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Guidelines - Talents Footprints - Mastercard Enablement Programme

Doing well by doing good is the maxim of Berlinale Talents and Mastercard as they join forces to create sustainable change. The Talents Footprints - Mastercard Enablement Programme helps film creatives to achieve and consolidate their bigger goals in life and work through mentorship and coaching, public awareness and financial support. The programme enables initiators and activists of film-related social initiatives who are working on inclusive, innovative and impactful solutions in one of the following four key domains:

Gender Equality and Diversity Quality Education and Work Peace, Justice and Understanding Environmental Awareness and Climate Action

Eligible Initiatives*

stakeholder group with film-related social goals (e.g. an association for female cinematographers, a LGBTIQ+ film collective, a platform for indigenous cinema communities …)

training institution, lab or hub with the aim to create access to education and raise the quality of film related knowledge transfer (e.g. an innovative online platform or other tool for fair film financing, and new forms of work and cooperation, long-term cross-cultural and/or cross-disciplinary training initiative …)

community film venue, festival or distribution platform that aims to create sustainable discourse among film-loving people and change the way people get access to quality films, open discussion and free speech (e.g. a collective cinema or film club, an innovative online platform or other model for film distribution, i.e. in culturally less frequented areas)

environmental initiative with the aim to save and fairly balance human and ecological resources in the cultural sector, minimize pollution and waste, and help to develop and spread future-minded solutions to improve our environmental and social footprint (e.g. a film-related technical/entrepreneurial innovation such as “green film producing”, a long-term cultural action to achieve/increase environmental awareness and justice).

*The mentioned initiatives are only examples.

And films?

The development, production or post-production of singular film projects is not fundable. Whereas, long-term film-topic related outreach campaigns, cultural grassroots activism or initiatives to increase the impact of an already or almost finished film and its message in a wider or longer run are eligible in exceptional cases.

Conditions

The application for the Talents Footprints – Mastercard Enablement Programme will only be processed, if the applicant meets the following requirements:

  • You are an alumna/us of Berlinale Talents 2021 or 2022 or received a personal invitation (“Wild Card”) from the committee of Berlinale Talents.
  • You are the main and responsible initiator and/or key player of the proposed initiative and you invest a tangible amount of time to make the initiative happen.
  • You work in a team, which values high standards of fairness, diversity, equality (e.g. of payment), collectivity and so on.
  • All members of the team, along with legal and financial partners of the initiative are aware of and agree with your application.
  • You fill out the application form correctly and entirely in English.In the case that you are selected to participate, please be aware that some of your data, such as name, initiative title, country, website, photos, motivation video will be published on our website as provided by you.
  • You submit a complete application as well as a signed rights clearance, confirming that you own the copyright of the original idea of the initiative or have the acknowledgement of the idea owner(s).
  • You are fluent in English.

The application for the Talents Footprints – Mastercard Enablement Programme will only be processed, if the initiative meets the following requirements:

  • Your initiative has not been launched yet and is still open for development. OR, already existing initiatives need to be in their first 3 years and currently undergoing major innovation or extension.
  • Your initiative is built upon a well-researched need and therefore offers a unique approach and improvement not yet covered by other institutions in its area of activity or for your target group.
  • Your initiative is more than a “one-off event” and meant to exist at least for two or more editions/years to create synergies for a more sustainable outcome.
  • Your initiative has a clear and measurable goal, offers doable solutions, is community-minded and helps to connect people in the long run.
  • Your initiative is developed without a predominantly economic purpose and does not support a predominantly political institution or party (e.g. election campaign)

Support

For the 2023 three fellows, the Talents Footprints – Mastercard Enablement Programme comprises the following support measures:

  • 5,000 Euro cash (one-off payment) for project-related investments and practical support action.
  • 5,000 Euro mentorship credit: the actual support package is developed with the fellow at the beginning of the programme and administratively facilitated by the Berlinale Talents committee (no cash payout possible). The programme will help each fellow with an individual plan to reach the aim of the initiative.
  • Extra Mile: In order to increase sustainability also beyond the duration of the programme, the fellows can apply for additional support along with their final reports (grant sum to be based on the needs of the individual initiative). This “Extra Mile” can only be used to further develop the supported initiative and its activities and help to move the entire project into the future. It cannot be used to start a new and unrelated initiative.

Timeline

Each edition of Talents Footprints – Mastercard Enablement Programme lasts in total about 12 months, beginning with the announcement in February 2023.

Call open 5 September 2022
Deadline 5 October 2022, 12:00 noon (CEST)
Internal Notification of the 3 Fellows until mid of December 2022
Public Announcement during Berlinale Talents 2023
Networking Event during Berlinale Talents 2023
Kick-Off Mentorship by first half of March 2023
Vlogs, Follow-up and Adjustment of the Mentorship monthly (or more)
Evaluation and Final Report appr. January 2024

The Berlinale Talents organisers will name a contact person for each fellow, who can be reached via talentsfootprints@berlinale.de.

Fellowship

As a selected fellow you commit yourself …

  • to attend the announcement ceremony as well as a related networking event during the Berlinale 2023. Travel costs (economy flight only or 2nd class train tickets) and accommodation in Berlin as well as a festival accreditation for the Berlin International Film Festival 2023 will be granted. In case of further pandemic restrictions, a common sense will be agreed on between Berlinale Talents and you.
  • to actively take part in the progress and success of the entire enablement programme, which includes the initial design of the mentorship and coaching measures (via online-meeting or in person), interim reports on a regular basis, as well as a short final report and evaluation of results after 12 months.
  • to actively take part in the following communication measures, disseminated through Mastercard and Berlinale Talents social media channels: “Vlog” (short self-made mobile videos to share updates, stories and personal achievements). “Home Story” (short high-quality video portraits of the fellows to allow deeper impressions about the project owners, their personal motivations and explain the sustainable change they achieve in their local communities; produced in the 6-9 months after the announcement; production costs to be covered by the organisers).
  • to name the Talents Footprints – Mastercard Enablement Programme in the initiative’s own publications and online platforms. A logo can be provided

We thank you for your commitment!

Contact

Andrea Uhrhan, talentsfootprints@berlinale.de