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EFM buzzes for the haves BY JEREMY KAY
Judi Dench
Dench clocks Lionsgate’s Six Minutes BY JEREMY KAY
Judi Dench is in negotiations to join Eddie Izzard on the thriller Six Minutes To Midnight, which Lionsgate International has been touting to EFM buyers. Principal photography is scheduled to begin in June on the story of a teacher at an elite English finishing school who is caught up in a Nazi conspiracy. Andy Goddard directs from a screenplay by Celyn Jones and Izzard, who appeared alongside Dench in Victoria & Abdul. Dench is touted to portray a stern school headmistress who comes to the teacher’s aid after he is forced to go on the run. Jones’ Mad As Birds Films partners Sean Marley, Andy Evans and Ade Shannon are producing alongside Sarah Townsend of Izzard’s Ella Communications.
The presence of several eye-catching packages helped bolster spirits at the EFM, although the chasm between the haves and have-nots remains as wide as ever. Buyers who could afford the most desirable commercial product from the blue - chip sales companies responded positively to Lionsgate International’s John Wick: Chapter 3, Sierra/Affinity’s Official Secrets and Kung Fury from Bloom. There was plenty of interest in The Aeronauts and The Personal History Of David Copperfield from FilmNation, STXinternational’s Finest Kind and The Marsh King’s Daughter, Voltage Pictures’ Roland Emmerich epic Maya Lord and The Exchange’s Drew Barrymore comedy The Stand-In. Studiocanal’s Mia And The White Lion has sparked
activity, as have TrustNordisk’s Competition selection U – July 22 and Protagonist Pictures’ Sundance hit The Kindergarten Teacher. UK buyers seemed happy to pay out, while US deals were scarce besides Sony Pictures Classics’ move on Rupert Everett’s The Happy Prince. Yet for many Berlin buyers and sellers, overwhelmed by fundamental changes in the industry and unsettled by the fickle currents of market forces, it was hard to connect with the right material. For arthouse buyers in particular, a so far gloomy festival selection has offered slim pickings. Protagonist’s managing director of sales and distribution Vanessa Saal expressed “relief that business seemed to be happening”, adding that the lack of pick-
ups by Netflix and Amazon gave “independents more of a chance to position themselves”. Global Road staged what many buyers who spoke to Screen branded a pointless presentation in which top brass said they planned to raise a $1bn production war chest. As Rob Friedman, Global Road chairman and CEO, attempts to build Summit 3.0, all eyes will be on what his international team brings to the Croisette in May. Some newer players already seem to have hit their stride. “There is a resurgence in the marketplace following the AFM drought,” STXinternational president of sales John Friedberg said. While that is good news for those who inhabit the upper echelons, the trick for everybody else is how to get in on the action.
Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
Heiresses bring Luxbox suitors BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW
Paris-based sales company Luxbox has unveiled the first deals for Paraguayan director Marcelo Martinessi’s Golden Bear contender The Heiresses. The film has sold to Spain (Betam), Greece (Weird Wave), China )Time Vision) and Switzerland (Cineworx). The female-driven tale follows two formerly wealthy women who have fallen on hard times. It has been warmly received by critics in Berlin with many predicting a strong run on arthouse circuits. Other titles on the Luxbox slate include Joao Moreira Salles’s In The Intense Now, Panorama documentary Central Airport THF and Berlin Competition title Museum.
This year’s European Shooting Stars join festival director Dieter Kosslick (pictured centre) at the Berlinale Palast for last night’s premiere of Emily Atef’s Competition title 3 Days In Quiberon.
Buyers warm to Memento’s Mug, Wild Pear Tree Memento Films International has unveiled sales on Malgorzata Szumowska’s Mug ahead of its Berlin premiere on Friday. Mug has sold to Italy (Movies Inspired), Greece (Seven), China (Blueshare/ Time-in-Portrait), Turkey (Bir Film) and ex-Yugoslavia (MCF Megacom).
The film is about a man who is rejected by his Polish community after a face transplant. Memento also reports business on Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s The Wild Pear Tree, which is widely tipped for a Cannes premiere in May. It has sold to Australia (Sharmill Films), Spain
(Golem), Lithuania (Kino Pavasaris), UK (New Wave), Benelux (September Films), Switzerland (Trigon), Portugal (Leopardo), Romania (Macondo), Hong Kong (Edko), China (China Film Archive), Taiwan (Swallow Wings) and India (Alliance). Melanie Goodfellow
TODAY 7 Days In Entebbe
REVIEW 7 Days In Entebbe Jose Padilha’s fictionalised drama is bruising and propulsive » Page 6
FEATURES Face value Malgorzata Szumowska reveals why Mug is an allegory for Poland today » Page 14
Strong island Norwegian director Erik Poppe discusses controversial Competition contender U – July 22 » Page 16
Final print daily This is Screen’s final print edition at Berlin 2018. Please continue to follow all the latest news and reviews at ScreenDaily.com
What next for the Berlinale? BY MARTIN BLANEY
Conversation in the cocktail bars, receptions and parties around Potsdamer Platz inevitably focused on the future of the Berlinale after current festival director Dieter Kosslick exits his post in May 2019. Rumours had been rife before Christmas about the favoured candidates, until Germany’s minister for culture and media Monika Grütters announced at a public discussion that the future festival director did not necessarily have to be a woman or a German national. Grütters announced she would be heading a selection committee consisting of Björn Böhning, head of the Berlin State chancellery, and Mariette Rissenbeek, managing director of German Films. Their deliberations in finding potential candidates are being supported by a group of international film professionals, understood to include The Match Factory’s Michael Weber. The advisory group has also been invited to offer its thoughts on a possible overhaul of the festival structure on the lines of such festivals as Cannes and Locarno. Grütters has indicated her aim is to appoint a successor to Kosslick by this summer, which would allow the successful candidate to be a “shadow festival director” at Kosslick’s side during the 69th Berlinale before taking over for the 70th edition in 2020.
NEWS
BERLIN BRIEFS Other Woman scores Other Angle Pictures has signed new deals on Daniel Auteuil’s couple comedy The Other Woman at EFM. The film has sold to Germany (Weltkino), Spain (Wanda), Russia (AKM) and Hungary (Romis Film Group). Auteuil directs and stars.
Flower blooms for Japan Japan’s Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures has closed several sales on its animated feature Maquia: When The Promised Flower Blooms, including to Germany (Universum), Russia (Capella Film) and UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt and Oman (Dark Wingz).
Mirovision sells Heaven Korean production and sales outfit Mirovision has sold crime drama Brothers In Heaven to Nihon Skyway for Japan. Hee Jun Park’s film has also sold to Taiwan (Movie Cloud) and the Philippines (Viva), while Mirovision has also signed an output deal with Korean production house Kinema Factory, founded by Oh In-chun.
M-Appeal confirms sales Berlin-based M-Appeal has confirmed deals on its EFM slate this week. Hard Paint by Marcio Reolon and Filipe Matzembacher has gone to Pro-Fun Media for Germany, while Asa Helga Hjorleifsdottir’s Toronto title The Swan has been sold to Njutafilms in Sweden.
» Full stories on ScreenDaily.com
EC set to adapt MEDIA after mid-term verdict BY MARTIN BLANEY
The European Commission (EC) is planning to make changes to its MEDIA support programme for the European audiovisual sector in light of the findings and recommendations of the mid-term evaluation of Creative Europe. An EC document presented at yesterday’s European Film Forum in Berlin reported that “over 90% of respondents” to the public consultation agreed that “the current MEDIA priorities with the existing schemes were still relevant to the challenges of the sector”. At the same time, the evaluation found that MEDIA’s annual
Warner Bros boards Link’s Pink Rabbit BY TOM GRATER
Warner Bros Germany has boarded as a co-producer and taken all distribution rights for the territory on Caroline Link’s adaptation of Judith Kerr’s When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, set for production in May. The $9.3m project is from Sommerhaus Filmproduktion. Separately, Sommerhaus’s Berlinale Competition title In The Aisles has been picked up for US distribution by Music Box Films. Beta Cinema inked the deal on the title.
2 Screen International at Berlin February 20, 2018
MEDIA’s EFM stand
budget of $130m was too low and spread too thinly among thousands of beneficiaries, while the programme is fragmented into 14 schemes, “which limits flexibility in the design of support actions”. The proposed changes include increasing the number of MEDIA stands from the current four markets — Berlin, MIPTV, Cannes
and MIPCOM — to include the Series Mania Festival in Lille and the animation festival and market in Annecy this year, as well as Barcelona in 2019. In addition the EC wants to see European distributors focus more on investing the support coming from the Automatic Distribution scheme in P&A “because there is a correlation between marketing spend and admissions”. Distributors had invested their MEDIA funding in minimum guarantees, but the EC says this has not led to an increase in admissions for non-national theatrical releases throughout the EU.
Covert hosts UK horror Matriarch Covert Media has come on board for worldwide sales on UK filmmaker Scott Vickers’ horror thriller Matriarch, and has launched sales at EFM. The film, which wrapped in 2017, shot over 12 days on a farm near Glasgow owned by executive producer Alan Cuthbert. Vickers wrote the screenplay about a pregnant woman and her husband taken in by a farmer and his wife after their car crashes in the countryside. Once there, they realise their hosts’ daughter is a young girl whom they abducted. Charlie Blackwood, Julie Hannan and Briony Monroe star alongside Vickers and Cuthbert. Jeremy Kay
Sales agents flock to Blockchain BY LIZ SHACKLETON
Several sales agents including LevelK and Celsius Entertainment have signed on with Swedish start-up Cinezen for the first blockchain video-on-demand (BVoD) distribution model. Cinezen describes the worldwide BVoD agreements as similar to licensing for transactional videoon demand, except consumers pay with Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. The system does not require invoicing and royalty reporting as every content provider is part of a blockchain network that has
direct access to transparent transaction data, and will receive payments directly from consumers. In phase two, consumers will be able to pay using credit cards, but transactions will be converted into cryptocurrency so transparency and direct payments remain. Other sales agents to sign up for the technology include Antipode Sales & Distribution, FlexyMovies and YTINIFNI Pictures. Between them, the sales agents have cleared around 100 titles for BVoD distribution and expect that number to vastly increase. Cinezen is still under development, with a commercial launch
scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year. An alpha version will be made available for public testing before Cannes. In a statement, Cenezen said: “Blockchain technology solves one of the gravest problems of the film industry — lack of trust and transparency.” LevelK CEO Tine Klint, who says her company has been aggregating globally since 2011, told Screen: “The blockchain technology creates an additional poss i b i l i ty t o re a c h a n o t h e r community at the same time without limiting traditional distributors’ distribution windows or strategy.”
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FIRST LOOK UN PREMIER REGARD
MAKE LOTS OF ROOM IN YOUR AGENDA A selection of clips from films to hit the international circuit this spring.
Rotterdam 2018
Sundance 2018
All You Can Eat Buddha
Anote’s Ark
Production Voyelles Films Sales Stray Dogs
Production & Sales EyeSteelFilm
Ian Lagarde
21/02 15:00
Matthieu Rytz 20/02 9:30
CinemaxX 2
CinemaxX 14
Panorama
Generation 14plus
Lemonade
What Walaa Wants
Production Mobra Films (Romania) Peripheria (Canada) 42film (Germany) Filmgate Films (Sweden) Film i Väst (Sweden) Sales Pluto Film
Production Murmur Media (Canada) National Film Board of Canada (Canada) Final Cut for Real (Denmark) Sales Autlook Films National Film Board of Canada
Iona Uricaru
20/02 12:50
CinemaxX 12
Christy Garland
20/02 15:00
FIRST LOOK UN PREMIER REGARD A selection of clips from films to hit the international circuit this spring. 20/02 15:45
CinemaxX 2
CineStar 2 Programming subject to change. Published according to information submitted.
SEE BIG. For more information and to see the trailers visit RDVCANADA.CA Visit Us! Canada Pavilion, MGB stand 129
NEWS (Harry Potter series)
(Avatar series)
(10.000 KM)
Dox Box, AFAC launch Arab Doc Convention BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW
and Beirut-based Arab culture fund AFAC. Dok Leipzig, IDFA Bertha Fund and the Sundance Documentary programme are also partners on the initiative. Dox Box founders Diana El Jeiroudi and Marion Schmidt are spearheading the meeting. “The aim of aDC is to gather leading documentary professionals
MARKET SCREENING: TODAY / 9:00 / CinemaxX 14
and decision-makers from the Arab region and Europe, to create a platform for dialogue, collaboration and resistance designed to inspire creativity, foster connectivity and ignite change,” they said in a statement. The first edition will take place in Leipzig from April 12-14 at the Mediencampus Villa Ida.
Vision Films has acquired worldwide rights at EFM to Uniglobe Entertainment’s 5 Weddings. Rajkummar Rao and Nargis Fakhri star in the story of a US journalist sent to India to report on weddings, but ends up investigating transgender dancers known as hijras. Jeremy Kay
F LO IRS OK T
A meeting aimed at documentary professionals from Europe and the Arab world will launch in Leipzig this April. Bannered the arab.european Doc Convention (aDC), the event is a joint venture between Dox Box, the Berlin-based body aimed at fostering Arab documentaries,
When Roger agrees to be Kat and Eva’s donor, the three friends set out on an unconventional journey to start a family.
