24/02/2025 - BERLINALE 2025: The climate for sales and acquisitions still seems to be fairly upbeat, but industry professionals have noted shifting buyer behaviour and emerging challenges

The 2025 edition of the European Film Market (EFM) ran from 13-19 February under the new management of Tanja Meissner (see the interview), following Tricia Tuttle’s appointment as head of the Berlinale (see the interview). This year’s edition maintained its status as a crucial hub for international sales and acquisitions, with mixed sentiments emerging among industry professionals. While some highlighted strong activity and promising deals, others noted shifts in buyer behaviour, increased competition and growing challenges in securing sales. Cineuropa spoke to select distributors and sales agents to take stock of this year’s climate for business and to identify content trends in terms of demand and supply.

Danish sales agent TrustNordisk reported significant interest in its Berlinale-selected drama Late Shift [+see also:
trailer
interview: Tobias Weber
film profile] by Petra Volpe, which secured deals in Italy (BIM), France (Wild Bunch), Spain (Karma Films) and the Benelux (September Film Rights), among others, in addition to previously announced pre-sales to Germany, Austria (Tobis) and Switzerland (Filmcoopi). Sales director Nicolai Korsgaard observed: “The EFM was exceptionally busy for us both because of the high volume of meetings and because of the numerous screenings we organised, which saw strong attendance from buyers. In general, there was significant demand for genre titles, and we also observed a renewed interest in 3D animation and compelling arthouse dramas featuring standout casts, such as Late Shift. Additionally, buyers are showing enthusiasm for creature-driven action films and dark comedies. In particular, our upcoming titles Kraken and The Last Viking have generated significant buzz.”

The Last Viking, a dark comedy starring Mads Mikkelsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas, found buyers in Japan (Starcat Cable Network) as well as the previously announced deals in Germany, Austria, Switzerland (Neue Visionen Filmverleih), the Benelux (September Film) and other territories. On the acquisitions front, TrustNordisk boarded Amanda Kernell’s Brace Your Heart and Maria Sødahl’s The Last Resort, both produced by Nordisk Film.

Heading south, we spoke to Italian sales agent TVCO, which focused primarily on sales but also explored new projects for acquisition. “Berlin is always a great meeting point and source of inspiration,” said Simonetta Polese. “In recent years, the demand for serial content has undoubtedly grown, but films with a strong narrative structure, a solid production budget and high-quality performances remain key, regardless of the cast’s notoriety,” she explained.

The Rome-based firm, which entered a joint venture with Minerva Pictures one year ago, presented “a rather diverse line-up of projects and noticed a positive response from buyers”. Some of the catalogue’s titles include Edgardo Pistone’s Rome- and Tallinn-winning black-and-white drama Ciao bambino [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Edgardo Pistone
film profile], Stefano Sardo’s new drama Close to Me [+see also:
film review
film profile], and the documentaries The Home of Champions and Dawn of Cyberwarfare (a US-Italian co-production and a pilot for a potential 12-episode series).

Elliot Gustin, who recently took the helm of another Italian sales outfit, True Colours, reported strong interest in the Golden Bear contender Reflections in a Dead Diamond [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani
film profile], which had been pre-sold to the USA, Germany and Asia before the market. “Fortunately, this allowed us to focus on additional territories and our broader catalogue,” he said. The company also boarded Broken Spies, a Berlinale Series entry produced by Ukbar for RTP in Portugal.

Gustin acknowledged the EFM’s importance but noted a shift in participation patterns. “It’s still an important market that kick-starts the year in Europe. Even if the current state of the industry is still uncertain, we saw the market as a great place to launch titles and to start to pitch what will be coming in the next few months. That said, I noticed buyers and sales agencies were reducing their stay to focus their activity during the first week, as the market felt empty after Monday.”

