DW trainee portraits of Berlinale Talents 2023

In Berlin, the last two weeks of February were once again dominated by the annual international film festival, Berlinale. Held for the 73rd time, it brought top international stars to the capital, including Cate Blanchett, Kirsten Stewart, Sean Penn and Steven Spielberg.  

DW journalism trainees and up-and-coming media designers were also at the festival, producing video portraits of ten budding filmmakers from around the world. 

They were among the 204 participants taking part in the Berlinale Talents program, an international networking event that this year brought together filmmakers who ranged from Indonesian actresses to Indian cinematographers to directors from Afghanistan, Iran and Ukraine. The event also looked at current political issues including the impact of the Russian war on Ukrainian filmmakers and the empowerment of women in the film industry. 

In the portrait of Melis Aksoy, a Turkish filmmaker and one of the few female VFX artists in the business, she described her fascination with projects for Netflix and major Hollywood productions. She has worked on several, including Tom Burton’s "Wednesday," Guillermo del Toro's "Cabinet of Curiosities" and a number of Marvel films. 

Trainees and upcoming media designers worked together on the portraits

The cooperation between the DW traineeship and the Berlinale Talents program got underway in 2008. This year Talents participants from 125 countries had been selected from more than 3000 applicants. 

DW trainees worked under a tight schedule, catching up with participants for interviews and shooting dates, and producing all ten portraits in just seven days – everything from planning to the finished product. The team worked around the clock, with journalism trainees conducting interviews, directing shoots and devising editing concepts, and young media designers taking charge of the camera, sound and film editing.  

The portraits are available on the Berlinale Talentspage and on the Vimeo channel of DW's technical traineeship.