Screen International Berlin 2018 Day 5 by Media Business Insight

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MONDAY FEBRUARY 19 2018

AT BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL www.ScreenDaily.com

The Wise Ones

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Jailers

TODAY

SCREENINGS

» From page 28

Above Justice

SERIES SHOWCASE FIRST EDITION

COME TO KNOW BRAZIL’S BEST SERIES February 20th - Tuesday - 6 pm Zoo Palast 4

Admission: Market Badge Only

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Under Pressure

13 Days Away From the Sun

City of Men 15/02/18 7:28 PM

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19 2018

TODAY

AT BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL www.ScreenDaily.com

Hüller goes into Exil with Erdmann team BY MARTIN BLANEY

Sandra Hüller, the award-winning star of Maren Ade’s Toni Erdmann, will reunite with the film’s producer Komplizen Film as the female lead in Kosovo-born director Visar Morina’s second feature, Exil. Speaking exclusively with Screen, producer Jonas Dornbach revealed that principal photography is set to begin in Germany this autumn. Described as “a fascinating thriller about paranoia and identity”, Exil had been nominated as one of the three finallists for this year’s Golden Lola for best unfilmed screenplay. German state minister for culture and media Monika Grütters announced at a ceremony at the weekend that Morina was the winner of the Lola statuette, with a cash prize of $12,400 (¤10,000) and the option to receive up to another $24,800 (¤20,000) in funding to complete his screenplay. Previous winners include Good Bye, Lenin!, Sonnenallee and this year’s Competition film In The Aisles (In den Gängen), which stars Hüller opposite European Shooting Star Franz Rogowski. Morina rose to international prominence in 2015 with his feature debut Babai, which won three prizes at Munich International Film Festival and picked up the best director award at Karlovy Vary.

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The Bookshop opens and flies off the shelves BY ELISABET CABEZA

Isabel Coixet’s Goya-winning The Bookshop, which received its international premiere in Berlinale Special, has sparked a raft of deals here. Celsius Entertainment has licensed rights for Italy (Movies Inspired); Hungary (Cirko Film); Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile (CDI Films); Colombia (Cine Colombia); and Iceland (Samfilm). Screen understands final negotiations are in progress for the US,

Luxembourg producer Alexandra Hoesdorff and top Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy are teaming up on Sawah, the first co-production between their countries. The comedy-drama revolves around the adventures of Egyptian DJ Samir, who is wrongly arrested as an illegal immigrant in Belgium. In a bizarre twist, he is placed in the custody of a local kebab seller, who in turn is in trouble with the

and talks are ongoing for Canada, Scandinavia, Poland and China. The Bookshop, which stars Emily Mortimer as a woman who causes a stir in a 1950s English town, went to Portugal (Outsider Films) and Israel (Forum) shortly before the EFM, and was previously licensed for a slew of other countries, including Germany (Capelight) and the UK (Vertigo). Speaking to Screen, Coixet revealed fresh details about her upcoming HBO series, which will

shoot in Spanish as soon as she completes her next feature, Elisa And Marcela, for Rodar y Rodar, La Nube, Zenit Producciones and Netflix. “The project I’m developing for HBO is based on a script of mine, a love story, something that makes sense to tell in 30-minute episodes,” the Spanish writer-director said. Elisa And Marcela shoots in the spring in Spain. It is based on the true story of two women who get married in Galicia in 1901 after one of them disguises herself as a man.

BAFTAS 2018 Get the full run-down on last night’s ceremony » See Screendaily.com

REVIEW Profile Timur Bekmambetov’s Isis bride thriller crackles with tension » Page 8

FEATURE French sales scene How France’s sales sector is going from strength to strength. » Page 16

SCREENINGS

» From page 28

Ice gets skates on for China BY GEOFFREY MACNAB

Camilla Morandi

Fedor Bondarchuk and Dmitry Rudovsky’s Moscow-based Arts Pictures Studio has closed a major Chinese deal for its figure-skating melodrama and fresh local boxoffice hit Ice, screening here. The film, about a Russian skater, has gone to Airspeed, which will release it this spring on more than 20,000 screens. CCTV took TV rights and iQiyi handles VoD. Ice has also sold to Baltic (ACME Film); former Yugoslavia (Dexin Film); Latin America (Brazil-based Sato Co); and French-speaking Europe (Trade Media).

Baihe Bai of box-ofﬁce smash Monster Hunt 2 with co-star Wuba at the Berlinale Special gala last night

Film Clinic and Deal team up on Sawah for co-production first BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW

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head of the local traveller community. A madcap 48 hours ensues. Alexandria-born Adolf El Assal directs and co-wrote the screenplay. The film is set mainly in Luxembourg, with some scenes taking place in Cairo and Belgium. Hoesdorff ’s Deal Productions is lead producer on Sawah, with Hefzy recently coming on board as co-producer via Film Clinic. Hefzy and Film Clinic’s Daniel Ziskind are in attendance at the EFM for meetings about road movie Yomeddine.

True Colours makes splash BY GABRIELE NIOLA

Jalali prepares Grenfell feature London-based Iranian filmmaker Babak Jalali, whose latest feature Land premiered in Panorama last night, is preparing a new fictional film based on last summer’s Grenfell Tower disaster in the UK. A Town In Patagonia (working title) takes place in Abruzzo, Italy, but the inspiration comes from the tragic events in London that resulted in more than 70 deaths. The story follows two elderly men who witness the Grenfell blaze on TV. The block they inhabit is similar to

the one in London and one of them has already lost his partner in an earthquake. Jalali is co-writing the screenplay with Carolina Cavalli. “I found Grenfell astonishing,” Jalali said. “The whole Brexit thing was happening. It was ‘foreigner this, foreigner that’ — based on fear.” Jalali and Cavalli have also written another project that Jalali will direct. Fremont (working title) centres on an Afghan translator who relocates to San Francisco. Geoffrey Macnab

Italy’s True Colours has licensed deals on Ferzan Ozpetek’s thriller Naples In Veils for Germany and German-speaking territories (Prokino); Poland (Aurora); former Yugoslavia and Albania (Stars Media). Swallow Wings acquired Taiwan before the EFM. Comedy hit Like A Cat On A Highway has gone to Spain (Caramel Films) and Greece (Weirdwave). Weirdwave and First Run (South Korea) took Sky-produced docudrama Michelangelo — Endless. Comedy I’m Back has gone to Greece (Seven Films), while Alfa Pictures will distribute comedy The Family House in Spain.

NEWS

BY GEOFFREY MACNAB

Adriana Chiesa has confirmed a number of deals on her EFM slate, led by a pre-sale of road movie My Name Is Thomas by spaghetti western icon Terence Hill to KSM for Germany. Chiesa has also secured a Chinese deal with DDDream on Water And Sugar, about her late husband Carlo Di Palma, the legendary Italian cinematographer. At the EFM, Chiesa is presenting Roberta Torre’s Bloody Richard (Riccardo Va All’Inferno), a musical version of Shakespeare’s Richard III that will play at Moscow International Festival in April. Medusa handled the Italian release.

Astrid writes up strong sales for TrustNordisk BY WENDY MITCHELL

TrustNordisk has closed deals on Pernille Fischer Christensen’s Becoming Astrid, ahead of the drama’s world premiere as a Berlinale Special Gala on Wednesday. The sales agent has licensed rights for China (DDDream); Benelux (September); Baltics (Estin); Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan (International Movie Distribution/Capella); and Czech Republic and Slovakia (Cinemart).

Becoming Astrid stars Alba August — an EFP Shooting Star — as a young Astrid Lindgren (who would later write the Pippi Longstocking books), and examines a little-known chapter in the author’s life when she gave birth to a son and had to give him up. The cast includes Trine Dyrholm, Magnus Krepper, Maria Bonnevie and Henrik Rafaelsen. Anna Anthony and Maria Dahlin of Avanti Film produced

Genesis lights up for US, UK Toronto-based DDI has licensed deals on sci-fi Genesis, led by a US sale to Vertical Entertainment and a UK sale to Lionsgate. Jason Moring and his team have also sold the film to Lemon Tree Media for China and Zazie Films for Japan. Genesis marks the third feature to hail from UK writerdirector duo Bart Ruspoli and Freddie Hutton-Mills, and is the first in a trilogy. Sheetal Vinod Talwar of Vistaar DWC produced alongside Ruspoli and Hutton-Mills. Jeremy Kay

with Lars G Lindström of Nordisk Film Production Sweden. Swedish Film Institute provided funding. Becoming Astrid marks Fischer Christensen’s fourth feature to screen in Berlin, a run that began with her 2006 debut A Soap, which won the Silver Bear. The director told Screen: “I love Astrid’s books, but she’s not untouchable. I want to tell this story about her as a human being, a woman, what she fights for.”

Bac Films has unveiled the first image of Matthias Schoenaerts and Reda Kateb in French director David Oelhoffen’s thriller Close Enemies. The pair play childhood friends whose lives have gone in radically different directions. Manuel (Schoenaerts) chose a life of crime, while Driss (Kateb) joined the police. The One World Films thriller is in post. Melanie Goodfellow

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Chiesa lands EFM deals and brings musical

Bac Films

Cinetic scores hat-trick with Abacus, Blaze and Cecil BY JEREMY KAY

Cinetic International has licensed three titles at the EFM to Scandinavian distributor NonStop: Abacus: Small Enough To Jail by Steve James; Love, Cecil by Lisa Immordino Vreeland; and Ethan Hawke’s Blaze.

2 Screen International at Berlin February 19, 2018

Cinetic head of international Jason Ishikawa negotiated the deals with NonStop CEO Jakob Abrahamsson. Blaze premiered in Sundance last month and earned the special jury acting prize for Ben Dickey. A US deal is expected shortly.

Financial crisis documentary Abacus earned an Oscar nomination last month and has also sold to Dogwoof in the UK. Documentary Love, Cecil premiered at Telluride and was released by Studiocanal in the UK and Germany.

BERLIN BRIEFS Gangsta goes to Japan Indie Sales has licensed Belgian box-office smash Gangsta to Clockworx in Japan and Apollo Films in France. The crime story has generated more than 333,000 admissions in Dutchspeaking Benelux.

Less Is More list selected Ten projects have been selected for the second Less Is More development programme backed by Creative Europe. The scheme is open to teams producing their first, second or third features, and also encourages submissions from theatre, documentary and the wider visual arts world.

Duo join Qumra masters Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell and US director Bennett Miller have been named as the final two masters at the Doha Film Institute’s talent and project event Qumra, running March 9-14.

Basketball film nets deals Central Partnership has confirmed deals for Russian basketball film Three Seconds with Beijing Airmita in China and Mediaset in Spain. The film is the all-time secondranked performer at the Russian box office behind Avatar.

Last Witness sees sales UK sales outfit GFM has secured two key deals on wartime political thriller The Last Witness, licensing eOne for the US and Signature Films for the UK. Alex Pettyfer stars in the film by Piotr Szkopiak.

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official selection

museum Museo

Dir. Alonso Ruizpalacios Mexico

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Berlinale Palast (Press Screening) Berlinale Palast (Premiere) Friedrichstadt-Palast Haus der Berliner Festspiele Friedrichstadt-Palast International

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FILMS FROM ISRAEL

NEWS

AT THE BERLINALE 2018 GENERATION 14 PLUS

RED COW (PARA ADUMA) Director: Tsvia Barkai Yacov Producers: Itai Tamir Co Producers: Ronen Ben Tal, Ami Livne Production: Laila Films Sales Contact: Itai Tamir, Laila Films Email: laila.films2010@gmail.com SUN FEB 18 17:00 HKW (PREMIERE) TUE FEB 20 15:30 CUBIX 8 FRI FEB 23 13:30 CINEMAXX3 SUN FEB 25 15:30 FILMTHEATER AM FRIEDRICHSHAIN

BERLINALE CLASSICS

MON FEB 19 21:30 CINEMAXX 8 SUN FEB 25 19:00 CINEMAXX 8

BERLINALE SERIES SLEEPING BEARS Director: Keren Margalit Producers: Eilon Ratzkovsky, Ezequiel Sakson, Yochanan Kredo, Guy Jacoel, Lisa Shiloach Uzrad, Yossi Uzrad Production: July August Productions World Sales: Keshet International Email: Alona.Blank@keshet-tv.com MON FEB 19 16:15 ZOO PALAST 2 (EPISODES 1&2) MARKET SCREENINGS: WED FEB 21 17:45 ZOO PALAST 3 (EPISODES 1&2) TUE FEB 20 10:00 ZOO PALEST 5

BERLINALE SHORTS (III) THE MEN BEHIND THE WALL Director / Producer / Production: Ines Moldavsky, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Sales Contact: Ines Moldavsky / ines.Moldavsky@gmail.com SUN FEB 18 16:00 CINEMAXX 5 TUE FEB 20 16:00 CINEMAXX 5 WED FEB 21 17:30 COLOSSEUM 1 FRI FEB 23 21:30 CINEMAXX 3

MARKET SCREENINGS FATHER Sales: Transfax Film Prodfuctions / sales@transfax.co.il TUE FEB 20 15:30 CINEMAXX 11 MADAM YANKELOVA’S FINE LITERATURE CLUB Production & World Sales: Transfax Films Productions TUE FEB 20 11:00 CINEMAXX 17 LOVE BIRDS Production & World Sales: Transfax Films Productions sales@transfax.co.il MON FEB 19 19:25 CINEMAXX 19 ANTENNA Production & World Sales: Transfax Films Productions sales@transfax.co.il MON FEB 19 09:45 PARLIAMENT STUDIO BEFORE MY FEET TOUCH THE GROUND World Sales: Go2Films info@go2films.com SUN FEB 18 16:00 PARLIAMENT STUDIO DOUBTFUL World Sales: Go2Films / info@go2films.com SUN FEB 18 18:45 CINEMAXX17 AN ISRAELI LOVE STORY World Sales: Go2Film / info@go2films.com TUE FEB 20 09:30 CINEMAXX 12 CHILDREN OF THE FALL World Sales: Eyewell / Michael Werner / m.werner@eyewell.se / www.eyewell.se THU FEB 15 18:30 CINEMAXX 15 DRIVER World Sales: Beta Cinema / www.betacinema.com / beta@betacinema.com FRI FEB 16 12:30 CINEMAXX 16 MON FEB 19 09:00 CINEMAXX 11 VIRGINS World Sales: Pyramide Films / www.pyramide films.com / distribution@pyramidefilms.com FRI FEB 16 12:30 CINEMAXX 14 MON FEB 19 11:20 CINEMAXX 17 THE OSLO DIARIES World Sales: Submarine Entertainment / www.submarine .com / info@submarine.com FRI FEB 16 11:00 CINEMAXX 15 THE COUSIN World Sales: Bleiberg Entertainment / www.bleibergent.com / sales@bleibergent.com FRI FEB 16 15:05 CINEMAXX 19 MON FEB 19 16:45 PARLIAMENT STUDIO SHELTER World Sales: Beta Cinema / www.betacinema.com / beta@betacinema.com THU FEB 15 13:10 CINEMAXX 14 SUN FEB 18 10:50 CINEMAXX 14 LONGING World Sales: Films Boutique / www.filmsboutique.de / contact@filmsboutique.com SAT FEB 17 13:35 CINEMAXX 13 ISRAEL FILM FUND / TEL: 972 3 562 8180, FAX: 972 3 562 5992 / INFO@FILMFUND.CO.IL / WWW.FILMFUND.ORG.IL THE YEHOSHUA RABINOVICH FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS / CINEMA PROJECT / INFO@CINEMAPROJECT.ORG.IL TEL: +972-3-5255020, +972-3-5254920 / FAX: +972-3-5255130 / WWW.CINEMAPROJECT.ORG.IL Ministry of Culture and Sport

4 Screen International at Berlin February 19, 2018

BY GEOFFREY MACNAB

Further casting and fin ancing have been con firmed on Thor Klein’s Adventures Of A Mathematician, for which Mongrel Media is handling inter national sales at EFM. Rising young Irish actor Sam Keeley, a Screen International Star of Tomorrow in 2014, has joined the cast and will play US mathema tician Jack Calkin alongside Jakub Gierszal as Polish mathematician Stan Ulam. Adventures Of A Mathematician centres on Polish immigrant Ulam, who helped develop the hydro gen bomb and worked on

BERLIN BRIEFS Online fund opens Creative Europe – MEDIA has called for submissions for its Promotion of European Works Online fund, aimed at financing the development of business models for the distribution of European audiovisual works. Previous recipients include UK-based VoD platform Mubi. The deadline for applications is April 5, and recipients will be announced in July.

Yves Salmon

LIFE ACCORDING TO AGFA (HA-CHAIM AL-PI AGFA) Director: Assi Dayan Producers: Yoram Kislev, Rafi Bukaee Restoration by Jerusalem Cinematheque - Israel Film Archive, in cooperation with United King Films, Ramat Hasharon, Israel and the support of the Israel Film Fund Contact: Jerusalem Cinematheque, Israel Film Archive, Daniel Cohen Email: daniel@jff.org.il

Maths biopic adds up with Mongrel

Sam Keeley

the first computer while dealing with huge upheaval in his private life. Lena Vurma of German outfit Dragonfly Films is the lead producer alongside Mary Young Leckie of Solo Productions and Joanna Szymanska of Shipsboy.

The producers aim to greenlight the project next month and begin shooting in mid-June in Germany, Poland and New Mexico. The film is being put together as a German-Polish-Canadian co-production. Mongrel will handle the Canadian release.

Spotlight Pictures’ Juggernaut rolls in BY JEREMY KAY

LA-based Spotlight Pic tures has launched inter national sales on revenge thriller Juggernaut starring Jack Kesy (12 Strong, Deadpool 2, Death Wish). Amanda Crew, David Cubitt, Stephen McHattie a n d Pe t e r Mc Ro b b i e also star in the film from writer-director Daniel DiMarco.

Matthew Cervi produced Juggernaut through Mad Samurai Productions. Ben Silverman, Dave Valleau, Rich Mento and Jason Upton are executive producers. The film was developed through the Harold Green berg Fund, Telefilm Canada and Creative BC, with pro duction financing support from Telefilm Canada and the Harold Greenberg Fund.

Jacko back in mirror DocMode, the documentary arm of Clay Epstein’s Film Mode Entertainment, has launched worldwide sales here on Kalliope Films’ Mirroring Michael Jackson and is screening footage. Kalliope’s Kira Madallo Sesay produces the film, which follows the lives of Jackson tribute artists. The late performer’s bass player, Alex Al, composed and produced the score with Pete Merriweather.

» Full stories on ScreenDaily.com

Evolutionary in tune with Lennon BY TOM GRATER

UK-based finance, produc tion and sales outfit Evolu tionary Films has closed a slew of deals on Looking For Lennon and Vengeance. Roger Appleton’s music doc Looking For Lennon has been sold to North America (SP Releasing), China (Lemon Tree), Italy (Koch Media), Brazil (Globosat), Spain (Vertice) and Poland

(Against Gravity). Garry Popper is the producer. Ross Boyask’s in-house action film production Vengeance has gone to Japan (Open Sesame), Middle East (Phoenicia Pic tures), China (Lemon Tree) and New Zealand (Sky). Evolutionary will release Looking For Lennon and Vengeance in April and May, respectively.

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the_last_prosecco_screen_19_03.qxp 08/02/18 13:43 Pagina 1

REVIEWS

» The Prayer p6 » The Real Estate p6 » Profile p8

Reviews edited by Fionnuala Halligan finn.halligan@screendaily.com

» Monster Hunt 2 p8 » Virus Tropical p10 » Genesis p10

» Human, Space, Time And Human p12

» Land p12

The Real Estate Reviewed by Wendy Ide

The Prayer Reviewed by Lisa Nesselson

COMPETITION

After a heroin overdose, 22-year-old Thomas (Anthony Bajon) is deposited at an isolated residential community in the mountains of Isère to kick his habit cold turkey. Several seasons pass during the course of Competition entry The Prayer, which shows us how Thomas struggles to set himself free with the tough love of his companions, and let the alleged power of prayer infuse him. Watchable but not transcendent, Cédric Kahn’s character study builds via landscape, work, prayer and friendship. Since Thomas is not particularly interesting, it is the determination of his dedicated fellows that can make him so. The proceedings consist of lots of manual labour and prayer, song and public exercises in thanks and humility. Ambivalent about his own self-destructive tendencies, Thomas decides early on that the strict regimen is not for him. He demands the return of his meagre belongings and sets off on foot for the nearest town, where he is taken in for the night by a farming couple. Their daughter, Sybille (Louise Grinberg), an archaeologist waiting to be assigned to a dig, is visiting her parents. She tells Thomas that others before him have landed on their doorstep and that she strongly recommends he swallow his pride and return to the programme. Thomas takes her advice, and from this first encounter a relationship blossoms. Although their overtly carnal connection in the wake of a tragedy is fetchingly filmed, there seems to be no better reason for their mutual attraction than that he’s male and she’s female. The obviously well-researched proceedings at the facility are completely convincing but only mildly engaging most of the time. And a sequence in which the all-male wing picnics with the all-female wing — during which residents give testimony about their backgrounds and demons — has a ring of truth. Whether Thomas can replace drug use with love — numinous or earthly or both — is the ever-vacillating question at the heart of the film.

SCREEN SCORE

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Fr. 2018. 107mins Director Cédric Kahn Production company Les Films du Worso International sales Le Pacte contact@le-pacte.com Producers Sylvie Pialat, Benoit Quainon Screenplay Fanny Burdino, Samuel Doux, Cédric Kahn Cinematography Yves Cape Production design Guillaume Deviercy Main cast Anthony Bajon, Damien Chapelle, Alex Brendemühl, Louise Grinberg, Hanna Schygulla, Antoine Amblard, Magne-Harvard Brekke, Maité Maillé

COMPETITION

This bracingly grotesque character study, which explores the Swedish housing crisis from the viewpoint of the new owner of a run-down tower block, would be unsettling at the best of times. But viewing it in the shadow of London’s Grenfell Tower tragedy makes it markedly harder to laugh at the dark humour, which is already uncomfortably close to the knuckle. There’s a compellingly monstrous tour-de-force performance from Léonore Ekstrand as Nojet, the 68-year-old party girl who inherits the block from her father. And filmmakers Axel Petersén and Mans Mansson’s technical flair. However, the film tips off balance by failing to provide any sympathetic characters and the relish with which it spills over into violence. Too angular and abrasive to slot comfortably into an arthouse theatrical release outside of its domestic territory, this seems likely to work best as a talking point film on the festival circuit. It has elements of filmmaker Ulrich Seidl at his cruellest and least forgiving, combined with a lurid B-movie bombast. As such, it poses a marketing conundrum — this is not a film easily pinned down into neat categories. Nojet returns to Sweden after a lifetime of selfabsorption in Spain to claim her inheritance. But the cash cow she expected turns out to be poorly kept and disastrously managed by her half-brother and his alcoholic son. Untroubled by the legal rights of the tenants, Nojet barges into apartments and interrogates the inhabitants, most of whom are subletting illegally and many are immigrants. The handheld camera seems to actively seek out the most unflattering angles for each character, and dialogue is constantly assaulted by the sounds of helicopters, tannoy announcements and the crackle of perpetual low level discord. It works seamlessly with a malevolent electronic score, which at times sounds like it was written by a psychopath with a collection of power tools.