Zooming in on content trends, he added: “There seems to be a real comeback [in progress] for indie and arthouse cinema, especially European titles, but also a willingness from certain buyers to be involved sooner.” When asked about True Colours’ recalibrated focus on film and TV titles, Gustin answered: “I only arrived six months ago, with the first goal of developing the TV series activity. We’ve already succeeded by acquiring five TV shows – two of them will start shooting next month – and most of them are from outside Italy. On films, we were indeed focusing on quality, and we’ll continue to have a more boutique approach, carefully choosing the titles we want to defend and pursuing what we started with Reflections in a Dead Diamond: not focusing solely on Italian cinema, but finding European titles.”

Next, we spoke to a new player in the field, sales outfit B-Rated, led by former Mediawan exec Arnaud Chevallier. The firm has positioned itself in auteur-driven cinema and horror pre-sales. “The market is polarised. Small but good films aren't enough any more – we need strong concepts or big names to stand out,” Chevallier noted, highlighting the increased need for commercial viability.

B-Rated officially launched at the EFM but actually began operations last year, boarding European arthouse titles such as Juris Kursietis’ Tallinn Black Nights-screened drama The Exalted [+see also:
film review
interview: Juris Kursietis
film profile], Andrei Creţulescu’s sophomore feature, Ext. Car. Night, and Wieslaw Paluch’s New Horizons entry Go Against the Flow.

From a distributor’s perspective, Norway’s Fidalgo maintained its traditional focus. “We’re quite boring in this sense; we don’t really care for trends. We’re always looking for high-end arthouse titles with festival credentials that may connect with a mature audience of cinema lovers, just like we always have,” CEO Frank L Stavik said.

Commenting on the EFM’s climate for sales, he added: “The climate seemed relatively upbeat to us. Generally, there was a good atmosphere. We found the Berlinale a bit tepid, although there are some outstanding titles. That said, the EFM is in good shape under its new management; bringing in Tanja Meissner was a very smart move, and we expect it to continue to improve. […] So far, we have bought the Chinese film Living the Land, and we are still in talks on three or four other titles from different sections,” Stavik revealed.

Meanwhile, Italian distribution firm Teodora reported closing a major deal for 2026 but found the Berlinale’s selection less aligned with its business needs. “The festival always has a very interesting selection, full of new and exciting voices, but often, these are films that are not easy for a larger audience. Unfortunately, at this edition, we did not find anything suitable for Teodora’s editorial policy or budget,” Stefano Finesi and Gianluca Buttari told us. “One trend that has been increasingly worrying for us in recent years is the cost of film rights, which for a market like Italy is often disproportionate,” they insisted.

Finally, French distributor Jour2Fête – working in tandem with French sales agent The Party Film Sales – enjoyed success at the market with strong sales for We Believe You [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arnaud Dufeys and Charlotte…
film profile] in the Perspectives sidebar. “Our team did some pre-sales ahead of the official screening and continued sales after the very successful screening. The press feedback was excellent and included some great articles in the trades, which is always very welcome. The Party Film Sales did some pre-sales of upcoming films and continued sales of past titles – overall, this was a very good market for us,” said Sarah Chazelle.

“In terms of acquisitions, we saw several films in Panorama, Special Gala and Competition. The level was pretty high, but we haven’t made any new acquisitions as of today, as we have a lot of films picked up on a script basis that will be ready soon, and ones from past A-list festival selections still to be released this year.”

Commenting on the business climate and content trends, she summed up: “The market has picked up in the last year, and we see that distributors are eager to buy and pre-buy films. But from what we read in the press, there are very few big deals being made during the EFM. Many films in the official selection – or at least the ones we saw – dealt with family issues and parent-child relationships, and were quite intense dramas. As a distribution firm, we’re looking for uplifting, auteur-driven films, which are hard to find, as well as films tackling the worrying global political crises that we’re all facing.”

Despite industry uncertainties, this year’s EFM underscored the resilience and adaptability of European and international players. While trends fluctuated between an increased demand for genre films and a cautious approach to acquisitions, the market remains a cornerstone for launching new titles and fostering global partnerships.