From 15-25 February, tens of thousands of visitors gathered in the German capital for the Berlin International Film Festival. The Berlinale, which takes place annually since 1951, was once again a meeting point for renowned filmmakers of all disciplines as well as up-and-coming talent with outstanding projects, dreams and vision.

At the 74th edition of the Berlinale, RTL Group was represented by colleagues from Fremantle, UFA and RTL Deutschland, including Gala magazine. Stephan Schmitter, CEO of RTL Deutschland, alongside Sascha Schwingel and Nico Hofmann, current and former CEOs of UFA, and Doris Brückner, Editor-in-Chief of Gala, were present at the opening gala, one of the highlights of the ten-day festival.

Tribute to the Next Generation, a networking event for young filmmakers, took place for the 11th time. Organised by UFA as part of the Berlinale, the aim of the event is to promote young filmmakers and offer them a space to meet decisionmakers from broadcasters and streaming services.

At this year’s creative workshop and subsequent dinner, young actors from UFA productions such as Maxton Hall, Disko 76 and Where’s Wanda? were present, besides young talent from the areas of directing and screenwriting.

Presenting the disco era

The tenth edition of the Berlinale Series Market Selects, known as the industry's central platform for serial content from all over the world, took place across three days during the festival. Disko 76, produced by UFA Fiction, was one of the series presented at the event. Executive produced by Sinah Swyter, the series showcases the disco fever that swept through the German city of Bochum back in 1976. Disko 76 will be available to stream on RTL+ from 28 March.

Ulrike Leibfried, Managing Director of UFA Fiction, says: "We are proud to be able to present our series at the Berlinale Series Market Selects and again at the Series Mania Festival in Lille before its release. Disko 76 is a project from the Bertelsmann Content Alliance (BCA) which will result in various other cross-media content on the subject of the disco era, thereby inspiring our audience. We would like to thank RTL Deutschland for its trust in our story and are excited to see how Disko 76 will be received by the audience."

A world premiere

Produced by Fremantle’s The Apartment for Netflix, Supersex is inspired by the life of porn star Rocco Siffredi, played by The Eight Mountains star Alessandro Borghi. Rocco was born in Italy and raised in humble circumstances. His greatest role model is his eldest brother Tommaso, who is dating the most desirable girl in town, and Supersex, a very particular superhero in a pornographic comic.

When Rocco meets Supersex, he discovers that the two share the same superpower. The series depicts a life in the porn industry and examines how masculinity is constructed. It explores questions of desire and power that still dominate the relationship between men and women today.