From 29 September to 1 October, Hamburg hosts the fifth edition of the International Film Distribution Summit (IFDS), part of the FilmFest Hamburg Industry Days alongside Explorer Konferenz, Futura Cinema, #ATELIER, ENCOURAGE Film Talents and European Work in Progress (EWIP).
The summit is supported by Creative Europe – MEDIA, FilmFest Hamburg, MOIN Film Fund, FFA and European Work in Progress. The programme focuses on distribution strategies, audiences, data and new alternative models.
The programme opens with Victor Chudal-Linden, project manager at Germany’s GIZ, who presents an initiative on economic and cultural partnerships between Africa and Europe. This is followed by a panel on alternative release strategies for European arthouse cinema, featuring Little Amélie or the Character of Rain and Nouvelle Vague, both backed by Creative Europe – MEDIA.
30 September stands out as the most important day of the programme. Thomas Legal, head of programming at the French distributor The Jokers, discusses distribution identity and new audiences; Monica Felea, CEO of Romania’s Bad Unicorn, presents “Breaking the Invisible Wall“. These are followed by talks from Thomas Beranek (Google), Julia Langhof (Cineamo) and Gruvi founder Ben Johnson on data and audience behaviour.
The day then turns to the international scene. Eduardo Calla, chief officer at BF Distribution (Chile), discusses the influence of world cinema on his company; Mohamed Frini, CEO of Hakka Distribution, presents an alternative distribution network in Tunisia; Eve Gabereau, director of distribution at VUE, addresses the link between theatrical release and long-term audience loyalty. The day closes with a masterclass by KMBO CEO Vladimir Kokh on the French distributor’s growth.
The summit concludes on 1 October with talks by Alex Stolz, head of Audience at Usheru, and Lee Yun-Yeong, CEO of Cinematograph (South Korea), on smaller-scale distribution models in South Korea.
Photo credit: Mohamed_hassan on Pixabay