Damned Films sets Time BY LIZ SHACKLETON
Paris-based production house Damned Films has boarded Thai filmmaker Jakrawal Nilthamrong’s Anatomy Of Time as co-producer alongside Thailand’s Diversion and Mit Out Sound Films. Jakrawal’s credits include Vanishing Point, which won the Tiger Award at Interna-
“Marks a promising debut.” –Screen International
tional Film Festival Rotterdam in 2015. His new project follows an old woman looking back at the disappointments and regrets of her life, while caring for her disgraced army general husband. Damned Films’ Yohann Cornu will produce the film with Diversion’s Mai Meksawan and Mit Out Sound’s
Blue Fox signs up former Myriad exec BY JEREMY KAY
MARKET SCREENING: TODAY / 12:20 / CinemaxX 18
While on vacation in Chile, Dutch tourist Maud abandons her husband to travel alone. When she befriends “Messi”, a local boy who fills a void in her heart, the pair embark on a road trip to reinvent themselves. BERLIN OFFICE: MGB #14 +1 617 835 6307 info@visitfilms.com
4 Screen International at Berlin February 20, 2018
Audrey Delaney has joined Los Angeles-based distributor and sales agent Blue Fox Entertainment as senior vice-president of worldwide marketing and distribution. Delaney, who most recently served as senior vice-president of marketing and acquisitions at Myriad Pictures, is in Berlin meet-
ing with industry and will oversee marketing and distribution on Blue Fox’s US release and international sales titles. Company partners Todd Slater, James Huntsman and Andreas Olavarria said: “Audrey is a seasoned industry executive with a tremendous understanding of how to best connect films with the global marketplace.”
Chatchai Chaiyon. Mai is also in talks with co-producers from Germany and the Netherlands. The project has been granted development support from the Hubert Bals Fund and was also selected for Paris Coproduction Village last year. It is expected to start shooting in late 2018 or early 2019.
Be For Films inks Mind deals Be For Films has signed deals on Blue My Mind. The Swiss feature went to the US (Uncork’d Entertainment), France (E-cinema), Japan (The Klockworx) and Taiwan (Sanchi Films). Lisa Brühlmann’s fantasy drama follows a 15-yearold girl who undergoes a strange physical transformation.
Tom Grater
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BERLINALE 2018 I N
C O M P E T I T I O N 3 DAYS IN QUIBERON by Emily Atef
© Rohfilm Factory/Peter Hartwig
Producer: Rohfilm Factory Sales: Beta Cinema Mon, 19 Feb, 11:45, Berlinale Palast (press) Mon, 19 Feb, 18:15, Berlinale Palast (premiere) Tue, 20 Feb, 12:00, Friedrichstadt-Palast (public) Tue, 20 Feb, 21:00, Haus der Berliner Festspiele (public) Wed, 21 Feb, 21:30, filmkunst 66 (public) Sun, 25 Feb, 12:45, Berlinale Palast (public)
IN THE AISLES by Thomas Stuber
© Sommerhaus Filmproduktion/Anke Neugebauer
Producer: Sommerhaus Filmproduktion Sales: Beta Cinema Fri, 23 Feb, 11:45, Berlinale Palast (press) Fri, 23 Feb, 18:30, Berlinale Palast (premiere) Sat, 24 Feb, 12:00, Friedrichstadt-Palast (public) Sat, 24 Feb, 15:00, Haus der Berliner Festspiele (public) Sun, 25 Feb, 21:00, Berlinale Palast (public)
MY BROTHER’S NAME IS ROBERT AND HE IS AN IDIOT by Philip Gröning
© Philip Gröning Filmproduktion
Producers: Philip Gröning Filmproduktion, Bavaria Pictures, L Films Sales: The Match Factory Wed, 21 Feb, 09:00, Berlinale Palast (press) Wed, 21 Feb, 15:00, Berlinale Palast (premiere) Thu, 22 Feb, 09:30, Friedrichstadt-Palast (public) Thu, 22 Feb, 14:30, Haus der Berliner Festspiele (public) Thu, 22 Feb, 21:15, Friedrichstadt-Palast (public) Sun, 25 Feb, 21:15, Haus der Berliner Festspiele (public)
TRANSIT
by Christian Petzold
© Marco Krüger/Schramm Film
Producer: Schramm Film Sales: The Match Factory Sat, 17 Feb, 12:15, Berlinale Palast (press) Sat, 17 Feb, 18:30, Berlinale Palast (premiere) Sun, 18 Feb, 12:00, Haus der Berliner Festspiele (public) Sun, 18 Feb, 15:00, Friedrichstadt-Palast (public) Sun, 18 Feb, 17:00, CinemaxX 4 (market) Wed, 21 Feb, 18:30, filmkunst 66 (public) Sun, 25 Feb, 16:45, Haus der Berliner Festspiele (public)
Scan here to find out more about all the German films at the Berlinale 2018
REVIEWS
» 7 Days In Entebbe p6 » Daughter Of Mine p8 » U – July 22 p8
Reviews edited by Fionnuala Halligan finn.halligan@screendaily.com
» L’ Animale p10 » The Incredible Story »
Of The Giant Pear p10 Die Tomorrow p12
» In The Realm Of Perfection p12
» Xiao Mei p13 » Lemonade p13
7 Days In Entebbe Reviewed by Wendy Ide Jose Padilha (Elite Squad, RoboCop) brings a typically bruising approach to this fictionalised version of the events surrounding the hijacking of an Air France plane in June 1976. The flight, which originated in Israel’s Ben Gurion airport, was taken over by two members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and two German members of the Revolutionary Cells, Wilfried Böse (aka Boni) and Brigitte Kuhlmann (played by Daniel Brühl and Rosamund Pike). The plane was redirected to Entebbe, in a Uganda governed by the famously unstable Idi Amin. Padilha’s film cuts between the rapidly deteriorating conditions in the airport terminal where the hostages are being held and the corridors of power in Israel, where prime minister Yitzhak Rabin (Foxtrot’s Lior Ashkenazi) and defence minister Shimon Peres (Eddie Marsan) butt heads over the correct method of response. Although much of the film is effectively claustrophobic, it is too bogged down by exposition to fully take off. The bold rescue by commandos from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is the stuff that action cinema is made of. And, not surprisingly, several films have previously explored the event — Victory At Entebbe, Raid On Entebbe and The Last King Of Scotland. This version does not tread lightly over the sensitive political material,
6 Screen International at Berlin February 20, 2018
OUT OF COMPETITION US-UK. 2018. 107mins Director Jose Padilha Production company Participant Media, Working Title Films International sales Lionsgate International, rbennett@lionsgate.com Producers Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Kate Solomon, Michelle Wright, Ron Halpern Screenplay Gregory Burke Cinematography Lula Carvalho Production design Kave Quinn Main cast Rosamund Pike, Daniel Brühl, Eddie Marsan, Lior Ashkenazi, Denis Ménochet, Ben Schnetzer, Angel Bonanni, Juan Pablo Raba, Nonso Anozie
but maintains a propulsive pace and a sense of mounting jeopardy. The main issue that might prevent the film from connecting with audiences is the dialogue, which is full of tiresome revolutionary slogans and characters explaining their motivations. Writer Gregory Burke, whose feature debut ’71 was a textbook example of taut economy, overextends himself slightly here. The fact Germans are threatening Jews with execution adds a queasy ideological resonance which, in this version of the story, the two German protagonists find profoundly uncomfortable. Their loyalties, they argue, are to the Palestinian cause, not to Germany’s Nazi past. It is worth mentioning that much of the subsequent analysis of the hijacking has concluded that Boni and Brigitte had no such qualms — Hans Joachim Klein, a former Revolutionary Cells member, accused them of being more antiSemitic than the leader of the PFLP. It is perhaps a small detail but it is an important one. If the film has tweaked the complexions of Boni and Brigitte to make them more flattering, can we trust it not to have manipulated the facts elsewhere? Performances are varied, with Pike delivering an effectively caustic turn as the harried-looking Brigitte, haunted by her part in the death of German far-left militant Ulrike Meinhof and prone to over-compensating for her apparent female weakness. “I am not a woman, I am a revolutionary,” she argues. She pops ominous blue pills and,
as the pressure takes its toll, hacks at her hair with a pair of nail scissors. As Idi Amin, Nonso Anozie gets one chilling scene in which he jovially announces the imminent deaths of a pair of child hostages, but otherwise leans heavily on the big, despotic African-laugh school of acting. And Marsan, quietly calculating as Shimon Peres, is ultimately defeated by his prosthetic eyelids. Of the hostages, Denis Ménochet stands out as the plane’s straight-talking chief engineer, who cuts through Boni’s woolly dogma with a damning appraisal. He comments that a plumber is worth 10 revolutionaries as he reconnects the airport’s water supply, and an engineer is worth 50. Operation Thunderbolt — the codename for the IDF’s response — has been described as one of the most daring rescue missions in history. One would think there was enough drama contained within to sustain a taut third act. But in a jarring device that soon goes from being confusing to intensely irritating, the film cuts back and forth between the mission and a performance of a contemporary dance piece choreographed by Ohad Naharin, artistic director of Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company, and set to a version of the traditional Passover song ‘Echad Mi Yodea’. Production values are generally high. The design is clammily effective, with the 1970s evoked through a palette of olive green, mustard brown, sweat and nylon. Brisk editing and nervy cinematography bring a sense of contained panic to the story.
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REVIEWS
U – July 22 Reviewed by Demetrios Matheou
Daughter Of Mine Reviewed by Demetrios Matheou
COMPETITION
Two mothers (one birth, one adoptive) battle for their 10-year-old daughter’s affection during an emotionally heated Sardinian summer in this beautifully acted and crafted drama. Following Laura Bispuri’s 2015 feature debut Sworn Virgin — which played in the Berlinale Competition that year — Daughter Of Mine offers another, if very different tale of female self-discovery. Fronted by Valeria Golino and Alba Rohrwacher, it should certainly attract further festival kudos. Bispuri signals her robust approach from the get-go, with a sequence that follows young Vittoria (scene-stealing newcomer Sara Casu), as she purposefully surveys some beach festivities. A mobile camera follows the girl as she enters a rodeo and, walking between the stalls, interrupts a couple having sex in broad daylight. Vittoria leaves quickly and finds her mother, Tina (Golino), who — a tad more conventionally — is buying candy floss. It is immediately apparent that Vittori’s red hair does not resemble Tina’s, but the strawberry blonde of Angelica (Rohrwacher), who is drunkenly adjusting her clothes. Bispuri and co-writer Francesca Manieri refreshingly avoid making a mystery of their scenario. It is soon established that Angelica is Vittoria’s birth mother, who lives on a rundown farm deep in the countryside. Tina visits occasionally to clean and bring provisions; when she and her husband Umberto (Michele Carboni) agree that “we always did what we could”, it is clear this was an informal and pragmatic deal between the usually drunk pleasure-seeker and a couple wanting a child. And until now, it has been working very well. That changes when Angelica announces she is being evicted and asks to meet her daughter before she leaves for the city. Tina agrees, unprepared for the fact that lonely Vittoria will become fascinated with the strange creature before her. Bispuri and her actresses offer a striking study in contrasts. Unlike Tina, Angelica has a sense of fun that can be adapted to the child. The ensuing conflict between the two women is deceiving, for it is the daughter pulling the strings. A little explorer eyeing the future, she is not deciding between the rival mothers, but finding her own voice.
SCREEN SCORE
It-Ger-Switz. 2018. 100mins Director Laura Bispuri Production companies Vivo Film, Colorado Film, Match Factory Productions, Bord Cadre Films International sales The Match Factory, info@ matchfactory.de Producers Marta Donzelli, Gregorio Paonessa, Maurizio Totti, Alessandro Usai, Michael Weber, Viola Fügen, Dan Wechsler Screenplay Francesca Manieri, Laura Bispuri Production design Ilaria Sadun Main cast Valeria Golino, Alba Rohrwacher, Sara Casu, Udo Kier, Michele Carboni
COMPETITION
It is unlikely there will be a more harrowing or heartbreaking film at the Berlinale, or any film festival this year, than Norwegian director Erik Poppe’s real-time, singletake recreation of the slaughter of 77 people on the Norwegian island of Utoya on July 22, 2011. Just as there were with films about 9/11, questions will be raised as to how long filmmakers should wait before revisiting terrible real-life events, and who they are making their films for. An answer to both questions lies in the compassion and integrity of Poppe’s approach — not just his focus on the victims (with no screen time for the right-wing extremist and mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik), but in the way he has portrayed the incident itself. The characters are fictitious, although the script is based on real testimonies. Despite the death count, the result is not the on-screen bloodbath it might have been, but a visceral suggestion of how it could feel to be involved. Moreover, Poppe’s way into the story — every second is spent with Kaja (Andrea Berntzen) as she navigates the carnage — is a moving testimony to the human heroism that such events uncover. It is a tough sell. But the film merits theatrical play given its intentions, the prevalence of terrorism worldwide and the technical achievement. For his prologue, Poppe uses newsreel and CCTV footage to show the first part of Breivik’s plan — the detonation of a car bomb at the government buildings in Oslo. He then cuts to Utoya, where members of the Norwegian Labour Party’s youth league have gathered for their annual summer camp, and Kaja is assuring her mother on her cellphone that “this is the safest place in the world”. And then, just like that, there is a bang, like a firecracker, and people come streaming out of the trees. For the next 72 minutes, the camera is fixed on Kaja as she criss-crosses the island looking for sanctuary and her sister. Except for one glimpse of his outline, the gunman is never in view. The terror is created by the incessant gunshots and screams, by people sprinting past the camera and by the teenagers’ reactions. Berntzen brilliantly portrays a young woman of courage and resolve, slowly worn down by what she poignantly sees as her failures of responsibility.
