2 February 2022

17th Academy Discussion
German film abroad – a laughing stock, a marginal phenomenon or a dream for the future?
Andreas Kilb in conversation with Simone Baumann, Martin Blaney, Matthijs Wouter Knol, Julien Razafindranaly and Jeanine Meerapfel

Tuesday, 8 February, 7 pm, Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz
Press tickets available from presse@adk.de, Tel. 030 200 57-1514

German film is underrepresented abroad and receives little recognition. Is this due to the quality of the films, the subject matter and themes, the lack of marketing or the diverging expectations of international audiences? Jeanine Meerapfel talks about reasons and strategies for solutions with her guests from the film world.
Since 2018, Meerapfel has been inviting filmmakers and representatives of the film industry to debates on film policy issues in her series of Academy Discussions in the run-up to the Berlinale.

In conversation:
Simone Baumann, Managing Director of German Films
Martin Blaney, correspondent for Germany and Eastern Europe, Screen International
Matthijs Wouter Knol, CEO and Director of the European Film Academy
Jeanine Meerapfel, filmmaker and President of the Akademie der Künste
Julien Razafindranaly, Head of Sales at Films Boutique
Chair: Andreas Kilb, film critic and arts correspondent of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in Berlin

Simone Baumann has been Managing Director of German Films since 2019. In 1997 she became Managing Partner of LE Vision Film- und Fernsehproduktion. As a producer, she was responsible for all of LE Vision's documentary productions. In 2005, she became German Films' foreign representative for Eastern Europe, and since 2011 she has been responsible as Executive Producer Documentary for the documentary projects of Saxonia Entertainment GmbH.

Martin Blaney is the correspondent for Germany and Eastern Europe for Screen International film magazine. For over 30 years he has been reporting on the film business in Germany and Europe, film festivals and film-related topics, as well as giving lectures, hosting panel discussions and interviewing filmmakers. In 1988 he was awarded his PhD from the University of Bath (GB) on The relationship between the film industry and television in the Federal Republic of Germany from 1950 to 1985.

Matthijs Wouter Knol has been CEO and Director of the European Film Academy since January 2021. From 2001 he worked in Amsterdam as a creative and co-producer on 30 award-winning documentaries with well-known directors. From 2007 to 2008 he served the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). In 2008 he was appointed programme manager of the Berlinale Talent Campus, and from 2014 to 2020 he was Director of the European Film Market.

Jeanine Meerapfel has been President of the Akademie der Künste since 2015. The film director and screenwriter has made numerous award-winning documentaries and feature films, including the documentary In the Country of My Parents (1981) and the feature film The German Friend (2012). From 1990 to 2008 she taught film directing at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne. Her film essay A Woman will premiere at DOK.fest Munich in May 2022.

Julien Razafindranaly has been Head of Sales at Films Boutique since January 2020. He was a production assistant, worked for the European Film Festival of Beauvais (France) from 2009 to 2011 and participated in the Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris. From 2012, he worked for The Match Factory, first as Junior, then as Senior Sales Executive. There he worked on the release of films such as Maren Ade's Toni Erdmann and Ritesh Batra's The Lunchbox.

Event details
17th Academy Discussion
German film abroad – a laughing stock, a marginal phenomenon or a dream for the future?
Tuesday, 8 February, 7 pm
Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz 4, 10117 Berlin
In German
Admission € 6/4, free admission for under-18s
Ticket reservations: 030 200 57-1000; ticket@adk.de 
Online tickets: www.adk.de/tickets 
Press tickets: reservations available from presse@adk.de and tel. 030 200 57-1514
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