Students make pitches at Berlin talent market

Three scripts out of record 267 submissions to receive award

BERLIN -- Laura Astorga from Costa Rica was given five minutes to make a pitch for "Princesas Rojas," a feature-length film about the vagaries of a revolutionary family's fortunes under the shadow of Nicaragua's Sandinista Revolution. Astorga's is one of three projects in the spotlight at this year's Talent Project Market, a collaborative interface that provides up-and-coming filmmakers from the Berlinale Talent Campus the opportunity to meet seasoned film financiers from the Berlinale Co-Production Market.

Three scripts, screened from a record 267 submissions, receive an award from the VFF (German Collecting Society for Inhouse and Commissioned Production of Film and TV Programs) and the chance to conduct a formal pitch at the Talent Highlight Pitch.

"My Sweet Euthanasia," from the Israeli writer-director team of Sharon Maymon and Tal Granit, is a dark comedy set in a Jerusalem retirement home, the residents of which invent a self-euthanasia device. The pitch by Sri Lankan-born English filmmaker Asitha Ameresekere for "Kin," a feature-length sequel to a short film he made, tells the story of a mother who sends videotaped messages to her son serving in Iraq, and continues to do so even after being informed of his death.

Kirtak Nair, from India, is a participant of Talent Press, a training program of the Berlinale Talent Campus.