connecting cottbus together with the FilmFestival Cottbus invite on the occasion of the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival to partake in a brunch serving delicacies from the Spreewald region on the 15th February, 2012 in the Federal Office of the State of Brandenburg, Berlin. (only with invitation)

On the occasion of the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, FilmFestival Cottbus together with connecting cottbus and in cooperation with the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin and the Polish Institute Berlin invite you to visit the Cottbus Lounge on February 15th 2012, 6.00–8.00 p.m. in the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin, Dorotheenstraße 12, 10117 Berlin (behind Maxim-Gorki-Theatre). You will have the opportunity to meet the teams of FilmFestival Cottbus and connecting cottbus and get a glimpse of the upcoming connecting cottbus.

We hope that we will again be able to welcome you to an new edition of Connecting Cottbus in 2012. Remain loyal to our co-production market. And please make a note of the new deadline planned for mid-July 2012 for the submission of pitch projects.

A total of 147 feature film projects from 24 countries were pitched from 2001 to 2010 within the framework of Connecting Cottbus' annual presentation of brand new projects. 47 of these projects have since been produced, while another nine projects are still being made. We are pleased that more than a third of the submitted project ideas were realised – including such successful films as WHITE WHITE WORLD (dir. Oleg Novkovic), IF I WANT TO WHISTLE I WHISTLE (dir. Florin Serban) or TILT (dir. Viktor Chouchkov), the Bulgarian Official Entry for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film 2012.

Feature film projects from Turkey and the Czech Republic were this year's award winners at Connecting Cottbus. The East-West Co-Production Market that was held in its 13. edition on November 3 and 4 in parallel to the FilmFestival Cottbus presented 13 feature film projects from 11 countries looking for European co-production partners. The award winners represent the wide range of this year's selection: The Turkish screen writer Emre Özdur presented his first project as director with the drama Pitch Black. pictures & press release

The 2011 edition of Connecting Cottbus is now behind us. 140 participants from 25 countries, including many familiar faces from the past years, met during the filmfestival – this time not only to present and discuss new projects, but also to offer a review of the results from the previous pitching events. Held for the first time in 2007, the One2One meetings have been established as a permanent fixture. The One2One meetings confirm the wide-ranging interest in the presented subjects, stories and narrative forms. This great response also confirms that the project jury had a good feeling for potentially successful stories when they selected the 13 final participants for the pitching session at their sitting in September 2011.

"A vibrant two-day industry event, Connecting Cottbus, provides a venue for project pitching and dealmaking between producers from across Europe's old divides." Nick Holdsworth, Variety* read more

*(variety.com, 20 Oct 2011)