March 9-12, Malmö’s m:brane youth market celebrates its second decade in times of transition

For the kick-off of its 20th edition, Annette Brejner, m:brane founder as well as its Creative Director, has prepared an elaborate programme for this year’s Opening Industry Conference, playing out March 10. Predominantly dedicated to “transitional” means of expression, the reccurring keyword is seen in the items “Crossing Screens”, Crossing Spaces”, “Crossing Play”, “Crossing Tools”, “Crossing Futures”, and “Crossing Worlds”.

“Without a doubt, we’re in a transitional phase at the moment, with formats like immersive, XR, VR, dome, AI, and the likes,” reflects Brejner. “We’ve been approached by several developers in this field with interest in interaction with a younger audience. Which certainly makes a lot of sense, as the true inheritors of these formats are indeed the young ones. We’ve engaged in very inspiring dialogues, and the conference will no doubt show for it.”

Speakers and contributors cover wide ground as well as territory, with several Canadian participants taking the stage. This year’s keynote presenter Jeanne Dompierre, Executive Director at Xn Québec and Co-Producer of NUMIX LAB, a prominent unifier of the creative digital sector, will address “the power of immersive and interactive storytelling” in order to “participate meaningfully in democratic life”. Her compatriots Julie Dalbec, seasoned content producer and consultant, and multimedia entrepreneur Denys Lavigne, co-founder of the OASIS Immersion group, will venture into a variety of screen-based storytelling “beyond the flat frame”, exploring works of literature, music and gaming, all given new forms and dimensions.

“Without any doubt, Canada has seen the potential of these new forms of media; especially in the Quebec region they really create some mindboggling things, things that resonate really well with the m:brane mindset,” says Brejner of this seemingly unexpected, but highly fruitful transatlantic connection. “I feel a shared mentality with both an element of harmony as well as some differing perspectives that should enrich both ways. It’s a liaison that will only grow with time, I can assure you.”

Other participants at the conference include the Luxembourg-based VR creators director-producer team Lilia Paul and David Houston, Norway’s Julie L. Parisi of the Oslo MUNCH museum, Swedish gaming guru Björn Flintberg of the RISE research institute, Danish director and AI innovator Iris Magdalene Schmidt, and Clara Sætren of the Nordic Animation Association. A handpicked panel, co-courtesy of Christine Reisen of The European Science Film Association, ESFA, will conclude the day with the aspiringly titled “Think Big – Next Stop: Full Dome”, where Micky Remann, International Jena FullDome Festival, Germany; Swedish immersive director Fredrik Edström; German-Italian and Sweden-based director Costanza Julia Bani; and French director Renaud Pourpre will explore new perceptual worlds.

Annette Brejner refers to the programme as “on the edge of the frontier”, and greatly anticipates some minds in the auditorium opening up along the way.

“I feel it’s one of our strongest years, I’ll dare to wager,” says Brejner of the 2026 m:brane edition. “That goes for the conference, for the REALYOUNG workshop, and for the pitch projects. Why, one may wonder? I think part of it lies in our increasing visibility in various branches of the industry – more and more people are quite simply aware of us. There’s also the very fortunate outcome of last year’s focus on Denmark. We’ve received an impressive number of Danish pitch projects this year, of very high quality. We almost had to say ‘Come on, guys, we have to let some other countries in as well’! So that effect was quite amazing.”

A total of 26 projects from 15 countries have been selected to pitch during m:brane 2026, with two dynamic session days taking place March 11 and 12. Denmark is by far the most frequently represented nation, with involvement in eleven of the entries, and Nordic participation can be also be seen through Finland, Norway and Sweden, main or co-producers of three titles each. Other projects stem from continental Europe, UK and North America, including, of course, Canada. 20 of the projects are fiction, and 6 are documentaries, a genre especially dear to m:brane – also evident in the REALYOUNG workshop for projects in early development, where two additional projects have been selected.

Around 200 international professionals, including decision makers, industry insiders and experts, are expected at m:brane for its 20th edition, a number duly and appropriately celebrated this year via assorted festive treats provided by Annette Brejner, her constant partner in operation Managing Director Lennart Ström, and their able team. Because there’s certainly cause, she again reflects.

“If you had told me in 2007 that I would do this thing twenty times… I couldn’t in my wildest imagination envision that it would come to this. But at the same time, there’s been some themes and phenomena appearing, as well as some people we’ve connected with through the years, things and persons that have just jelled quite organically into our concept. Yes, things have just fallen into place. And there are still quite a lot of white spots on the map to explore, I feel.”

To all things m:brane, including conference deep dives and all pitch projects CLICK HERE.