SCREEN SCORE
Nor. 2018. 90mins Director Erik Poppe Production company Paradox Film 7 International sales TrustNordisk, info@ trustnordisk.com Producers Finn Gjerdrum, Stein B Kvae Screenplay Siv Rajendram Eliassen, Anna Bache-Wiig Cinematography Martin Otterbeck Production design Harald Egede-Nissen Main cast Andrea Berntzen, Aleksander Holmen, Brede Fristad, Elli Rhiannon Müller Osbourne, Solveig Koloen Birkeland, Sorosh Sadat, Ada Eid
★★★★
★★★
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REVIEWS
The Incredible Story Of The Giant Pear Reviewed by Sarah Ward
L’ Animale Reviewed by Wendy Ide Growing up ‘different’ in the clannish teen landscape of rural Austria is a struggle. But Mati (Sophie Stockinger) seems to have found her niche. She is one of the boys, having earned their respect with her fearless attitude on her motocross bike and freeness with off-colour jokes. However, as school graduation looms, sexual tensions threaten to drive a wedge. Although hardly breaking new ground, the second feature from Katharina Mückstein takes an unfussy, clear-eyed approach to gender and sexual politics. With its lens trained on a young woman who does not fit into the gender stereotype assigned to her by society, L’ Animale draws comparisons with the work of Céline Sciamma. On the festival circuit, particularly in LGBTQ+ themed showcases, it will likely appeal to the same audience that responded to Tomboy and Girlhood. However, L’ Animale lacks some of the visual impact and forceful directorial voice that propelled those films into arthouse theatrical distribution. Sports bra on show under her graduation dress, Mati eyes her reflection like it just stole her beer. Her mother compounds her consternation by muttering something appeasing about showing off her “nice bust”. Mati squirms. The girl we see later is a different creature entirely, straddling her dirt bike and comfortable in her skin, hair back to show her shorn neck, she bestrides the village social scene with an alpha male swagger. When one of her gang assaults a girl on the dance floor, Mati sides with the boys in the ensuing fracas. But later, when her buddies are causing trouble again, she locks eyes with Carla (Julia Franz Richter). The attraction between them is as instant and instinctive as the film’s title suggests. To complicate matters, her best friend, Sebi (Jack Hofer) wants more than just a platonic relationship, pressing his case with a botched snog. The message, of being bold and true to yourself, is a little on the nose at times. Mückstein uses repeated scenes in a German poetry class to track Mati’s realisation that she is going to have to be brave if she wants to live in a way that feels true. A scene in which she takes the first steps towards coming out to her mother is delicately handled. Stockinger reveals a deep well of vulnerability and need.
10 Screen International at Berlin February 20, 2018
PANORAMA Aust. 2018. 97mins Director/screenplay Katharina Mückstein Production companies Nikolaus Geyrhalter Filmproduktion, La Banda Film International sales Films Boutique, contact@ filmsboutique.com Producers Michael Kitzberger, Wolfgang Widerhofer, Flavio Marchetti, Nikolaus Geyrhalter, Markus Glaser, Katharina Mückstein, Michael Schindegger, Natalie Schwager Cinematography Michael Schindegger Production design Katharina Haring Main cast Sophie Stockinger, Kathrin Resetarits, Dominik Warta, Julia Franz Richter, Jack Hofer, Dominic Marcus Singer, Simon Morzé, Stefan Pohl
Bright, bouncy and busy from start to finish, Danish animation The Incredible Story Of The Giant Pear lends its buoyant exuberance to a likeable, broadly amusing and engaging-enough adventure that doubles as an ode to loyalty and ingenuity. Sold to more than 100 countries (and set for UK release in May), Pear has been a box-office hit at home already. Adapting Jakob Martin Strid’s children’s book of the same name, it is the type of watchable fare kids the world over will happily view repeatedly, with streaming another possible avenue to success. Directed collaboratively by Philip Einstein Lipski (Ronal The Barbarian), Jorgen Lerdam (The Olsen Gang In Deep Trouble) and Amalie Naesby Fick — the former and the latter also scripting with Bo Hr Hansen (Word Of God) — the film anchors its antics in the literally named coastal village of Sunnytown. Populated by people and anthropomorphic animals living in harmony, the hamlet is as glowing as its name suggests until its beloved mayor, JB (Henrik Koefoed), vanishes. Last seen by best friends Sebastian (Alfred Bjerre Larsen), an elephant, and Mitcho (Liva Elvira Magnussen), a cat, his disappearance enables diminutive deputy Kvist (Peter Plaugborg) to rise to power and construct a towering town hall that blocks out the sunshine. Enter the titular piece of fruit, which comes into play when Sebastian and Mitcho find a message-filled bottle from the stranded JB and a seed that he advises them to plant. When the pear grows to giant proportions, the animal duo enlist the help of Professor Glucose (Peter Frödin), who turns it into a boat. Sebastian and Mitcho are determined to find JB on Mysterious Island. Sebastian’s seafaring great-grandfather (Bjarne Henriksen) was lost on the same landmass, providing all the extra motivation they need to face pirates, dragon boats and more on their journey. While that is a lot of story for young viewers to navigate, it is all as jovial as the overall tone, and they will laugh eagerly at the slapstick silliness along the way. As for its imagery, the film’s look is warm and undemanding, but it is in the use of striking cross sections — cutting through Sebastian and Mitcho’s floating home, a dragon vessel and Mysterious Island itself — that the animation is at its best.
GENERATION KPLUS Den. 2017. 79mins Directors Philip Einstein Lipski, Amalie Naesby Fick, Jorgen Lerdam Production companies Nordisk Film Production, A. Film Production International sales LevelK, niklas@levelk.dk Producers Thomas Heinesen, Trine Heidegaard Executive producers Henrik Zein, Anders Mastrup, Malene Ehlers, Lena Haugaard Screenplay Bo Hr Hansen, Philip Einstein Lipski, Amalie Naesby Fick, based on the children’s book of the same name by Jakob Martin Strid Main voice cast Alfred Bjerre Larsen, Liva Elvira Magnussen, Peter Frödin, Soren Pilmark, Henrik Koefoed, Peter Plaugborg, Jakob Oftebro, Peter Zhelder, Peter Aude, Bjarne Henriksen
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REVIEWS
In The Realm Of Perfection Reviewed by Nikki Baughan
Die Tomorrow Reviewed by Ben Croll Rarely has the subject of human mortality been treated with such playful dexterity as in Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s Die Tomorrow. This narrative/doc hybrid hones in on the existential question, ‘When is it our time to die?’, and goes about answering it through a mix of staged re-enactments, captured interviews and surprisingly droll text-based asides. The film saw a selected local release in Thailand, and the market for digressive Thai essay-films might be limited to lofty festivals and higher-end TV chains. Though programmers for said ventures would do well to seek out this idiosyncratic Forum title. At the outset, white text over a black screen tells us that two people die every second around the globe, and the film then kicks off a counter to track the number of souls lost during its runtime (at 75 minutes, that is 9,000 deaths). In between various wry statistical interludes, Nawapol stages six vignettes, each shot in a single unbroken take in tight 1:1 aspect ratio. Each one is based on a real case reported in the Thai press, though they vary in focus. Some play like winking riffs on the Final Destination films. Others perform ironic reversals and rug-pulls. One follows a woman in need of a heart transplant and her solemn spouse as they consider what his life will be like once she has gone. “I’ll die before you,” she says, only to find out he has booked a ticket on a certain Malaysia Airlines flight. Nawapol is not interested in the act itself. Save for distant news footage of the Challenger space shuttle explosion, no death happens on screen. Instead, he explores the way one person’s expiration may affect others. Bathed in DoP Niramon Ross’s warm light and backed with gentle piano, the six long takes focus on the emotional lives of those who have been touched by mortality. Die Tomorrow punctuates each vignette with documentary footage, where the director asks various interviewees if they fear death, and questions of a similar ilk. The film’s most memorable subject is a 102-year-old man who has seen his wife and children go before him. At one point, the centenarian makes the reasonable guess that he is nearing the end of the road — and the director cuts to more recent footage of the man celebrating his 104th birthday. It is the only time dingy iPhone footage of a man blowing out his candles could elicit such a laugh.
12 Screen International at Berlin February 20, 2018
FORUM Thai. 2017. 75mins Director/screenplay Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit Production companies Very Sad Pictures International sales Asian Shadows, contact@ chineseshadows.com Producers Pacharin Surawatanapongs, Donsaron Kovitvanitcha Cinematography Niramon Ross Production design Phairot Siriwath Main cast Patcha Poonpiriya, Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying, Morakot Liu, Chonnikan Netjui, Koramit Vajrasthira, Sirat Intarachote, Sunny Suwanmethanont, Rattanarat Aurthaveekul, Jarinporn Joonkiat, Violette Wautier
Ever since he exploded onto the tennis scene as an amateur in the late 1970s, US player John McEnroe has been a source of fascination; not only for his sporting talent, but also his explosive temper and colourful private life. While he has been the subject of several documentaries and features over the years, he has arguably never been profiled so intriguingly as in In The Realm of Perfection, which draws on archive footage, psychology and film theory to present a multi-faceted portrait of a complex man. Director Julien Faraut, who oversaw the French Sport Institute’s 16mm collection, showcases impressive command of the documentary form. His insightful, entertaining and humorous film will appeal to fans of McEnroe, tennis and sport in general, while cineastes should also enjoy the parallels drawn between sport and cinema. The film opens with stilted monochrome footage from a 1960s French tennis instructional video. Narrator Mathieu Amalric (narrating the French version which played in Berlin) explains that players thought they could recreate match movements. Realising this was a folly, Gil de Kermadec, then technical director of the French Tennis Federation, asked for cameras at the 1969 French Open at Roland-Garros to capture the reality of the game. Still frustrated by static camera limitations, in 1977 de Kermadec began making his own ‘portrait’ series of films, which analysed the unique form of individual players. Fascinated by the immersive approach of these films, Faraut discovers reams of unseen footage of McEnroe, the subject of de Kermadec’s final film in 1985. Splicing these together, Faraut builds up a portrait of the player which, despite being largely confined to the dusty clay at RolandGarros, takes a broad approach. The film is less a biopic and more a thesis about human psychology, which takes in ideas from both cinema and science. In a question that is relevant to every doc ever made, Faraut ponders whether the presence of on-court cameras changed McEnroe’s behaviour; there is plenty of evidence to suggest he was irritated by them. Is he simply a performer, playing up to the crowd and harnessing their response? A sequence in which his altercation with a linesman overcut with dialogue from Raging Bull drives this point home. Or is he in fact a master director, able to change the pace of on-court action, whether by outbursts or languorous pauses, to the detriment of his opponent?
FORUM
Fr. 2018. 95mins Director/screenplay Julien Faraut Production company UFO Production International sales Film Constellation, sales@ filmconstellation.com Producers William Jéhannin, Raphaelle Delauche Cinematography Julien Faraut, Gil de Kermadec Editing Andrei Bogdanov Narration Mathieu Amalric
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Lemonade Reviewed by Demetrios Matheou
Xiao Mei Reviewed by Sarah Ward Xiao Mei is a dialogue-heavy film, staged as interview scenes with the missing titular character’s friends, family and acquaintances as they try to find her and piece together her last movements. As its nine vignettes form a snapshot of a young woman who is lost both figuratively and literally, writer-director Maren Hwang’s flair for framing and staging draws in viewers. How and why Xiao Mei (Jao Cincin) vanished are the questions that bind each conversation — her unhappy reality coming into sharp focus. Initially described as kind, quiet and shy, she was also unable to leave behind a past drug problem — though that is just one reason behind her disappearance. As the sections are spliced together from subjective memories and observations, it becomes apparent that one person can leave different impressions on everyone around her — a far from novel message but one that resonates all the same. Rendered by first-time filmmaker Hwang in crisp, tellingly elaborate visuals, this is a feature that lets every frame add potent texture to its central story and should catch the eye of other festival programmers after its Berlin premiere in Panorama. Xiao Mei fares better in its look and mood than its slight story, however, and that could hamper its broader prospects. Still, even when the bigger picture becomes predictable, the images are alive with detail, ensuring there is rampant interest in watching how it is all pieced together. Grimy beige and grey tones surround Mei’s landlord (Chen Yi-Wen) in a filthy apartment; rich, deep reds line the alleyway where her half-brother (Na Dow) works in a restaurant; and there are splashes of colour in the clothing store where Mei worked. DoP Nagao Nakashima also captures her delivery driver boyfriend (Liu Kuan-Ting) rushing around on his scooter, and includes dash-cam car-crash footage featuring her office manager (Laurence Chiu). Mei is intermittently glimpsed wandering through recreations intertwined with the interview footage, always remaining a ghost in her own story. As a haunting portrait emerges, Hwang is aided by the cast optimising their screen time, with each bringing emotional intricacy in their to-camera interviews. Though Xiao Mei’s visuals are its main focus, the cast’s performances are vital in a contemplative, atmospheric effort that lets words flow freely but is never played as stagey.
