Avant Première 2026: That's a Wrap

From 14–18 February, Berlin hosted the IMZ's flagship market Avant Première, drawing 330 organisations across 40+ countries, with ARD, ARTE, Deutsche Grammophon, the EBU, London Symphony Orchestra, NHK, Unitel, ZDF and many more all in one room.

The screening programme was, as always, the beating heart of the week, with 500 productions from 60+ companies, spanning opera films, concert documentaries, dance pieces and everything in between.

The Faces of Carmen followed 28-year-old soprano Aigul Akhmetshina as she tackled the iconic role in five different productions within a single year. Then there was the portrait of Brigitte Fassbaender, mezzo-soprano, director, and one of the great figures of 20th-century opera, tracing a career that has shaped generations of performers. An intimate documentary on pianist Louis Philippson put a spotlight on the personal cost of early success: the pressure, the sacrifice, and what it really means to be called a prodigy.

Attendees also had the chance to catch films and conversations with Kirill Gerstein and Sheku Kanneh-Mason.

Panels ranged from Opera 2.0: Interactive, Immersive, International to the realities of AI: copyright, content generation, ethics. A VR + Immersive Tech Showcase let attendees get hands-on with extended reality in performing arts storytelling, while the IMZ Documentary Pitching Session awarded a €5,000 prize to Hannah Berryman and Peter Worsley (PJPictures) for Bodies Never Lie: The Margot Fonteyn Story.

Brigitte Fassbaender received IMZ Honorary Membership, a well-deserved nod to her extraordinary influence on performing arts on screen. The Golden Showreel recognised production excellence across the market, with wins for klangmalerei.tv, 3B-Produktion, Accentus Music, and ORF.

After 11 editions in Berlin, Avant Première is heading to the city of music, Vienna. Mark your calendars and see you there 30 January – 3 February 2027.