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Berlinale 2020 - EFM

Industry Report: New Media

EFM Horizon looks into the future of the film and creative industries

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The fourth edition of EFM's hub is dedicated to the social, artistic and technological developments of the coming years

EFM Horizon looks into the future of the film and creative industries
A previous edition of EFM Horizon

The fourth edition of EFM Horizon, the European Film Market (EFM)'s hub dedicated to the transformation of the film and media sectors, will host workshops, panels, talks and keynotes at the Berliner Freiheit over the course of five days (21-25 February). Funded by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, the event this year will focus on sustainability, well-being, diversity, storytelling, artificial intelligence and immersive media. It will also centre on upcoming social, technological, economic and creative developments, further investigating the future of the film and creative industries.

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This investigation into the future will begin with the presentation of the 7th Nostradamus Report – “A Creative Explosion” the annual report of the Göteborg Film Festival, presented by its author Johanna Koljonen (watch the interview), on Friday 21 February. For the sixth consecutive year, ten selected startups will participate in the EFM Startups (23-25 February) initiative, aiming to present new ideas and applications that can bridge the space between film, media and technology. Participants may also initiate wider discussions with visionaries and other creative professionals from other industries.

The fourth EFM VR NOW Summit (24 February) will focus on Cinematic Virtual Reality (VR), presented by Virtual Reality Berlin-Brandenburg e.V. (VRBB) and VR NOW. It will open with the keynote topic, “Virtual Production - Why is Virtual Reality a Revolution for Film Making?”, delivered by six-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer Caleb Deschanel. Some of the other topics to be explored include “Dreamscape - Pushing the Limits of Immersive Entertainment”, “VR in the Year 2020 - between Disruptive Power and Unfulfilled Expectation” and “Immersive Content Production for Multiple Channels”. As always, a series of market screenings for 360° VR projects are included in the EFM VR Cinema. Other highlights include panel discussions on the future of production, on artificial intelligence, a workshop on challenges in sales, and a workshop regarding the European streaming policy.

Following the release of its Sustainability Manifesto (read it here), EFM is also launching a special focus on environmental protection, diversity and mental health. Thus, the event “Well-being Well-focused: The Connection between Creativity and Mental Health” (22 February), will examine how companies, especially in the creative sectors, can still be profitable by increasing the productivity of their employees without burning them out. 23 February will also be dedicated to sustainability, with the discussion “sustainABILITY: New Green Skills, Tools and Models for Industry-wide Transformation” exploring topics ranging from green film production to greener festivals. Furthermore, diversity will be discussed on the same day during “5050 - A Roadmap for the Future” where keynote speaker Anna Serner, CEO of the Swedish Film Institute (read interview), will initiate a discussion on the 5050x2020 movement.

Finally, during EFM Horizon, the talk series EFM Industry Debates (21-23 February) – presented by IFA – will focus this year on the future of storytelling, the debate on indie strategies in the Streaming Age, and on future-proofing marketing strategies.

All of the information regarding formats and speakers at EFM Horizon, as well as the form to fill out to pre-register for the event, can be found here.

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