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PANORAMA Tai. 2018. 95mins Director/screenplay Maren Hwang Production company Studio Romance International sales MandarinVision, contact@mandarinvision. com Executive producer Chung Mong-Hong Cinematography Nagao Nakashima Production design Liao Kuo-Hui Main cast Chen Yi-Wen, Liu KuanTing, Na Dow, Wu Chien-Ho, Yin Shin, Laurence Chiu, Chang Shao-Huai, Samantha Ko, Wu Kang-Jen, Jao Cincin
PANORAMA
Lemonade is nothing if not topical. Its depressing tale of a Romanian woman’s attempt to gain permanent residence in the US combines the bureaucratic nightmare faced by immigrants worldwide with a grotesque example of the male abuse of power. Being topical is not enough, however, and Ioana Uricaru’s debut stretches credibility and patience to such a degree it largely undoes its potential. Given the cachet of Romanian cinema, Cristian Mungiu producing and its subject matter, the film may attract the attention of distributors. But whether that extends to more than a modest arthouse life is doubtful. Mara (Malina Manovici) is a nurse and single mother who has come to the US on a temporary work visa, without her child. Shortly before it expires, she marries Daniel (Dylan Scott Smith), a former patient she has known for just five weeks. The film opens with the newlyweds being interviewed for her green card application. Mara and Daniel have a marriage that reeks of convenience: the middle-aged man gets a young wife and carer, she the ‘better life’ in the US that she craves. There appears to be little genuine rapport between them, yet the pair are naively over-confident. Even before her application is concluded, Mara is arranging the sale of her home in Romania and flying her young son to join her in the US. She is inevitably heading for disappointment. Exploiting the holes in her application, Mara’s immigration officer Moji (Steve Bacic), demands sexual favours for a green card. When she informs Daniel, he gives her a verbal and physical beating. “I thought America was different,” Mara sighs to a Serbian lawyer she has engaged to prevent Moji’s sexual demands. “America is different,” he replies, “but it’s not Disneyland either.” This may be Uricaru’s principal theme. That after years of Romanian cinema highlighting the pervasive corruption there, it is no different in the land of the free. Meanwhile, the dramatic impact of Mara’s experience is undermined by the torrent of misfortune heaped on her in quick succession. If the film were to have an anchor, it would be Mara herself. But the script and Manovici’s performance have the character veering between single-minded focus and naiveté, nobility and her own cynicism. Like its heroine, the film is unconvincing and exasperating. Why it is called Lemonade is unclear; it certainly doesn’t have any fizz.
Rom-Can-Ger-Swe. 2018. 88mins Director Ioana Uricaru Production company Mobra Films International sales Pluto Film, info@ plutofilm.de Producer Cristian Mungiu Cinematography Friede Clausz Screenplay Ioana Uricaru, Tatiana Ionascu Production design Sylvain Lemaitre Main cast Malina Manovici, Steve Bacic, Dylan Scott Smith, Milan Hurduc, Ruxandra Maniu
February 20, 2018 Screen International at Berlin 13
SPOTLIGHT MUG
Face value
Golden Bear contender Malgorzata Szumowska discusses how face transplant drama Mug is an allegory for contemporary Polish society. Melanie Goodfellow reports
Mug
P
olish filmmaker Malgorzata Szumowska hits the Berlinale for a fourth time in her career with the politically charged Competition title Mug, about Jacek, a man dealing with rejection after a face transplant. The director, who has premiered In The Name Of and Silver Bearwinning Body in Competition as well as Elles in Panorama, arrives in Berlin during a tumultuous time for her homeland of Poland. The country has been in the media spotlight over the past 18 months due to the controversial policies of its right-wing nationalist government, ranging from attacking the independence of the judiciary to distancing the state from involvement in Second World War concentration camps built on Polish soil. Its authoritarian inclinations are also being felt in the local film industry, which is still smarting from the sacking last summer of Magdalena Sroka as the respected head of the Polish Film Institute — a move that prompted protests at home as well as from the cinema industry across Europe. Szumowska’s work has nearly always reflected the political and social crosscurrents running though her country and Mug is no exception. Its tone is set in a chaotic opening scene that sees hordes of bargain hunters in their underwear
tussle over widescreen TVs in a novelty sales event. “We’re obsessed with sales and cut-price deals in Poland,” explains Szumowska. “It’s a throwback to our lives under Communism when there was nothing in the shops. It’s as if we’re still caught up in that mentality of having to fight for goods.” She highlights that although the feature is inspired by the real-life case of Poland’s first successful face transplant in 2013, it is not a dramatic reconstruction of events. “It’s a metaphorical and allegorical piece about the human condition, intolerance, the influence of the Catholic Church in my country and the state of Poland in general today,” she says. “We’re living through a very particular moment in Polish politics. The government is extremely conservative and wants to turn the Polish society against European society, I don’t think economically but rather culturally. “I wanted to talk about Polish intolerance to the other but I couldn’t really use (Right) Malgorzata Szumowska
14 Screen International at Berlin February 20, 2018
‘I wanted to talk about Polish intolerance to the other but I couldn’t really use the example of an immigrant’ Malgorzata Szumowska
the example of an immigrant,” she continues. “It wouldn’t have been credible because we don’t really have immigrants in Poland. I came up, instead, with this character who has lost his face and is then rejected.” Although allegorical, Szumowska was keen for her protagonist’s transplant physiognomy to be as realistic as possible. Actor Mateusz Kosciukiewicz — who plays Jacek before and after the transplant — underwent four hours of make-up each day. A dozen make-up artists worked on the production, with award-winning makeup and special-effects artist Waldemar Pokromski (Schindler’s List, The Cut) overseeing the transformation.
Aside from intolerance, Szumowska also wanted to probe the enduring influence of the Catholic Church on the Polish population outside of the big cities. It is a critique laced with wry humour and affection. “When I was a child I would spend my summers in a place not unlike the one in the film,” she says. Poland’s cinema scene Ironically, in spite of the dark political clouds gathering over Poland’s filmmaking community, Mug has come to fruition at a time when the national cinema scene has never been healthier. A European Audiovisual Observatory report out last week described Poland’s theatrical scene as one of the most dynamic in Europe. Its data showed that Poland’s box office jumped 8.7% to 56.6 million admissions in 2017, with two local features — Letters To Santa 3 and Botox — topping the box-office chart. Szumowska says it remains to be seen if the resurgence of the Polish cinema scene will continue under the cultural policies of the current government. Their cinematic tastes, she suggests, veer towards epic historical pictures highlighting Poland’s “heroic past” rather than politically edged arthouse work. “Things have changed,” she says. “But it’s s too early to tell how it’s going to look.” ■
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A BANnD a va m A drea
NBERG FABE KARIN MYRE N DESIGN ER PRODUCTIO RID NORDBYM GULBRANDSEN BRO TE LO ING G N OF TIN FF TIA CAS HO RIS DIRECTOR TO ZAHID ALI ER JONAS ECTED BY CH ISTAD BERG ALI NICOLE FALCIAN I L VSETH 1ST ASSISTANTTRINE AADALEN LO DIR IL MARIE H VIT AND LIAN B DYRUD TIRDYVIK HUSBY VERALIN BERG COORDINATOR LILED BY NICHOLAS SANDO IK E GN ESS JAKO DUC -ER HO LIV PRO NS ER GE MS HA IGN TA FIL H DES NDO'' WIT IK HOFF INE JANSEN EIR BUSCH COSTUME M AND SNOWCLOUD RG FILM ''LOS BA HENR ERVISOR TO ORIGINAL FIL H KO NTXT K KJ OS S ST IG MYHR VFX SUP STAD CO PRODUCED WITH PERATION WIT ER EIR IK GIMLE FRAN SENTS IN COO FILMBIN PRE TEBRO INGAR HELGE ER GISLE TVEITO COMPOSR & EDITOR ARILD TRYGGE NILS OLE OF SARA LIMA SOUND DESIGN BRATBERG SCRIPTWRITE ORDER ST LE SOU ND REC HY BJ RN
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PHOTOGRAP
design: HANDVERK photo: KIRSTI HOVDE
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OFFICIAL SELECTION BERLINALE SERIES
a film by | un film de
Torill Kove
C r e a t e d b y J O H A N FA S T I N G
YOU W IL L WA L K A LONE
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
directed by | réalisé par Torill Kove animation Torill Kove compositing | composition Kristian Pedersen
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
SPOTLIGHT U – JULY 22
Strong island U – July 22 is the Berlinale Competition’s most controversial selection, inspired by the horrific 2011 massacre on the Norwegian island of Utoya. Director Erik Poppe talks to Wendy Mitchell
F
or Norwegian director Erik Poppe, making a film about his country’s Utoya island massacre presented him with some of the most serious ethical dilemmas he has ever faced. Over the three years he spent working on U — July 22, he was determined to take the audience on to the island with the young people who were there, rather than into the mind of terrorist Anders Behring Breivik or the trial that followed. In something of an understatement, he says: “Sensitivity has been so important for this project.” The story is set on July 22, 2011, when more than 500 young people were at a youth Labour Party summer camp on the island near Oslo, where they were attacked by Breivik. The far-right fanatic killed 77 people there that day, and seriously injured more than 100 others. With a screenplay by Siv Rajendram Eliassen and Anna Bache-Wiig, U — July 22 is produced by Finn Gjerdrum and Stein B Kvae for Norway’s Paradox. Nordisk Film will distribute in Norway on March 9, and TrustNordisk handles international sales here. Poppe and his writers interviewed a number of survivors to hear about their horrific experiences on the day, but for the story they chose to tell a fictionalised account of a teenager named Kaja as she tries to survive. “The research behind this film was quite massive. We read everything that had been written and we had interviews with a lot of the young people,” explains the filmmaker, whose credits include The King’s Choice, which played in Panorama last year. “I had discussions with the parents and it seemed for ethical reasons the best thing to do was to make a story similar to what the young people had experienced but with fictional characters, so people don’t need to watch the film asking themselves, ‘Is this my son? Is this my daughter?’” For similar reasons, they shot the film on the island next to Utoya, rather than on Utoya itself. Most survivors and families of the victims have supported his approach. The filmmakers have been hosting closed screenings of the unfinished film to survivors of the attack and their parents,
Andrea Berntzen as Kaja in U – July 22
Erik Poppe
‘The best thing to do was to make a story similar to what the young people had experienced’ Erik Poppe
and also for the families of victims. It is important for Poppe “that they can get a sense of what the film is. And also they can know what the film is not about — it’s not about a terrorist, it’s about the young people.” Preparing the team The cast are all amateur newcomers, led by 18-year-old Andrea Berntzen as Kaja who is in nearly every frame. “We looked all over Norway to find an actress who could be able to do this,” Poppe recalls. “There is enormous psychological pressure, carrying this film on her shoulders, and going into an emotional state which
16 Screen International at Berlin February 20, 2018
is so hard, to be honest and truthful.” He worked with the amateur teenage actors for several months before the shoot. Poppe says he would have abandoned the project if he did not have the support of a group of the young survivors who acted as consultants for the film, not only giving interviews at the script stage but also at pre-shoot workshops and advising during production. Poppe also knew that, with such a sensitive subject, he had to look after the emotional needs of everyone involved in the film. He had a team of psychologists that made sure the amateur actors he cast could handle such
tough material, as well as support the extras and the whole crew. He tried to film U — July 22 under the radar, but the press found out last summer just before cameras rolled in September. Still, the project has not attracted the level of protests that have swirled around Paul Greengrass’s production of Netflix film Norway, which is expected to have more emphasis on Breivik. Poppe knows U — July 22 will be seen as controversial, especially in Norway, where some will find any film about the massacre premature. He was guided by the survivors to whom he spoke. “Some of the young people who were at the island said, ‘Listen, if we are going to wait for the day everyone feels ready to do it, it’s too late. “It’s important to keep the story alive [of the young people on Utoya], he concludes. “I hope this film can remind us this can happen, but that all of us can have a part in making this not s happen again.” ■
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Premiere:
Friday 16, Friedrichstadt Palast, 9.00pm
Repetitions:
Saturday 17, Zoo Palast 1, 9:30am Saturday 17, Haus der Berliner Festspiele, 3.30pm Sunday 25, Berlinale Palast, 6.15pm INTERNATIONAL SALES
Celsius Entertainment Ltd EFM Stand 112 Marriott Hotel 1st Fl.
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SCREENINGS Edited by Paul Lindsell
JURY GRID, PAGE 32
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
FESTIVAL & PRESS
FESTIVAL
AND PRESS
09:00 DON’T WORRY, HE WON’T GET FAR ON FOOT
CINESTAR IMAX Potsdamer Strasse 4 10785 Berlin
NEUES OFF Hermannstrasse 20 12049 Berlin (Neukölln)
See box, right
COLOSSEUM Schonhauser Allee 123 10437 Berlin
PARLIAMENT STUDIO Berlin House of Representatives Niederkirchnerstrasse 5 10111 Berlin
AFRIQUE, LA PENSEE EN MOUVEMENT PART I
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.
