2013 Berlinale Announces Record Turnout

Dieter Kosslick for blog_350@72_2007_0019
Berlinale Director Dieter Kosslick, announced today that a record number of 303,077 tickets were sold to the public during the eleven days of the 2013 Berlinale.

The final award ceremony was held on February 16th at the elegant Berlinale Palast. Screen Shot 2013-02-27 at 8.54.27 AM

Once again the Festival closed with an event that has become a tradition, the Berlinale Kinotag. On Sunday, February 17, 2013, many of the Festival’s films from the different competition sections were screened again for the public.

According to the Berlinale, “Despite the current economic situation, interest on the part of professionals has remained constant: nearly 19,630 accredited visitors from 124 countries attended the Festival, including 3,694 representatives of the press. The European Film Market (EFM) registered a greater number of exhibitors. Sales were good for Competition films, such as Gloria, The Nun or Before Midnight; as well as for films from other Festival sections, such as the Panorama entry The Broken Circle Breakdown.”

The film market (EFM) running concurrently to the Festival screened 816 films for a total of 1,166 presentations in the EFM’s 40 screening venues. Nearly 600 of those films were market premieres.

With over 8,000 participants from 95 countries, the number of visitors to the EFM was higher than last year. A total of 1,000 visitors came to the EFM Industry Debates and other talks presented by the IFAn in conjunction with the EFM’s new partner Film-und Medienstiftung NRW.

“We are pleased about the film discoveries at this year’s Berlinale. The eleven days were great fun. The World Cinema Fund (WCF) – a Berlinale initiative that has recently been extended for five more years by the German Federal Cultural Foundation and is supported by Minister of State for Cultural and Media Affairs Bernd Neumann – can be especially proud. Harmony Lessons, the prize-winning film from Kazakhstan, was not only funded by the WCF, but director Emir Baigazin began his career in film at the Berlinale Talent Campus,” says Berlinale Director Dieter Kosslick.