversary is the RealYoung workshop, focusing on documentary projects at a very early stage, as always in the presence of a group of discerning young experts providing advice and criticism. Five projects have been picked for this selection. An estimated 200 participants from 20 countries are expected, among them 50 decision makers, and the one-to-one meetings are getting booked at rapid speed.

Full information can be found here.