Buying films is laborious

- It is hard to make choices with so many films around, sighs Andreas Jacobsen, who came to Tampere to acquire short films for the German TV broadcaster NDR.

He browses the catalogues with Pascale Begelinger from the German firm Studio Hamburg. Their jobs brought them to Tampere for three days.

- I'm looking for films not longer than five minutes to fill up empty slots between TV programmes. Most of all I want to buy animations that are entertaining and easy to understand, says Jacobsen.

Begelinger has no particular criteria for the films she's going to buy. She'll go through the selections from different countries.

Along working, the buyers also wish to see some screenings. Begelinger is especially interested in Iranian films, while Jacobsen wishes to pick out Finnish music videos and the best from the Nordic countries.

Students know what they are doing

The Department of Film and TV at the University of Industrial Arts presents student films at the film market. ETO 40 years - Finnish Student Films and Risto Jarva prize winners are included in the festival programme. In addition, some student films were entered in the competitions.

Student Mikko Pöllä thinks that foreign buyers will also be interested in the Finnish student films. According to Pöllä, nowadays student films are more entertaining than before.

- The attitude of the film-makers was artistic the wrong way and the films were made with little regard for the viewer. Nowadays the film-makers think more of the viewers.

Dare to try something new

The market stand of the Estonian production company F-Seitse has especially interested representatives of the European Union, because Estonia is striving hard to attain membership in the Union.

According to Kaie-Ene Rääk, short Estonian fictions are of a high quality. There are some new directors in the field, and it is much easier to get funding for short films than feature films.

The jewel of the selection is Jaak Kilm's Kulla Tuli which has received awards at many festivals. Rääk thinks that films should not be predictable and that the director should not be afraid of making mistakes.

- The work must not be too "final", and mistakes are allowed. It is important that the artist has a need to create, and that the film is a step forward.

Industry Shopping

Every day the movie market attracts buyers, distributors, festival representatives and other professionals interested in acquiring short films. There's a lot of commotion in the Tampere Hall's Hall A when the buyers are doing their rounds and borrowing films for evaluation.

- This is the second time we have the movie market going this big, says Leeni Terkko, head of the market. Subsidised by the EU's Media Programme, the event sports a selection of some 2000 films from over 50 countries.

- We focus on East and North European documentaries and short films just like we did last year. The Tampere Film Festival's good reputation means that we can bring in plenty of quality films. It is also possible for production companies to arrange screenings of their own in the Hall B.