SCREEN SCORE

Swe-UK. 2018. 88mins Directors Axel Petersén, Mans Mansson Production company Flybridge International sales The Match Factory info@matchfactory.de Producers Sigrid Helleday, Mans Mansson Screenplay Axel Petersén Cinematography Mans Mansson Main cast Léonore Ekstrand, Christer Levin, Christian Saldert, Olof Rhodin, Carl Johan Merner, Don Bennechi

★★

★★ www.screendaily.com

Qumra

Bennett Miller

9â&#x20AC;&#x201C;14 March 2018

At every edition, DFI-backed films in development or post-production are selected to benefit from the experience of five Qumra Masters, as well as bespoke mentorship labs and business meetings with international experts. Alongside this meeting of minds, the Institute presents evenings of film screenings followed by question-and-answer sessions with the filmmakers and Qumra Masters.

Sandy Powell

Gianfranco Rosi

Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Andrey Zvyagintsev

Stay tuned for this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highlights #Qumra18 DohaFilmInstitute @dohafilm @dohafilm www.dohafilminstitute.com/qumra

Photography: Sandy Powell by Brigitte Lacombe

Doha Film Institute presents the fourth edition of Qumra, an international gathering for emerging talent, with a focus on first- and second-time filmmakers.

REVIEWS

Monster Hunt 2 Reviewed by John Berra

Profile Reviewed by Wendy Ide Amy (Valene Kane), an ambitious television reporter, sets up a fake Facebook profile, posing as a new convert to Islam in order to investigate the recruiting and trafficking of women as Isis brides. But the rapport she develops with Isis recruiter Bilel (Shazad Latif) blurs the line between investigative journalism and real life. Like Search, which was produced by Profile director Timur Bekmambetov, the story is told entirely on a computer screen — through Skype, social media and editing programs. And despite these restrictions, the film crackles with tension. The romance element is not entirely credible, however, and is the fictional element of the film otherwise based on the book In The Skin Of A Jihadist by French reporter Anna Erelle. Its formal novelty and newsworthy subject matter should attract interest to this timely thriller. And while letting the story play out on a computer screen would seem to make it uniquely suited to distribution through streaming platforms, it could also work theatrically. With the rent overdue on her east London flat and her producer barking for content, Amy takes a risk. Search engine windows flash up cautionary tales of young girls sold as Isis sex slaves, and murdered for attempting to return home from Syria. But with emails from her landlord littering her inbox and her boyfriend Matt (Morgan Watkins) suggesting that they downgrade their expectations of the flat they plan to share together, Amy creates an alternate identity: Melody Nelson, 19-year-old convert to Islam. Attracting the interest of an Isis recruiter is unnervingly easy. A few reweeted beheading videos and Bilel pops up in Facebook Messenger, promising a better life with him in Syria. Soon Amy is juggling identities and Skype conversations with Bilel, while fielding video calls from a producer salivating over the story and a boyfriend planning their future. Crucial to her survival is IT support worker Lou (Amir Rahimzadeh), himself of Syrian extraction. The fascination that Bilel soon exerts over Melody/Amy is tricky to reconcile with the ambitious professional we meet at the start of the film. Amy’s professional ambition is the more credible explanation for the lengths to which she goes to snare Bilel. Given that many of the unpolished images are captured on smartphones or webcams, it is not as unpleasant to watch as one might expect.

8 Screen International at Berlin February 19, 2018

PANORAMA US-UK-Cyprus-Rus. 2018. 105mins Director Timur Bekmambetov Production company Bazelevs International sales Endeavour Content sracanelli@ endeavorcontent.com Producers Timur Bekmambetov, Olga Kharina Executive producers Adam Sidman, Rick Sobalvarro, Maria Zatulovskaya, Igor Tsay Screenplay Brittany Poulton, Timur Bekmambetov, Olga Kharina, based on the book In The Skin Of A Jihadist by Anna Erelle Production design Ben Smith Main cast Valene Kane, Shazad Latif, Christine Adams, Amir Rahimzadeh, Morgan Watkins

When a Hollywood sequel needs a boost of star power, the major studios can call on bankable Dwayne Johnson. Based on Monster Hunt 2, the Chinese equivalent of Johnson is Tony Leung Chiu-wai, as his irresistible charm is one of the main reasons that this follow-up to 2015’s surprise fantasy blockbuster is considerably more enjoyable than the cluttered original. Now that Monster Hunt 2 has set a local opening day record of $85m in a reportedly cleaned-up ticket market, it’s fair to say that sequel fatigue has been averted. With its simple message that family should stick together, this entry will strike a chord through the Lunar New Year holidays, likely topping the original’s total by the end of its run. Possibly having taken notice of international criticism of the first film’s elaborate world-building, director Raman Hui and his writing team have streamlined the narrative, which may help it fare reasonably well overseas. The story picks up with Wuba, the radish-like heir to the monster kingdom, back in his own world, while his human parents, Xiaolan (Bai Baihe) and Tianyin (Jing Boran) are trying to develop their careers as monster hunters. When a new dark lord declares his intention to get rid of Wuba, the innocent tyke hooks up with compulsive gambler Tu Sigu (Leung) who, after almost selling Wuba to cover his debt to the domineering Lady Zhu (Li Yuchun), finds himself warming to the little monster. Meanwhile, Xiaolan and Tianyin search for their son, having realised he is in trouble through Xiaolan’s vivid dreams. The exploits of the shameless Tu Sigu are more entertaining than those of the moralising Xiaolan and Tianyin. Clearly in an easygoing phase of his career, Leung is a delight throughout. Whether bantering with his mostly animated co-stars, posing as a magician’s assistant in a tiger costume, or being subjected to tickle torture by one of Lady Zhu’s henchwomen, he’s cheekily playful yet completely respectful of the world that has been constructed around him. This ancient time was rather messily rendered in the first film, wherein the pantomime sets sometimes clashed with variable CGI, but the sequel is a noticeably smoother effort. Action sequences have an energetic, knockabout Hong Kong quality, with editors Cheung Ka-fai and David Richardson making sure that the colourful spectacle is never too maddening to follow.

SPECIAL

China. 2017. 110mins Director Raman Hui Production companies Edko Films, Zhejiang Films & TV (Group) International sales Edko Films info@edkofilm.com.hk Producers Bill Kong, Chung Man-yee, Doris Tse Cinematography Anthony Pun Screenplay Jack Ng, Sunny Chan, Liang Su Production design Kin Wai-lee, Guillaume Aretos, Yohei Taneda Main cast Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Baihe Bai, Boran Jing, Chris Lee, Yo Yang

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REVIEWS

Genesis Reviewed by Ben Croll

Virus Tropical Reviewed by Wendy Ide Intricate animation is the main selling point of this coming-of-age story that captures, perhaps a little too authentically, the self-absorption of adolescence. Virus Tropical is adapted from the autobiographical graphic novel by Powerpaola (Paola Gaviria), which tells of her experiences growing up in Ecuador and Colombia, the youngest in a middle-class household dominated by unconventional women. The critically acclaimed source material was translated into English and French, so audience familiarity and goodwill may ease the film’s journey. Although the closest parallel — both in monochrome animation style and femaleled narrative — would be Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, Virus Tropical lacks similar punchy humour and political resonances. For its pleasing visual style and episodic storytelling, this film should find a warm reception on the festival circuit and on VoD platforms — where it could connect with teen audiences, if marketing stars align. The film opens with a gorgeous sequence that details Paola’s conception. Taking in a rainy cityscape, the drawing is obsessively detailed and ornate. Paola’s mother’s pregnancy is not without its complications, with a doctor misdiagnosing it as a ‘virus tropical’. Paola’s arrival into the family causes upheaval — she is adored (but frequently dropped) by her oldest sister Claudia; tormented by middle sister Patty; and used by her paternal grandmother as just another stick with which to beat her daughter-in-law. We flick through key events in Paolo’s life — Claudia’s rebellion (dropping cocaine spoons in the nursery), the maid’s nose job (financed through robbing her employers) and her father, a former priest, leaving the family to better serve the church. But the approach is rather cursory — like the stark black-and-white line drawings of the animation, there is little colour or shade to this story telling. And, increasingly, Paola’s tale is one in which minor dramas are magnified by the prism of adolescence. Perhaps unexpectedly, given the introspection of the material, the animation is at its loveliest when the story shifts focus to the nature that surrounds Paola. Feathery palm leaves ripple and, in one gorgeous sequence, a murmuration of birds swirls above the rooftops, a neat visual metaphor for the churning emotions of a teenage girl trying to work out just who she wants to be.

10 Screen International at Berlin February 19, 2018

GENERATION 14PLUS

Sp. 2017. 97mins Director Santiago Caicedo Production company Timbo Estudio International sales Stray Dogs sales@stray-dogs.com Producers Carolina Barrera Quevedo, Santiago Caicedo Executive producer Carolina Barrera Quevedo Screenplay Enrique Lozano, Powerpaola, based on her graphic novel of the same name Main voice cast Maria Cecilia Sanchez, Martina Toro, Alejandra Borrero, Diego Leon Hoyos, Mara Gutiérrez, Maria Parada, Camila Valenzuela, Javiera Valenzuela, Zoraida Duque

Following his 2007 festival thoroughbred Happy New Life, director Arpad Bogdan once again stirs the political with the poetic in Genesis, a fiery and allusive look at the aftermath of a 2009 neo-Nazi attack on a Roma camp. Premiering as part of the Panorama Special line-up in Berlin, this sophomore feature — backed by the Hungarian National Film Fund — could track a similar route across international festivals and should notch the director’s name up the list of significant arthouse players. Interconnecting three independent narratives via one central act of violence, Genesis readily invites comparisons to the work of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu — including when it comes to sound mixing and visual design. But Bogdan’s literary inspirations are equally unmistakable; although linked, each chapter works as its own short story. Chapter one follows Ricsi (Milan Csordas), a nine-yearold Roma boy whose life is upended after a group of white nationalists attacks his camp and kills his mother. Chapter two follows Virag (Eniko Anna Illesi), a semi-deaf highschool student who discovers her older boyfriend might have assisted in the murderous raid. The third chapter follows thirtysomething Hanna (Anna Marie Cseh), the attorney assigned to defend one of the assailants. Working from his script, Bogdan is less interested in the sensational opportunities than the sensorial ones, and he keeps his camera close on his three subjects. While following the young boy, the film assumes a patiently ethnographic approach, lulling us into the rhythms of Ricsi’s Roma camp life before violence irrevocably severs it. In the subsequent chapter, Bogdan has fun manipulating the sound to mimic the effect of Virag’s hearing aid. Though the third chapter offers a number of narrative twists befitting its legal procedural backdrop, Bogdan makes an audacious choice to mute the background noise of the wider plot. Instead, he focuses on extreme closeups of Hanna either in furious motion or mournfully still, at the expense of the larger narrative sweep. We gradually piece together her backstory by reading tableaus of skin, water and sweat like a map, recognising that we are witnessing a portrait of grief as a physical manifestation. Though often favouring a hand-held camera, Genesis is fastidiously assembled. What the film forgoes in subtlety it makes up for in biblical heft, benefiting from DoP Tamas Dobos’ reverential invocations of fire, blood and water.

PANORAMA Hun. 2018. 120mins Director/screenplay Arpad Bogdan Production companies Mirage Film, Focusfox International sales HNFF World Sales klaudia.androsovits@ filmalap.hu Producers Andrea Taschler, Gabor Ferenczy Cinematography Tamas Dobos Production design Kata Kovari Main cast Milan Csordas, Anna Marie Cseh, Eniko Anna Illesi, Lidia Danis, Levente Molnar, Zsolt Kovacs, Tamas Ravasz, Istvan Szilvasi, Szofi Berki, Dezso Lukacs

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REVIEWS

Land Reviewed by Allan Hunter

Human, Space, Time And Human Reviewed by Sarah Ward Part survival-of-the-fittest horror film, part allegory, part twisted take on humanity’s origins, devouring urges and the consumption-driven cycle of life — literally — Human, Space, Time And Human is ravenous in its quest to make a statement, and relentless in its chaos. That makes it largely business as usual for Korea’s Kim Ki-duk, but his latest film proves all too obvious, spitting its chunks of misanthropic insights and religious symbolism into viewers’ faces. It doesn’t help that, although the film’s production pre-dates Darren Aronofsky’s take on mankind’s savagery, Human, Space, Time and Human stands firmly in mother!’s shadow. And, following its Berlinale Panorama premiere, audiences are likely to have similarly mixed responses, even if Kim’s film is less divisive than mother!. Regardless, sales in Japan, Norway, Greece and Cyprus have already been secured, and the movie’s genre leanings could also possibly spark interest elsewhere. The plot follows a group of strangers on a former military vessel set on a course for infernal waters. The fact that the film waits 20 minutes before rape and murder kick in is perhaps its greatest act of restraint, a notion that doesn’t apply to many of its characters as the voyage’s scenic sights contrast tellingly against the hellish mayhem unfurling onboard. The passengers — including a new bride (Mina Fujii) and her husband (Joe Odagiri), a corrupt senator (Lee Sung-jae) and his adult son (Jang Keun-suk) — are already aggressive and agitated about sex, money and power before they wake up in the heavens, with their unexpected new surroundings failing to alter their behaviour. Hierarchies by force, desperate fights over food, coups upon coups, an every-person-for-themselves mindset and eventually cannibalism are all predictable developments, and play out as such. So, too, is the role of Fujii’s white-clad victim-turned-beacon of hope, named Eve — embracing all of her biblical connotations. Such blatancy is gravely distancing, no matter how Lee Jeong-in’s effectively claustrophobic cinematography or Kim’s own pacy editing attempt to draw viewers into the film’s horror thrills. As it charts the ship’s occupants across its four chapters, there’s no doubting Human, Space, Time and Humans has bite, but some audiences can spot exactly what’s coming.

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PANORAMA Korea-Jap. 2018. 122mins Director/screenplay Kim Ki-duk Production company Kim Ki-duk Film International sales Finecut cineinfo@finecut.co.kr Producer Kim Dong-hoo Executive producer Kim Ki-duk Cinematography Lee Jeong-in Production design Kim Young-tak Main cast Mina Fujii, Jang Keun-suk, Ahn Sung-ki, Lee Sungjae, Ryoo Seung-bum, Sung Ki-youn, Joe Odagiri

The struggles of one stoical, careworn family illustrate the plight of countless Native Americans in Babak Jalali’s third feature Land. The measured pace and flinty, low-key storytelling could win critical support, but they are the very qualities that may make Land a tough sell commercially. Further festival exposure seems a more realistic possibility. The director of Frontier Blues and Radio Dreams, Iranian-born Babak Jalali, has turned his attention to America. The film is set in a no man’s land near New Mexico’s Prairie Wolf Indian Reservation. With alcohol forbidden, Mary Denetclaw (Wilma Pelly) drives her son Wesley (James Coleman) to a nearby liquor store every morning, where he spends the day drinking until he reaches oblivion. A long close-up on Wesley shows his battered, bleary-eyed countenance that has long ago embraced defeat. He seems indifferent to his circumstances, even as urine starts to trickle down his trousers. Visually, the film is also permeated with misery. Mary’s son Raymond (Rod Rondeaux) is clean and sober, working diligently on a cattle ranch. Her youngest son Floyd has just been killed in action in Afghanistan and the family are awaiting the return of his body. Distinguished by its thoughtful handling of the subject matter and committed craftsmanship, Land is undermined by its suffocating solemnity. The sense of hard lives with few options makes the film challenging. Dialogue is sparse and the pacing can feel ponderous, but Jalali allows a blink of hope at the end of this long tunnel of despair. The film is bleak, and the sound mix accentuates the whistling wind, munching cows and quiet of endless, unvarying days with little possibility of change. There is a nod to composer Ennio Morricone and the western genre in a score punctuated with howls of the sad songs by the late Townes Van Zandt. Agnès Godard’s cinematography captures the piercing, bleached light of the vast open landscapes — while the characters are trapped through long, lingering close-ups on individual faces. Nothing is entirely clear-cut in Land; Mary is still a believer in her family, there are some hostile white residents nearby, while others offer friendship, and there are Native Americans, like Raymond, who commit to making themselves the architects of change. The hard-won balance that eventually emerges saves the film from becoming an entirely glum study in never-ending desperation.

PANORAMA

It-Fr-Neth-Mex-Qatar. 2018. 111mins Director/screenplay Babak Jalali Production companies Asmara Films, The Cup of Tea International sales BAC Films Distribution sales@bacfilms.fr Producers Ginevra Elkann, Christophe Audeguis Executive producers Gianfranco Barbagallo, Gabriel Stavenhagen, Julio Chavezmontes Cinematography Agnès Godard Production design Dimitri Capuani Main cast Rod Rondeaux, Florence Klein, Wilma Pelly, James Coleman, Georgina Lightning, Antonia Steinberg, Andrew Katers, Griffin Burns, Mark Mahoney

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09.02.18 KW6 14:15

BERLINALE IN PICTURES

Golden chance to celebrate Where When Who Why

Soho House, Berlin Saturday, February 17 Goldfinch Studios, Air New Zealand, Screen International To celebrate the launch of Goldfinch Studios at the European Film Market

14 Screen International at Berlin February 19, 2018

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Kirsty Bell, Goldﬁnch Studios; Juliane Sip, Air New Zealand

Phil McKenzie, Andy Green, Kirsty Bell, Alan Latham, Keith Kehoe, Goldﬁnch Studios

Matt Mueller, Screen International

Georg Georgi, D.I.T.A; Phin Glynn, Bad Penny Entertainment

Christelle Conan, Ingenious Media Investments; Mark Lo, Asylum Giant

Fredrik Dupont, Ida Storm, TrustNordisk

Yasmin Rams, Rodney Charles, Perennial Lens

Ed Gibbs, Smoking Bear; Keith Potter, Catalyst Global Media; Ashley Horner, Pinball Films

Lauren Valmadre, LevelK; Francesca Manno, Summerside International; Debra Liang, LevelK

10 Steffen Wild, Fourth Culture Films; Helena Mackenzie, Film London 11 Maxine Leonard, Maxine Leonard PR; Bonnie Voland, Global Road 12 Robbie Allen, Creative Scotland; Suzanne Reid, producer 13 Kalani Dreimanis, Myriad Pictures; Mia Sewell, Storyboard Media 14 Glenda Sino-Cruz, Red Arrow International; Trevor Groth, 30West; Funa Maduka, Netﬂix 15 Giovanni Battaglia, Abid Khan, Eyeﬁve Films

16 Brian Anderson, Victor Elizade, Viva Pictures; Stuart Alson, ITN Distribution

13 15

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February 19, 2018 Screen International at Berlin 15

Theodore Wood

GUEST LIST

Lia Darjes

IN FOCUS FRANCE’S SALES SCENE

Berlinale’s European Film Market

The French connection With an abundant 45 French sales companies operating at the EFM this week, Melanie Goodfellow investigates what is driving the country’s ever-burgeoning film sales scene

ake a stroll through the MartinGropius-Bau or the Marriott Hotel this EFM and one thing immediately becomes apparent: France’s sales sector is out in record force. A total of 45 French sales companies are officially registered at the EFM this year, including four fledgling outfits that were not here in 2017, making it the biggest national sales delegation in Berlin. “France sells luxury goods and movies, and movies are part luxury goods,” says Nicolas Brigaud-Robert, co-founder of Playtime. “We’re the number one country behind the US for selling movies.” The market veteran puts this dominance down to a number of structural factors specific to France. “Movies have long been supported as part of both France’s cultural and industrial policies. This tradition of cinema is recognised worldwide and gives us real competitive

advantage,” he says. “But most important is the size of the domestic market and the type of public subsidies that exist for French productions, giving us access to some 250 local features a year.” As a result, companies have traditionally been able to cover a large part of their overheads by acquiring local films and selling to “a dynamic internal market” and then, at marginal cost, scooping up world-cinema highlights from countries where sales companies are less developed — although BrigaudRobert acknowledges this model is now under pressure. The cumulative knowledge, reputation and, in some cases, capital and libraries built up by many of the auteurdriven brands established in the late 1980s and 1990s also gives French sellers an edge, and has helped many of them ride out the changes impacting the market now, he suggests.

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“There are many reasons France is an incubator for sales companies,” says Celluloid Dreams founder Hengameh Panahi, who moved her company from Brussels to Paris in the late 1980s. “Cinema was born in France; Cannes remains the most important inter national film festival in the world; French films have the best export records of all foreign-languages films; and there are great cinema schools and a great system of financing and support for all the chain values through the CNC.” Godfathers of sales Wild Bunch sales chief Vincent Maraval also points to the legacy of an earlier generation of French sales agents who pioneered the activity in the late 1970s and 1980s. “The godfathers of international sales of foreign-language films were French: Jacques Le Glou, Jacques-Eric Strauss, Alain Vannier. They invented it,”

‘We’re the number one country behind the US for movie sales’ Nicolas Brigaud-Robert, Playtime

he says. “Today, the best salesman in the US is French, Patrick Wachsberger. There are also figures such as Nicolas Chartier,” he adds, referring respectively to Lionsgate’s motion picture group head and the founding CEO of Voltage Pictures. Maraval continues: “There is a tradition of international sales in France because it was the only way to finance ambitious French films. For a long time, US films could finance themselves out of »

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Jan Windszus

IN FOCUS FRANCE’S SALES SCENE

‘It’s over for auteur cinema. We’re not weeping about it’ Frédéric Corvez, Urban Distribution

their own domestic market, while foreign films needed co-production or partners.” Maraval also sees the recent proliferation of companies in France as a natural phenomenon — as the sector matures and professionals who cut their teeth in larger structures leave to set up their own companies. “Most of the small indie sales companies have been created by people who worked in a big structure and decided to launch their own operation,” he comments. “This is very healthy.” Consolidation options The relentless proliferation of French sales companies remains a topic of marvel, but many sector professionals are privately asking how long it can continue. “When I walked into the UniFrance Rendez-vous this year and saw all these companies crammed into room after room of the Intercontinental, I was like, ‘Wow’,” comments one respected French seller privately, referring to export body UniFrance’s annual Paris meeting in January. “I think there is scope for some consolidation. There is a lot of cama raderie in the French sales scene and natural affinities between a number of the companies that could make this feasible.” But Panahi says this is easier said than done due to the highly personal nature of many of the sales companies operating out of France. “That seems logical but it’s impossible to make a solid prediction,” she adds. “I was expecting consolidation or a stem in the flow some time ago, but it hasn’t happened. The identity of each of these companies is often defined by the curation of its editorial content and the strength of its relationships with producers, talent and distributors, which makes it very personal and therefore a logical consolidation on paper proves more challenging in reality.” Maraval holds that there is no need for consolidation, since many of the smaller operations are not in any case chasing the bottom line. “These smaller independent operations are often run by passionate people and are not purely business-oriented,” he says. This element of ‘passion’ probably rings true throughout all the 45 French sales companies attending the EFM, whether big or small. But whatever their

European Film Market

‘We still want to be directordriven and represent filmmakers with a vision’ Tanja Meissner, Memento Films

Hounds Of Love

motivation, all these companies will also be attempting to monetise titles on their slates in what is an increasingly challenging environment for feature film sales, amid ongoing disruption caused by the rise of big digital platforms. Different approaches Mirroring the diversity of their slates, the companies operating out of France have adopted very different approaches to deal with these challenges. Frédéric Corvez, founding CEO of Urban Distribution International, says his company has increased its volume and widened the editorial breadth of its line-up to deal with market changes. “It’s over for auteur cinema,” he says. “We’re not weeping about it. Things change. You have to adapt. Whereas we used to handle five or six films a year, now we look after 12 or 13. We need at least two of these to work really well, with one of these being a real locomotive, in order to cover our overheads.