18 Screen International at Berlin February 20, 2018
09:30
(Senegal) 104mins. Dir: Jean-Pierre Bekolo. Leading intellectuals gathered in Senegal in 2016 at the invitation of Felwine Sarr and Achille Mbembe to exchange ideas about post-colonialism today. Bekolo documents this highly topical summit, editing together scenes from it into a film manifesto. Forum Press only CinemaxX 6
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. The director’s feature film debut provides a realistic yet poetic look at everyday agricultural life. Generation Kplus Zoo Palast 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 Coco and a little rhino looking for his mother on a journey back to their homeland. Generation Kplus Filmtheater am Friedrichshain 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 in Utoya on 22 July 2011, when a heavily armed right-wing extremist killed 77 young people at a summer camp. A breathless pursuit, seen through the eyes of the victims. Competition Friedrichstadt-Palast
10:00 7 DAYS IN ENTEBBE
(US, UK) 107mins. Dir: José Padilha. Cast: Rosamund Pike,
09:00 DON’T WORRY, HE WON’T GET FAR ON FOOT
(US) 113mins. Dir: Gus Van Sant. Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, Jack Black, Mark Webber, Udo Kier, Carrie Brownstein, Beth Ditto, Kim Gordon. Daniel Bruhl, Eddie Marsan, Lior Ashkenazi, Denis Menochet, Ben Schnetzer, Angel Bonanni. 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. Competition (out of competition) Haus der Berliner Festspiele
THE DUMPLING AFFAIR
(Germany) Danish Documentary Production APS. 98mins. Dir: Ed Herzog. Cast: Sebastian Bezzel, Lisa Maria Potthoff, Simon Schwarz, Eisi Gulp. First, there is nothing to eat but dumpling broth because of the return of Grandma’s long-lost love. Then Franz’s hated boss is found stone-cold dead after Stopfer’s wedding… and
A fictionalised portrait of cartoonist John Callahan, who is confined to a wheelchair after an accident and discovers drawing as a form of therapy. A funny and touching study about a survivor. Competition Press only Berlinale Palast
Franz is the chief suspect. LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 1
I HAD NOWHERE TO GO
(Germany) The Weinstein Company. 97mins. Dir: Douglas Gordon. A first-hand account of the life, thoughts and feelings of a displaced person: a painful record of one person’s experiences in a Nazi Labour camp, in a displaced persons’ camps and as a young immigrant in New York. LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 2
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 www.screendaily.com
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SCREENINGS
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.
the police, he sends his teacher his diary entry that reveals how he meticulously planned his crime. Panorama Special CinemaxX 7
10:15 QUEEN OF NIENDORF
(Germany) 67mins. Dir: Joya Thome. Cast: Lisa Moell, Mex Schlupfer, Denny Moritz Sonnenschein, Salim Fazzani. Ten-year-old Lea wants to join the boys’ gang in her village. But first, she has to prove that girls can be as courageous as boys. LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 3
11:00 MAKI’LA
(Democratic Republic of the Congo, France) NiKo Film. 78mins. Dir: Macherie Ekwa Bahango. Cast: Amour Lombi, Fideline Kwanza, Serge Kanyinda. Maki has been living on the streets of Kinshasa for years. After growing tired of her lover and his gang, she bands together with the younger Acha, which only makes him even more jealous. Forum CineStar 8
WHAT WALAA WANTS
(Canada, Denmark) Neue Mediopolis Filmproduktion. 89mins. Dir: Christy Garland. Walaa dreams of a job with the Palestinian National Authority, where she can carry a gun. Getting there demands strength, which is something Walaa has in abundance. Her mother knows that the military training could completely change her way of thinking. Generation 14plus CinemaxX 3
11:15 SUNDAY’S ILLNESS See box, above
11:45 THE WEAK ONES
(Mexico) 65mins. Dir: Raul Rico, Eduardo Giralt Brun. Cast: José Luis Lizarraga, Eduardo Martinez, Javier Diaz Dalannais. After finding his dogs
Panorama Special CinemaxX 7
THE SEEN AND UNSEEN
Generation Kplus Filmtheater am Friedrichshain
(Indonesia, Netherlands, Australia, Qatar) 86mins. Dir: Kamila Andini. 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.
PACKING HEAVY
Generation Kplus Zoo Palast 1
FESTIVAL & PRESS 11:15 SUNDAY’S ILLNESS
(Spain) 113mins. Dir: Ramon Salazar. Cast: Barbara Lennie, Susi Sanchez, Miguel Angel Sola, Greta Fernandez, Richard Bohringer. In a remote house in the mountains, a woman tries to reconnect with
murdered, a taciturn loner sets out in his truck in search of the perpetrators. Yet this apparent revenge trip develops instead into a droll, laconic road movie that plays skillfully with expectations. Forum Press only CinemaxX 6
12:00 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.
the mother who left her when she was just a child. A disturbing trip with unexpected twists, at the end of which both women are faced with the most difficult decision of their lives. Panorama Special Press only CineStar 3
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 CineStar 7
IN THE FADE
(Germany) 106mins. Dir: Fatih Akin. Cast: Diane Kruger, Denis Moschitto, Numan Acar. Katja’s life collapses following the death of her husband and son in a bomb attack. After a time of mourning and injustice, now is time for revenge. LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 2
WHEN PAUL CAME OVER THE SEA — JOURNAL OF AN ENCOUNTER
GENERATION WEALTH
(Germany) 97mins. Dir: Jakob Preuss. The story of an unusual and complicated friendship amid the turbulence of the current refugee situation.
(US) 106mins. Dir: Lauren Greenfield. In her documentary, the
LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 1
Competition Friedrichstadt-Palast
20 Screen International at Berlin February 20, 2018
12:15 THE LITTLE WITCH
(Germany) Libra Film Productions. 104mins. Dir: Michael Schaerer. Cast: Karoline Herfurth, Suzanne von Borsody. The little witch is only 127 years old but still dances on Blocksberg with the big witches. She gets caugt and now has only one year to pull off some seriously good witchcraft if she ever wants to be invited to Walpurgis Night ever. LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 3
12:30 LOST ONES
(Germany) 91mins. Dir: Felix Hassenfratz. Cast: Maria Dragus, Anna Bachmann, Clemens Schick, Enno Trebs. Maria and Hannah have been living alone with their father 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 Colosseum 1
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 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.
(Argentina) 67mins. Dir: Dario Mascambroni. Cast: Facundo Underwood, Gerardo Pascual, Elisa Gagliano, Agustin Rittano. Tomas has listened to the grown-ups’ excuses for long enough. But now he’s made his decision; today he’s setting out to find the truth — because today is the day when the man who killed his father is being released from prison. Generation Kplus HKW
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 husband sets off in search of her. A gloomy chapter in the history of the Philippine dictatorship, staged as a rock opera. Competition Berlinale Palast
SHOCK WAVES — FIRST NAME: MATHIEU
(Switzerland) 60mins.
U — JULY 22
(Norway) Centro de Investigacion y Formacion para la Modalidad Aborigen. 90mins. Dir: Erik Poppe. Cast: Andrea Berntzen, Aleksander Holmen, Brede Fristad. Competition Haus der Berliner Festspiele
THE WALDHEIM WALTZ
(Austria) Pimienta Films. 93mins. Dir: Ruth Beckermann. The scandal surrounding the Nazi past of former UN General Secretary and Austrian president Kurt Waldheim made worldwide headlines in the 1980s, not least because of his repeated denials. Forum Arsenal Cinema 1
13:00 DOCKS OF HAMBURG
(Germany) 96mins. Dir: Erich Waschneck. Cast: Jenny Jugo, Willy Fritsch, Fritz Rasp, Wolfgang Zilzer, Tonio Gennaro. A thriller from the waterfront: a seductive young woman ropes a
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»
SCREENINGS
sailor into the shady business of a gang of smugglers.
wake of Joseph Kabila’s unconstitutional extension of his presidency in the Congo.
Retrospective CinemaxX 8
Panorama Dokumente CineStar 3
THE GAME CHANGERS LUZ
See box, right
(Germany) 70mins. Dir: Tilman Singer. Cast: Luana Velis, Jan Bluthardt, Julia Riedler, Nadja Stubiger, Johannes Benecke, Lilli Lorenz. A young taxi driver named Luz drags herself through the brightly lit door of a rundown police station. A demon is hot on her heels, determined to be finally close to his beloved.
VIRUS TROPICAL
(Colombia) 97mins. Dir: Santiago Caicedo. Cast: Maria Cecilia Sanchez, Martina Toro, Alejandra Borrero. Surrounded by her mother and two older sisters, Paola attempts to find her place in this world. In a tour de force bursting with the tragicomedy of everyday drama, Paola develops into a selfconfident young woman in spite of all the challenges facing her. Generation 14plus Zoo Palast 2
13:15 UNICORN
(Brazil) HD Argentina. 123mins. Dir: Eduardo Nunes. Cast: Barbara Luz, Patricia Pillar, Zé Carlos Machado, Lee Taylor. A young man suddenly bursts in on the remote life of 13-year-old Maria and her mother. Generation 14plus CinemaxX 3
13:30 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 reveal the workings of Buddhism in rural Myanmar. Forum CineStar 8
VICTORY DAY
(Germany) Bon Voyage Films. 94mins. Dir: Sergei Loznitsa. Each year, people gather at the Soviet War Memorial in Berlin-Treptow. Loznitsa documents this bizarre spectacle without commentary, a mix of patriotism, reflection, celebration and curiosity. Forum Press only CinemaxX 6
Perspektive Deutsches Kino Press + accreditation CinemaxX 1
FESTIVAL & PRESS 13:00 THE GAME CHANGERS
(US) 88mins. Dir: Louie Psihoyos. Producer James Wilks meets elite athletes, special ops soldiers, visionary scientists and everyday heroes as he
14:00 THE CONGO TRIBUNAL
(Germany, Switzerland) 100mins. Dir: Milo Rau. An unvarnished portrait of the largest and bloodiest economic war in human history. LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 2
ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME
(Germany) micro_scope. 101mins. Dir: Ozgür Yildirim. Cast: Moritz Bleibtreu, Birgit Minichmayr. Three heroes. Heroes who are actually anything but that. Heroes who just want to do the right thing, but who must first do evil to get out of the corners they have been backed into by the system. LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 1
OUTSIDE
(Germany) 80mins. Dir: Johanna SunderPlassmann, Tama TobiasMacht. Personal objects charged with memories and emotions bear testimony
22 Screen International at Berlin February 20, 2018
travels the globe 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. Culinary Cinema Cubix 8
to the chequered lives of homeless people. Due to its unusual approach, this film opens a door to a world that would otherwise remain hidden. Perspektive Deutsches Kino Press + accreditation CinemaxX 5
THIRTY SOULS
(Spain) Ted Fendt. 80mins. Dir: Diana Toucedo. Cast: Alba Arias, Samuel Vilarino. 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 International
14:15
14:30 INFINITE FOOTBALL
(Romania) Contemporary Ukrainian Cinema. 70mins. Dir: Corneliu Porumboiu. A municipal official in provincial Romania wants to make the beautiful game that bit more beautiful. He obsessively devises new rules, before spurning them again to return to the former ones. What does it mean to leave behind something significant? Forum Delphi Filmpalast
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 like friendship and love have to be renegotiated in her boys’ gang. Meanwhile, her parents are busy stumbling over their own lies. Panorama S pecial Cubix 9
NATIONAL BIRD
(Germany, US) 92mins. Dir: Sonia Kennebeck. Three former military operatives offer disturbing, first-hand accounts of the deadly impact that US drone warfare has had on civilians overseas. LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 3
THE SILK AND THE FLAME
(US) 87mins. Dir: Jordan Schiele. Conflicts surface during a man’s visit with 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 rather demanding siblings.
PIG
Competition (out of competition) Friedrichstadt-Palast
(Iran) 108mins. Dir: Mani Haghighi. Cast: Hasan Majuni, Leila Hatami, Leili Rashidi, Parinaz Izadyar, Mina Jafarzadeh. Hasan, a blacklisted filmmaker, is crushed. Why isn’t he being killed like all the other renowned filmmakers? Isn’t he the best director in town? To save his reputation, he hatches a diabolical plot.
DENMARK
Competition Press only CinemaxX 7 & 9
Panorama Dokumente CineStar 7
15:00 7 DAYS IN ENTEBBE
(US, UK) 107mins. Dir: José Padilha. Cast: Rosamund Pike, Daniel Bruhl, Eddie Marsan, Lior Ashkenazi.
(Denmark) College of Film and Television ‘Konrad Wolf ’. 90mins. Dir: Kasper Rune Larsen. Cast: Frederikke Dahl Hansen, Jonas Lindegaard Jacobsen, Jacob Skyggebjerg. When 16-year-old Josephine finds out she is pregnant, she seduces Norge, who’s six years older, and tells him he’s the father. A wary approach follows in which questions of responsibility and commitment become increasingly important for both of them. Generation 14plus Zoo Palast 1
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
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 Colosseum 1
THE SONG OF LIFE
(Germany) 55mins. Dir: Alexis Granowsky. Cast: Aribert Mog, Margot Ferra, Elsa Wagner, Ernst Busch, Harald Paulsen, Leo Monosson, Greta Keller. A young woman attempts to drown herself in the Elbe river, but finds new meaning in life with the man who saves her. Retrospective CinemaxX 8
www.screendaily.com
15:30 AMERICA LAND OF THE FREEKS
(Germany, US) 77mins. Dir: Ulli Lommel. Cast: Ulli Lommel, Tanner King Barklow, Nola Roeper. Ulli Lommel, obsessive and productive filmmaker of the Fassbinder era, died in December 2017, leaving behind an angry but not entirely gloomy satire about the state of his adopted country, the USA. Berlinale Special Haus der Berliner Festspiele
HOME GROUND
(Norway) Scott Rudin Productions. 101mins. Dir: Arild Andresen. Cast: Ane Dahl Torp, John Carew, Morten Svartveit. A football trainer leaves her successful women’s football team to become the first female trainer of a Norwegian premier league men’s team. She wages a fight against ingrained
bias and is out to prove that women are every bit as good as men. Berlinale Series Zoo Palast 2
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 Los Bando Immortale, their band. 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 Filmtheater am Friedrichshain
RED COW
(Israel) zero one film. 90mins. Dir: Tsivia Barkai Yacov. Cast: Avigayil Koevary, Gal Toren, Moran Rosenblatt, Dana Sorin, Uri Hochman.
