Next year's European Film Market will comfortablyaccommodate as many as 300 film companies as it decamps to its spacious newhome at the historic Martin-Grobius-Bau, a ten-minute walk away from thefestival's Palast nexus.

Atpresent, 170 sales outfits and umbrella organisations are housed in crampedquarters at the Debis building, with another fifty or so companies doingbusiness from nearby hotels such as the Hyatt.

Now fully restored to its late 19th CenturyRenaissance glory, the Martin Gropius stands beside the last remaining fragmentof the Berlin Wall and is directly opposite Berlin's House ofRepresentatives, where the European Co-Production Market takes place.

Beki Probst, EFM's market director, showed off the newfacilities as a "work-in-progress" yesterday to an impressedindustry audience that included her counterparts at both the American FilmMarket (IFTA's chief Jean Prewitt) and Cannes (Marche director JeromePaillard).

Their presence, suggested Probst, indicates that, "weare acting in a friendly manner. We are not killing each other - this isa good sign."

The Martin-Grobius offers 3,588 square meters of net spaceto rent out as industry sales booths and stands over two floors. This is more than twice theavailability at the Debis.

The central atrium-like hall will be turned into alounge-like meeting space. In addition to a 200-seat in-house theatre (forwhich Probst has her own programming plans), the facility will incorporate 20so-called mini-cinemas to allow a handful of interested buyers to view producton their own viewing schedules.

A shuttle service will be provided to ferry executivesbetween the Martin-Gropius - which is used year-round as a luxuriousexhibition hall - and the necklace of screening rooms used by the EFM.

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