18 Screen International at Berlin February 19, 2018

“We’ve identified the types of film that still have a future. Quality genre titles like Hounds Of Love, which was a hit title for us, work well and we’ve also moved into animation, alongside handling some auteur titles we feel have festival and breakout potential.” Memento Films International CEO Emilie Georges and sales chief Tanja Meissner say they have developed an increasingly hands-on approach over the years, often working closely with the directors connected to the label from the development stage of features onwards. “We don’t want an algorithm or the market to dictate our content but at the same time, we need audience-relatable content. The diversity and offering has never been wider or bigger,” says Meissner. “The only way we can address that is by shaping the content with our expertise. But we still want to be directordriven, representing filmmakers with a vision who do original work. We try to be midway between the two.”

At Playtime, the company has expanded with the creation of autonomous sub sidiaries in Germany, Belgium and the UK, and has also diversified its activities into co-production and high-end TV drama. “We lived through various cycles, from the disappearance of the moviebuying public channels to the end of the arthouse theatrical circuits to the demise of the DVD,” says Brigaud-Robert. “Over the years, we learned to be cautious, so as not to be caught out by changes in the market, and to adapt.” French films sales professionals are divided over what the future holds, but one point they agree on is that the trend for smaller independents is to become increasingly overhead-light. BrigaudRobert goes so far as to suggest that a new type of gallerist-style film seller could start to emerge. “If you use the analogy of a film as a work of art, they will follow the work of a director, curate it and present it at selected shows, which in our business is festivals,” he says. “The only difference is that the art world gallerist takes a 50% commission, and in our world that percentage is much lower. But perhaps that is the solution: stay light and increase the s commissions.” n

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ANE DAHL TORP JOHN CARE W A XEL BØYUM EMMA BONES D i rec ted by A R I LD A N DR ESEN P r o d u c e d b y V I L J E K AT H R I N E H A G E N E xec ut ive P roducers V EGA R D ST E N BE RG E R I KSE N a nd Y NGV E SÆ T H E R

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MYRENBERG DESIGNER KARIN NORDBY PRODUCTION EN HOFF OFTEBRO ALI CASTING INGRID TOM GULBRANDS CHRISTIAN LO BERGER JONAS FALCIANI ZAHID 1ST ASSISTANT DIRECTORAADALEN LO DIRECTED BY NICOLE L VSETH MARIE H ISTAD SANDO AND TRINE DYRUD TIRIL HUSBY VERA VITALI COORDINATOR LILLIAN HOGNESS JAKOB HANS-ERIK DYVIK DESIGNER LIVE LINBERG FILMS PRODUCED BY NICHOLAS WITH TAGE COSTUME INE JANSEN SNOWCLOUD FILM ''LOS BANDO'' HENRIK HOFFSUPERVISOR TORGEIR BUSCHORIGINAL FILM AND WITH WITH KONTXT VFX KJOS S STIG D CO PRODUCED IN COOPERATION EIRIK MYHR GIMLE FRANK FILMBIN PRESENTS INGAR HELGE GISLE TVEITO COMPOSER& EDITOR ARILD TRYGGESTA SOUND DESIGNER NILS OLE OFTEBRO SARA LIMA RN ST LE BRATBERG SCRIPTWRITER

FABER

directed by | réalisé par Torill Kove animation Torill Kove compositing | composition Kristian Pedersen

a co-production of | une coproduction de Mikrofilm AS and | et the National Film Board of Canada | l’Office national du film du Canada

design: HANDVERK photo: KIRSTI HOVDE

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Josefine Hannibal Cathinka Tanberg original music | musique originale Kevin Dean sound design | conception sonore Luigi Allemano Tonje Skar Reiersen Michael Fukushima

mix | mixage Jean Paul Vialard editing | montage Simen Gengenbach (NFK) producers | producteurs Lise Fearnley

SOUND RECORDER BJ PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR OF

30/01/18 11:39

SPOTLIGHT GUS VAN SANT

Making pictures Heading to Berlin with his Amazon-financed Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot, Gus Van Sant tells Jeremy Kay why a theatrical release is still crucial to him began to map out an adaptation. “He didn’t live very far away — it was only 10 blocks,” Van Sant mumbles, breaking into a fleeting smile when someone brings his Australian Shepherd puppy. “We went on trips. He liked to go in a cab that could take his wheelchair and go to a restaurant on the beach.”

When Williams died in 2014, Van Sant and his team developed two scripts. The first focused more than the finished product does on Callahan’s search for his absent mother, while the second contained narrative flights of fancy and surreal sequences. “Mine [the third version] was dialling

Drinking journey According to the filmmaker, Callahan was eager for Williams to portray him on screen. “If somebody’s doing your life and Robin Williams is playing you, you’re like, ‘OK, let’s make it happen’,” he notes. However, the film’s subject would never get to see on screen his journey from hard-drinker to irate, wheelchair-bound hard-drinker, to sobriety, as Callahan died in 2010. Van Sant worked closely with his subject’s family during the process. They made introductions to people whom Callahan knew. They were happy after the premiere, the director says, based on what he could ascertain from a quick post-screening chat. “They’d read the script and we followed it pretty closely,” he states.

‘For me, it’s important. Rather than watching it on a phone, I want to see it in a theatre’ Gus Van Sant

it back to the things that were in John’s book,” Van Sant says. “One of the things he talks about in the book is his recovery. That was central to his whole thing.” Joaquin Phoenix, who acted for Van Sant in To Die For 23 years ago, took over lead actor duties shortly after Williams’ death. “We were both living in LA and talking about different projects, and when that came around I immediately asked him,” he says.

The director has been looking forward to a return to Berlin. “My first film [Mala Noche] went to Berlin in 1985,” he says. “It was during the year of My Beautiful Laundrette and Derek Jarman’s Caravaggio. Since then I’ve gone with Promised Land, Good Will Hunting and Finding Forrester.” Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot (named after a Callahan cartoon) shot over 25 days in early 2017 in Los Angeles. Van Sant knew independent cinema stalwart Ted Hope, whose employer Amazon Studios came on board to finance at pre-production stage. Van Sant’s work has often examined the lives of young men finding their place in the world, and has ranged from commercial fare such as Good Will Hunting to indie material like Elephant. However, one thing has remained constant. Van Sant knew Amazon Studios had pledged to release its films theatrically with partners — this was before the company moved into selfdistribution — and that was the clincher. “Yeah, for me it’s important,” he says. “But I’m coming from another era. Rather than watching something on a s phone, I want to see it in a theatre.” n

(From left) Joaquin Phoenix and Gus Van Sant during the filming of Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot

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Scott Patrick Green

us Van Sant could easily be the most anonymous person in the room when Screen International meets the US filmmaker at Sundance Film Festival. Far from ostentatious, and with his dog at his feet, it is the expression that gives him away — like a 1960s surfer dad caught in the headlights of today. Decked out in a plaid shirt and jeans in a converted media lounge in Park City, Van Sant gives nothing away about how he feels Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot went down at its Sundance world premiere several days earlier. In fact, there was generous applause at the Eccles Theatre and US critics have been mainly supportive. Now Van Sant’s latest feature heads to Berlin, where FilmNation handles international sales and a broader audience will sample his tribute to late quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan, which glides between acerbic character study and observational comedy. Van Sant had known Callahan’s drawings and began hanging out with his fellow Portlander when Robin Williams optioned Callahan’s book circa 1997, and they

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ANE DAHL TORP JOHN CARE W A XEL BØYUM EMMA BONES

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Josefine Hannibal Cathinka Tanberg original music | musique originale Kevin Dean sound design | conception sonore Luigi Allemano Tonje Skar Reiersen Michael Fukushima

mix | mixage Jean Paul Vialard editing | montage Simen Gengenbach (NFK) producers | producteurs Lise Fearnley

a co-production of | une coproduction de Mikrofilm AS and | et the National Film Board of Canada | l’Office national du film du Canada

Entertain a

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Arabian heights Screen International Arab unveiled its Stars of Tomorrow at Dubai International Film Festival. Curator Melanie Goodfellow profiles the five actors and filmmakers who have been selected

Back row from left: Marwan Abdullah Saleh, Ahmed Malek and Ayman Al-Shatri Front row from left: Maria Zreik and Manon Nammour

he second edition of Screen International’s Arab Stars of Tomorrow, put together in association with Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), showcases five rising filmmakers from the Middle East and North Africa. The 2017 selection features two actors, the UAE’s Marwan Abdullah Saleh and Egypt’s Ahmed Malek, who already have a following at home and are on the cusp of international recognition. Meanwhile, Palestinian actress Maria Zreik has starred in festival favourites Villa Touma and Ave Maria, and is now seeking an agent. She was in two films at DIFF in December: Wajib and Detained.

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The two directors selected this year are Iraq’s Ayman Al-Shatri and Lebanon’s Manon Nammour. They are both making short films exploring contemporary life in their complex countries. AlShatri’s award-winning work includes Warm Night and Five O’Clock, while Nammour’s On The Ropes premiered at Locarno Festival in 2016. Arab Stars of Tomorrow is a spin-off from Screen International’s highly respected UK & Ireland Stars of Tomorrow. Over the past 14 years, the showcase has become a point of reference for talent agents, casting directors, producers, filmmakers and festival programmers all

over the world. Launched in 2004, it has highlighted talents such as Benedict Cumberbatch, Emily Blunt, John Boyega, Hope Dickson Leach, Andrea Arnold, Andrew Haigh and writer Jack Thorne when they were at the beginning of their careers. Arab Stars of Tomorrow is a response to the independent filmmaking scene that has sprung up across the Middle East and North Africa in recent years, thanks to new funding initiatives, the rise of affordable digital technology and, in some territories such as Tunisia, greater freedom of expression since the Arab Spring. The selection of just five

people from a talent pool spanning 22 territories and a population of more than 300 million has been no easy feat, and the talents showcased here are just the tip of the iceberg. Screen International canvassed producers, sales agents, festival programmers, film development experts and filmmakers across the Arab world, as well as in Europe and the US, to compile this year’s list. We believe the five exciting talents from the Arab world presented here are poised for recognition beyond their home territories, and are set to make an impact on the international » film industry.

February 19, 2018 Screen International at Berlin 23

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for DIFF

ARAB STARS OF TOMORROW SPOTLIGHT

ARAB 2017

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for DIFF

SPOTLIGHT ARAB STARS OF TOMORROW

Ahmed Malek Actor (Egypt)

The Egyptian actor is attracting international attention following breakout roles in Mohamed Diab’s Clash and Amr Salama’s Sheikh Jackson

“

cting chose me, I didn’t choose acting,” says Egyptian actor Ahmed Malek, who has been treading the boards in theatre groups since he was a child. “It’s a form of identity for me rather than a profession. I’m constantly working on my craft. I have an instructor who says, ‘Actors need to be like archaeologists, always digging and digging to find more layers, to be more vulnerable, to give more to the people.’” The 22-year-old is now starting to garner international recognition for his performance as a Michael Jackson-obsessed teenager in Amr Salama’s Sheikh Jackson. The film premiered as a Special Presentation at Toronto International Film Festival last year. After appearing in a few commercials, Malek started securing parts in Egyptian TV dramas such as ElGamaah, about the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and melodrama Story Of Hayah. Malek then moved into films, with appearances in two mainstream local titles: high-school comedy The Fourth Generation and romantic comedy Ahwak, both in 2015. He followed these with back-to-back roles in Hadi El Bagoury’s romantic hit Hepta: The Last Lecture and Mohamed Diab’s hard-hitting post-revolution drama Clash. The latter captured the divisions in Egyptian society that rose to the surface following the 2010 revolution. Set against violent demonstrations in Cairo at the end of Muslim Brotherhood-backed president Mohamed Morsi’s reign in 2013, Clash centres on 25 protesters, all with opposing points of view, who are locked up in the same police van over the course of a day. It was a gruelling shoot in which the cast were cooped up in an eight-square-metre space for the best part of 26 days. Malek describes his role as Mans, a DJ from Cairo, as one of his most challenging. “He was so different from me,” he explains. “I had to transform myself physically for the role. I put on weight, bleached my hair and had to get into his attitude and way of being. He also had this slangy Cairo accent, which is very different from mine.” Malek had just three weeks between the end of the Clash shoot and when cameras began to roll on Hepta.

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“It was a challenge,” he admits of getting into a very different mindset. “The character of Karim [in Hepta] spends most his time in a hospital. You could say lying in bed for the hospital scenes was a form of recovery [for me after Clash].” In 2016, Malek travelled with the ensemble cast of Clash to Cannes, where the film opened Un Certain Regard. He then headed back to Cairo for TV roles in Wedding Song, about a 1970s theatre group, and social drama La Totfe’ El Shams, followed by Sheikh Jackson. “I’ve always got my ear to the ground, and heard Amr was making Sheikh Jackson,” he says. “I approached him about the part but he had another actor lined up [for the role]. When that fell through, he called me to see if I was still interested.” The film is about the inner turmoil experienced by a strict Muslim cleric who is transported back to his difficult teenage years and his youthful love of Michael Jackson, following news of the pop star’s death. Malek plays the teenager; Ahmed El-Fishawy plays the grown-up cleric. The young actor admits to not fully grasping the fame

of Jackson, being too young to have lived through the height of the pop star’s celebrity in the 1980s, but this did not hinder his preparation for the role. “When I don’t have personal experience of something, I change the circumstances to something I understand,” he explains. “So for me it could have been Eminem. I search for the essence and then change the setting.” Currently enrolled with the Cairo Contemporary Dance Center, Malek spent three months learning to dance like Jackson. “I didn’t want a double. I was determined to do the dance scenes myself,” he says. Having spent the autumn travelling with Sheikh Jackson, the actor, who speaks good English, is now talking about a number of roles, both at home and abroad. They include a new feature with his Hepta director El Bagoury, and the lead in Canadian filmmaker Patricia Chica’s dark coming-of-age comedy Montréal Girls, about a young Arab student sent to Canada to study amid the uncertainty of the Arab Spring back home. Contact Ahmed Malek ahmed.malek95@gmail.com

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Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for DIFF

Manon Nammour

Writer-director (Lebanon) Top talents are drawn to the short films of this dynamic Lebanese writer-director, who is now writing her debut feature

anon Nammour’s second short film, On The Ropes, made quite an impression on the festival circuit in 2016. It premiered at Locarno before touring the world, stopping off at DIFF on the way. A moody, allegorical work, it is about a dysfunctional family who meet for dinner at the wheelchair-bound father’s neglected beachfront home as their tensions come to a head. On The Ropes grew out of a desire to explore the frustration within Lebanese society as decades of political instability put personal and national progress on hold. “The film is a true reflection of the ongoing Lebanese situation, where nothing seems to move,” Nammour explains. “We’re always stuck in the middle, we never get a full answer on what the future holds for us. I captured this through this family, which is stuck and unable to move forward.” Nammour and her close collaborator and producer Nicolas Khabbaz pulled together an impressive cast for the short, including actress Diamand Bou Abboud, who has since appeared in Ziad Doueiri’s The Insult and Philippe Van Leeuw’s Damascus-set Insyriated. “They liked the script. It didn’t take too much to convince them. They saw my vision from the beginning. I told them that they would not be attractive as characters but they didn’t mind,” says Nammour. “As a young director working with experienced actors, I had to make sure we stuck to my vision. Sometimes they would suggest things to try to help me, but I had to lay down the law and stay true to what I was trying to achieve.” Nammour studied filmmaking at Lebanon’s Notre Dame University (NDU) from 2009-12, where her desire to be a director was cemented by attending an arts festival in Rome with a first-year student work. “One of my tutors submitted it,” she says. “I was very young, just 18 years old. I met artists from all the over the world, expressing themselves in so many different ways and mediums. When I came back from this magical world, I wanted to carry on making films, whatever it took.” During her time at NDU, Nammour jumped into as many student short projects as possible, gaining experience in a number of areas, including art direction, production design and editing. This has stood her in good stead. As well as her own directorial projects, she has also worked on art direction and production design for a number of shorts, including most recently Bahij Hojeij’s Good Morning, about two ageing military men who meet every day for a coffee. She also works regularly as an art director and production designer on commercials. Now Nammour is gearing up to shoot her third short, Barakat. It is about a young Lebanese man who returns from France, where he is living, to celebrate his

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recent marriage with friends and family back home. He goes out shopping for wedding outfits in Beirut’s historical centre with his grandfather, who insists on hunting for a shop called Barakat where he used to buy his shoes. They embark on a trip of self-discovery and memories across the city. “It’s an encounter between two generations against the changing cultural and urban backdrop of Beirut, also looking at how those who leave often come back to find it changed,” explains Nammour. The film is produced by Khabbaz, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Nammour. Alongside filmmaking, Nammour has been heavily involved in NDU International Film Festival. The November event centres around local and inter

national short films, focusing particularly on work by students and up-and-coming directors. “I’ve been in the festival since my early days, first looking after the jury and then more recently as the chief festival coordinator,” says Nammour. “I love the world of short films. Through the festival I’ve met a lot of established filmmakers who still make shorts alongside features because there’s more creative freedom than when working on a feature.” At present Nammour is writing her own debut feature. “I am in the very early stages so I can’t say too much about it just yet,” she says. Contact Manon Nammour manon.nammour@gmail.com

February 19, 2018 Screen International at Berlin 25

SPOTLIGHT ARAB STARS OF TOMORROW

Ayman Al-Shatri Producer-director (Iraq)

Maria Zreik Actress (Palestine)

The Iraqi producer-director is making award-winning short films that portray the painful complexity of life in his home country t was the noise he remembers most. Iraqi director and producer Ayman Al-Shatri was an 11-year-old schoolboy, growing up in the city of Nasiriyah on the Euphrates river, when the US-led coalition invaded Iraq in 2003. “When the war began, it was really loud. We were all scared but my father tried to reassure us,” Al-Shatri recalls. “We couldn’t go to school; we were stuck at home. There was no TV or any means to communicate, only the light of the lantern, the darkness and the sound of the explosions. “I loved Jackie Chan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jet Li and Bruce Lee when I was young,” he continues. “When the war broke out, me and my younger brothers would tell one another stories inspired by their films.” The war, and the years of violence that have followed, are a big part of why 25-year-old Al-Shatri has become a filmmaker. “It stems more from wanting to capture the reality of Iraqi society,” he explains. “Our lives as Iraqis are films. Our reality is full of strange and suspicious stories. I’ve lived through all the stories, scary, painful and deadly, and I’m always thinking, ‘How can I can represent this?’” Al-Shatri’s award-winning 2015 short Warm Night stars his younger brother, Montazer Abdul Kareem, as a schoolboy trying to memorise his Iraqi history lesson at home, while a local cameraman attempts to capture a new chapter in Iraq’s history outside on the conflict-hit streets. “I loved the character of the boy in Warm Night,” says Al-Shatri. “He represents our generation as we were in 2003, not fearing anything or thinking about war, only thinking about the future.” Al-Shatri, who works as the head of editing and graphics at a TV production company in Baghdad, moved to the Iraqi capital to study at the film and TV department of Baghdad University’s College of Fine Arts in 2011. It was during this time he met his band of faithful collaborators, including Ameer Ihsan, Aws Al-Lami, Karrar Al-Mahdi and Mounir Saleh. The group works together closely as an informal collective, making selffinanced micro-budget short productions. Ihsan is also a director and has worked as a co-writer and producer

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for DIFF

on nearly all of the films Al-Shatri has made to date. Al-Shatri has supported Ihsan’s directorial work in a similar way. Their films have a sophisticated, cool aesthetic that defies the lack of facilities, equipment and finance in Iraq. “My team is the biggest reason behind my success,” says Al-Shatri. “I consult with them on every detail. I couldn’t make a frame without them. We’ve sometimes made zero-budget films. That’s impossible to do alone.” Their latest collaboration is the short film Five O’Clock, directed by Al-Shatri, about a man contemplating whether he will really go ahead with a planned suicide attack. He wanders around Baghdad with a fully charged belt, eventually sitting down at a bus stop where he gets into conver sation with a female psychology student who has just written a paper on suicide bombers.