When the self-confident yet vulnerable Yael comes into her life, Benny’s emotional world is turned upside down. Tsivia Barkai Yacov’s feature film debut portrays a new awakening in the life of a 17-year-old in East Jerusalem. Generation 14plus Cubix 8
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 Press only CinemaxX 6
16:00 FIRST STRIPES
(Canada) RTBF. 106mins. Dir: Jean-Francois Caissy. At a military school in Quebec, men and women
of different backgrounds receive training.
16:30 HUMAN FLOW
Forum CineStar 8
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 a secret of his father’s. Generation 14plus CinemaxX 3
VIVA DIDOU!
(Algeria) 81mins. Dir: Mohamed Zinet. Cast: Himoud Brahimi, Mohamed Zinet, Georges Arnaud, Andre Moreau. Between fiction and documentary, this lyrical portrait of Algiers has the camera stroll through the port, market, cafes and streets of the city.
(Germany) Filipa Cesar. 140mins. Dir: Ai Weiwei. Portrays the international crises that gave rise to 60 million refugees today. LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 2
ONE OR TWO QUESTIONS
(Germany, Uruguay) 237mins. Dir: Kristina Konrad. At the end of the 1980s, Konrad took to the streets of Uruguay to collect opinions on the upcoming referendum on an amnesty law, which guaranteed impunity for those who committed crimes under the military dictatorship: an exercise in democracy in action. Forum Delphi Filmpalast
SUBS
Forum Akademie der Kunste
(Germany) Tamtam Film.
107mins. Dir: Oskar Roehler. Cast: Katja Riemann, Oliver Masucci, Samuel Finzi, Lize Feryn. A wealthy man searching for a new housekeeper for his luxurious villa, places an online ad saying: “Slave wanted”. Claus and Evi Muller-Todt’s life of carefree prosperity changes forever when Bartos and Lana enter their home. LOLA at Berlinale Accreditation only delphi LUX 1
16:45 THE DEVIOUS PATH
(Germany) 98mins. Dir: Georg Wilhelm Pabst. Cast: Gustav Diessl, Brigitte Helm, Hertha von Walther, Jack Trevor, Fritz Odemar, Nico Turoff, Ilse Bachmann. While her affluent husband neglects her, Irene throws herself wholeheartedly into Berlin’s nightlife. Retrospective CinemaxX 8
in collaboration with
标准色
20 February
SINO-EU NETWORKING PARTY 中欧影人交流派对 单色印刷使用
21 February
PRODUCTION SEMINAR 中欧电影研讨会 (Panels and workshop to understand better the Chinese market) 22 & 23 February
SINO-EU PROJECT LAB 中欧合拍项目实验室 Bridging the Dragon is an association connecting European and Chinese film industries
More information on www.bridgingthedragon.com
»
www.screendaily.com
February 20, 2018 Screen International at Berlin 23
SCREENINGS
Fernandez, Richard Bohringer.
17:00 THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO WITH YOUR LIFE
Panorama Special Zoo Palast 1
(Germany, Mexico) 93mins. Dir: Zita Erffa. A brother who joined the religious order of the Legionaries of Christ and a sister who is studying film. It’s been years since they’ve really communicated. This film is an attempt to reconnect and understand each other.
19:00 AGGREGATE
(Germany) 92mins. Dir: Marie Wilke. How are new challenges to be met in political life? With cool precision, Wilke observes locations across Germany where democratic decision-making processes take place and looks behind the scenes at the Bundestag, news desks and constituency offices.
Perspektive Deutsches Kino CinemaxX 1
CHILDREN OF NO IMPORTANCE
(Germany) 95mins. Dir: Gerhard Lamprecht. Cast: Ralph Ludwig, Alfred Grosser, Margot Misch, Fee Wachsmuth, Bernhard Goetzke. Three illegitimate children are abused and exploited by their foster parents until one of them dies of exhaustion. Socially committed director Gerhard Lamprecht combined his portrayal of blatant childhood misery with a call for reform. Retrospective Zeughauskino
GENESIS
(Hungary) 120mins. Dir: Arpad Bogdan. Cast: Milan Csordas, Anna Marie Cseh, Eniko Anna Illesi, Lidia Danis. Racist attacks in 2008/09 on a Hungarian Roma settlement and their effect on both the victims and Hungarian society are at the heart of three interwoven, visually powerful stories. Panorama Special Cubix 9
I SEE RED PEOPLE
(France, Bulgaria) 83mins. Dir: Bojina Panayotova. Bojina returns to her native Bulgaria after 20 years abroad. Her investigation into her family’s past escalates into an argument with her parents about loyalty, post-communist arrogance and the right to one’s own history. Panorama Dokumente CineStar 7
THAT SUMMER
(Sweden, US, Denmark) 80mins. Dir: Goran Hugo
Forum CineStar 8
DON’T WORRY, HE WON’T GET FAR ON FOOT
FESTIVAL & PRESS 18:00 GURRUMUL
(Australia) 96mins. Dir: Paul Williams. An evocative audiovisual journey into the life and spirit of the late Aboriginal musician
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, who played the guitar left-handed and upside down and enchanted the world with his music.
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.
Berlinale Special Cubix 8
Panorama CineStar 3
18:00
Olsson. Cast: Peter Beard, Lee Radziwill, Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale, Edith Bouvier Beale. The eccentric world of the symbiotic mother-anddaughter duo from the film ‘Grey Gardens’. This documentary presents long-lost footage from the summer of 1972. Panorama Dokumente International
17:30 AN ELEPHANT SITTING STILL
(China) 230mins. Dir: Hu Bo. Cast: Zhang Yu, Peng Yuchang, Wang Yuwen, Liu Congxi. This visually stunning debut interweaves the biographies of a range of different protagonists in virtuoso fashion, narrating the course of one single, tension-filled day from dawn until dusk to create the portrait of a society marked by selfishness. Forum Press only CinemaxX 6
HIGH FANTASY
(South Africa) Filmadora Producciones. 74mins. Dir: Jenna Bass. Cast: Qondiswa James,
24 Screen International at Berlin February 20, 2018
Nala Khumalo, Francesca Varrie Michel, Liza Scholtz, Loren Loubser, Francois Immelman. After key events, Thami is no longer interested in any rainbow nation. A group of four young South Africans with different cultural backgrounds swap bodies overnight: a shock, with lingering consequences. Generation 14plus HKW
TRANNY FAG
(Brazil) 75mins. Dir: Claudia Priscilla, Kiko Goifman. Cast: Linn da Quebrada, Jup do Bairro. A musical documentary portrait of young transwoman and Brazilian pop performer Linn da Quebrada. Panorama Dokumente Cubix 7
17:45 LEMONADE
(Romania, Canada, Germany, Sweden) Center Stage Productions. 88mins. Dir: Ioana Uricaru. Cast: Malina Manovici, Steve Bacic, Dylan Scott Smith, Milan Hurduc, Ruxandra Maniu.
GURRUMUL
Rosamund Pike, Daniel Bruhl, Eddie Marsan. Competition (out of competition) Haus der Berliner Festspiele
AFRIQUE, LA PENSEE EN MOUVEMENT PART I
(Senegal) 104mins. Dir: Jean-Pierre Bekolo. Forum Akademie der Kunste
See box, above
LIBERTY
(Denmark) Scott Rudin Productions. 117mins. Dir: Mikael Marcimain. Cast: Connie Nielsen, Sofie Grabol, Carsten Bjornlund. Scandinavian businessmen and development workers relax on their farms in Tanzania. Some use local conditions for selfenrichment, others try to make a difference in the development sector — but they are all ignoring the needs of the country’s population. Berlinale Series Zoo Palast 2
U — JULY 22
(Norway) Centro de Investigacion y Formacion para la Modalidad Aborigen. 90mins. Dir: Erik Poppe. Cast: Andrea Berntzen, Aleksander Holmen, Brede Fristad. Competition Friedrichstadt-Palast
18:30 7 DAYS IN ENTEBBE
(US, UK) 107mins. Dir: José Padilha. Cast:
IN THE REALM OF PERFECTION
(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. During the French Open, he becomes an on-court hero, subject and director. An astonishing look at the parallels between film and competition: cinema lies, sport does not. Berlinale Goes Kiez ACUDkino 1
(US) 113mins. Dir: Gus Van Sant. Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, Jack Black. Competition Berlinale Palast
MY 20TH CENTURY
(Hungary, Federal Republic of Germany) 105mins. Dir: Ildiko Enyedi. Cast: Dorota Segda, Oleg Jankovski, Peter Andorai. The very different lives of identical twins: one becomes a con woman; the other a revolutionary. Their paths cross on the Orient Express. Berlinale Classics CinemaxX 8 OUTSIDE
(Germany) 80mins. Dir: Johanna SunderPlassmann, Tama TobiasMacht. Perspektive Deutsches Kino CinemaxX 3
19:30 ANTICHRIST
Competition Press only CinemaxX 9
(Denmark, Germany, France, Sweden, Italy, Poland) 109mins. Dir: Cast: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Willem Dafoe, Storm Acheche Sahlstrom. After the accidental death of their young son, a couple withdraw to a secluded cabin in the woods.
SUNDAY’S ILLNESS
Homage Zeughauskino
PIG
(Iran) 108mins. Dir: Mani Haghighi. Cast: Hasan Majuni, Leila Hatami, Leili Rashidi, Parinaz Izadyar, Mina Jafarzadeh, Aynaz Azarhoosh, Ali Bagheri, Siamak Ansari, Ali Mosaffa.
(Spain) 113mins. Dir: Ramon Salazar. Cast: Barbara Lennie, Susi Sanchez, Miguel Angel Sola, Greta
BOYS CRY
(Italy) 96mins. Dir: Damiano & Fabio D’Innocenzo.
www.screendaily.com
Cast: Andrea Carpenzano, Matteo Olivetti, Milena Mancini, Max Tortora, Giordano De Plano. After an accident, Manolo and Mirko, two high school boys from the outskirts of Rome, are sucked into a maelstrom of violence, drugs and prostitution. This debut creates a world of cold, inhospitable spaces where one false move can put your life on the line.
Cast: Nai An, Yang Mingming, Zhang Xianmin, Li Qinqin. Wu lives with her mother in one of Beijing’s hutongs. The daily lives of these two unsuccessful writers is characterised by mutual reproaches.
Panorama CinemaxX 7
(Ireland) 103mins. Dir: Aoife McArdle. Cast: Ann Skelly, Ryan Lincoln, Conall Keating. In a Northern Irish town scarred by The Troubles, 17-year-old Candice is highly sensitive towards the indifference of her surroundings. Her epilepsy causes her to hallucinate, as she enters a state of consciousness ruled by violence and love.
Panorama Special CineStar 3
20:30 KISSING CANDICE
LAST CHILD
(South Korea) 124mins. Dir: Shin Dong-seok. Cast: Choi Moo-seong, Kim Yeo-jin, Seong Yu-bin. Eunchan drowns while swimming in the river; his classmate Kihyun somehow survives. Eunchan’s parents gradually come to terms with their loss — until Kihyun suddenly reveals his own version of events, casting everything in a new light. Forum CinemaxX 4
OUR BLOOD IS WINE
(US) 78mins. Dir: Emily Railsback. Cast: Jeremy Quinn, Ramaz Nikoladze, Giorgi Natenadze. Families in the Republic of Georgia revive 8,000-yearold winemaking traditions that were almost lost during the era of Soviet domination. Culinary Cinema MGB Cinema
PIG See box, above
THE QUEST OF ALAIN DUCASSE
(France) ASAP Films. 84mins. Dir: Gilles de Maistre. With 23 restaurants across the globe and 18 Michelin stars, Alain Ducasse continues to push the boundaries of his profession. Culinary Cinema CineStar IMAX
19:45 INLAND SEA
(Japan, US) 122mins. Dir: Kazuhiro Soda. Ushimado is a fishing village on the Seto Inland Sea whose population is dwindling. Catching and delivering fish, looking after
www.screendaily.com
FESTIVAL & PRESS 19:30 PIG
(Iran) 108mins. Dir: Mani Haghighi. Cast: Hasan Majuni, Leila Hatami, Leili Rashidi, Parinaz Izadyar, Mina Jafarzadeh, Aynaz Azarhoosh, Ali Bagheri, Siamak Ansari, Ali Mosaffa.
graves and feeding the cats, dreams of retirement: the captivating, tender blackand-white portrait of an aging community. Forum Arsenal Cinema 1
LAND
(Italy, France, Netherlands, Mexico, Qatar) 111mins. Dir: Babak Jalali. Cast: Rod Rondeaux, Florence Klein, Wilma Pelly. 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.
