"Tomorrows Versus Yesterdays. How Creatives Can Fix the Future" – visionary Andrew Keen to speak at Berlinale’s EFM Horizon event

Five-day Horizon programme at the European Film Market to shed light on the future of the film and media industries

Andrew Keen, bestselling author, "The Antichrist of Silicon Valley", and one of the first to point out the dangers of the internet for culture and society, will speak at the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival, Berlinale, as part of the European Film Market’s Horizon programme. He will talk about the creative industries' potential to shape the 21st century for the better. The event is presented by THE ARTS+, Frankfurter Buchmesse’s (14-18 October 2020) innovation platform, in cooperation with the digital conference DLD, and will take place on 25 February 2020 at 10 a.m. in Berlin, Germany, at Berliner Freiheit (Berliner Freiheit 2, 10785 Berlin).

The world as we know it is changing. Globalisation, digitisation, crisis of democracy, growing economic inequality, migration, climate change, the rise of nationalistic and extremist standpoints – these all pose challenges to the world community in unknown dimensions. What opportunities does technology offer here and what role can creatives play? This is one of the key questions that Andrew Keen is going to address in his keynote speech "Tomorrows Versus Yesterdays. How Creatives Can Fix the Future". The world-renowned thought leader will discuss the role of culture and media in the struggle for a better future.

Andrew Keen is an author, filmmaker and podcaster. He has written five best-selling books, is the host of the award-winning podcast series Keen On and the director of the upcoming movie How To Fix Democracy. For his book How to Fix the Future (to be published in March) and the film Tomorrows Versus Yesterdays he has interviewed technology’s smartest thinkers in search of possible solutions to the challenges of our age.

"I am both thrilled and honoured to make the Frankfurter Buchmesse keynote address at Berlinale’s EFM Horizon programme. As a writer, podcaster and aspiring film maker myself, I’m a huge fan of the cultural reach and economic significance of the international film industry. And so, I very much look forward to laying out my vision in Berlin of how all media creatives can both prosper in our disruptive age and contribute to making the world a better place", says Andrew Keen about his appearance on stage.

The event is part of the CREATE YOUR REVOLUTION initiative (www.cyr.world(opens in a new window)), which promotes freedom of expression and democratic values. In 2019, Frankfurter Buchmesse – together with the United Nations, Spreadshop, ARTE and the German Publishers and Booksellers Association – launched this initiative and has since then been giving cultural activists and creative professionals a voice to make their commitment visible and thus stand up for a new age of hope – just as the United Nations demand with their Sustainable Development Goals.

The five-day Horizon programme of the European Film Market (21-25 February 2020, at Berliner Freiheit, www.efm-horizon.com(opens in a new window)) sheds light on the future of the film and media industry. Sustainability, well-being, diversity, storytelling, artificial intelligence and immersive media are the focus of this year's edition. The programme will open on Friday, February 21, with the presentation of the 7th Nostradamus Report – under the title A Creative Explosion by Johanna Koljonen, author of the Gothenburg Film Festival's annual report.

While up to now only participants of the European Film Market have been able to attend the diverse programme of EFM Horizon, this year EFM Horizon opens up for the first time to additional participants from the creative industries. Selected events, such as the keynote with Andrew Keen, can be visited with a special priced limited ticket(opens in a new window). Find further information here: www.eventbrite.de(opens in a new window)

About Frankfurter Buchmesse
Frankfurter Buchmesse is the international publishing industry’s biggest trade fair – with over 7,450 exhibitors from 104 countries, more than 300,000 visitors, over 4,000 events and some 10,000 accredited journalists and bloggers in attendance. It is the most important international marketplace for content – from novels and children’s books to academic databases and stories for films, games and virtual reality experiences. Publishing professionals from around the world meet here with partners from the technology sector and from related creative and cultural industries, sparking new partnerships and business models. A strong conference programme ensures that Frankfurter Buchmesse is a major source of inspiration for content experts from around the world. Since 1976, the book fair has featured an annual Guest of Honour country, which showcases its book market, literature and culture to attendees in a variety of ways. Frankfurter Buchmesse organises the participation of German publishers at around 20 international book fairs and hosts trade events throughout the year in major international markets. Frankfurter Buchmesse is a subsidiary of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German Publishers & Booksellers Association). www.buchmesse.de/en(opens in a new window)

About DLD
DLD (Digital, Life, Design) is Hubert Burda Media’s global network on innovation, digitization, science and culture. It stages conferences that connect business, creative and social leaders, opinion-formers and influencers for crossover conversation and inspiration. Its managing director is Steffi Czerny, who founded the DLD Conference in 2005. DLD’s marquee conference is held annually in Munich, Germany, and gathers more than 1,500 leading opinion-makers and innovators from all over the world. The DLD conference focuses on how the internet is transforming markets, media, arts and society and was named ‘one of the two most important innovation conferences in Europe’ by The Economist. Previous DLD conference speakers include Satya Nadella (Microsoft), Reed Hastings (Netflix), Travis Kalanick (Uber), Jan Koum (WhatsApp), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Eric Schmidt (Google), Evan Spiegel (Snap), Tristan Harris (Center for Humane Technology), Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jody Williams, Princeton professor Dan Kahneman, genomic researcher Craig Venter, bestselling authors Deepak Chopra and Paulo Coelho as well as the architects Zaha Hadid, Norman Foster and Rem Koolhaas.
DLD Media stages Europe's leading digital conference DLD in Munich, DLD Singapore, DLD Europe in Brussels and DLD Tel Aviv. In addition, DLD launched a conference series at German universities called DLD Campus in 2017. Besides these conferences, DLD gathers creative and social leaders, opinion-formers and influencers around the globe at the networking events DLD Salons in cities like Palo Alto, Brisbane, Tokio, London, Moskau, Barcelona and Los Angeles. www.dld.co(opens in a new window)

About EFM Horizon
EFM Horizon is a five-day programme at the European Film Market, shining a light onto the future of the film and media business, offering navigation through times of transformation and reorganisation of the entertainment landscape. Keynotes, talks, presentations, interviews and interactive workshops full of inspiration, thought-provoking ideas, and shared insights - reflecting on latest social, artistic, technological and economic developments with an interdisciplinary approach. www.efm-horizon.com (opens in a new window)

Contact for the media:
Press & Corporate Communication, Frankfurter Buchmesse
Katja Böhne, Vice President Marketing & Communications, Phone: +49 (0) 69 2102-138(opens in a new window),
press@buchmesse.de(opens in a new window)
Tina Peifer, PR Manager, Tel.: +49 (0) 69 2102-271(opens in a new window), pfeifer@buchmesse.de(opens in a new window)

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