26 Screen International at Berlin February 19, 2018

“Five O’Clock was made with a very small budget and cost us a lot of effort,”Al-Shatri explains. The short premiered at DIFF in 2016 before hitting the international festival circuit, screening at the likes of Malmo Arab Film Festival, where it garnered a special mention. Filmmaking for Al-Shatri is a real family business. “They have always supported me. It was my father who planted the love of cinema in me during my childhood,” says the young filmmaker. “My mother is the one who makes us food when we’re busy filming. She’s always joking that she’s the production manager. My brothers are my critics when I finish a film. They’re always the first ones to watch it at home. They give me their opinion and help me make notes.” Contact Ayman Al-Shatri aymanalshatri@gmail.com

The Palestinian actress discusses her commitment to breaking stereotypes aifa-born Palestinian actress Maria Zreik’s first role was a small part in Peter Kosminsky’s 2011 Channel 4 TV drama The Promise, about a young British woman who goes to Israel and Palestine to research her grandfather’s life there in the final days of the British mandate. “My sister Lana is also an actress and had gone for an audition,” says 25-yearold Zreik, who was 17 at the time. “She heard they were looking for someone to play a young girl and suggested I went along. To my surprise, I landed the part.” (Her sister won a small role too.) Zreik was cast as the daughter of a character played by celebrated Palestinian actor Ali Suliman. “Working with Ali Suliman was an amazing experience,” Zreik enthuses. “From that moment, I knew I wanted to work in TV and cinema, nothing else.” But her parents insisted she work towards another professional qualification before focusing on acting. “They had seen

Marwan Abdullah Saleh Actor (UAE) A TV and social-media star locally, the UAE actor has snagged the lead in a film that could catapult his career to the next level arwan Abdullah Saleh, a TV and social-media star in the United Arab Emirates, is ready to break out internationally with his debut big-screen role in Mohammed Saeed Harib’s body-swap comedy Rashid & Rajab. The eagerly awaited feature is compatriot director Harib’s first live-action film following the hit animated series Freej and his work on feature-length animation The Prophet, which was spearheaded by Salma Hayek. In Rashid & Rajab, which opens in the UAE early next year, Saleh plays workaholic

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Emirati businessman Rashid opposite Egyptian actor Shadi Alfons as impoverished Egyptian deliveryman Rajab. The pair mysteriously swap bodies after a car crash, giving them a fresh perspective on life as they fight to get back their true identities. “He has this amazing comedic energy,” says Harib of Saleh. “I knew that we would create magic by putting him on the big screen. I always wanted to work with him and knew he had potential. He’s going to be one of the big stars of cinema.” The director says Saleh brought his unique stamp to the role. “His character became very Charlie Chaplinesque,” Harib explains. “Everyone was laughing on set after we called cut, and I knew this was the right tone for the film.” Saleh admits his first time on a film set was a steep learning curve after his TV work. “There was a lot more attention to detail and it was a lot more complicated, but it was a challenge I really enjoyed,” he says. “The biggest shock was shooting one scene for 11 hours. That’s unheard of when you shoot a TV series.

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Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for DIFF

how hard it was for my sister and that there was not a lot of work in acting,” Zreik says. “They said, ‘Study something, have it in your pocket and then do whatever you want.’” Zreik did as her parents asked but within weeks of graduating with a law degree from the University of Haifa and completing an internship at a local firm, she flew to the US for an intensive acting workshop at the William Esper Studio in New York. Zreik says her status as a Palestinian citizen of Israel can make it more complicated to find work. “As a minority [in Israel], you don’t get as many acting opportunities. Most Israeli productions present Palestinians as terrorists or the underdog. I don’t want to give this image of Palestinians.” Before she finished her studies, Zreik had clinched the starring role in Villa Touma, directed by Israeli Arab writer-director Suha Arraf. She played the orphaned niece of eccentric sisters living in the fading grandeur of the family villa in Ramallah. The film premiered at Venice Film Festival in 2014 and went on to play the circuit. It was a seminal experience for the young actress. “Villa Touma got me back into the acting scene,” she explains. “It was so challenging but it was an amazing cast that helped me through it all.” Zreik then played a novice nun in Basil Khalil’s short Ave Maria, about five nuns in a remote West Bank convent whose silent routine is disturbed when the car of an Israeli settler family breaks down on their doorstep. The film premiered at Cannes in

the short film competition and was nominated for an Oscar for best live-action short film. “Basil had come on to the set of Villa Touma and seen me at work there, and then asked me to read the script he’d just written,” she says. Her recent work in Israeli cinema includes a role as the Palestinian girlfriend of a young Israeli man who has turned his back on a strict religious upbringing, in Miya Hatav’s Between Worlds, which screened at the Busan and Haifa film festivals in 2016. “It’s a film about love and acceptance. It wasn’t political at all,” she explains. “All the cast and crew were Israelis. It was a new experience for me for which I am grateful.” Zreik appeared in two features that screened at this year’s DIFF. She has a supporting role in Annemarie Jacir’s Wajib, alongside father-and-son co-stars Mohammad and Saleh Bakri, which screened in the Muhr Feature competition. She also stars in Saudi director Hajar Alnaim’s Detained, which premiered in the Muhr Gulf Short section, as a Syrian refugee in the US picked up by Homeland Security due to her father’s alleged terrorist activities. “As a Palestinian, I can feel their struggle and daily crisis,” says Zreik of her decision to play a Syrian woman. “It is really important to show the world that we are all connected as Arabs. We are one nation.” Contact Maria Zreik zreikmaria@gmail.com

“A lot of research went into this, from studying the character’s background, to looking into his psychology and physical appearance.” Saleh grew up in the theatre as the son of Abdullah Saleh, one of the UAE’s most respected actors and writers. His first role was at the age of six in a

play called Destiny, directed by Emirati actor and household name Habib Ghuloom. Until he was nine, however, his first love was football. “I was playing for the local team but my footballing career was cut short when I sustained a serious injury,” he reveals. “It forced me back to acting.” Saleh started to win small TV parts and has been working regularly in local series ever since. One of his bestknown TV roles to date is playing opposite Emirati star Jaber Naghmoosh, as his character’s son, in the popular local comedy show Hayer Tayer, which ran for five seasons from 2000-07. “The chemistry was so fantastic that many of the show’s fans and critics said no other actors could play such a great father-and-son duo. It was incredible feedback,” says Saleh. Another role model for the young actor is Hollywood star Jim Carrey. “As a young boy, I would watch his films Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Mask, and I would try to copy his expressions and movements,

really trying to learn from each scene,” says Saleh, who studied at Tunisia’s ArabAfrican Centre for Training in Theatre, based in the El Hamra Theatre in Tunis and founded by the celebrated late actor and director Ezzedine Gannoun. Alongside his TV and theatre work, Saleh also has a strong social-media following that he hopes to develop further. “I’m active on Snapchat,” he says. “I’ve been doing a few sketches on Snapchat to make people laugh. Surprisingly, I recently found out these are being uploaded to YouTube, where they have a huge number of views. I’m planning to develop my own YouTube channel in the next few months.” Alongside his multiple commitments, Saleh finds time for theatre work. Last year, he produced and directed the comedy Ers Al Ethnain as part of his campaign to revive the UAE’s flagging theatre scene. “I think Emirati audiences have forgotten about the theatre, and I hope to get them interested again in this art form.” Contact Marwan Abdullah Saleh s dubai_theater@hotmail.com ■

February 19, 2018 Screen International at Berlin 27

SCREENINGS Edited by Paul Lindsell

paullindsell@gmail.com

BERLIN VENUES ACUDKINO Veteranenstrasse 21 10119 Berlin (Mitte) AKADEMIE DER KUNSTE (HANSEATENWEG) Hanseatenweg 10 10557 Berlin ARSENAL CINEMA Potsdamer Strasse 2 10785 Berlin AUDI BERLINALE LOUNGE Marlene-Dietrich-Platz 1 10785 Berlin BERLINALE PALAST Marlene-Dietrich-Platz 1 10785 Berlin EMBASSY OF CANADA Leipziger Platz 17 10117 Berlin KINO CASABLANCA Friedenstrasse 12/13 12489 Berlin (Adlershof) CINEMAXX POTSDAMER PLATZ Potsdamer Strasse 5 Entrance Voxstrasse 10785 Berlin CINESTAR IN THE SONY CENTRE Potsdamer Strasse 4 10785 Berlin

GROPIUS MIRROR RESTAURANT Niederkirchnerstrasse 10963 Berlin HAU HEBBEL AM UFER (HAU1, HAU2, HAU3) HAU1: Stresemannstrasse 29 HAU2: Hallesches Ufer 32 HAU3: Tempelhofer Ufer 10 10963 Berlin HAUS DER BERLINER FESTSPIELE Schaperstrasse 24 10719 Berlin HAUS DER KULTUREN DER WELT John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10, 10557 Berlin KINO INTERNATIONAL Karl-Marx-Allee 33 10178 Berlin MARRIOTT HOTEL Inge-Beisheim-Platz 1 10785 Berlin MARTIN-GROPIUS-BAU (MGB) Niederkirchnerstrasse 7 10963 Berlin NEUE KAMMERSPIELE Karl-Marx-Strasse 18 14532 Kleinmachnow

CINESTAR IMAX Potsdamer Strasse 4 10785 Berlin

NEUES OFF Hermannstrasse 20 12049 Berlin (Neukölln)

COLOSSEUM Schonhauser Allee 123 10437 Berlin

PARLIAMENT STUDIO Berlin House of Representatives Niederkirchnerstrasse 5 10111 Berlin

CUBIX Alexanderplatz Rathausstrasse 1 10178 Berlin DELPHI FILMPALAST Kantstrasse 12a 10623 Berlin DELPHI LUX Yva-Bogen at Bahnhof Zoologischer Garten Kantstrasse 10 10623 Berlin DEUTSCHE KINEMATHEK Filmhaus, Potsdamer Strasse 2 10785 Berlin DFBB CINEMA (FILMHOUSE) Potsdamer Strasse 2 10785 Berlin FILMKUNST 66 Bleibtreustrasse 12 10623 Berlin FILMTHEATER AM FRIEDRICHSHAIN Botzowstrasse 1-5 10407 Berlin FRIEDRICHSTADT-PALAST Friedrichstrasse 107 10117 Berlin

SAVVY CONTEMPORARY Plantagenstrasse 31 13347 Berlin SILENT GREEN KULTURQUARTIER Gerichtstrasse 35 13347 Berlin TILSITER LICHTSPIELE Richard-Sorge-Str. 25A 10249 Berlin (Friedrichshain) TONI & TONINO Antonplatz 1 13086 Berlin VR CINEMA AT MARRIOTT HOTEL Inge-Beisheim-Platz 1 10785 Berlin ZEUGHAUSKINO Unter den Linden 2 10117 Berlin ZOO PALAST Hardenbergstrasse 29a 10623 Berlin » Screening times and

venues are correct at the time of going to press but subject to alteration.

28 Screen International at Berlin February 19, 2018

FESTIVAL & PRESS

FESTIVAL

AND PRESS

09:00 U — JULY 22

(Norway) Centro de Investigacion y Formacion para la Modalidad Aborigen. 90mins. Dir: Erik Poppe. Cast: Andrea Berntzen, Aleksander Holmen, Brede Fristad. A cinematic reconstruction of the attack that took place on Utoya on July 22, 2011 when a heavily armed right-wing extremist killed 69 young people at a summer camp. Competition Press only Berlinale Palast

09:30 GORDON & PADDY

(Sweden) Hi Film Productions. 65mins. Dir: Linda Hamback. Cast: Stellan Skarsgard, Melinda Kinnaman, Felix Herngren. The little inhabitants of the forest have always been frightened of the nasty old fox. When two animal children go missing, it looks like a case for the investigative talents of work-weary frog detective Gordon and his aspiring mouse assistant Paddy. Generation Kplus Filmtheater am Friedrichshain

THE INVISIBLE HANDS

(Greece, Egypt) OJEFilm1. 97mins. Dir: Marina Gioti, Georges Salameh. Cast: Alan Bishop, Aya Hemeda, Cherif El Masri, Adham Zidan. American musician Alan Bishop arrives in Cairo shortly after the 2011 uprisings, where he teams up with three local musicians. Forum Expanded Press only CinemaxX 6

L’ ANIMALE

(Austria) 97mins. Dir: Katharina Mueckstein. Cast: Sophie Stockinger, Kathrin Resetarits, Dominik Warta, Julia Franz Richter. Shortly before graduating from school and studying in Vienna, the paradigms in young Mati’s life begin to shift. Things such as friendship and love have to be renegotiated in her boys’ gang. Meanwhile, her parents are busy stumbling over their own lies. Panorama Special CinemaxX 7

MY GIRAFFE See box, above

THE PRAYER

(France) Les Films des Tournelles. 107mins. Dir: Cedric Kahn. Cast: Anthony Bajon, Damien Chapelle, Alex Brendemuhl,

09:30 MY GIRAFFE

(Netherlands, Belgium, Germany) Propeler Film. 74mins. Dir: Barbara Bredero. Cast: Liam de Vries, Yannick van de Velde, Rayan Belrhazi Alaoui, Martijn Fischer. When Patterson has to start school without his Louise Grinberg, Hanna Schygulla, Antoine Amblard. In a remote community subject to a strict regimen in the French mountains, Thomas struggles to overcome his drug addiction. He rediscovers values like friendship, faith, but also himself, and wins back his self-respect. Competition Friedrichstadt-Palast

09:45 SHOCK WAVES — DIARY OF MY MIND

(Switzerland) 70mins. Dir: Ursula Meier. Cast: Fanny Ardant, Kacey Mottet Klein, Jean-Philippe Ecoffey. Before pupil Benjamin Feller shoots his parents and turns himself in to the police, he sends his teacher his diary entry that reveals how he meticulously planned his crime.. Panorama Special Press only CineStar 3

best friend, it feels like a fatal blow to the little world they share. Bosom buddy Raf is a talking giraffe and animals aren’t allowed in school. Based on a popular nursery rhyme, an ingenious story unfolds. Generation Kplus Zoo Palast 1

10:00 BEDBUGS

(Germany) Kazakhfilm JCS. 101mins. Dir: Jan Henrik Stahlberg. Cast: Jan Henrik Stahlberg, Franz Rogowski. Rocky is a loner, his days as a ladies man only exist in his memories. Then Thorben appears and claims to be his son. He wants to learn how to get women and so the useless father and the ignorant son make their way to get laid. LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 1

CIRCLEEN, COCO AND THE WILD RHINOCEROS

(Denmark) Propeler Film. 62mins. Dir: Jannik Hastrup. Cast: Magdalena Nonsgjogv Trantou, Yasmin Cekic, Efe Vinter Alis, Estrid Bottiger. In their fourth adventure, Cirkeline and her mouse friends accompany Princess » www.screendaily.com

JURY GRID, PAGE 48

Coco and a little rhino looking for his mother on a journey back to their homeland. Generation Kplus HKW

ICEMAN

(Germany, Italy, Austria) 96mins. Dir: Felix Randau. Cast: Jurgen Vogel, Andre Hennicke, Sabin Tambrea, Susanne Wuest. Otzi — The Iceman is one of the oldest and most well-known mummies in the world. Depicts the first unsolved murder case in the history of mankind.

Ekstrand, Christer Levin, Christian Saldert. After a life of luxury financed by her father, 68-year-old Nojet inherits one of his apartment buildings in Stockholm city centre. Her future seems secure but the house turns out to be a surreal curse for this lady accustomed to a life of leisure. Competition Haus der Berliner Festspiele

10:15 TASTE OF CEMENT

THE REAL ESTATE

(Germany, Syria, Lebanon, UAE, Qatar) ADCB Films. 85mins. Dir: Ziad Kalthoum. An essay on what it means to live in exile in a war-torn world with no possibility of returning home.

(Sweden, UK) 88mins. Dir: Axel Petersen, Mans Mansson. Cast: Leonore

LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 3

LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 2

11:00 SPK COMPLEX

(Germany) Waypoint Entertainment. 111mins. Dir: Gerd Kroske. The Socialist Patients’ Collective (SPK) was founded in the 1970s and saw capitalist structures as the reason for individual suffering. Many of its members soon went underground. Kroske’s documentary examines the group from the perspective of today. Forum CineStar 8

SUPA MODO

(Germany, Kenya) 74mins. Dir: Likarion Wainaina. Cast: Stycie Waweru, Nyawara Ndambia, Marrianne Nungo. Nine-year-old Jo loves action films and dreams

of being a superhero. Her daydreams help her forget that she is terminally ill. Generation Kplus CinemaxX 3 11:10 SHOCK WAVES — FIRST NAME: MATHIEU

(Switzerland) 60mins. Dir: Lionel Baier. Cast: Maxime Gorbatchevsky, Michel Vuillermoz, Ursina Lardi, Mickael Amman, Adrien Barazzone, Pierre-Isaie Duc. Life must go on for Mathieu Reymond. Ever since this 17-year-old was battered and raped by a serial offender, more and more details of the crime and the perpetrator have been creeping into his consciousness and his dreams. Panorama Special Press only CineStar 3

11:30 AMIKO

(Japan) unafilm. 66mins. Dir: Yoko Yamanaka. Cast: Aira Sunohara, Hiroto Oshita, Maiko Mineo, Ayu Hasegawa. Amiko is in love with Aomi, who is in the same year group but a different class. She spends her days dreaming of him and follows him around in secret. Portrays a rebellious adolescent railing at a conformist society Forum Press only CinemaxX 6

11:45 3 DAYS IN QUIBERON

(Germany, Austria, France) 115mins. Dir: Emily Atef. Cast: Marie Baumer, Birgit Minichmayr, Charly Hubner, Robert Gwisdek.

Romy Schneider meets ‘Stern’ reporter Michael Jurgs and photographer Robert Lebeck in Brittany in 1981 for an interview. Her unsparing candour, both on and off the record, turns the encounter into an emotional tour de force for everyone. Competition Press only Berlinale Palast

12:00 CHILDREN OF NO IMPORTANCE

(Germany) 95mins. Dir: Gerhard Lamprecht. Cast: Ralph Ludwig, Alfred Grosser, Margot Misch, Fee Wachsmuth Three illegitimate children are abused and exploited by their foster parents until one of them dies of exhaustion. Retrospective CinemaxX 8

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February 19, 2018 Screen International at Berlin 29

SCREENINGS

FAMILY SHOTS

13:45

(Germany) 95mins. Dir: David Sieveking. The story of a couple and the challenges they face when their first baby is born. Confronted with the extensive vaccination schedule for newborns, they realise they do not agree on this issue.

TOWER. A BRIGHT DAY.

(Poland) 106mins. Dir: Jagoda Szelc. Cast: Anna Krotoska, Malgorzata Szczerbowska, Rafal Cieluch, Rafal Kwietniewski. Mula’s sister Kaja turns up after six years away to attend the first communion of Mula’s daughter, Nina. Kaja is Nina’s biological mother and is viewed with mistrust by Mula. Gradually, more mysterious undertones start seeping into the summer idyll.

LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 2

GENESIS

(Hungary) 120mins. Dir: Arpad Bogdan. Cast: Milan Csordas, Anna Marie Cseh, Eniko Anna Illesi, Lidia Danis. Racist attacks on a Hungarian Roma settlement and their effect on both the victims and Hungarian society are at the heart of the three interwoven, visually powerful stories. Panorama Special CinemaxX 7

SHUT UP AND PLAY THE PIANO

(Germany, UK) Jumana Manna. 82mins. Dir: Philipp Jedicke. A portrait of the musician Chilly Gonzales, an eclectic, out-and-out entertainer in a bathrobe, from his punk beginnings in Berlin’s underground music scene to orchestral performances in concert halls. With Peaches, Feist, Jarvis Cocker and Sibylle Berg. Panorama Dokumente CineStar 7

Forum CineStar 8

14:00 FESTIVAL & PRESS 12:30 PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK

(Australia) View Master Productions. 105mins. Dir: Larysa Kondracki. Cast: Natalie Dormer, Yael Stone, Lola Bessis, Lily Sullivan, Madeleine Madden. Mrs Appleyard is the

Amelie suffers from asthma. Instead of getting help at the clinic, she runs off and flees to a place where certainly no one would expect to find her: the top of the mountain. In the Alps she meets a boy called Bart. LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 3

TEHRAN TABOO

(Germany, Austria) 93mins. Dir: Ali Soozandeh. The lives of three strongwilled women and a young musician cross paths in Tehran’s schizophrenic society where sex, adultery, corruption, prostitution and drugs coexist with strict religious law. LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 1

12:15 MOUNTAIN MIRACLE — AN UNEXPECTED FRIENDSHIP

(Germany, Italy) 97mins. Dir: Tobias Wiemann. Cast: Mia Kasalo, Samuel Girardi, Susanne Bohrmann, Denis Moschitto.

THE PRAYER

(France) Les Films des Tournelles. 107mins. Dir: Cedric Kahn. Competition Haus der Berliner Festspiele

BEUYS PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK

strict headmistress of a girls’ boarding school who watches over her pupils’ moral education like a hawk. When her own farfrom-prudish past catches up with her, three of her students mysteriously disappear. Berlinale Series Zoo Palast 1

BLUE WIND BLOWS

(Japan) 88mins. Dir: Tetsuya Tomina. Cast: Hizuki Tanaka, Yayako Uchida, Tsubaki Tanaka, Masato Hagiwara. Ao lives with his mother and little sister on Sado Island in Japan. His father recently disappeared without a trace. At school, the mysterious Sayako catches Ao’s eye. She is just like him and seems to be even more of an outsider. Generation Kplus Filmtheater am Friedrichshain

DAUGHTER OF MINE

(Germany) 93mins. Dir: Susan Gordanshekan. Cast: Pegah Ferydoni, Hadi Khanjanpour, Henrike von Kuick, Constantin von Jascheroff. A love story that unfolds in reverse. Two strangers get married and settle down but can’t seem to find a way to be a couple… until they start afresh and get to know each other anew.

(Italy, Germany, Switzerland) 100mins. Dir: Laura Bispuri. Cast: Valeria Golino, Alba Rohrwacher, Sara Casu, Udo Kier. Vittoria is growing up in a remote Sardinian village. One day she meets the wildly independent Angelica, who is so very different to her own caring mother Tina. The young girl has no knowledge of the secret that connects these two women.

Perspektive Deutsches Kino Colosseum 1

Competition Friedrichstadt-Palast

12:30 A DYSFUNCTIONAL CAT

30 Screen International at Berlin February 19, 2018

See box, left

THEATRE OF WAR

(Argentina, Spain) 78mins. Dir: Lola Arias. Decades after the end of the Falklands War, English and Argentinian veterans come together to re-enact their experiences. Forum Arsenal Cinema 1

13:00 CERES

(Belgium, Netherlands) 73mins. Dir: Janet van den Brand. Four kids experience the four seasons on their families’ farms, where animals are born and slaughtered, and crops are planted and harvested, with their help. Generation Kplus Zoo Palast 2

THE GREEN LIE

(Austria) 97mins. Dir: Werner Boote. Cast: Werner Boote, Kathrin Hartmann, Noam Chomsky, Raj Patel. Follows the trail of corporate green lies to the sites of the most catastrophic environmental disasters. Culinary Cinema Cubix 8

LOS BANDO

(Norway, Sweden) 94mins. Dir: Christian Lo. Cast: Tage Hogness, Jakob Dyrud, Tiril Marie Hoistad Berger. Best friends Axel and Grim dream of entering

the Norwegian Rock Championship with their band Los Bando Immortale. Joined by a young runaway and a teenage rally driver, they set off on a turbulent musical road trip through the wild north. Generation Kplus HKW

13:30

(Germany) 107mins. Dir: Andres Veiel. Not a portrait in the common sense but an intimate look at a human being, his art and his world of ideas. Thirty years after his death he still seems to be a visionary, way ahead of his time. LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 1

CROSS MY HEART

(Canada) 104mins. Dir: Luc Picard. Cast: Milya Corbeil-Gauvreau, Anthony Bouchard, Henri Picard, Alexis Guay. Quebec, 1970: 12-year-old Manon can only watch helplessly as her family falls apart. To make sure that she and her younger brother are not sent to different foster parents, she forms a revolutionary group with her cousins and kidnaps a grandma. Generation Kplus CinemaxX 3

NOTES ON AN APPEARANCE

(US) Kazakhfilm JCS. 60mins. Dir: Ricky D’Ambrose. Cast: Keith Poulson, Tallie Medel, Bingham Bryant. When David disappears one day his friends search for him across Brooklyn, between parties, readings and tears. Before he disappeared, he was cataloguing the holdings of a controversial dead philosopher. Does a life consist of what it leaves behind? Forum Press only CinemaxX 6

DO YOU SOMETIMES FEEL BURNED OUT AND EMPTY?