THE OMISSION
Hasan, a blacklisted filmmaker, is crushed. Why isn’t he being killed like all the other renowned filmmakers? Isn’t he the best director in town? To save his reputation, he hatches a diabolical plot. Competition Press only CinemaxX 5
Lausas, Luise Donschen, Zacharias Zitouni. A monk, a sex worker, an evolutionary biologist at work, young people in a bar and Casanova: slyly shifting between fiction and documentary, this debut film examines questions of the body and desire. Forum Colosseum 1
CASANOVA GENE
(Germany) 67mins. Dir: Luise Donschen. Cast: Wolfgang Forstmeier, John Malkovich, Elija Pott, Undine de Rivière, Lumi
Panorama International
YOUNG SOLITUDE
(France) 100mins. Dir: Claire Simon. Forum Cubix 9
20:15
HOTEL JUGOSLAVIJA
FORTUNA
(Switzerland) 78mins. Dir: Nicolas Wagnierès. Using the story of the iconic modernist Hotel Jugoslavija in Belgrade, this essayistic film explores the changes in post-Yugoslavian Serbia. What has remained of ideals such as unity, fraternity and collectivism?
(Switzerland, Belgium) 106mins. Dir: Germinal Roaux. Cast: Kidist Siyum Beza, Bruno Ganz, Patrick d’Assumcao, Assefa Zerihun Gudeta. A warm light of humanity shines beside the dark bluffs of an Alpine mountain pass. After braving the Mediterranean passage, Fortuna finds shelter in a Swiss monastery. There is a secret hidden in her longing for love that keeps her from feeling lonely.
Panorama Dokumente CineStar 7
Panorama Cubix 7
20:00
(Argentina, Netherlands, Switzerland) 90mins. Dir: Sebastian Schjaer. Cast: Sofia Brito, Lisandro Rodriguez, Malena Hernandez Diaz. Paula is in her mid-20s. She’s come to Argentina’s cold south to work as a casual labourer during the winter season. Her thick clothing protects her against the snow but also the expectations to which this young mother refuses to subjugate herself.
LOST ONES
(Germany) 91mins. Dir: Felix Hassenfratz. Cast: Maria Dragus, Anna Bachmann, Clemens Schick, Enno Trebs, Meira Durand. Perspektive Deutsches Kino CinemaxX 1
Generation 14plus Cubix 8
GIRLS ALWAYS HAPPY
(China) 117mins. Dir: Yang Mingming.
Generation 14plus HKW
21:00 3 DAYS IN QUIBERON
(Germany, Austria, France) 115mins. Dir: Emily Atef. Cast: Marie Baumer, Birgit Minichmayr, Charly Hubner, Robert Gwisdek. Competition Haus der Berliner Festspiele
THE SILENT REVOLUTION
(Germany) Xi’an Qujiang Shangguozhixiong Publishing and Audio & Visual Development. 111mins. Dir: Lars Kraume. Cast: Leonard Scheicher, Tom Gramenz, Lena Klenke. The true story of a GDR high school class in 1956 that stirs up the political system by observing a minute’s silence for the victims of the Hungarian Uprising. Despite pressure from the regime and their families, they commit their own act of resistance. Berlinale Special Gala Friedrichstadt-Palast
21:30 A DYSFUNCTIONAL CAT
(Germany) 93mins. Dir: Susan Gordanshekan. Cast: Pegah Ferydoni, Hadi Khanjanpour, Henrike von Kuick. 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. Berlinale Goes Kiez ACUDkino 1
THE BED
(Argentina, Germany, Netherlands, Brazil) 95mins. Dir: Monica Lairana. Cast: Sandra Sandrini, Alejo Mango. Mabel and Jorge have 24 hours left before the removal van arrives to collect their things, cementing their separation after decades of marriage. This confident debut is a chamber drama that homes in on moments of intimacy, desperation and distance. Forum Delphi Filmpalast
THE GREEN FOG
(US, Canada) 62mins. Dir: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson. Images from numerous works shot in the city edited together into a wonderfully overblown metafilm. Forum CineStar IMAX
THE LOOMING TOWER
(US) 100mins. Dir: Cast: Jeff Daniels, Tahar Rahim, Peter Sarsgaard, Wrenn Schmidt, Bill Camp, Michael Stuhlbarg, Ella Rae Peck, Alec Baldwin. In the late 1990s there is growing evidence of an imminent attack on the US. The domestic and foreign security agencies, the FBI and the CIA engage in a disastrous rivalry that prevents the timely detection of an act of terrorism. Berlinale Series Zoo Palast 1
OUR HOUSE
(Japan) unafilm. 80mins. Dir: Yui Kiyohara. Cast: Nodoka Kawanishi, Yukiko Yasuno, Mariwo Osawa, Mei Fujiwara, Masanori Kikuzawa. The inhabitants of an old house know nothing of one another, the daughter and her mother lead entirely separate lives from the two young women who also reside there. A pair of narratives as if from parallel worlds that are still mysteriously connected. Forum CineStar 8
February 20, 2018 Screen International at Berlin 25
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SCREENINGS
PASOLINI
SANTO VS EVIL BRAIN
(France, Italy, Belgium) 84mins. Dir: Cast: Willem Dafoe, Maria de Medeiros, Riccardo Scamarcio. A meticulous account of the last day in the life of the Italian director, who was murdered in 1975.
(Mexico, Cuba) Tasse Film. 71mins. Dir: Joselito Rodriguez. Cast: El Enmascarado, Joaquin Cordero, Norma Suarez, Enrique J Zambrano, Alberto Inzua, Fernando Oses, Enrique Almirante, René Socarras. In this crazy Mexican popular classic, the masked Santo is kidnapped by three gangsters sent by Doctor Campos. After being brainwashed in his laboratory, Santo becomes the megalomaniacal scientist’s leading henchman.
Homage CinemaxX 8
THE SON
(France, Russian Federation) 71mins. Dir: Alexander Abaturov. The death of his cousin in active service leads Abaturov to reflect upon the Russian military. New recruits receive training, while qualified soldiers are sent to fight; the former must prove their mettle, the latter have to grapple with loss. Forum Akademie der Kunste
THEATRE OF WAR
(Argentina, Spain) 82mins. Dir: Lola Arias. Decades after the end of the Falklands War, English and Argentinian veterans come together to re-enact their experiences. Forum Press only CinemaxX 6
Forum CinemaxX 4
FESTIVAL & PRESS 21:30 UNSANE
(US) 98mins.Dir: Steven Soderbergh. Cast: Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard, Jay Pharoah, Juno Temple. A young woman is involuntarily committed colonisation and the modern day survival of this culture. NATIVe — Indigenous Cinema Zoo Palast 2
UNSANE See box, above
21:45 OPIUM
(Germany) 91mins. Dir: Robert Reinert. Cast: Eduard von Winterstein, Hanna Ralph, Werner Krauss. In China, an English doctor falls victim to the titular drug. Back home, he becomes a murder suspect and flees to India. Retrospective Zeughauskino
UNSANE
(US) 98mins. Dir: Steven Soderbergh. Competition (out of competition) Daily Press only CinemaxX 5
22:00 FATA MORGANA
(Finland) 59mins. Dir: Anastasia Lapsui, Markku Lehmuskallio. Recounts thousands of years of history of the Chukchi people, from their mythology to the Russian
THE HUNTER
(Australia) 101mins. Dir: Cast: Willem Dafoe, Frances O’Connor, Sam Neill, Morgana Davies. For a professional hunter sent by a biotech company to kill the last of an extinct species, the confrontation with nature becomes an existential challeng. Homage Berlinale Palast
PATRIMONIO
(US) 83mins. Dir: Lisa F Jackson, Sarah Teale. Cast: John Moreno, Rosario Salvatierra, Maria Salvatierra, Quirino Cota. A story of activism, a vérité portrait of a community rallying to protect its natural resources as an unlikely group of fishermen takes on a multinational giant, challenging their own government, denouncing corruption and demanding justice. Culinary Cinema MGB Cinema
26 Screen International at Berlin February 20, 2018
SHAKEDOWN
to a mental institution where she is confronted by her greatest fear… but is it real or is it a product of her delusion? Competition (out of competition) Daily press only CinemaxX 9
THREE THOUSAND
(Canada) RTBF. 14mins. Dir: Asinnajaq. By combining historic footage with original animation in a poetic tapestry, Asinnajaq explores her Inuit heritage throughout its entire audiovisual history and beyond, projecting a hopeful future. NATIVe — Indigenous Cinema Zoo Palast 2
22:30 THE CRANES ARE FLYING
(USSR) Barzegar Production. 98mins. Dir: Michail Kalatosow. Cast: Tatjana Samoilowa, Alexei Batalow, Wassili Merkurjew. The tragic story of a young Muscovite couple separated by the events of the Second World War. Instead of heroic victors, it portrays the suffering and sacrifice of the civilian population. Berlinale Classics International
DEPARTURE
(Austria) 102mins. Dir: Ludwig Wust. Cast: Ludwig Wust, Claudia Martini,
Suse Lichtenberger. During the brief time they spend together, a man and a woman give each other solace and support. Forum Arsenal Cinema 1
DIE TOMORROW
(Thailand) 75mins. Dir: Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit. Cast: Patcha Poonpiriya, Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying, Morakot Liu, Chonnikan Netjui. Six reflections on life’s finite nature and the value of the everyday. Forum Cubix 9
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. But when someone in the city copies his act, things take a sudden and dramatic turn.
(US) 82mins. Dir: Leilah Weinraub. A chronicle and portrait of the lesbian underground strip scene of the 2000s in Los Angeles and its protagonists who celebrate their freedom and selfdetermination. Panorama Dokumente CineStar 7
WHEN THE TREES FALL
(Ukraine, Poland, Macedonia) 87mins. Dir: Marysia Nikitiuk. Cast: Anastasia Pustovit, Sofia Khalaimova, Maksym Samchyk. Veering between brutal reality and a surreal fairytale world, the stories of three generations of people in the Ukraine unfold. Their lives are marked by sexual desire, aggression and violence. Panorama CinemaxX 7
22:45 MARILYN
(Germany) 70mins. Dir: Tilman Singer. Cast: Luana Velis, Jan Bluthardt, Julia Riedler.
(Argentina, Chile) Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin. 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.
Perspektive Deutsches Kino CinemaxX 1
Panorama CineStar 3
Panorama Cubix 7
LUZ
MARKET SCREENINGS
09:00 ANCHOR AND HOPE
(Spain, US, UK) Visit Films, 114mins. Dir: Carlos Marques-Marcet. Cast: Natalia Tena, Oona Chaplin, David Verdaguer, Geraldine Chaplin. When Roger agrees to be Kat and Eva’s donor, the three friends set out on an unconventional journey to start a family. CinemaxX 14
THE BOLD, THE CORRUPT AND THE BEAUTIFUL
(Taiwan) MandarinVision, 112mins. Dir: Ya-Che Yang. Cast: Kara Wai, Ke-Xi Wu, Vicky Chen. A conniving woman mediates between the government and private businesses for the benefit of her family, but finds herself caught up in a murder scandal. Arsenal Cinema 2
DON’T WORRY, HE WON’T GET FAR ON FOOT
(US) FilmNation Entertainment, 113mins. Dir: Gus Van Sant. Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, Jack Black, Mark Webber. Berlinale Palast
DUMPED
(France, UK) WestEnd Films, 100mins. Dir: Eloise Lang. Cast: Camille Cottin, Camille Chamoux, Miou Miou, Johan Heldenbergh. Two sisters take their mother out of Paris and to the tropical island of Reunion for her 60th birthday. But when a sexy bartender and cheap margaritas get into the mix, their fun in the sun starts to get out of hand. CineStar IMAX
HANDS IN THE DUST
(Croatia) Croatian Audiovisual Centre, 75mins. Dir: Nebojsa Slijepcevic. Cast: Vanja Jambrovic. In the winter of 1991, 12-year-old Aleksandra Zec was killed. She was Serbian. Twenty five years later, theatre director Oliver
www.screendaily.com
Sonnenschein, Salim Fazzani. Ten-year-old Lea wants to join the boys gang of her village. But, first, she has to prove that girls can be as courageous as boys.
Frljic prepares a theatre play about the case. The process brings out hidden traumas. Arsenal Cinema 1
NO MAN IS AN ISLAND
(France) Doc & Film International, 96mins. Dir: Dominique Marchais. This film is an investigation on democracy in Europe. It is a journey in Europe, on both sides of the Alps, between north and south, where we discover landscapes and people that carry the spirit of democracy.
delphi LUX 3
10:30 GASPARD AT THE WEDDING
(France) Pyramide International, 105mins. Dir: Antony Cordier. After many years of keeping a careful distance, Gaspard, 25, has to renew a contact with his family when his father announces he is getting remarried. He’s not aware that he is preparing to live the last days of his childhood.
CinemaxX 11
ON THE SLY
(France) Be For Films, 97mins. Dir: Christophe Regin. Cast: Franck Gastambide, Alice Isaaz, Hippolyte Girardot. For the past 10 years, Franck has been a flunkey for a provincial football club. One night, he meets Salome. They become lovers — until Djibril Azembert joins the team. Now, a curious love triangle ensues.
