a graduate of German and Russian at the University of Durham (UK), Martin Blaney received a doctorate for his dissertation on the relationship between the German film and television industries at the University of Bath in 1988. Since then, he has lived and worked in Germany as a journalist, translator and panel moderator for international festivals and industry events throughout Europe. In 1990, he became a correspondent for the British film industry trade magazine Screen International covering German-speaking territories andEastern Europe and has also written for such publications KINO: German Film, German Films Quarterly, Blickpunkt: Film and Europa Cinemas Newsletter. In addition to his journalistic activities, Dr. Blaney has been a jury member at numerous film festivals and served as the moderator for roundtables and pitching fora in Berlin, Venice, Locarno, Cottbus, Moscow, Sofia, Odesa and Yerevan, among others.