(Germany, Netherlands) 94mins. Dir: Lola Randl. Cast: Lina Beckmann, Charly Hubner, Benno Furmann. One day Luisa wakes up next to her second self, called Ann. Her alter ego keeps husband Richard happy while she meets with her lover, Leopold. Ann opens Luisa’s eyes, which turns out to be Luisa’s chance to recognise her needs. LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 2

INTERCHANGE

(Canada) 62mins. Dir: Brian M Cassidy, Melanie Shatzky. A traffic interchange on the edge of Montreal, where city becomes suburb: signs, passersby, vehicles of all kinds. Both staged and observed, this documentary collects impressions of an in-between zone in radiant images full of contrast and reflection. Forum Delphi Filmpalast

www.screendaily.com

“It’s clear that [Bertuccelli has] major star power (...) A tour-de-force turn.” - The Hollywood Reporter WINNER

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC SPECIAL JURY AWARD FOR ACTING

INVASION

(Iran) Wanda Vision. 102mins. Dir: Shahram Mokri. Cast: Abed Abest, Elaheh Bakhshi, Babak Karimi, Behzad Dorani, Pedram Sharifi. Someone’s been murdered. The police have already identified a suspect. When the crime is re-enacted at the stadium where it took place, more secrets are revealed. Suddenly, all those involved find themselves in a time warp. Panorama International

Schick, Enno Trebs, Meira Durand, Anne Weinknecht. Maria and Hannah have been living alone with their father ever since their mother’s death When young journeyman Valentin comes to work in the family business, Maria falls in love with him. But a dark secret prevents Maria from succumbing to her feelings. Perspektive Deutsches Kino Press + accreditation CinemaxX 5

14:30

Dir: Richard Oswald. Cast: Mathilde Sussin, Toni van Eyck, Paul Henckels, Carl Balhaus, Rolf von Goth. A “sexual tragedy of youth” that anticipated later teenage movies: explores 1920s youth culture — complete with cigarettes, jazz music, the gramophone and plenty of alcohol. Retrospective CinemaxX 8

TRANNY FAG 14:45

JAMILA

PROFILE

7 DAYS IN ENTEBBE

(France) 84mins. Dir: Aminatou Echard. Chingiz Aytmatov’s novel ‘Jamila’ left an impression on generations of Kyrgyz women. Shot on Super8, this debut film gently probes contemporary biographies and reveals how conflict, yearning and the desire for selfdetermination are not past concerns.

(US, UK, Cyprus, Russian Federation) 105mins. Dir: Timur Bekmambetov. Cast: Valene Kane, Shazad Latif, Christine Adams, Amir Rahimzadeh. Posing as a convert named Melody, a British journalist contacts an ISIS fighter in Syria using a fake Facebook profile. Caught between reality and a tapestry of lies, she becomes enthralled by him. A thriller that takes place entirely on a computer screen.

(US, UK) 107mins. Dir: Jose Padilha. Cast: Rosamund Pike, Daniel Bruhl, Eddie Marsan, Lior Ashkenazi, Denis Menochet, Ben Schnetzer, Angel Bonanni, Juan Pablo Raba. June, 1976: four hijackers seize a plane and take more than 100 Israeli passengers hostage. What do the hijackers want? What are the hostages facing? How does the Israeli government respond? A film about terror and fear, violence and counter-violence.

Forum Akademie der Kunste

LOST ONES

(Germany) 91mins. Dir: Felix Hassenfratz. Cast: Maria Dragus, Anna Bachmann, Clemens

VALERIA BERTUCCELLI (XXY)

See box, below

Panorama Special Cubix 9

SPRING AWAKENING

(Germany) 95mins.

MARKET SCREENING: TODAY / 11:05 / CinemaxX 14

In a constant state of anxiety, a celebrated actress obsessively distracts herself from preparing for her career-defining one-woman show.

Competition (out of competition) Press only CinemaxX 7 & 9

LARS BRYGMANN

(STEALING REMBRANDT)

VINCENT ROMEO FESTIVAL & PRESS 14:30 TRANNY FAG

(Brazil) 75mins. Dir: Claudia Priscilla, Kiko Goifman. Cast: Linn da Quebrada, Jup do Bairro, Liniker. A musical documentary portrait of young transwoman and Brazilian

www.screendaily.com

pop performer Linn da Quebrada. She’s black, comes from peri-urban Sao Paulo and sees her music as a weapon against racism, transphobia and machismo. Panorama Dokumente CineStar 7

MARKET SCREENING: TODAY / 17:30 / CinemaxX 17

A remote Christian community experiencing a crisis of faith finds new hope in the arrival of a mysterious young man. BERLIN OFFICE: MGB #14 +1 617 835 6307 info@visitfilms.com

February 19, 2018 Screen International at Berlin 31

SCREENINGS

their own prejudice and mistrust.

15:00 CENTRAL AIRPORT THF

LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 2

(Germany, France, Brazil) Tangerine Tree. 97mins. Dir: Karim Ainouz. In the hangars of this defunct airport, refugees dream of being able to make a new start while Berliners escape their daily routine at the recreation area of Tempelhofer Feld. Impressive images that capture a year of anguish, jollity and aspirations.

16:45 THE OTHER SIDE

(Germany) 100mins. Dir: Heinz Paul. Cast: Conrad Veidt, Theodor Loos, Friedrich Ettel. Set in a British officers’ dugout in the First World War, this intimate drama depicts the attritional effects of trench warfare. It was banned in 1933 for its “subversive influence on the people’s willingness to defend themselves”.

Panorama Dokumente CineStar 3

MONSTER HUNT 2

(China, Hong Kong, China) Warner Bros Film Productions Germany. 110mins. Dir: Raman Hui. Cast: Tony Chiu Wai Leung, Baihe Bai. In ancient China, a bounty is put on a little monster named Wuba who has big round eyes and green hair. To save him, his martial arts-savvy parents join a legendary troupe of monster hunters. Their search leads them into colourful worlds. Berlinale Special Gala Friedrichstadt-Palast

THE PILLAR OF SALT

(Turkey) 70mins. Dir: Burak Cevik. Cast: Zinnure Ture, Dila Yumurtacı, Esme Madra. A woman is looking for her sister, who’s nowhere to be found, hoping to tell her about her pregnancy. A pet shop, a botanical garden, a workshop for television repairs, a photography lab and a restaurant form the surreal backdrop to her mysterious search. Forum Press only CinemaxX 6

THE SILENCE OF OTHERS

(US, Spain) 95mins. Dir: Almudena Carracedo, Robert Bahar. Passed in 1977, Spain’s amnesty law continues to prohibit prosecution of any of the crimes committed by Franco’s dictatorship. This investigative documentary paints a picture of a society torn between forgetting and coming to terms with its past. Panorama Dokumente Colosseum 1

U — JULY 22

(Norway) Centro de

Retrospective CinemaxX 8

FESTIVAL & PRESS 16:15 SLEEPING BEARS

(Israel) 73mins. Dir: Keren Margalit. Cast: Noa Koler, Yossi Marshek, Alma Za. When the therapist of teacher Hadas dies in an accident, she receives Investigacion y Formacion para la Modalidad Aborigen. 90mins. Dir: Erik Poppe. Competition Berlinale Palast

15:30 303

(Germany) micro_scope. 145mins. Dir: Hans Weingartner. Cast: Mala Emde, Anton Spieker. Does capitalism turn people into Neanderthals? Does monogamy lead to unhappiness? Can you choose who you fall in love with? Jule and Jan have different goals and views, but they form a bond during a road trip across Western Europe.

his session notes in the form of threatening letters. An intrinsically personal story becomes an expedition into the depths of contemporary Israel. Berlinale Series Zoo Palast 2

RETABLO

(Peru, Germany, Norway) 101mins. Dir: Alvaro Delgado-Aparicio L Cast: Junior Bejar Roca, Amiel Cayo, Magaly Solier. The 14-year-old son of a respected artistan has to wrestle with his father’s secret. A moving debut from the Peruvian director, which unflinchingly exposes the rigidity of a patriarchal village community. Generation 14plus Zoo Palast 1

THE SEEN AND UNSEEN

(Australia) 96mins. Dir: Paul Williams. An evocative audio-visual journey into the life and spirit of the late Aboriginal musician Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu. The film respectfully follows the blind artist’s rise to stardom.

(Indonesia, Netherlands, Australia, Qatar) 86mins. Dir: Kamila Andini. Cast: Ni Kadek Thaly Titi Kasih, Ida Bagus Putu Radithya Mahijasena, Ayu Laksmi. While her twin brother is gravely ill in hospital, 10-year-old Tantri enters magical dream worlds revealed by the Balinese philosophy of the seen and the unseen. Through dance and body painting she says farewell to her dying brother.

Berlinale Special Haus der Berliner Festspiele

Generation Kplus Filmtheater am Friedrichshain

Generation 14plus Cubix 8

GURRUMUL

32 Screen International at Berlin February 19, 2018

16:00 COBAIN

(Netherlands, Belgium, Germany) 94mins. Dir: Nanouk Leopold. Cast: Bas Keizer, Naomi Velissariou, Wim Opbrouck, Dana Marineci. Cobain has the chance to start a new life, but he can’t stop worrying about his drug-addicted mother. Generation 14plus CinemaxX 3 16:15

OUR MADNESS

(Mozambique, GuineaBissau, Qatar, Portugal, France) 90mins. Dir: Joao Viana. Cast: Ernania Rainha, Bernardo Guiamba, Hanic Corio. Committed to a psychiatric institution in Mozambique, Ernania makes beguiling music with her bed. After a spontaneous escape attempt, she wanders through the country. Forum CineStar 8

SLEEPING BEARS See box, above

YOUNG SOLITUDE

(France) 100mins. Dir: Claire Simon. A school in a Paris suburb: 10 ordinary teenagers grow closer in a series of astonishingly intimate conversations about their backgrounds, parents, loves, longings and fears for the future. Forum Delphi Filmpalast

16:30

LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 1

GAME GIRLS

(France, Germany) 90mins. Dir: Alina Skrzeszewska. Cast: Teri Rogers, Tiahna Vince. Survival is a tough game for the two Afro-American women portrayed in this film. They’re from Skid Row, the USA’s “homeless capital”. Coming to terms with their traumas in a workshop, they find the strength to struggle for a home of their own. Panorama Dokumente CineStar 7

THE TREE

(Portugal) 104mins. Dir: Andre Gil Mata. Cast: Petar Fradelic, Filip Zivanovic, Sanja Vrzic. A solitary man wanders through snow-covered streets and a nocturnal landscape, as lights flash on the horizon and gunfire can be heard in the distance. A sensual, metaphorical exploration of everyday life in war.

GENERATION WEALTH

Forum Press only CinemaxX 6

HEAVEN ON EARTH

THE EREMITES

(Germany, Austria) 110mins. Dir: Ronny Trocker. Cast: Andreas Lust, Ingrid Burkhard. Centres on a mountain farming family and the oppressive relationship of Marianne towards her son Albert, who has to decide between a lonesome life in the mountains or a future in the valley below.

17:00

WESTERN

(Germany, Austria, Bulgaria) 119mins. Dir: Valeska Grisebach. Cast: Meinhard Neumann, Reinhardt Wetrek, Syuleyman Alilov Letifov. A group of German construction workers start a tough job at a remote site in the Bulgarian countryside. The foreign land awakens the men’s sense of adventure but they are also confronted with

(US) 106mins. Dir: Lauren Greenfield. In her documentary, US American photographer and filmmaker takes stock of her 25-year preoccupation with people whose lives are shaped by their addiction to money, beauty and consumerism. Panorama Dokumente International

(Germany) 113mins. Dir: Reinhold Schunzel, Alfred Schirokauer. Cast: Reinhold Schunzel, Charlotte Ander, Adele Sandrock, Otto Wallburg. Of all people, the president of a decency league inherits the notorious nightclub “Heaven on Earth”. With risque innuendo and effervescent humour, this boisterous farce bubbles into an attack on the 1926 obscenity law. Retrospective Zeughauskino

www.screendaily.com

HUMAN, SPACE, TIME AND HUMAN

(South Korea) 122mins. Dir: Kim Ki-duk. Cast: Mina Fujii, Jang Keunsuk, Ahn Sung-ki, Lee Sung-jae, Ryoo Seungbum, Sung Ki-youn. A journey on an old warship with an unknown destination. When a group of very different people set sail, violence soon turns into anarchy. Panorama Special Cubix 9

17:30 EX SHAMAN

(Brazil) UFA Fiction. 81mins. Dir: Luiz Bolognesi. Cast: Perpera Surui, Kabena Cinta Larga, Agamenon Surui, Kennedy Surui. In the Amazon basin the church and the modern Western world threaten to rob the indigenous Paiter Surui of their cultural identity. A Christianised former shaman trusts in

the supernatural powers of the rain forest to save his village’s life blood. Panorama Dokumente Cubix 7

HARD PAINT

(Brazil) Studio. TV.Film. 118mins. Dir: Marcio Reolon, Filipe Matzembacher. Cast: Shico Menegat, Bruno Fernandes, Guega Peixoto. Pedro is young, gay and earns a living as a performer in chat rooms. As NeonBoy, the Brazilian paints his naked body and glows in the dark. When someone in the city copies his act, things take a sudden and dramatic turn. Panorama CineStar 3

18:00 THE PRAYER

(France) Les Films des Tournelles. 107mins. Dir: Cedric Kahn. Competition Friedrichstadt-Palast

UNICORN

(Brazil) HD Argentina. 123mins. Dir: Eduardo Nunes. Cast: Barbara Luz, Patricia Pillar, Ze Carlos Machado, Lee Taylor. A young man suddenly bursts in on the remote life of 13-year-old Maria and her mother. In a feast of magical, lyrical imagery, ‘Unicorn’ is a drama that deals with secret wishes and fears, and doesn’t shy away from life’s big questions. Generation 14plus HKW

18:15 3 DAYS IN QUIBERON

(Germany, Austria, France) 115mins. Dir: Emily Atef. Competition Berlinale Palast

18:30 WHAT COMES AROUND

(Lebanon, Egypt, Greece, Qatar, Slovenia) 79mins. Dir: Reem Saleh. To ease survival in one of

Cairo’s poorest districts, its inhabitants have developed an alternative economic system for their community. An intimate portrait about solidarity and support in an inhospitable environment. Berlinale Goes Kiez Tilsiter Lichtspiele

YOURS IN SISTERHOOD

(US) 101mins. Dir: Irene Lusztig. In a range of everyday locations across the US, women from all walks of life read out and comment upon letters originally sent to the liberal feminist magazine “Ms.” in the 70s. Forum Press only CinemaxX 6

18:45 YAMA — ATTACK TO ATTACK

(Japan) 110mins. Dir: Mitsuo Sato, Kyoichi Yamaoka. Yama reveals how the Japanese elite, the police

and Yakuza gangs all worked together during the construction boom of the 1980s. In making this documentary on capitalist excesses with fascist undertones, both directors paid the price with their lives. Forum Akademie der Kunste

DAUGHTER OF MINE

(Italy, Germany, Switzerland) 100mins. Dir: Laura Bispuri. Cast: Valeria Golino, Alba Rohrwacher, Sara Casu, Udo Kier, Michele Carboni. Competition Haus der Berliner Festspiele

LOST ONES

19:00 THE CHAOTIC LIFE OF NADA KADIC

(Mexico, Bosnia and Herzegovina) 85mins. Dir: Marta Hernaiz. Cast: Aida Hadzibegovic, Hava Dombic. As the single mother of an autistic daughter, Nada’s daily life is chaotic. With compelling immediacy, this charming debut taps into Nada’s desire to escape the stress and restrictions of the everyday, which take the pair on a journey across the country. Forum Zoo Palast 2

(Germany) 91mins. Dir: Felix Hassenfratz. Cast: Maria Dragus, Anna Bachmann, Clemens Schick, Enno Trebs, Meira Durand, Anne Weinknecht. Perspektive Deutsches Kino CinemaxX 3

SEASON OF THE DEVIL

(Philippines) 234mins. Dir: Lav Diaz. Cast: Piolo Pascual, Shaina Magdayao, Pinky Amador. A village is being terrorised by a brutal militia. A doctor from the town wants to help but disappears without a trace. Her

» 2018_UKF_EFM_Screenad_HP_218x150_Art_FINAL.indd 8

www.screendaily.com

13/02/2018 13:08

February 19, 2018 Screen International at Berlin 33

SCREENINGS

husband sets off in search of her. A gloomy chapter in the history of the Philippine dictatorship, staged as a rock opera.

THE SILK AND THE FLAME

(US) 87mins. Dir: Jordan Schiele. Conflicts surface during a man’s visit to his family to celebrate Chinese New Year. His ailing father is longing for a daughter-inlaw but Yao is searching for Mr Right. He’d also like to put more distance between himself and his demanding siblings.

Competition Press only CinemaxX 9

SHOCK WAVES — DIARY OF MY MIND

(Switzerland) 70mins. Dir: Ursula Meier. Cast: Fanny Ardant, Kacey Mottet Klein, Jean-Philippe Ecoffey.

Panorama Dokumente CineStar 7

Panorama Special Zoo Palast 1

20:15 THE OMISSION

VICTORY DAY

See box, below right

See box, right

THIRTY SOULS

19:15 OLD LOVE

(South Korea) 90mins. Dir: Park Kiyong. Cast: Yoo Jung-ah, Kim Tae-hoon, Kim Moonhee. After many years apart, a former couple from student days bump into one another at the airport. She’s only visiting Korea and he’s just saying goodbye to his daughter. The two of them get slowly reacquainted, but is a new beginning possible? Forum CineStar 8

OPIUM

(Germany) 91mins. Dir: Robert Reinert. Cast: Eduard von Winterstein, Hanna Ralph, Werner Krauss, Sybill Morel, Friedrich Kuhne. In China, an English doctor falls victim to the titular drug. Back home, he becomes a murder suspect and flees to India. Retrospective CinemaxX 8

19:30 CHEF FLYNN

FESTIVAL & PRESS 19:00 VICTORY DAY

(Germany) Bon Voyage Films. 94mins. Dir: Sergei Loznitsa. Each year, people of different backgrounds and political convictions gather at the Soviet

Colell Aparicio. Cast: Monica Garcia, Concha Canal, Ana Fernandez. A dancer named Monica returns to her home village after many years to attend her father’s burial. The sale of the family home prolongs her stay, setting an emotional journey in motion that examines where she comes from and the events of the past.

MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A.

Forum Cubix 9

Panorama Dokumente International

MARILYN

STATELESS

(Germany) 93mins. Dir: Susan Gordanshekan. Cast: Pegah Ferydoni, Hadi Khanjanpour, Henrike von Kuick, Constantin von Jascheroff.

(Argentina, Chile) Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (dffb). 80mins. Dir: Martin Rodriguez Redondo. Cast: Walter Rodriguez, Catalina Saavedra, German de Silva, Ignacio Gimenez. Young Marcos’ life in rural Argentina is shaped by an uneventful daily routine and farm work. The annual carnival and his family’s unexpected relocation will change his life dramatically.

(Morocco, France, Qatar) 94mins. Dir: Narjiss Nejjar. Cast: El Ghalia Ben Zaouia, Avishay Benazra, Aziz Fadili. In 1975, 45,000 Moroccan families were expelled from Algeria overnight. This feature tells the story of a woman who stubbornly attempts to prevail over the border between the two countries, with the coastal landscape as an idyllic backdrop.

Perspektive Deutsches Kino CinemaxX 1

Panorama CinemaxX 7

A JOURNEY TO THE FUMIGATED TOWNS

MARIPHASA

War Memorial in Berlin-Treptow. Loznitsa documents this bizarre spectacle without commentary, a mix of patriotism, reflection, celebration and curiosity. Forum Delphi Filmpalast

DIE TOMORROW

SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE

(Thailand) 75mins. Dir: Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit. Cast: Patcha Poonpiriya, Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying, Morakot Liu. Death frequently arrives unannounced. The day before can still be perfectly ordinary. Girlfriends celebrate graduating, siblings are reunited, a couple separates. Six reflections on life’s finite nature and the value of the everyday.

(US, UK, Luxembourg) 90mins. Dir: Cast: John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Udo Kier, Cary Elwes. The filming of ‘Nosferatu’ is hampered by the fact its star, Max Schreck, is taking the role of a vampire far more seriously than seems humanly possible.

Forum CinemaxX 4

THE QUEST OF ALAIN DUCASSE

Homage Zeughauskino

20:00 A DYSFUNCTIONAL CAT

(US) 83mins. Dir: Cameron Yates. Cast: Flynn McGarry, Meg McGarry, Paris McGarry, Will McGarry. Ten-year-old Flynn transforms his living room into a supper club, using his classmates as line cooks and serving a tasting menu. With sudden fame, Flynn outgrows his bedroom kitchen and sets out to challenge the hierarchy of the culinary world.

(France) ASAP Films. 84mins. Dir: Gilles de Maistre. With 18 Michelin stars, Alain Ducasse continues to to push the boundaries of his profession.

(Philippines) 234mins. Dir: Lav Diaz. Cast: Piolo Pascual, Shaina Magdayao, Pinky Amador.

Berlinale Special Cubix 8

Culinary Cinema CineStar IMAX

Competition Press only CinemaxX 5

Culinary Cinema MGB Cinema

SEASON OF THE DEVIL

34 Screen International at Berlin February 19, 2018

(US, UK, Sri Lanka) 97mins. Dir: Steve Loveridge. Cast: Maya Arulpragasam. Charting her experiences of civil war and migration to her rise as a popular but controversial star, this documentary film traces the life, motivations and politics of the singer, composer and pop icon M.I.A.

Forum Colosseum 1

STORIES OF THE DUMPSTER KID

FACING THE WIND

(Portugal) 86mins. Dir: Sandro Aguilar. Cast: Antonio Julio Duarte, Albano Jeronimo, Isabel Abreu. Paulo works as a nightwatchman. After losing his daughter in an accident it is not just his professional life that is governed by darkness.

(Germany) Little Monster. 220mins. Dir: Edgar Reitz, Ula Stockl. Cast: Kristine de Loup, Bruno Bendel, Alf Brustellin. This series of radical stories about the nosy, uncompromising and improper Kubelkind was shown at the first Forum in 1971. Freshly restored, it now makes a return.

