Interview with Michael Höfner, CEO of GMFilms, Germany

By Joachim Soudan   We met Michael Höfner, founder of GMFilms, and asked him to tell us about his company and Germany’s market and situation during the Covid-19 pandemic. He describes his work as a sole trader, explains the small arthouse audience, and shares his interrogations for the future.   How would you describe your…

Interview with Ignacio Segura, General Manager of DeAPlaneta, Spain

By Jesús Silva   We caught up with Ignacio Segura, General Manager of DeAPlaneta, who opened up about their editorial policy, the particular traits of the Spanish market for independent distribution and the difficulties undergone by the sector during the global health crisis. Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, most of the films released…

Interview with Thomas Bertacche, co-founder of Tucker Film, Italy

By Joachim Soudan   We had a chat with Thomas Bertacche, co-founder of Tucker Film, a distribution company specialised in European and Asian films. He speaks with us about the variety of work done around movies, including organising a festival and launching a streaming platform, the strategy of investing in Asian titles to work their…

Interview with Oana Furdea, Distribution Manager, Transilvania Film, Romania

By Davide Abbatescianni   We sat down with Oana Furdea, Distribution Manager at Bucharest-based outfit Transilvania Film. We discussed the company’s editorial policy, the current challenges posed by the pandemic and the Romanian film distribution landscape.   What’s your company’s line up? What about your editorial policy? Our company was established in 2003. We’re trying…

Interview with Stefano Massenzi, Head of acquisitions of Lucky Red, Italy

By Jesús Silva   Stefano Massenzi, Head of acquisitions of Italy’s Lucky Red and co-President of Europa Distribution’s Board, walks us through the complexities of the Italian market and the role of independent distributors in the circulation of European films. Italy was one of the few countries to launch specific support for the audiovisual sector…

Interview with Thomas Verkaeren, General Manager of O’Brother, BENELUX

By Joachim Soudan   Thomas Verkaeren, O’Brother‘s General Manager, discusses for us a line-up built on taking care of specific Belgian producers’ films rather than on acquiring quantities of films on the markets. He walks us through the complexities and challenges of the Benelux, a multiple and divided territory, partly dependent on France, and speaks…

Interview with Miguel Morales, Director of Wanda Vision, Spain

By Jesús Silva   We caught up with Miguel Morales, Director of Wanda Vision, who opened up about the particularities of distributing independent films in Spain. Due to a decentralised approach for tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, Spanish distributors must keep up to date on the different restrictions affecting cinemas in every region of the country,…

Interview with Irini Souganidou and Soli Beraha, Managing Director and Head of Acquisition of Feelgood Entertainment, Greece

By Joachim Soudan   We met with Irini Souganidou and Soli Beraha to talk about the Greek film market, concentrated in two main cities and dominated by multiplexes. They describe for us their most creative campaigns and tell us about the challenges and consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, since in Greece, until now, there have…

Interview with Holger Recktenwald, CEO of mindjazz pictures, Germany

By Jesús Silva   Holger Recktenwald, CEO of Cologne-based outfit mindjazz pictures, discusses the particularities of releasing independent arthouse documentaries in Germany. One of the main challenges when working with such a specific line-up is to reach the potential audience for these titles, making it crucial to build relationships with different players and organisations. When…

Interview with Gábor Böszörményi, CEO of Mozinet, Hungary

By Joachim Soudan   Gábor Böszörményi, CEO of Mozinet talks about distributing independent European films in Hungary, describes his tasks and ideals as a publisher and the campaigns he sets up to reach the public and get his films known. Having worked for over twenty years in Hungary’s film industry, he speaks about the difficulties…