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Before I go on, I need to say that it’s 12am, I`m in the hostel lobby which has been taken over by the Berlinale Talent Campus people. To my left, there’s a Jordanian, in his slippers and comfy pants, who has transformed his corner into a small office. To my right, there are a few people exercising Russian, confronting their maps of Berlin. It’s been already three days in the capital of the "poor but sexy". All 350 of us are heavily populating the means of transport of Berlin (mainly bus M41), traveling from one lecture to another. And it does feel like a marathon, when you’re in line to get the tickets for the lectures you think are best, then find the place itself (different streets, same neighborhood). And don’t even get me started on events that get sold out before 9 am. Those among us that are more ambitious, even get to see a film every other day.

When they created the Berlin Talent Campus 9 years ago, the basic idea was to give young filmmakers a chance to meet the professionals. To meet and interact those who have been already working in the industry. Today, there’s more than that going on. The team is composed of directors, cinematographers, producers, sound designers, screenwriters, actors, editors, art directors and film critics (long list, huh?). All these people line-up (well, those that leave their beds, early enough) in the morning, get their tickets, and off they go, to the next big lecture.

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The lectures cover a variety of subjects that might interest not only directors, but also editors, cinematographers and actors. At the end of the lecture, there’s Q&A, or a cup of tea at the bar with the lecturer, depending on how well the lecture went. There’s speed matching sessions, which provide a fast and dynamic interaction between, basically, directors and everyone else. Three minutes (that’s how long a meeting lasts) is not enough, but it’s just the time you need to exchange business cards and continue the conversation in the hallway, half an hour later.

One of the main events of the Talent Campus is the Dine&Shine. This means that if you confirm your participation early enough, you get to sit at a table, eat and drink with different producers, festival programmers and other people you’ve been trying to hunt down for the past years. And if you’re able to get past the awkward situation (where you feel you simply have to unofficially pitch something, anything you might have), then things actually might blend into a nice evening. That blends into a nice week. That blends into a… well, you get the point. There’s three more days and nights of the Campus. Plenty to live and write about.