(Spain, Argentina, France) 108mins. Dir: Meritxell

Forum Arsenal Cinema 1

Forum silent green Kulturquartier

(Argentina) 97mins. Dir: Fernando E Solanas. An eco-thriller about the state-sanctioned crimes of industrial agriculture and their consequences.

(Spain) Ted Fendt. 80mins. Dir: Diana Toucedo. Cast: Alba Arias, Samuel Vilariño. In the everyday life of a Galician village, the borders between reality and fiction seem to be blurring. In this documentary-fiction hybrid, the dead dwell among the living while some of the living suddenly disappear. Panorama CineStar 3

21:00 THE REAL ESTATE

(Sweden, UK) 88mins. Dir: Axel Petersen, Mans Mansson. Cast: Leonore Ekstrand, Christer Levin, Christian Saldert. Competition Friedrichstadt-Palast

SEASON OF THE DEVIL

(Philippines) 234mins. Dir: Lav Diaz. Cast: Piolo Pascual, Shaina Magdayao, Pinky Amador. Competition Press only CinemaxX 10

21:15 SEASON OF THE DEVIL

(Philippines) 234mins. Dir: Lav Diaz. Cast: Piolo Pascual, Shaina Magdayao, Pinky Amador. Competition Press only CinemaxX 2

21:30 14 APPLES

(Taiwan, Myanmar) 84mins. Dir: Midi Z. Shin-hong suffers from insomnia and goes to a fortune teller for advice, who recommends he spend 14 days in a village monastery and eat one apple each day. Everyday life and the monks’ routines

www.screendaily.com

media luna new films at EFM

reveal the workings of Buddhism in rural Myanmar. Forum Delphi Filmpalast

A PARIS EDUCATION

(France) Presente Lda. 136mins. Dir: Jean Paul Civeyrac. Cast: Andranic Manet, Corentin Fila, Gonzague Van Bervesseles, Diane Rouxe. Three film students from provincial France and their first encounters with art and life. Panorama Zoo Palast 2

THE ADVENTURE OF THEA ROLAND

(Germany) 89mins. Dir: Hermann Kosterlitz. Cast: Lil Dagover, Hans Rehmann, Margarete Kupfer, Paul Bildt. A Berlin sculptor becomes pregnant by an English boxer. As unconventional in life as she is in art, she doesn’t tell the father right away. A romantic comedy about the ideals and errors of a “new woman” in Weimar-era Berlin. Retrospective Zeughauskino

LIFE ACCORDING TO AGFA

(Israel) Assemblage Films.

103mins. Dir: Assi Dayan. Cast: Gila Almagor, Shuli Rand, Irit Frank, Sharon Alexander, Avital Dicker. A bar in Tel Aviv that is a refuge for the lonely and lost: the events of a single night, captured in black-and-white photos, as a microcosm of a society that considers itself liberal and tolerant, but where seemingly trivial actions can become explosive. Berlinale Classics CinemaxX 8

whose fate is determined by others. Panorama Special CineStar IMAX

(China, Hong Kong, China) Warner Bros Film Productions Germany. 110mins. Dir: Raman Hui. Cast: Tony Chiu Wai Leung, Baihe Bai. Berlinale Special Gala Haus der Berliner Festspiele

STYX

(Germany, Austria) 93mins. Dir: Wolfgang Fischer. Cast: Susanne Wolff, Gedion Oduor Wekesa. Somewhere between Africa and Europe, the sailing trip of a doctor comes to a sudden end. The dramatic struggle for survival that ensues makes palpable the cruel rules that govern the lives of people in dire straits

Mon., Feb. 19th • 10:50H CinemaxX 14

TOWER. A BRIGHT DAY.

(Poland) 106mins. Dir: Jagoda Szelc. Cast: Anna Krotoska, Malgorzata Szczerbowska, Rafal Cieluch, Rafal Kwietniewski. Berlinale Goes Kiez Tilsiter Lichtspiele

22:00 7 DAYS IN ENTEBBE

MONSTER HUNT 2

screening TODAY

FAIRYTALE by Sebastiano Mauri

(US, UK) 107mins. Dir: Jose Padilha. Cast: Rosamund Pike, Daniel Bruhl, Eddie Marsan.

Mon., Feb. 19th • 12:30H CinemaxX 14

Competition (out of competition) Berlinale Palast

THE GAME CHANGERS

(US) 88mins. Dir: Louie Psihoyos. Producer James Wilks meets elite athletes, special ops soldiers, visionary scientists and everyday heroes as he travels the world on a quest for the truth behind one of the world’s most prevalent myths: that meat is necessary for protein, strength and optimal health.

THE UNSEEN by Nicolás Puenzo Mon., Feb. 19th • 16:45H CinemaxX 18

Culinary Cinema MGB Cinema

ANNA’S WAR by Aleksey Fedorchenko screening TOMORROW Tue., Feb. 20th • 10:45H CinemaxX 11

FESTIVAL & PRESS 20:15 THE OMISSION

(Argentina, Netherlands, Switzerland) 90mins. Dir: Sebastian Schjaer. Cast: Sofia Brito, Lisandro Rodriguez, Malena Hernandez Diaz. In a snowy and industrial city in the south of Argentina, Paula, a 23-year-

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old woman from Buenos Aires, starts an intense job hunt with the sole purpose of saving money. The lack of a job, a home and a stable emotional environment will end up turning that search into a personal and introspective journey. Panorama Cubix 7

SHEIKH JACKSON by Amr Salama

Visit us!

MGB #32

www.medialuna.biz

February 19, 2018 Screen International at Berlin 35

SCREENINGS

MARKET SCREENINGS

09:00 AND BREATHE NORMALLY

(Iceland, Belgium) The Match Factory, 100mins. Dir: Isold Uggadottir. Cast: Kristin Thora Haraldsdottir. At the edge of Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula, two women’s lives will intersect — for a brief moment — while being trapped by unforeseen circumstances.

FESTIVAL & PRESS 22:30 KINSHASA MAKAMBO

(Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Switzerland, Germany, Qatar, Norway) 75mins. Dir: Dieudo Hamadi. Should you fight in exile or in the country? Should resistance be peaceful

or violent if required? Hamadi looks at the pros and cons of various forms of opposition in the wake of Joseph Kabila’s unconstitutional extension of his presidency in the Congo. Panorama Dokumente CineStar 7

IN THE REALM OF PERFECTION

reminiscent of masters like Ozu.

Tournelles. 107mins. Dir: Cedric Kahn.

(France) Muzeum Sztuki. 91mins. Dir: Julien Faraut. Cast: Mathieu Amalric. In the 1980s, a film team attempted to analyse John McEnroe’s unique tennis style.

Forum Arsenal Cinema 1

Competition I nternational

JAHILYA

XIAO MEI

(Morocco, France) 95mins. Dir: Hicham Lasri. Cast: Mostapha Houari, Salma Eddlimi, Hassan Ben Badida. While cockroaches dream of not getting trampled on, people are happy to crush one another every day. A furious condemnation of a society full of malice, where dependency leads to humiliation and submissiveness only increases the misery.

(Taiwan) 95mins. Dir: Maren Hwang. Cast: Chen Yi-Wen, Liu Kuan-Ting, Na Dow. A film about the irresolvable strangeness of the other. A young woman suddenly disappears. Nine people from her immediate surroundings try to solve the mystery of her disappearance only to find themselves caught up in a vortex of disorientation.

Forum CinemaxX 4

WILD RELATIVES

(Germany, Lebanon, Norway) 68mins. Dir: Jumana Manna. The holdings of a seed bank left behind in Aleppo are being reconstructed in Lebanon by way of back-ups from deep in the Norwegian permafrost. ‘Wild Relatives’ loosely weaves together three accounts of human-made catastrophes and the will to defy them. Forum CineStar 8

22:30 ABNORMAL FAMILY

(Japan) May Spils. 63mins. Dir: Masayuki Suo. Cast: Usagi Aso, Hakuhiko Fukano, Rara Hanayama, Kaoru Kaze, Ren Osugi, Shiro Shimomoto, Kei Shuto. In the 1970s and ’80s, the pinku eiga genre offered many directors an opportunity to enter the business: Suo Masayuki’s entertaining story of a sex-obsessed family is

Forum Cubix 9

LAND

(Italy, France, Netherlands, Mexico, Qatar) 111mins. Dir: Babak Jalali. Cast: Rod Rondeaux, Florence Klein, Wilma Pelly, James Coleman, Georgina Lightning, Antonia Steinberg Wesley is one of three brothers in a Native American family. Every morning his mother drops him off at the liquor store on the edge of their reservation. His younger brother’s death in Afghanistan rouses the family from their quiet resignation.

Panorama CinemaxX 7

THE PRAYER

(France) Les Films des

36 Screen International at Berlin February 19, 2018

(Turkey) Karaçelik Film, 118mins. Dir: Tolga Karacelik. Cast: Tolga Tekin, Bartu Kucukcaglayan. Cemal, Kenan and Suzan — the children of Mazhar. Now, after 30 years apart, their father calls them back to the village of Hasanlar. When they arrive, they find out more about their father and themselves. CinemaxX 12

COMING SOON — SCREENING FOOTAGE — PROMO

(Spain) Latido Films, 60mins. Dir: various. CinemaxX 18

DRIVER

(Israel, France) Beta Cinema, 92mins. Dir: Yehonatan Indursky. Cast: Moshe Folkenflik, Manuel Elkaslassy Vardi. Nahman lives on the fringes of an ultraorthodox community. He takes beggars to wealthy homes and tells them what to say to inspire philanthropy, for which he gets a cut of the money. He spends the rest of his nights in makeshift casinos and with the more questionable members of this pious society. When his wife suddenly leaves, Ruzumni is faced with taking care of his nine-year-old daughter. Now, he has to take her with him on his nightly journeys, exposing her to his world for the first time. CinemaxX 11

THE EIGHTH COMMISSIONER

(Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina) Croatian Audiovisual Centre, 140mins. Dir: Ivan Salaj. Cast: Frano Maskovic, Borko Peric. An ambitious politician is sent to Trecic, the farthest inhabited Croatian island, where he is put in charge

CinemaxX 8

HOTEL GAGARIN

(Italy) Fandango Sales, 96mins. Dir: Simone Spada. Cast: Claudio Amendola, Luca Argentero, Barbora Bobulova. Five Italians are sent to shoot a film in Armenia. When they arrive, a war breaks out and their crooked producer vanishes along with the money. While abandoned in Hotel Gagarin, they find an unexpected opportunity at happiness. CinemaxX 13

MR KNOW-IT-ALL

(France) Gaumont, 100mins. Dir: Stephan Archinard, Francois Prevot-Leygonie. Cast: Arnaud Ducret, Max Baissette de Malglaive, Alice David. Leo is a “special” kid. Too smart for his own good, he is affected by Asperger syndrome. One day he crushes into his uncle’s perfect bachelor life. Vincent will quickly discover Leo’s unexpected and unique talent for football. CinemaxX 3

22:45

See box, above

(Romania, Canada, Germany, Sweden) Center Stage Productions. 88mins. Dir: Ioana Uricaru. Cast: Malina Manovici, Steve Bacic, Dylan Scott Smith. Mara, a nurse from Romania, and her new husband and her son are waiting for her Green Card. But the naturalisation process proves to be difficult.

BUTTERFLIES

See box, below

Panorama Cubix 7

KINSHASA MAKAMBO

LEMONADE

Cinemobile

of organising the local elections — a task that seven commissioners before him failed to accomplish.

CONTROL

Panorama CineStar 3

MARKET 09:00 CONTROL

(Belgium, Netherlands) Incredible Film, 120mins. Dir: Jan Verheijen. Cast: Koen DeBouw, Werner DeSmedt, Greg Timmermans, Marcel Hensem.

The once unconditional friendship between police officers Vincke and Verstuyft hits a very rough patch when they come up against a series of gruesome murders. CineStar IMAX

www.screendaily.com

(Japan) Celluloid Dreams. 104mins. Dir: Takeshi Kitano. Cast: Beat Takeshi, Toshiyuki Nishida. The third and final episode in the Outrage trilogy.

unhappy, a man addicted to sadness, who has such need for pity, he’s willing to do everything to evoke it from others. This is the life of a man in a world not cruel enough for him.

trading pics, videos and music on their phones when on the last school trip they start making eye contact. But what could be the beginning of a love story turns out to be the end.

CinemaxX 16

CinemaxX 9

Arsenal Cinema 1

PIERCING

PLACE PUBLIQUE

SWIMMING WITH MEN

(US) Memento Films International. 82mins. Dir: Nicolas Pesce. Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Christopher Abbott. Reed calls an escort service from a hotel room with the intention of killing a prostitute. But the seductive woman manages to hinder his plan.

(France) Le Pacte. 98mins. Dir: Agnes Jaoui. Cast: Agnes Jaoui, JeanPierre Bacri, Lea Drucker. Castro used to be a famous TV host but his popularity is in decline. Today he attends the housewarming party of his producer and long-time friend Nathalie. Under the smooth surface, things are heating up.

(UK, US) HanWay Films. 94mins. Dir: Oliver Parker. Cast: Rob Brydon, Rupert Graves, Daniel Mays, Charlotte Riley. A man suffering a mid-life crisis finds new meaning in his life as part of an all-male synchronised swimming team.

CineStar 4

U — JULY 22

OUTRAGE CODA

CineStar 5

PITY

(Greece, Poland) New Europe Film Sales. 99mins. Dir: Babis Makridis. Cast: Yannis Drakopoulos, Evi Saoulidou. A story of a man who only feels happy when he is

RUST

(Brazil) Be For Films. 100mins. Dir: Aly Muritiba. Cast: Giovanni De Lorenzi, Tiffanny Dopke, Enrique Diaz, Clarissa Kiste. Tati and Renet were already

val i t s e f t s r i f ine l l n o & v t f o ntra e c r o f s e i ser pe o r u e n r e & east

Arsenal Cinema 2

(Norway) TrustNordisk. 90mins. Dir: Erik Poppe. Cast: Andrea Berntzen, Aleksander Holmen, Brede Fristad. In July 2011, 500 youths at a political summer camp on an island outside Oslo were attacked by an armed

right-wing extremist. We follow Kaja on her escape minute by minute. Berlinale Palast

WHATEVER HAPPENS

(Germany) Global Screen. 101mins. Dir: Niels Laupert. Cast: Sylvia Hoeks, Fahri Yardim, Torben Liebrecht, David Zimmerschied. Hannah and Julian have separated and meet for one last time to empty out their shared apartment. But nothing goes as planned. CinemaxX 14

09:10 THE DELINQUENT SEASON

(UK) Protagonist Pictures. 104mins. Dir: Mark O’Rowe. Cast: Cillian Murphy, Andrew Scott, Eva Birsthistle. A tense drama that revolves around two couples in suburban Dublin. The film explores love and loss, and ultimately asks the question: how well can

l a i r e s r e l l i k ng

any of us really know each other?

18-year-old Syrian refugee Ibrahim.

CineStar 1

MGB Cinema

09:25

DAMSEL

WESTWOOD: PUNK, ICON, ACTIVIST

(UK) Dogwoof. 84mins. Dir: Lorna Tucker. The first film to encompass the remarkable story of Vivienne Westwood’s life, her fashion, her activism and her cultural importance.

(US) Great Point Media. 113mins. Dir: David Zellner, Nathan Zellner. Cast: Robert Pattinson, Mia Wasikowska, David Zellner, Nathan Zellner. An affluent pioneer travels to frontier country to marry the love of his life. CinemaxX 5

CinemaxX 19

HOSTILE

09:30 CENTRAL AIRPORT THF

(Germany, France, Brazil) Luxbox. 98mins. Dir: Karim Ainouz. Cast: Ibrahim Al Hussein, Qutaiba Nafer. Berlin’s historic defunct Tempelhof Airport remains a place of arrivals and departures. Today its massive hangars are used as Germany’s largest emergency shelter for asylum seekers, like

(France) All Rights Entertainment. 85mins. Dir: Mathieu Turi. Cast: Gregory Fitoussi, Brittany Ashworth, Javier Botet. Only a few thousand have survived a worldwide epidemic but they are not alone: they have to hide from creatures that go hunting at night. Juliette wakes up stuck in her car with a broken leg, in the middle of the desert. CineStar 7

o n r b 8 1 0 2 / 5 2/5—5/ republic czech killer.tv serial

i m o c s i n w o t o t

For more information: info@serialkiller.tv Kamila Zlatušková (ceo): mobile +420 731 433 442 »

www.screendaily.com

February 19, 2018 Screen International at Berlin 37

SCREENINGS

Porumboiu. Cast: Laurentiu Ginghina. A municipal official in provincial Romania wants to make the beautiful game that bit more beautiful.

LIFE GUIDANCE

(Austria) Picture Tree International. 101mins. Dir: Ruth Mader. Cast: Fritz Karl, Katharina Lorenz, Florian Teichtmeister. Near-future society is sustained by top achievers, while mininum recipients live apart and are to be made optimal again. Perfectly happy middleclass member Alexander becomes the system’s victim, when he makes one crucial mistake.

CinemaxX 13

LITTLE TITO AND THE ALIENS

(Italy) True Colours. 92mins. Dir: Paola Randi. Cast: Valerio Mastrandrea, Clemence Poesy. Tito, a scientist who works on a secret project for the US governament, has always been known as the legendary “American Uncle” by his nephews. When they become ophans, they go to Nevada to live with him.

CinemaxX 17

THE LITTLE GIRL WHO WAS TOO FOND OF MATCHES

(Canada) Seville International. 111mins. Dir: Simon Lavoie. Cast: Marine Johnson, Antoine L’Ecuyer, JeanFrancois Casabonne. When their obscurantist father dies, two siblings without names must confront their surroundings in order to unravel the mystery of their strange existence.

MARKET 09:50 EQUILIBRIUM

(Italy) Intramovies. 90mins. Dir: Vincenzo Marra. Cast: Immo Borrelli, Roberto Del Gaudio, Lucio Giannetti, Giuseppe D’Ambrosio. After serving time as

CinemaxX 9

a missionary, Father Giuseppe returns to a small town near Naples. He soon discovers that fighting against injustice and violence is a hopeless task in the community. dffb Cinema

CinemaxX 2

09:35 THE HEIRESSES

(Paraguay) Luxbox. 95mins. Dir: Marcelo Martinessi. Cast: Ana Brun, Margarita Irun. Chela and Chiquita, both descended from wealthy families in Asuncion, Paraguay, have been together for over 30 years. But recently their financial situation has worsened and Chela is forced to face an intimate revolution.

Cusack, Brendan Fletcher. A young woman suffering from bipolar disorder comes to suspect that the proprietor of her new ‘smart apartment’ is using the building’s residents as guinea pigs for a brainwashing plot with dire global ramifications.

ANTENNA

(Israel) Transfax Film Production. 100mins. Dir: Arik Rothstein. Cast: Gila Almagor, Alex Peleg, Ishay Golan. Joshua, an 80-yearold Holocaust survivor, discovers one morning, that a cellular antenna has been installed on the roof of his house and goes to war against his neighbour, who installed it. Parliament Studio

DISTORTED

(US, Canada) Voltage Pictures. 86mins. Dir: Rob W King. Cast: Christina Ricci, John

Delphi LUX 1

CinemaxX 10

09:50 EQUILIBRIUM See box, above

CineStar 6

09:45

man only exist in his memories. Then Thorben appears and claims to be his son. Thorben wants to learn how to get women and so the useless father and the ignorant son make their way to get laid and fail.

THE REPORTS ON SARAH AND SALEEM

(Palestinian Territories, Germany, Netherlands, Mexico) Heretic Outreach. 132mins. Dir: Muayad Alayan. Cast: Maisa Abd Elhadi, Sivane Kretchner. An extramarital affair in Jerusalem ignites a dangerous game of deceit between those who hold power and those who don’t. CinemaxX 15

10:00 BEDBUGS

(Germany) Poison. 101mins. Dir: Jan Henrik Stahlberg. Cast: Jan Henrik Stahlberg, Franz Rogowski. Rocky’s days as a ladies’

38 Screen International at Berlin February 19, 2018

ICEMAN

(Germany, Italy, Austria) Beta Cinema. 96mins. Dir: Felix Randau. Cast: Jurgen Vogel, Andre Hennick. They found a man, but not his story: the life and whereabouts of Iceman aka Otzi, who lived more than 5,300 years ago as the leader of a Neolithic clan in the Otztal Alps, is one of the big unsolved murder cases of all times. Delphi LUX 2

10:10 HAL

(US) Saboteur Media. 90mins. Dir: Amy Scott. Hal Ashby directed widely admired classics throughout the 1970s. However, he’s often overlooked amid the crowd of luminaries from his generation. CinemaxX 18

10:15

10:50

TASTE OF CEMENT

FAIRYTALE

(Germany, Syria, Lebanon, UAE, Qatar) Syndicado. 85mins. Dir: Ziad Kalthoum. A striking essay on what it means to live in exile in a war-torn world with no possibility of returning home.

(Italy) Media Luna. 88mins. Dir: Sebastiano Mauri. Cast: Filippo Timi, Lucia Mascino. Mrs Fairytale and Mrs Emerald: two friends who share secrets, recipes and dissatisfactions with each other in a model 1950s American home — a surreal world where aspirations and hopes are shaped, collide and finally come true.

Delphi LUX 3

10:40 DEAD IN A WEEK (OR YOUR MONEY BACK)

(UK) Altitude Film Sales. 88mins. Dir: Tom Edmunds. Cast: Tom Wilkinson, Aneurin Barnard, Marion Bailey. After seven unsuccessful suicide attempts, William outsources the task to Leslie, an ageing hitman. But with the contract signed and death assured within a week, William discovers a reason to live. CineStar 5

ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME

(Germany) Global Screen. 101mins. Dir: Ozgur Yildirim. Cast: Moritz Bleibtreu, Birgit Minichmayr, Edin Hasanovic. When Ricky gets out of jail, his buddy Latif already has the next heist planned. But their sure-fire scheme turns into a cat-and-mouse game with crooked cop Diana. CinemaxX 11

10:45 INFINITE FOOTBALL

(Romania) MK2 Films. 70mins. Dir: Corneliu

10:55 SEA OF LIES

(UK) Screenbound International Pictures. 90mins. Dir: Wolfgang Bueld. Cast: Victor Alfieri, Fiona Horsey, Kevin Leslie, Natalia Celino. Julia wants to save her marriage with Tony, so they take an intimate boat trip. A storm sees them pick up Julia’s ex-lover, adrift on a dinghy. Marriott Studio

11:00 A HORRIBLE WOMAN

(Denmark) LevelK. 85mins. Dir: Christian Tafdrup. Cast: Anders Juul, Amanda Collin, Rasmus Hammerich. When Rasmus meets Marie, he is certain she is the love of his life. However, it doesn’t take long to find out what she’s really like. CinemaxX 19

RETURN OF THE HERO

(France) Studiocanal. 91mins. Dir: Laurent Tirard. Cast: Jean Dujardin, Melanie Laurent. The hilarious and charming confrontation between two imposters. CineStar 1

CinemaxX 14

REZO VIRUS TROPICAL

(Colombia) Stray Dogs. 97mins. Dir: Santiago Caicedo. Born in an unconventional family, Paola grows up between Ecuador and Colombia, and finds herself unable to fit in. She will have to struggle for her independence while her universe is struck by a series of crises. CinemaxX 16

WELCOME TO TROUILLY!

