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As Germany heads into a key general election on February 23, there’s a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the country’s film industry. Europe’s largest economy is facing a third consecutive year of recession, which is having a stark knock-on effect on the German media landscape as inflation and cost of energy prices hit the production sector.

Across the last three years, the industry has been seeking a solution to its woes by working closely with the country’s government to install what was slated to be the country’s biggest reform to film funding to date. For many years, Germany has traditionally been a powerhouse in the international film sector, particularly at markets such as the EFM where a German acquisition of a title, which was often aided by strong TV commitments, was a huge coup for producers and sellers. But things are evolving as traditional TV commitments are less potent.

A youthful crowd of industry professionals filed into a bustling room at the Gropius Bau Saturday afternoon for the inaugural AfroBerlin symposium here at the Berlin Film Festival.

Among the speakers were outgoing Berlinale co-head Mariette Rissenbeek, Neom’s Wayne Borg, and Yolonda Ncokotwana, Head of Industry Development National Film & Video Foundation South Africa. The event also saw the first public discussion featuring the Schwarze Filmschaffende, the Black German Filmmakers Association.

The association first made waves following the conclusion of last year’s Berlinale after they published a lengthy open letter that criticized the festival for programming three films that it said “depict, amplify, or peddle anti-Black sentiments.” The group was also central to this year’s campaign against the festival’s controversial opening ceremony invitations to members of the far-right AfD political party. Despite its recent visibility, the group actually dates back to 2015.

“I started acting school in Vienna in a very white space.