A Coffee at Sundance with EFP‘s Managing Director Sonja Heine

THE FILM VERDICT: The EFP has been attending Sundance for a few years now. What trends have you observed for European films making their premiere in Sundance? Do you see any common themes or tendencies?

SONJA HEINE: Yes, definitely. One very good trend: European films are doing really well at Sundance. For example, last year sixty-six percent of the European films screened at Sundance were sold, which is fantastic. Sundance is a very competitive festival, and of course we always wish there were even more European films in the programme. But Sundance is a unique platform for European premieres – not only for the festival audience, but especially for North American buyers.

TFV: During Sundance the EUROPE! HUB holds many activities and events to bring filmmakers together. How do you measure the impact and success of these events? What details can you give regarding this year’s activities?

S.H.: Our main goal with the EUROPE! HUB at Sundance is to create awareness for the diversity of European filmmaking. This is truly part of our DNA, because we represent film promotion institutes from thirty-seven countries. And each year, some of them support us with financing the Hub. This year, the Slovenian Film Center, Screen Ireland and German Films are supporting us – and of course Creative Europe MEDIA as our main funder.

We are proud of the European filmmakers whose films are screened at Sundance, and we are happy to support them with promotion and networking. We also want to offer a space where Europeans can meet the North American industry (and other international guests) attending the festival – and vice versa. The Hub serves also as a “one-stop-shop for all things European” – usually filmmakers and producers from outside Europe come there to ask how they could work with Europe. It is open all day from Thursday to Monday, and everyone is welcome to come by for meetings, networking, coffee, or simply to warm up ?.

Measuring success is not always easy, because the films are not ours. We are not selling them – we can just try to be useful for the filmmakers, producers and sales companies who do. But we can boost visibility, create connections, and help films travel further. We make films discoverable for buyers and festival programmers, for example through curated exclusive online showcases before the festival, and with targeted promotion measures. After the festival, we collect feedback from filmmakers, sales companies and buyers – and that gives us a very good picture of what worked well. For us, success means putting European films in the spotlight and helping the European industry to be visible, accessible and competitive.

TFV: The current climate in the United States is quite different from previous years. Has it affected Europeans wanting to attend Sundance?

S.H.: So far, we cannot say that. Sundance is an excellent festival, and filmmakers are always very proud when their film is selected.

TFV: After Sundance, what is your next stop? What can you tell us about EFP’s 2026 plans?

S.H.: Of course, happy to! Next, we are very excited to introduce the new EUROPEAN SHOOTING STARS at the Berlinale – ten of Europe’s top upcoming talents who are already well-known in their home territories and now absolutely ready to work internationally.

After that, we continue with EUROPE! DOCS at CPH:DOX and then go to FILMART Hong Kong, where we will run another EUROPE! HUB for European sales companies at the market.

Then we focus on Latin America, where we present the Latin American Critics Awards for European Films, to increase the visibility of European cinema and its diversity across Latin America. The jury is made up of 33 Latin American film critics from 13 different countries, selecting the winning film in an online process from submissions from multiple European countries.

Then it is PRODUCERS ON THE MOVE time again: we will introduce 20 promising producers for international co-production at Cannes – from 20 different countries.

After that, we go to Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, with which we have been collaborating for many years. There, we proudly present the next generation of filmmakers from all over Europe in our programme FUTURE FRAMES.

And after that… there is of course more to come from Europe. We love bringing the best of Europe to the international industry – and we are definitely not running out of exciting talent anytime soon.

TFV: Any favorite spot that you enjoy while attending Sundance?

S.H.: Absolutely: our EUROPE! HUB at The Yarrow Doubletree Hilton. Please come by – we will save you a coffee. ?