(France) SND — Groupe M6. 88mins. Dir: Anne Depetrini. Cast: Berengere Krief, Marilou Berry, Gregory Fitoussi, Patrick Chesnay. Agathe is an English teacher in one of the most prestigious junior high schools in Paris. Transferred to Trouilly-sur Selles, her world collapses. With Raphael she begins to realise that she might not be in hell. CinemaxX 1

(Russia) Mirsand. 63mins. Dir: Leo Gabriadze. Cast: Sveta Matrosova, Liza Astretsova. An autobiographical animated documentary of Georgian artist Rezo Gabriadze. Cinemobile

RUSSIAN VR SEASONS

(Russia) Russian VR Seasons. 60mins. Dir: various. The best of 360/VR creative works made by Russian companies and independent arstists internationally. VR Cinema at Marriott

11:05 KUSAMA INFINITY

(US) Dogwoof. 77mins. Dir: Heather Lenz. The story of the queen of polka dots, Yayoi Kusama, who rivalled Andy Warhol for press attention in the 1960s. The film explores her fierce determination to become world-renowned. CinemaxX 12

www.screendaily.com

SCREENINGS

DIANE HAS THE RIGHT SHAPE

(France) Be For Films. 87mins. Dir: Fabien Gorgeart. Cast: Clotilde Hesme, Fabrizio Rongione, Thomas Suire. Diane does not hesitate for a moment when her best friends Thomas and Jacques ask her to be their surrogate mother. It is in these less than perfect circumstances that she suddenly becomes infatuated with her electrician, Fabrizio. CinemaxX 18

12:00 FAMILY SHOTS

MARKET 11:30 DEADTECTIVES

(US) Odin’s Eye Entertainment. 90mins. Dir: Tony West. Cast: Chris Geere, Martha Higareda, Jose Maria de Tavira, Tina Ivlev. TV’s DeadTectives visit 11:10 FORTUNA

(Switzerland, Belgium) Loco Films. 106mins. Dir: Germinal Roaux. Cast: Kidist Siyum Beza, Bruno Ganz. Like many refugees, 14-year-old Fortuna’s new home is a monastery, far away from all she knew before. Lost between violence and love, she has to make a decision. MGB Cinema

LAND

(Italy, France, Netherlands) Bac Films. 111mins. Dir: Babak Jalali. A native American family stuggle with violence and alcohol when news reaches the reservation that one of them has died during military service in Afghanistan. CineStar 4

11:15 SAFE HARBOUR

(Australia) NBCUniversal International Television. 103mins. Dir: Glendyn Ivin. Cast: Ewen Leslie, Leeanna Walsman. A group of friends’ sailing holiday to Indonesia

Mexico’s most haunted mansion to manufacture “real” scares or face cancellation. When the true dark secrets of the mansion reveal themselves the hapless ghost-hunters discover that this house is no hoax. dffb Cinema

changes their lives forever when they cross paths with a boat overloaded with asylum seekers enroute to Australia. Zoo Palast 3

THE TRIBE

(Spain) Film Factory Entertainment. 90mins. Dir: Fernando Colomo. Cast: Carmen Machi, Paco Leon, Luis Bermejo. A cleaning lady whose true calling is street dance is reunited with the son she gave up for adoption. Through “The Mommas”, the mother and son discover that the rhythm runs in their veins. CineStar 6

11:20

VIRGINS

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE

(France, Israel, Belgium) Pyramide International. 90mins. Dir: Ben Rafael Keren. Cast: Joy Rieger, Evgenia Dodina. In a small seaside town in Israel, everything seems to have stopped. Lana vows to fight against resignation and immobilism. She couldn’t imagine that the rumour of a mermaid off the coast would wake up her town from its torpidity.

(France, Belgium) Playtime. 100mins. Dir: Marc Dugain. Cast: Lambert Wilson, Olivier Gourmet. In 1721, the Regent of France, wanting to seal peace with Spain, marries his daughter to the heir to the Spanish throne, in exchange for which Louis XV must marry the four-year-old Infanta, but nothing will proceed as planned.

CinemaxX 17

11:30 CROSS MY HEART

(Canada) Telefiction Distribution. 104mins. Dir: Luc Picard. Cast: Milya Corbeil-Gauvreau, Anthony Bouchard, Henri Picard, Alexis Guay. Manon’s family is on the verge of collapse; she and her little brother Mimi are about to be placed in foster care. She comes up with a plan to demand the right to choose her own future.

11:40 VIKING DESTINY

DEADTECTIVES See box, above

Parliament Studio

11:45

LOVELING

LIBERTY

(Brazil, Uruguay) New Europe Film Sales. 100mins. Dir: Gustavo Passos Pizzi. Cast: Karine Teles, Otavio Muller. On the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Irene has only a few days to overcome her anxiety and regain her inner-confidence before sending her eldest son out into the world.

(Denmark) DR Sales. 58mins. Dir: Mikael Marcimain. Cast: Connie Nielsen, Sofie Grabol, Carsten Bjornlund. Tanzania in the late 1980s: Scandinavian charity expats, initially driven by a good cause, meet opposition and cultural differences that wear away their idealism.

(Germany, Austria, France) Beta Cinema. 115mins. Dir: Emily Atef. Cast: Marie Baumer, Birgit Minichmayr, Charly Hubner, Robert Gwisdek. In a spa hotel, Romy Schneider – the biggest female star in Europe of her time – gives her last interview to two journalists.

CinemaxX 10

Zoo Palast 5

Berlinale Palast

40 Screen International at Berlin February 19, 2018

Delphi LUX 2

TEHRAN TABOO

(Germany, Austria) Celluloid Dreams. 97mins. Dir: Ali Soozandeh. The lives of three strongwilled women and a young musician cross paths in Tehran’s schizophrenic society.

3 DAYS IN QUIBERON

CinemaxX 15

12:25 GRANDPA MORE DANGEROUS THAN COMPUTER

(Latvia) Rija Films. 94mins. Dir: Varis Brasla. Cast: Martins Vilsons, Markuss Janis Eglitis. Oskar’s parents “exchange” his computer for his grandpa – to protect the child from the dangers of the internet. CinemaxX 9

LEO DA VINCI: MISSION MONA LISA

(Italy, Poland) All Rights Entertainment. 82mins. Dir: Sergio Manfio. Life is peaceful in Vinci: Leonardo struggles with his incredible inventions, Lorenzo helps him and Gioconda observes them mockingly. When a mysterious storyteller comes to town and speaks of a hidden treasure, an adventure begins. Arsenal Cinema 2

Delphi LUX 1

THE SON

MOUNTAIN MIRACLE — AN UNEXPECTED FRIENDSHIP

(France, Russia) AndanaFilms. 71mins. Dir: Alexander Abaturov. Dima was killed at the age of 21 during a military operation in Dagestan. While his parents face the void left by his death, the Russian army continues to train young soldiers for future missions.

(Germany, Italy) ARRI Media. 97mins. Dir: Tobias Wiemann. Amelie suffers from asthma. Instead of getting help at the clinic, she runs off and flees to a place no one would expect to find her: the top of the mountain. In the Alps she meets a boy named Bart.

CinemaxX 13

Delphi LUX 3

CinemaxX 5

(UK) Film Mode Entertainment. 81mins. Dir: David LG Hughes. Cast: Terence Stamp, Anna Demetriou, Martyn Ford, Will Mellor. A Viking princess is forced to flee her kingdom after being framed for the murder of her father. Under the guidance of the god Odin, she travels the world gaining wisdom and building the army she needs to win back her throne.

CinemaxX 2

(Germany) Flare Film. 95mins. Dir: David Sieveking. The story of a couple and the challenges they face when their first baby is born.

Daryl Rembowsky, Patricia Cameron. An insight into the lives and minds of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton supporters.

12:15

12:30

A JAR FULL OF LIFE

THE GOOD DEMONS

(Germany) Picture Tree International. 85mins. Dir: Florian Ross. Cast: Jella Haase, Matthias Schweighofer. In her early 20s, Marleen still lives at home and prefers working in the little movie theatre around the corner, rather than making big plans for the future.

(Cuba, Spain) Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Arts and Industry (ICAIC). 88mins. Dir: Gerardo Chijona. Cast: Carlos Enrique Almirante, Isabel Santos, Vladimir Cruz. Tito, 23, has a loving mother and a car that allows him to earn an honest living. Nobody knows that behind that facade hides someone with a pragmatic vision of life that implies committing terrible acts.

CineStar 5

THE DISUNITED STATES OF AMERICA

(US, Italy) FlexyMovies. 87mins. Dir: Luis Prieto. Cast: Kevin Dodson,

Marriott Studio

www.screendaily.com

THE UNSEEN

(Argentina) Media Luna. 91mins. Dir: Nicolas Puenzo. Near future Bolivia after an environmental disaster: a pregnant girl and her partner escape from a refugee camp. Caught by bloody militia, they are handed over to a war correspondent searching for the remains of their humanity. CinemaxX 14

12:40 MUTAFUKAZ

(France, Japan) Celluloid Dreams. 94mins. Dir: Shojiro Nishimi, Guillaume Renard. Hunted by Men in Black, Angelino finds out he’s a creature from the dark matter of the universe. CinemaxX 1

NINA

(Slovakia, Czech Republic) Alpha Violet. 82mins. Dir: Juraj Lehotsky.

Nina’s parents are getting a divorce and her world is falling apart. She feels abandoned and deceived – it’s like there is nothing left in her world. Her only security is competitive swimming. CinemaxX 16

12:45 COLLATERAL

(UK, US) All3media International. 56mins. Dir: SJ Clarkson. Cast: Carey Mulligan. An explosive state-of-thenation thriller taking place over four tense days, which opens with the cold-blooded shooting of a Syrian asylum seeker, whose killing has all the hallmarks of a professional assassination. Zoo Palast 5

Kurdish shepherd’s wife Havin flees to Belgium with her nine-year-old daughter when she is accused of having an affair. Her husband believes her and follows her to the west. CinemaxX 12

12:50 FIVE FINGERS FOR MARSEILLES

CineStar 1

THE WARNING

(South Africa/France) Reel Suspects. 120mins. Dir: Michael Matthews. Cast: Vuyo Dabula, Hamilton Dhlamini. Twenty years after fleeing from the brutal police aggression in colonial Marseilles, a member of the Five Fingers returns seeking peace. With the town under new threat, he must reluctantly fight to free it.

(Spain) Film Factory Entertainment. 91mins. Dir: Daniel Calparsoro. Cast: Raul Arevalo, Belen Cuesta, Aura Garrido. David is left in a coma after a shootout at a gas station. His friend, a schizophrenic gifted in mathematics, becomes obsessed when he figures out the shooting gets repeated over time, following a pattern.

CinemaxX 11

CineStar 6

ZAGROS

(Belgium, Netherlands) Global Screen. 103mins. Dir: Sahim Omar Kalifa. Cast: Feyyaz Duman, Halim Ilter.

Girardello, Ksenia Rappoport. Young superhero Michele is now 16 and is facing all the troubles of his age. But it is hard to be a normal teenager after discovering you have superpowers.

12:55

INVISIBLE BOY — SECOND GENERATION

LUNA

(Italy) True Colours. 100mins. Dir: Gabriele Salvatores. Cast: Ludovico

(France) Pyramide International. 94mins. Dir: Elsa Diringer.

During an evening of drinking, Luna and her friends assault a young man. A few weeks later, he reappears in Luna’s life. CinemaxX 17

a police investigation, a horrific family secret is exposed. Cinemobile

13:05 BLACK TIDE

13:00 AMAL

(Lebanon) Doc & Film International. 83mins. Dir: Mohamed Siam. Amal is a feisty teenager growing up in a postrevolution Egypt undergoing a tremendous change. Within a constant political turmoil, Amal searches for her place, identity and sexuality in a patriarchal society. CinemaxX 19

(France) Playtime. 113mins. Dir: Erick Zonca. Cast: Vincent Cassel, Romain Duris, Sandrine Kiberlain, Charles Berling. A disillusioned detective, investigates the case of a missing teenager while he is reluctant to take care of his own son. He progressively suspects the teenager’s tutor, who develops an interest in the case. MGB Cinema

13:10

GHOSTHUNTER

A FISH OUT OF WATER

(Australia) Autlook Filmsales. 100mins. Dir: Ben Lawrence. A security guard and parttime Ghosthunter has spent two decades searching for his absent father. When his search converges with

(Taiwan) Charades. 90mins. Dir: Kuo-An Lai. Cast: Pai Junto, Peggy Tseng, Zheng Ren-Shuo. Mother, father: where are my parents from a past life? dffb Cinema

Älteste Stauferstadt

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February 19, 2018 Screen International at Berlin 41

SCREENINGS

CHEF FLYNN

14:30

(US) Cinetic Media. 83mins. Dir: Cameron Yates. Sudden fame transforms a 10-year-old prodigy, who goes from turning his living room into a supper club to the future of the culinary world.

THE JOURNEY

(UK, Iraq, France) Picture Tree International. 82mins. Dir: Mohamed Al-daradji. Sara enters Baghdad station to commit an unthinkable act but meets Salam, who tries to sway her decision. Sara is given the opportunity to witness the life and innocence she was willing to destroy.

CineStar 4

SUMMER’S OVER

(Romania) Romanian Film Centre. 100mins. Dir: Radu Potcoava. Two boys meet during a summer vacation in the late 1990s, a few days before the summer eclipse. They become close friends, until one of their actions causes powerful consequences. Parliament Studio

CinemaxX 19

THE PRAYER

(France) Le Pacte. 107mins. Dir: Cedric Kahn.

14:05

THE SHADOW WITHIN

THE CHINESE WIDOW

(US) Level Films. 90mins. Dir: Tiago Mesquita. Cast: Charlotte Beckett, Lindsay Lohan, Gianni Capaldi. A private investigator must unravel the murder of her uncle while keeping the secret that she is a descendant from a line of werewolves.

(US) VMI Worldwide. 97mins. Dir: Bille August. Cast: Crystal Liu, Emile Hirsch. Jack Turner leads a

CinemaxX 10

13:15 FAKE TATTOOS

(Canada) Seville International. 87mins. Dir: Pascal Plante. Cast: Anthony Therrien, Rose-Marie Perreault. Theo spends his 18th birthday alone at a punk rock show. There, he meets Mag, a marginal teenager who invites him to spend the night at her place. CineStar IMAX

HAVE YOU SEEN THE LISTERS?

(Australia) Dogwoof. 90mins. Dir: Eddie Martin. A candid and personal insight as Anthony Lister embarks on the rocky road to become the world’s greatest street artist. CinemaxX 18

ROMPER STOMPER

(Australia) DCD Rights. 111mins. Dirs: various. Cast: David Wenham, Jacqueline McKenzie. A high stakes crime drama/ political thriller with multiple viewpoints. Zoo Palast 3

CineStar 6

MARKET

13:20 BACK HOME

(Italy) Fandango Sales. 103mins. Dir: Antonio Albanese. Mario Cavallaro loves order and when Oba, a Senegalese vendor, appears in front of his shop, he has a solution: kidnap Oba to send him home. Oba decides to use Mario’s plan to secure a free trip home with his fiancee. CinemaxX 13

CHRISTMAS & CO

successful mission to bomb Tokyo. However, he is forced to eject from his plane, crash landing him in China and rescued by a Chinese widow.

One day Luisa wakes up next to her second self, called Ann. Her alter ego keeps husband Richard happy while she meets with her lover, Leopold. Ann opens Luisa’s eyes.

Marriott Studio

Delphi LUX 2

HIDDEN

consist of what it leaves behind? CinemaxX 6

13:50 HARVIE & THE MAGIC MUSEUM

(Czech Republic, Belgium, Russia) Planet Nemo. 85mins. Dir: Martin Kotik. Harvie’s one ambition is to finish the last level of his computer game. But finishing the game turns out to be only the start of an adventure. CineStar 5

(France) Gaumont. 101mins. Dir: Alain Chabat. Christmas is right around the corner, when everything goes haywire: Santa’s elves all keel over, sick as dogs. Who’ll make the toys for all kids around the world?

(Hong Kong, China) Edko Films. 110mins. Dir: Raman Hui.

CinemaxX 2

BEUYS

13:30 NOTES ON AN APPEARANCE

(US) Partisan Films. 60mins. Dir: Ricky D’Ambrose. Cast: Keith Poulson, Tallie Medel, Bingham Bryant. When David disappears, his friends search for him across Brooklyn. Before his disappearance he was cataloguing the holdings of a controversial dead philosopher. Does a life

42 Screen International at Berlin February 19, 2018

13:55 MONSTER HUNT 2

CinemaxX 15

14:00

(Germany) Beta Cinema. 107mins. Dir: Andres Veiel. An intimate look at a human being, his art and his world of ideas. Delphi LUX 1

DO YOU SOMETIMES FEEL BURNED OUT AND EMPTY?

(Germany, Netherlands) Coin Film. 94mins. Dir: Lola Randl. Cast: Lina Beckmann, Charly Hubner, Benno Furmann.

(UK) All3media International. 57mins. Dir: Gareth Bryn. Cast: Sian Reese-Williams, Sion Alun Davies. Drawn back to her childhood home for personal reasons, DCI Cadi John finds herself policing the people of her youth. However, when the body of a local woman is found in a disused quarry, Cadi’s changes forever. Zoo Palast 5

KUNG FOOD

(China) Yi Animation. 60mins. Dir: Haipeng Sun. A hot steaming bun and a cold sushi are forced to unite to prevent the world’s flavours from getting out of control. Arsenal Cinema 2

14:05

by themself, deep down also longs to be heard. CinemaxX 14

THE ORDER OF THINGS

(Italy, France) Be For Films. 116mins. Dir: Andrea Segre. Cast: Paolo Pierobon, Giuseppe Battiston. Corrado, from the EU task force in charge of immigration control, is on a mission in Libya. He meets Swada, a Somali woman who left her warravaged country, and finds himself faced with a choice: respect his orders or save Swada. CinemaxX 16

14:15 THE GUARDIANS

(France) Pathe International. 134mins. Dir: Xavier Beauvois. Cast: Nathalie Baye, Laura Smet, Iris Bry. In 1915 at the Le Paridier farm, the women take over from the men who have left for the Front. Their relentless labour is punctuated by the occasional return of their men on leave. CinemaxX 1

THE CHINESE WIDOW See box, above

14:10 NERVOUS TRANSLATION

(Philippines) Reel Suspects. 90mins. Dir: Shireen Seno. Cast: Jana Agoncillo, Angge Santos, Sid Lucero. Captures the confusing and magical moments alike in the life of a child who, although preferring to be

LET THE GIRLS PLAY

(France) Indie Sales. 90mins. Dir: Julien Hallard. Cast: Max Boublil, Vanessa Guide. In 1969, a sport journalist is forced to plan his newspaper’s annual fair. He comes up with a crazy idea: organise the first women’s football match in France. CineStar 2

RETURN TO BOLLENE

(France) Pyramide International. 67mins. Dir: Said Hamich. Cast: Anas El Baz, Kate Colebrook. Nassim lives in Abu Dhabi with his American fiancee. After several years away, he returns with her to the town where he grew up but must face his past. CinemaxX 17

14:35 MY BIG GAY ITALIAN WEDDING (INTERNATIONAL WORKING TITLE)

(Italy) True Colours, 90mins. Dir: Alessandro Genovesi. A father discovers that he is not so liberal when his gay son comes out and announces the imminent wedding with his partner. CineStar 1

14:45 FORWARDS EVER!

(Germany) Beta Cinema. 98mins. Dir: Franziska Meletzky. A comedy of errors set on the eve of the collapse of the GDR in October 1989: faced with an unwanted pregnancy, a young drama student wants to leave East Berlin with forged papers to live with her mother in the West. CinemaxX 12

NIGHT COMES ON

(US) Cercamon. 86mins. Dir: Jordana Spiro. Cast: Dominque Fishback, Tatum Hall. Angel LaMere is released from juvenile detention on the eve of her 18th birthday. »

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Industry registration opens May 4 Toronto International Film Festival September 6 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 16, 2018

tiff.net/industry

SCREENINGS

Haunted by her past, she embarks on a journey with her 10-year-old sister that could destroy their future. CineStar 4

ON HAPPINESS ROAD

(Taiwan) Ablaze Image. 111mins. Dir: Hsin-Yin Sung. Cast: Te-Sheng Wei, Lun-Mei Gwei. Chi earned her American dream after persevering with her studies in Taiwan. Following her grandmother’s death, Chi returns to her family on Happiness Road, where she starts to contemplate the meaning of life and home.

(Russia) Mars Media. 37mins. Dir: Alexey Sidorov. In 1944, a courageous group of Russian soldiers managed to escape from German captivity in a half-destroyed legendary T-34 tank. CinemaxX 10

UNIFRANCE FRENCH VR SCREENING

15:00 CHRISTMAS BLOOD

(Norway) Reel Suspects. 104mins. Dir: Reinert Kiil. Cast: Jorgen Langhelle, Marte Saeteren, Haddy Jallow, Stig Henrik Hoff.

CHRISTMAS BLOOD

VR Cinema at Marriott

TEHRAN TABOO

ELECTRIC HEART

dffb Cinema

15:00 3 WAY JUNCTION

(UK, Germany, South Africa) Beta Cinema. 101mins. Dir: Jurgen Bollmeyer. Cast: Tom Sturridge, Stacy Martin, Tommy Flanagan. London architect Carl Walters travels to the grand dunes of the Namibian Desert to escape. However, destiny soon strikes and he finds himself stranded alone in the middle of nowhere, desperately waiting for a ride that never comes. CinemaxX 11

www.screendaily.com

CineStar 1

(Germany, Austria) Celluloid Dreams. 97mins. Dir: Ali Soozandeh. CinemaxX 18

THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING

(US) Submarine Entertainment. 99mins. Dir: Nathaniel Kahn. Dives deep into the contemporary art world. Parliament Studio

THIS CRAZY HEART

(Germany) Global Screen. 106mins. Dir: Marc Rothemund. Cast: Elyas M’Barek. When 30-ish rich kid Lenny has to take care of 15-year-old David, who’s suffering from heart disease, it’s the beginning of a wild adventure.

