Feature films from 23 countries as far flung as the Philippines, Zimbabwe, Bolivia, Iceland, Ukraine and Hong Kong are among the 30 projects selected for the first Talent Project Market at next month's Berlinale Talent Campus.

The Talent Projects were picked from 256 entries by an international jury comprising the Berlinale Co-Production Market's organiser Sonja Moerkens, Ido Abram of CineMart, Michelle Byrd of Independent Feature Project New York German distributor Stephan Holl of Rapid Eye Movies, Spanish producer Antonio Perez, and Christine Ravet, director of the Marrakesch International Film Festival.

The projects include Rumbi Katedza's Playing Warriors (Zimbabwe), Oskar Thor Axelsson's Three Times A Gentleman (USA/Iceland), Yvette Paz-Soldan's Trapped In Blue (Bolivia), Lam Yat Fung's To The Clouds (Hong Kong), Andrew and Catherine Cahn's The Real Georgia Starr (UK) and Lance Hammer's The Imperfect Cell (USA).

All of the 30 projects will be presented in the Berlinale Co-Production Market's catalogue and five are being chosen for a public pitching on 9 February to the producers and potential financiers attending the Co-Production Market.

"As a special reward, the five projects which are being publicly pitched will each receive a prize of Euros 4,000 from the VFF [collection society]," Moerkens told ScreenDaily.com, adding that UK-based producer Sandy Lieberson has been brought onboard to give the talents coaching in pitching skills before the event.