Companies from the US, the UK, Spain, Ukraine, and Brazil are among 25 first-timers confirmed so far as exhibitors at the Berlinale's forthcoming European Film Market (EFM).

Participants with stands for the first time in the EFM's central venue of the Martin Gropius Bau include such sales agents as ContentFilm International, Porchlight Entertainment and IM Global, as well as promotion agencies like Romanian Film Promotion and Turkish Films.

Meanwhile, the EFM Exhibitor Offices will serve as bases for such Berlin debutants as the Ukrainian Cinema Foundation, Brazil's Vereda Films, TV Channel Russia and the Producers Guild of Russia, Hong Kong's United Filmmakers Organisation and Mei Ah Entertainment, Valencia-based Maltes Producciones, Hungary's Hungaricom, and Canada's Critical Mass Releasing.

In addition, US companies Amadeus Pictures, Artist View Entertainment, Elephant Eye Films, Wonderphil Productions, Quantum-Movie Bank and MultiVisionnaire Pictures will be setting up shop at Potsdamer Platz 11.

Next year's EFM will also see some unique collaborations: Holland Film and the Irish Film Board are to share stand space in the Martin Gropius Bau, while the Film Center Serbia's stand at the EFM Exhibitor Offices will also serve as a contact point for the newly created Macedonian Film Fund.

At the same time, the EFM has already listed over two dozen European independent companies so far, who will have a presence for the first time at the MEDIA Programme's umbrella stand in the atrium of the Martin Gropius Bau. They include the UK's Blue Dolphin Film and Video and Steve Walsh Productions, Estonia's Estinfilm, Denmark's Final Cut Productions, Germany's Mediacontentfactory, Luxembourg's Pinball Films, Lithuania's Snapper Films, and France's Mercurymedia International.

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