The next edition of the Max Ophüls Prize (MOP) will take place from 20-26 January. The festival, located in Saarbrücken, is dedicated to young and up-and-coming filmmakers from the German-speaking countries. We spoke to Louise Lindlar, who took over this year as head of the gathering’s MOP-Industry strand.

Cineuropa: What are the highlights of this year’s programme?
Louise Lindlar: We will be welcoming many outstanding speakers over five days. An important event awaits us on the Friday, when we will be taking an in-depth look at the German funding reform and the amended Film Funding Act [see the news]. As our focus is on newcomers’ films, we want to shed light on the effects of the reform on the promotion of up-and-coming talent and the status quo of film promotion for new talent in Germany. In a panel discussion with plenty of scope for questions, we would like to focus on the concerns of the filmmakers present and, in the context of the funding reform, clearly highlight the challenges currently facing talent promotion. It is crucial that we continue to make the voices of filmmakers heard!

Are there any specific topics that reared their heads during the year that you wanted to include?
With our programme, we try to get as close as possible to the issues that are currently crucial for films by German-speaking newcomers. An event like the one just described is one result of this, although it can only be planned at short notice. Overall, it is important for us to have a thematic range that includes more specific questions from the perspective of individual trades – for which we work closely with industry associations – and which also addresses overarching topics. An example of the latter would be the event on the issue of filmic staging of gender-specific violence. There will be an impetus here that will hopefully contribute to further sensitisation, be it in the creative profession or [in the role of] a curator, for example. Another important question we want to discuss is what a fair team culture can look like in creative teams. This is also a topic that concerns movie teams as well as other groups in the cultural sector. We want to expand the interdisciplinary dialogue here and ask what we can learn from each other across sectors.

We have worked very consciously on the concept of our co-production meeting, MOP Meetings, which is taking place for the eighth time. We thought about what is relevant for young producers who want to approach the topic of international co-production. For example, we have implemented a workshop on audience design because the question of how to get an international project into cinemas in several countries remains important – it’s a key issue, and not only for co-productions. At the same time, in addition to the B2C perspective, audience design is also about the steps beforehand: how do I present my project to the industry, and how do I find the right partners?

How would you describe the audience you aim to address?
The most important target group for us are the filmmakers who show their movies in the programme or attend the festival. With our industry programme, we want to make talents visible and offer them a space in which they can develop their topics through networking, practical learning experiences and stimulating discussions. At the same time, the programme is aimed at all members of the industry who are interested in German-language film talents, who want to get to know up-and-coming filmmakers or who want to be inspired by their perspectives and questions. Whether creatives, representatives of broadcasters and funding institutions, festival organisers, or journalists – everyone is cordially invited to be part of this lively exchange.

What do you think new filmmakers need, especially at this stage of their career?
First and foremost, visibility. It is important to become known in a network. And then, when it comes to realising projects, you need trust and complicity because, especially at the beginning, there can be some painful learning experiences. Not feeling alone while doing everything is worth a great deal. That's why we are once again looking forward to the “Silver Linings” dialogue format as part of MOP-Industry, in which two experienced producers will also talk about failure. This year, we were able to secure Bettina Brokemper and Anton Kaiser for this. We hope this dialogue will encourage the talents. In addition, the festival week should help folks find like-minded people who can support and encourage each other.

How do you adapt your programme to cater to German, Austrian and Swiss talents? Do you have any specific topics related to these countries?
In most cases, the topics we address are not country-specific. On the contrary, we are always concerned with the question of how we can do justice to the international orientation of our industry. With our events, we also want to provide an impetus for a cross-border network in which mutual inspiration can arise, especially in German-speaking countries.