A serial killer has been haunting Norway every Christmas eve for 13 years. Detective Rasch and Hansen are determined to catch the killer before he strikes again.

woman’s lingerie in his laundry. CinemaxX 2

CineStar 2 No press

MGB Cinema

15:15 THE DAY

(Belgium) Dynamic Television. 90mins. Dir: Gilles Coulier, Dries Vos. Cast: Sofie Decleir, Maaike Neuville, Jeroen Perceval. An ingenious bank robbery spirals out of control in a Flemish town as police, criminals and hostages reveal unexpected agendas. Zoo Palast 5

GHOST STORIES

(UK) Altitude Film Sales. 96mins. Dir: Andy Nyman, Jeremy Dyson. Cast: Andy Nyman, Alex Lawther, Paul Whitehouse. Professor Phillip Goodman has his rationality tested when he investigates three paranormal episodes, each more terrifying than the last. Arsenal Cinema 2

CineStar IMAX

15:10 TRANNY FAG

(Brazil) FiGa Films. 75mins. Dir: Claudia Priscilla, Kiko Goifman. Cast: Linn Quebrada, Jup do Bairro, Liniker. A portrait of young transwoman. CinemaxX 13

MEDITATION PARK

(Canada) Mongrel International. 94mins. Dir: Mina Shum. Cast: Pei-Pei Cheng, Sandra Oh, Don McKellar, Tzi Ma. Sixty-year-old Maria Wang’s life is altered when she is forced to reassess her reverence for her husband after finding another

15:20 OLD BOYS

(UK, Sweden) WestEnd Films. 96mins. Dir: Toby MacDonald. Cast: Alex Lawther, Pauline Etienne, Jonah Hauer-King. An awkward but imaginative pupil helps the handsome but spectacularly dim school-hero pursue the fiery daughter of a visiting French teacher. CineStar 5

15:30 HOME GROUND

(Norway) DR Sales. 50mins. Dir: Arild Andresen, Cecilie Mosli, Yngvild Flikke. Cast: Ane Dahl Torp. Helena Mikkelse struggles to make it as Europe’s first female coach of a men’s football team in the National League in Norway. As a single mum to a teenager daughter, moving to a devoted football town is quite a challenge. Zoo Palast 3

15:35 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ANDRE

(US) Magnolia Pictures. 94mins. Dir: Kate Novack. Andre Leon Talley’s life and career are on full display in this poignant portrait.

16:00

(US) Pure Flix/Quality Flix. 106mins. Dir: Michael Mason. Cast: John Corbett, Tatum O’Neal, David AR White. When a tragic accident rocks the entire community and threatens the future of Dave’s church, he is forced to confront the questions that so many of us face: is God really all good and all powerful? dffb Cinema

(Russia) Arvizi. 60mins. Dirs: various.   The story of two ancient cities.

PLOEY

VR Cinema at Marriott

STELA

(Romania) Dropia Film. 58mins. Dir: Stanca Radu. Cast: Stela Popescu. She’s 80, she’s beautiful and she’s everywhere: the most popular actress in Romania reveals her life, loves and struggles. CinemaxX 15

(Iceland, Belgium) ARRI Media. 82mins. Dir: Arni Olafur Asgeirsson. A young golden plover has trouble learning to fly and fails to migrate with his family to warmer climates. He must survive the arctic winter, vicious enemies and himself in order to be reunited with them the following spring. CineStar 4

16:30 THE EREMITES

THE PRIVATE LIFE OF A MODERN WOMAN

(US) Paul Thiltges Distributions. 71mins. Dir: James Toback. Cast: Sienna Miller, Alec Baldwin, Charles Grodin. Successful actress Vera Lockman thrashes about during a nightmare in which she struggles with shoots and kills her drugdealer ex-boyfriend. Marriott Studio

16:10 END OF SUMMER

HUNTING SEASON

(Argentina, Germany,

CinemaxX 16

15:45

GOD’S NOT DEAD: A LIGHT IN DARKNESS

ARVIZIO: HISTORY COMES TO LIFE

(China) Be For Films. 102mins. Dir: Quan Zhou. Cast: Songwen Zhang. A boy who needs an ally in rebelling against his controlling father finds a perfect match, his neighbour Grandpa Zheng.

CinemaxX 10

(Germany) Picture Tree International. 106mins. Dir: Torsten Kunstler. Cast: Til Schweiger, Matthias Schweighofer. Elite unit officers Luke and Theo have to join forces to save the Moldavian ambassador’s daughter, who has been kidnapped. 16:20

(Italy) ACEK. 100mins. Dir: Terence Hill. Cast: Terence Hill. An easy rider sets off on his Harley for the desert in search of solitude and rescues a girl along the way. The wisdom he is seeking is not to be found in solitude, but in the girl’s courageous spirit.

MARKET

See box, above

(US) Bob’s Your Uncle. 77mins. Dir: Benjamin Mattingly. Cast: Matt Ciociolo, David Hanson, Kaye L Morris. When the woman Bryan has always loved invites him to attend an EDM festival in Las Vegas, he and his best friend embark on a road trip from Portland.

CinemaxX 14

GONE FOR A WHILE

(France) Unifrance. 60mins. Dirs: various. 14:50

HOT DOG

15:55

Cinemobile

T 34 — PROMO

France) Alpha Violet. 109mins. Dir: Natalia Garagiola. Cast: German Palacios, Lautaro Bettoni, Boy Olmi. A respected hunting guide in Patagonia is faced with the education of his biological son, who has recently been expelled from school.

(Germany, Austria) Cercamon. 110mins. Dir: Ronny Trocker. Cast: Andreas Lust, Ingrid Burkhard, Orsi Toth. Delphi LUX 1

HARD PAINT

(Brazil) M-Appeal — Raspberry & Cream, 119mins. Dir: Marcio Reolon, Filipe Matzembacher. Pedro is young, gay and earns a living as a performer in chat rooms. When someone in the city copies his act, things take a sudden and dramatic turn. CinemaxX 13

HARD SUN

(UK, US) FremantleMedia International. 120mins. Dir: Brian Kirk. Cast: Jim Sturgess, Agyness Deyn, Nikki Amuka-Bird. »

February 19, 2018 Screen International at Berlin 45

SCREENINGS

Charlie Hicks and Elaine Renko are detectives who, while investigating a murder in the inner city, stumble upon proof that the world faces certain destruction in five years.

community experiencing a crisis of faith finds new hope in the arrival of a mysterious young man. CinemaxX 17

17:35 HOLIDAY

Zoo Palast 3

(Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden) Heretic Outreach. 93mins. Dir: Isabella Eklof. Cast: Victoria Carmen Sonne, Lai Yde, Thijs Romer. A love triangle featuring the trophy girlfriend of a petty drug lord, caught up in a web of luxury and violence in a modern dark gangster tale set on the Turkish Riviera.

PIN CUSHION

(UK) Stray Dogs. 83mins. Dir: Deborah Hywood. Cast: Lily Newmark, Joanna Scanlan. An all-girl gothic fairytale set in the British workingclass suburbs. CinemaxX 12

WESTERN

(Germany, Austria, Bulgaria) Films Boutique. 119mins. Dir: Valeska Grisebach. Cast: Meinhard Neumann, Reinhardt Wetrek. A group of German construction workers start a tough job at a remote site in the Bulgarian countryside. Delphi LUX 2

16:35

CinemaxX 14

17:40

MARKET 16:45 ANNA’S WAR

(Russia) Media Luna. 75mins. Dir: Aleksey Fedorchenko. Cast: Marta Kozlova. A little Jewish girl hidden inside the fireplace of

the Nazi Commandant’s office: she watches life passing by while building her own world. And her beautiful world expands day by day until Anna will win the war. CinemaxX 18

RBG

(US) Magnolia Pictures. 97mins. Dir: Julie Cohen, Betsy West. A look at the life and work of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. CinemaxX 1

16:45 ANNA’S WAR See box, above

91mins. Dir: Ken Duken. Cast: Ken Duken, Tom Wlaschiha. When Frank Balzer picks up hitchhiker Andreas on his way to Berlin, the ex-Green Beret has no idea what he is getting into. CinemaxX 11

16:55 FAMILY BUSINESS

(US) Bleiberg Entertainment. 93mins. Dir: Tzahi Grad. Cast: Tzahi Grad, Ala Dakka, Osnat Fishman. A well-intentioned ArabicMuslim handyman upends the day-to-day lives of an Israeli village.

(France) Gaumont. 90mins. Dir: Anne Le Ny. Cast: Miou-Miou, Alice Belaidi, Julia Piaton. Three siblings always presumed they would inherit from their rich aunt Bertille. Alas, when the old lady dies, they discover she has left everything to Eloise, an annoying cousin.

Parliament Studio

CinemaxX 2

THE COUSIN

FATHER TO SON

MAI 68, LA BELLE OUVRAGE

(Taiwan) Ablaze Image. 115mins. Dir: Ya-Chuan Hsiao. Van Pao-Te is seriously ill. Instead of getting treatment, he goes to Japan with his son to look for the father who abandoned him 50 years earlier.

(France) Wide House. 117mins. Dir: Jean-Luc Magneron. A film about the May 1968 riots in Paris.

Cinemobile

(Germany) Kahuuna Films. 70mins. Dir: Hans Weingartner. Cast: Mala Emde, Anton Spieker. Jule and Jan ride a rusty

16:50 BERLIN FALLING

(Germany) Global Screen.

MGB Cinema

17:00 303 — THE SERIES

46 Screen International at Berlin February 19, 2018

motorhome from Berlin to Portugal and try not to fall in love. Zoo Palast 5

MY BROTHER SIMPLE

(Germany) Global Screen. 115mins. Dir: Markus Goller. Cast: David Kross, Frederick Lau, Emilia Schule, Devid Striesow. Ben and his brother “Simple” have been best buddies for as long as he can remember although Simple has stayed at the mental age of a three-yearold. When their mother unexpectedly dies, Simple is to be sent to a home. Together, the brothers flee. CinemaxX 15

NAPLES IN VEILS

(Italy) True Colours. 112mins. Dir: Ferzan Ozpetek. In a Naples suspended between magic and superstition, madness and rationality, a mystery envelops the existence of Adriana, overwhelmed by a sudden love and a violent crime. Arsenal Cinema 2

17:05 THE APPARITION

(France) Memento Films

International. 138mins. Dir: Xavier Giannoli. A French journalist attracts the attention of the Vatican. CineStar 5

17:15 GOLD SEEKERS

(Paraguay) FilmSharks International. 102mins. Dir: Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schembori. Cast: Tomas Arredondo, Christian Ferreira, Cecilia Torres. A story that digs up one of the ancient legends in Paraguay. A group of friends embark on a search in Asuncion and other cities, following a map that indicates where buried treasure is hidden. CinemaxX 10

17:20 A THOUGHT OF ECSTASY

(Luxembourg) Paul Thiltges Distributions. 87mins. Dir: RP Kahl. Cast: RP Kahl, Deborah Kara Unger, Ava Verne. A journey into America in the year 2019: a man in search of a lost love; a woman lost in desire for revenge; a country paralysed by heat and lost in suspicion and paranoia; and a 21-year-old diary that evokes memories. Marriott Studio

17:30 GOOD FAVOUR

(Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium) Visit Films. 101mins. Dir: Rebecca Daly. Cast: Vincent Romeo, Lars Brygmann. A remote Christian

THE REAL ESTATE

(Sweden, UK) The Match Factory. 88mins. Dir: Axel Petersen, Mans Mansson. After a life of decadence and monthly allowances, 68-year-old Nojet inherits an apartment building in downtown Stockholm. However, the building turns on her and what appeared to be a cash cow is in fact a curse. CineStar 2

WHEN THE TREES FALL

(Ukraine, Poland, Macedonia) Latido Films. 88mins. Dir: Marysia Nikitiuk. Cast: Anastasiia Pustovit, Sonya Halaimova. In a godforsaken postSoviet village, Larysa has fallen in love with an attractive young criminal. After he heads to the city, she will be forced to follow the traditional life she has always refused. However, her rebellious five-year-old cousin holds a secret that can change everyone’s destiny. CinemaxX 19

17:50 THE LADY IN THE PORTRAIT

(China, France) All Rights Entertainment. 108mins. Dir: Charles de Meaux. This is the story of two people meeting. It is also the story of a portrait, in which immutable Chinese art meets occidental art. The Jesuit Jean Denis Attiret was given the honourable task of

painting a portrait of Empress Ulanara. CineStar 4

17:55 THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT

(Belgium, Switzerland, France) Be For Films. 95mins. Dir: Samuel Tilman. Cast: Fabrizio Rongione, Natacha Regnier. David is a happy father. However, on returning from holiday, he is taken in for questioning by the police as part of a murder investigation that reveals all is not what it seems behind the happy facade of David’s life. CinemaxX 16

18:00 LIKE A CAT ON A HIGHWAY

(Italy) True Colours. 98mins. Dir: Riccardo Milani. Cast: Antonio Albanese, Paola Cortellesi. What happens when the teenage children of the most diverse people on earth fall in love? CineStar 1

18:05 ORIGAMI

(Canada) Filmoption International. 99mins. Dir: Patrick Demers. Cast: Francois Arnaud, Normand D’Amour, Milton Tanaka, Alex-Jeanne Dube. David travels down his own personal timeline to correct past mistakes. CinemaxX 12

THE STOLEN PRINCESS

(Ukraine) FILM.UA Group. 90mins. Dir: Oleg Malamuzh. Mila, a Kyiv princess, falls in love with a wondering artist named Ruslan. When the evil sorcerer Chernomor kidnaps Mila, Ruslan sets out on a mission to rescue his loved one. CineStar 6

18:30 1%

(Australia) Celluloid Dreams. 92mins. Dir: Stephen McCallum. Cast: Ryan Corr, Abbey Lee. A story of brotherhood, loyalty and betrayal set within the primal underworld of outlaw motorcycle gangs. CinemaxX 11

www.screendaily.com

FALLING

(Ukraine) TVCO. 105mins. Dir: Marina Stepanska. Cast: Andriy Seletskiy, Dasha Plahtiy. A fragile love story set in the young generation of today’s post-revolutionary Ukraine. Parliament Studio

THE PARTY IS OVER

(France) Pyramide International. 90mins. Dir: Marie Garel Weiss. Despite their differences, Celeste and Sihem become inseparable. When they are expelled from their shelter, they are left on their own, facing the real world. CinemaxX 18

YOURS IN SISTERHOOD

(US) 101mins. Dir: Irene Lusztig. Across the US, women from all walks of life read out and comment upon letters sent to feminist magazine ‘Ms.’ in the 1970s. CinemaxX 6

www.screendaily.com

18:35 POUND FOR POUND

(Denmark, Croatia, Iceland) Dutch Features Global Entertainment. 97mins. Dir: Mikkel Serup. The story of one of the most sensational wins in Danish sports history. dffb Cinema

18:50 TIME TRIAL

(UK) Autlook Filmsales, 82mins. Dir: Finlay Pretsell. The final races of Tour de France cyclist David Millar. Using pioneering filming techniques, bespoke vehicles and on-bike cameras, it offers a radical new insight into the world of professional cycling. Cinemobile

18:55 A ROUGH DRAFT

(Russia) REASON8 Films. 114mins. Dir: Sergey

Mokritsky. Cast: Nikita Volkov, Evgeny Tkachuk. After a heartbroken man is erased from the memory of everyone he knows, he discovers his new mission is to serve as customs officer with the mysterious power to open portals between parallel worlds. CinemaxX 2 No press

19:00 THE LAST PROSECCO

(Italy) Fandango Sales. 101mins. Dir: Antonio Padovan. Cast: Giuseppe Battiston, Teco Celio. A noir about the lure of the land, the conflict between greed and respect. CinemaxX 15

LORD, GIVE ME PATIENCE

(Spain) FilmSharks International. 95mins. Dir: Alvaro Diaz Lorenzo. Cast: Rossy De Palma, Jordi Sanchez. An ultraconservative family father must spend a weekend with his

dysfunctional children for the funeral of his wife. CinemaxX 10

19:15 DAUGHTER OF MINE

(Italy, Germany, Switzerland) The Match Factory. 100mins. Dir: Laura Bispuri. Cast: Valeria Golino, Alba Rohrwacher. A girl torn between mothers: one who raised her with love; and her birth mother. CineStar 2

LOVE REVISITED

(Netherlands, Belgium) Attraction Distribution. 99mins. Dir: Nicole van Kilsdonk. Cast: Beppie Melissen, Gene Bervoets. The sudden death of their adult son reunites an old couple. CinemaxX 17

POSESIF

(Indonesia) Good Move Media. 102mins.

Dir: Edwin. Cast: Putri Marino, Adipati Dolken, Griselda Agatha, Chicco Kurniawan. Lala and Yudhis plunge into the inferno of first love. CinemaxX 14

19:25 LOVE BIRDS

(Israel) Transfax Film Production. 72mins. Dir: Dover Kosashvili. A man and a woman meet each other in a hotel suite for a day full of fantasy. They are celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary and this is their routine celebration. But this year is different. CinemaxX 19

starts work at the building she lives in, Elpida finds herself confronted by desire. CinemaxX 16

19:40 THE HAPPY PRINCE

(Germany, Belgium, Italy) Beta Cinema. 105mins. Dir: Rupert Everett. The story of the last days of Oscar Wilde in exile. CineStar 6

19:45 BLOODY RICHARD

(Italy, France) Adriana Chiesa Enterprises. 90mins. Dir: Roberta Torre. A pop revisiting of Shakespeare’s ‘Richard III’. CineStar 1

19:35

19:50

PAUSE

(Cyprus, Greece) Film Republic. 96mins. Dir: Tonia Mishiali. Cast: Stela Fyrogeni, Andreas Vassiliou, Popi Avraam. When a young painter

SUN DANCE

(Romania) Romanian Film Centre. 76mins. Dir: Cornel Gheorghita. An ancient ritual still practised today in Romania. CinemaxX 12

February 19, 2018 Screen International at Berlin 47

JURY GRID

ANTON DOLIN Meduza, Russia

KATJA NICODEMUS Die Zeit, Germany

NICK JAMES Sight & Sound, UK

SCREEN INTERNATIONAL

AVERAGE

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THE HEIRESSES (Par-Ger-Uru-Nor-Bra-Fr) Marcelo Martinessi

★★

DOVLATOV (Rus-Pol-Ser) Alexey German Jr

★★★★

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EVA (Fr-Bel) Benoit Jacquot

★★

TRANSIT (Ger-Fr) Christian Petzold

★★

DAUGHTER OF MINE (It-Ger-Switz) Laura Bispuri

★★

THE PRAYER (Fr) Cédric Kahn

★★

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THE REAL ESTATE (Swe-UK) Mans Mansson, Axel Petersen

Good

VERENA LUEKEN Frankfurter Allgemeine, Germany

DAMSEL (US) David Zellner, Nathan Zellner

★★★

TIM ROBEY The Telegraph, UK

ISLE OF DOGS (US-Ger) Wes Anderson

Excellent

NICHOLAS WENNÖ Dagens Nyheter, Sweden

THE SCREEN JURY AT BERLIN

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Screen International office Scandic Hotel, Wolverine Suite, Gabriele-Tergit-Promenade 19, 10963, Berlin E-mail: firstname.lastname@ screendaily.com (unless stated) Editorial +44 7436 096 420 Editor Matt Mueller US editor Jeremy Kay (jeremykay67@gmail.com) Reviews editor and chief film critic Fionnuala Halligan (finn.halligan@ screendaily.com) Senior editor, online Orlando Parfitt

3.1

Senior reporter Tom Grater

1.3

Group head of production and art Mark Mowbray

2.3

Online/editorial assistant Ben Dalton

Features editor Charles Gant

Group art director Peter Gingell

Reporters Martin Blaney (screen.berlin@gmail. com), Melanie Goodfellow (melanie. goodfellow@btinternet.com), Geoffrey Macnab (geoffrey@macnab. demon.co.uk), Liz Shackleton (lizshackleton@gmail.com)

★★

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Sub-editors Dominic Needham, Paul Lindsell, Tim Mawdsley, Willemijn Barker-Benfield, Adam Richmond, Richard Young

★★

2.2

Advertising and publishing Publishing director Nadia Romdhani +44 7540 100 315

3 DAYS IN QUIBERON (Ger-Aust-Fr) Emily Atef

Atef probes what happened during the last interview and photoshoot of enigmatic Austrian film star Romy ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ Schneider, which took place at a spa in Brittany in 1981, just a year before her death at the age of 43.

U – JULY 22 (Nor) Erik Poppe

Poppe’s third feature to play the Berlinale looks at the July 22, 2011 attack on a youth summer camp on Utoya ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ island, Norway by far-right terrorist Anders Behring Breivik, as told from the youths’ point of view.

SEASON OF THE DEVIL (Phil) Lav Diaz

The former Alfred Bauer prize-winning director’s latest effort — clocking in at 234 minutes — is described as a ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ black and white “anti-musical musical, a rock opera, that delves into mythology”.

DON’T WORRY, HE WON’T GET FAR ON FOOT (US) Gus Van Sant

Van Sant celebrates the life of John Callahan, who became a renowned cartoonist after he was left quadriplegic by a ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ car crash. Joaquin Phoenix stars alongside Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, Jack Black, Beth Ditto and Kim Gordon.

PIG (Iran) Mani Haghighi

The latest film from Iranian writer/director/actor Haghighi is an absurdist comedy about a dejected film director ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ who wonders why he is not important enough to be targeted by a serial killer. Hasan Majuni and Leila Hatami star.

MY BROTHER’S NAME IS ROBERT AND HE IS AN IDIOT (Ger-Fr-Switz) Philip Gröning

Gröning enjoys his first Berlinale world premiere with this drama that chronicles the unusual relationship between ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ two incestuous siblings. Josef Mattes and Julia Zange head the cast.

MUSEUM (Mex) Alonso Ruizpalacios

The director’s follow-up to 2014’s Berlinale best first feature winner Güeros is a coming-of-age heist movie set in ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ 1985. Shot in Mexico City, Palenque and Acapulco, it stars Gael Garcia Bernal, Leonardo Ortizgris and Alfredo Castro.

TOUCH ME NOT (Rom-Ger-Czech-Bul-Fr) Adina Pintilie

The first female Romanian director to be selected for the Berlinale’s Competition, Pintilie’s debut feature and ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ docu-drama hybrid Touch Me Not explores themes of intimacy and humanity’s longing for contact.

IN THE AISLES (Ger) Thomas Stuber

Stuber’s third feature to play at the Berlinale follows a man who begins work as a shelf-stacker in a supermarket. ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ Franz Rogowski plays opposite Sandra Hüller and Peter Kurth.

MUG (Pol) Malgorzata Szumowska

Szumowska tied for the directing Silver Bear with Body (2015) and won a Teddy for In The Name Off (2013) with ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★ Mateusz Kosciukiewicz, who also stars in Mug as a man who experiences identity issues after a face transplant.

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48 Screen International at Berlin February 19, 2018

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