The European Film Market (EFM) will take place at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival for seven days from February 15th to 21st, 2024.
Taking place in Berlin, and coinciding with the Berlinale, the European Film Market brings together producers, buyers and sales agents, distributors and financiers to network, exchange, inform themselves and do business. This year, a variety of Irish films and Irish co-productions will be screening and selling at the market.
Included among the films screening at the market are Kneecap, the first Irish language film to screen at Sundance, Woken, the feature debut of director Alan Friel, and Ken Wardrop’s So This Is Christmas. Also screening at the market are Irish co-productions The Flats, exploring the trauma of The Troubles, and Five and a Half Love Stories in an Apartment in Vilnius, Lithuania, starring Alison Oliver.
Films selling at the market include Aislinn Clarke’s Frewaka, billed as the first Irish language horror film, Twig, which is set to have its world premiere at Dublin International Film Festival, and Bring Them Down, starring Barry Keoghan and Christopher Abbott. Joshua Oppenheimer’s The End, filmed in Ireland and starring Tilda Swinton and George MacKay, and Hallow Road, shot in Wicklow and Prague and starring Rosamund Pike, will also be selling at the market.
For a full list of the Irish films screening and selling at the market see below.
Screening at EFM
Kneecap
There are 80,000 native Irish speakers in Ireland. 6,000 live in the North of Ireland. Three of them became a rap group called Kneecap.
Screening Thursday, 15th February, 9.00, CinemaxX 4 and Saturday, 17th February, 14.30, Gropius Bau Cinema.
- Director: Rich Peppiatt
- Irish Production Company: Wildcard
- Sales Agent: Charades
Woken
A woman who wakes up from an accident with no memory of who she is and the realisation that the human race is close to extinction.
Screening Saturday, 17th February, 13.25, CinemaxX 7.
- Director: Alan Friel
- Irish Production Company: Fantastic Films
- Sales Agent: Bankside Films
The Flats
For days, Jolene, Angie and other neighbours from New Lodge, Belfast, have visited Joe to take part in a strange process: as an extension of his therapy, Joe decided to reenact memories from his childhood during the Troubles.
Screening Sunday, 18th February, 9.00, CinemaxX 10.
- Director: Alessandra Celesia
- Irish Production Company: Planet Korda Pictures
- Sales Agent: The Party Film Sales
So This is Christmas
Shot on 35mm, director Ken Wardrop spends Christmas in a small village in Ireland. A heartwarming reminder that Christmas can feel different and still special to many.
Screening Sunday, 18th February, 16.40, dffb Cinema and Monday, 19th February, 11.30, Virtual Cinema 5.
- Director: Ken Wardrop
- Irish Production Company: Venom Films
- Sales Agent: Breakout Pictures, Autlook Film Sales
Five and a Half Love Stories in an Apartment in Vilnius, Lithuania
Five guests experience a crisis of love in an AirBnB in Vilnius; unaware of the stories that have transpired within the same walls and under the same bedsheets.
Screening Sunday, 18th February, 13.00, dffb Cinema (English).
- Director: Tomas Vengris
- Irish Production Company: Tiger Darling Productions
- Sales Agent: Alief
Selling at EFM
Sisters
Director: Ariane Labed
Irish Production Company: Element Pictures
Sales Agent: The Match Factory
Fréwaka
Director: Aislinn Clarke
Irish Production Company: Wildcard
Sales Agent: New Europe Film Sales
Ready or Not
Director: Claire Frances Byrne
Irish Production Company: Gaze Pictures
Sales Agent: Bankside
The Damned
Director: Thordur Palsson
Irish Production Company: Wild Atlantic Pictures
Sales Agent: Protagonist Pictures
Four Mothers
Director: Darren Thornton
Irish Production Company: Port Pictures
Sales Agent: MK2 sales
Twig
Director: Marian Quinn
Irish Production Company: Blue Ink Films, Janey Pictures
Sales Agent: Wildcard Distribution
Bring Them Down
Director: Christopher Andrews
Irish Production Company: Tailored Films
Sales Agent: MUBI
Freud’s Last Session
Director: Matthew Brown
Irish Production Company: Subotica Productions
Sales Agent: WestEnd Films
The Wolf, The Fox and the Leopard
Director: David Verbeek
Irish Production Company: Feline Films
Sales Agent: LevelK
Cry from the Sea
Director: Vic Sarin
Irish Production Company: ShinAwiL
Sales Agent: Cinema Management Group
Hallow Road
Director: Babak Anvari
Irish Production Company: Hail Mary Pictures
Sales Agent: XYZ
Four Letters of Love
Director: Polly Steele
Irish Production Company: Port Pictures
Sales Agent: Cornerstone Films
The End
Director: Joshua Oppenheimer
Irish Production Company: Wild Atlantic Pictures
Sales Agent: The Match Factory