MARKET 09:30 THE RETURN
(Denmark, South Korea) Pluto Film, 89mins. Dir: Malene Choi Jensen. Cast: Karoline Sofie Lee, Thomas Hwan. Two Danish-Korean adoptees visit their
CinemaxX 18
motherland for the first time and are confronted with their identity struggles. A hybrid feature partly based on the director’s personal experience and real stories of adoptees met in Seoul. CinemaxX 17
CineStar 5
09:25 CLEO & PAUL
(France) Stray Dogs, 60mins. Dir: Stéphane Demoustier. Cast: Vimala Pons, Anders Danielsen Lie, Cleo Demoustier, Paul Demoustier. Lost in Paris, Cleo is looking for Paul and Paul is looking for Cleo. A poetic adventure lived in threeyear-old kids’ shoes. CinemaxX 18
09:30 AN ISRAELI LOVE STORY
(Israel) Go2Films, 93mins. Dir: Dan Wolman. Cast: Adi Bielski, Aviv Alush, Maya Wertheim, Issac Hizkiyah. The story of the true love affair between Pnina Gary from Nahalal and Eli, son of Rachel and Yitzhak BenZvi, the second president of Israel, during the turbulent period of pre-state Israel. CinemaxX 12
ANOTE’S ARK
(Canada) EyeSteelFilm, 77mins. Dir: Matthieu Rytz. What happens when your country is swallowed by the sea? Kiribati, a Pacific atoll
www.screendaily.com
republic, will be submerged within decades due to climate change. Explores what it takes to migrate an entire nation with dignity. CinemaxX 2
IN MY STEPS
(Italy, Spain) TVCO, 94mins. Dir: Claudio Sestieri. Cast: Angelique Cavallari, Maya Murofushi, Pier Giorgio Bellocchio. A medieval village surrounded by a wild nature. Three lives at stake, a passion transforming in obsession, absurd bursting into reality. Parliament Studio
THE RETURN See box, above
TOYS & PETS ADVENTURES
(China) All Rights Entertainment, 98mins. Dir: Gary Wang. Atang lives in a shop and is the only toy that cannot change colour. One day, Atang meets a little robot and decides to join it on an adventure to find a way back to his creator — and to finally change his colour. CineStar 7
WINDSTORM — AND THE WILD HORSES
(Germany) Attraction Distribution, 110mins. Dir: Katja von Garnier. Cast: Hanna Binke, Lea Van Acken, Amber Bongard, Marvin Linke. Teen girl Mika has now become a reputed “horse whisperer”. With her beloved black stallion, Windstorm, they depart for Spain, where the horse comes from. Will they find what they look for? CinemaxX 16
09:45 EX-SHAMAN
(Brazil) Upside Distribution, 82mins. Dir: Luiz Bolognesi. Cast: Armando Torres, Caio Guerrin, Perperpa Surui, Kabena Cinta Larga. In Paiter Surui, an indigenous community, an ex-shaman forced into evangelical Christianity struggles to cure the sufferings of his village and faces the spirits of the forest. CinemaxX 19
09:50 SILENT NIGHT
(Poland) Intramovies,
101mins. Dir: Piotr Domalewski. Cast: Dawid Ogrodnik, Tomasz Zietek, Arkadiusz Jakubik. Christmas Eve. A village house in eastern Poland. Adam, a young migrant, suddenly turns up at a traditional supper. Nobody in his large family suspects the true reason for his unexpected return to Poland.
Marshak, Alma Zak, Yaakov Zada Daniel. When dark secrets written in her phycologists journals are exposed and threaten to destroy her, high school teacher Hadas must decide who she can trust as she is drawn into a complex and deeply personal search for the truth.
CinemaxX 15
THE DUMPLING AFFAIR
09:55 FERRANTE FEVER
(Italy) The Match Factory, 74mins. Dir: Giacomo Durzi. A mysterious author is climbing the charts around the world, without revealing her true identity. Born in Naples, she says she's is Elena Ferrante. Is that true? CinemaxX 13
10:00 I HAD NOWHERE TO GO
Zoo Palast 5
(Germany) Constantin Film Produktion, 98mins. Dir: Ed Herzog. Cast: Sebastian Bezzel, Lisa Maria Pothoff. First, there is nothing to eat but dumpling broth because of the return of Grandma’s long-lost love. Then Franz’s hated boss is found stone cold dead after Stopfer’s wedding and Franz is the chief suspect. delphi LUX 1
10:15
(Germany) moneypenny filmproduktion, 97mins. Dir: Douglas Gordon. This is a first-hand account of the life, thoughts and feelings of a displaced person. It’s a painful record of one person’s experiences in a Nazi Labour camp, in a displaced persons camps and as a young immigrant in New York.
(Australia) FremantleMedia International, 105mins. Dir: Larysa Kondracki, Michael Rymer, Amanda Brotchie. Cast: Natalie Dormer, Yael Stone. The mysterious disappearances of three schoolgirls and their governess on Valentine’s Day, 1900.
delphi LUX 2
Zoo Palast 4
SLEEPING BEARS
QUEEN OF NIENDORF
(Israel) Keshet International, 73mins. Dir: Keren Margalit. Cast: Noa Koler, Yossi
(Germany) 67mins. Dir: Joya Thome. Cast: Lisa Moell, Mex Schlupfer, Denny Moritz
PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK
MEGIDDO
(Israel) WestEnd Films, 104mins. Dir: Itzik Lerner. Megiddo is a three-part documentary series that follows the tense reality of the lives of Palestinian inmates in the Megiddo security prison in Israel, and their complex relationship with the Israeli wardens. Zoo Palast 3
SILVANA
(Sweden) Rise and Shine World Sales, 95mins. Dir: Mika Gustafson, Olivia Kastebring, Christina Tsiobanelis. With her uncompromising lyrics against all forms of opression, Swedish rapper Silvana has taken Scandinvia by storm. An intimate love story and filmic journey through the first years of the career of a contemporary feminist icon. CinemaxX 1
10:40 MONKY
(Sweden, Germany) Picture Tree International, 90mins. Dir: Maria Blom. Cast: Frida Hallgren, Julius Jimenez Hugoson. Frank finds a real monkey in his family’s backyard. Named Monky and being anything but ordinary, he takes the family on a exciting adventure that leads the family all the way from Sweden to the jungles of Thailand. CineStar 1
February 20, 2018 Screen International at Berlin 27
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SCREENINGS
11:50
10:45 CHAMPIONS
STYX
See box, right
(Germany, Austria) Beta Cinema, 93mins. Dir: Wolfgang Fischer. Cast: Susanne Wolff, Gedion Oduor Wekesa. The transformation of a strong woman torn from her idyllic world during a sailing trip.
FLAMMABLE CHILDREN
(Australia) WestEnd Films, 97mins. Dir: Stephan Elliott. Cast: Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce. A hilarious and poignant comedy set on the sunny beaches of Australia in the mid-1970s. Hit by the sexual revolution, and the body of a 200-ton whale, the lives of three unique families are about to be turned upside down.
CineStar 6
12:00 IN THE FADE
CineStar 5
SHEIKH JACKSON
(Egypt) Media Luna, 93mins. Dir: Amr Salama. Cast: Ahmad Alfishawy, Maged El Kedwany, Ahmed Malek. The sudden death of Michael Jackson sends a former King of Pop devotee — now a young imam — into a tailspin. CinemaxX 11
MARKET 10:45 CHAMPIONS
(Spain) Latido Films, 125mins. Dir: Javier Fesser. Cast: Javier Gutierrez, Sergio Olmos, Julio Fernandez, Jesus Lago. A professional basketball
coach with plenty of problems and frustrations will see his life change after a series of coincidences lead him to manage a team of intellectually disabled individuals. CineStar IMAX
THE SILENCE OF OTHERS
CinemaxX 12
(US, Spain) Cinephil, 95mins. Dir: Almudena Carracedo, Robert Bahar. Reveals the epic struggle of victims of Spain’s 40-year dictatorship as they fight a state-imposed amnesia around crimes they suffered.
FOR GOOD OLD TIMES
CinemaxX 8
Arsenal Cinema 2
10:55 HITLER VERSUS PICASSO: THE NAZI OBSESSION FOR ART
(Italy) Nexo Digital, 94mins. Dir: Claudio Poli. Cast: Toni Servillo. Reveals secrets of the Fuhrer’s treasures: Picasso, Matisse and Chagall — paintings looted and condemned finally come to light. CinemaxX 2
11:00 CLIMATE WARRIORS
(Germany) fechnerMedia, 86mins. Dir: Carl-A Fechner, Nicolai Niemann. Cast: Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, Amir Roughani, Joylette Portlock, HansJosef Fell. Shows how the energy revolution can actually be realised. Marriott Studio
Luigi Lo Cascio, Valerio Aprea, Pietro Sermont. Pietro and his gang are in jail again. A new enemy Walter Mercurio, another researcher, forces them to plan the ultimate escape. They will have to go against everything and everyone to complete this last great mission.
(Croatia) Croatian Audiovisual Centre, 112mins. Dir: Eduard Galic. Cast: Karlo Mrksa. A story of a generation hit by society’s transition from socialism to capitalism — and a ravaging war.
LITTLE WOMEN
(UK, US) Lionsgate, 68mins. Dir: Vanessa Caswill. Cast: Emily Watson, Angela Lansbury. Follows the March sisters on their journey from childhood to adulthood under the guidance of their mother while their father is away at war. Zoo Palast Club A
MADAM YANKELOVA’S FINE LITERATURE CLUB
(Israel) Transfax Film Production, 90mins. Dir: Guilhad Emilio Schenker. Cast: Keren Mor, Yiftach Klein, Hanna Laslo. What is going on behind the closed doors of the women-only secret club? The first rule is that love is prohibited. When Sophie falls in love with a mysterious man, she must
28 Screen International at Berlin February 20, 2018
choose between love and her loyalty to the club. CinemaxX 17
OF FATHERS AND SONS
(Germany, Syria,Lebanon) Autlook Filmsales, 99mins. Dir: Talal Derki. Talal Derki returns to his homeland where he gains the trust of a radical Islamist family, sharing their daily life for over two years and providing an extremely rare insight into what it means to grow up in an Islamic Caliphate. CinemaxX 10
VR FROM THE SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
(Australia) Sundance Institute, 60mins. Dir: various. Cast: Dash Autio Parke, Jem Autio Parke. In a moonlight backyard, two brothers battle in a mythical game of cricket. An immersive study of the motion, physics and psychology of elite sport. VR Cinema at Marriott
11:05 I CAN QUIT WHENEVER I WANT AD HONOREM
(Italy) Fandango Sales, 103mins. Dir: Sydney Sibilia. Cast: Edoardo Leo,
THE QUEEN OF FEAR
(Argentina, Denmark) Visit Films, 108mins. Dir: Valeria Bertuccelli, Fabiana Tiscornia. Cast: Valeria Bertuccelli, Puma Goity, Dario Grandinetti. In a constant state of anxiety, a celebrated actress obsessively distracts herself from preparing for her career-defining one-woman show. CinemaxX 14
11:15 CAN’T SAY GOODBYE
(Spain) Inside Content, 96mins. Dir: Lino Escalera. Cast: Nathalie Poza, Juan Diego, Lola Duenas. Carla hasn’t talked to her father in years when she finds out that he only has a few months to live. Together they will take one last journey in which they will end-up finding themselves. CinemaxX 19
11:20 THE DATING PROJECT
(US) Pure Flix/Quality Flix, 75mins. Dir: Jonathan Cipiti. Five single people try to figure out dating in the age
of social media, texting, hanging out and hooking up.
(Germany) The Match Factory, 106mins. Dir: Fatih Akin. Cast: Diane Kruger, Denis Moschitto. Katja’s life collapses following the death of husband and son in a bomb attack. After a time of mourning and injustice, Katja seeks revenge. delphi LUX 2
dffb Cinema
11:30 SIMON & THEODORE
(France) Be For Films, 84mins. Dir: Mikael Buch. Simon is going to become a father soon. But how can he take care of a child when he can’t even take care of himself? An encounter with Theodore, who has never known his father, will help with his imminent fatherhood. CinemaxX 16
11:40 SUPA MODO
(Germany, Kenya) Rushlake Media, 74mins. Dir: Likarion Wainaina. Cast: Stacie Waweru, Marrianne Nungo. A story of a young girl whose dream of becoming a superhero is threatened by terminal illness, inspiring her village to rally together to make her dream come true. CinemaxX 15
11:45 SERVUS BABY
(Germany) luthje schneider horl FILM, 60mins. Dir: Natalie Spinell. Cast: Josephine Ehlert, Genija Rykova. Lou’s boyfriend abandons her on her 30th birthday. She suddenly realises that her ovaries age from now on exponentially. She needs a man, no matter how, no matter whom, but quickly. Zoo Palast 5
WHEN PAUL CAME OVER THE SEA — JOURNAL OF AN ENCOUNTER
(Germany) Magnetfilm, 97mins. Dir: Jakob Preuss. The story of an unusual and complicated friendship amid the turbulence of the current refugee situation. delphi LUX 1
12:10 NINA
(Poland) Wide, 130mins. Dir: Olga Chajdas. Nina’s marriage to Wojtek is going nowhere, partly because of their failed attempts to have children. They ask a young woman, Magda, to become their surrogate mother. Things get complicated when Nina feels attracted to Magda. CinemaxX 1
12:15 THE LITTLE WITCH
(Germany) Studiocanal International Distribution, 104mins. Dir: Michael Schaerer. Cast: Karoline Herfurth, Suzanne von Borsody. The Little Witch is only 127 years old but still dances on Blocksberg with the big witches. She gets caught and has only one year to pull off some seriously good witchcraft if she wants to be invited to Walpurgis Night ever again. delphi LUX 3
THE SACRIFICE
(Colombia) Latido Films,
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99mins. Dir: Jaime Osorio Marquez. Cast: Alexander Betancur, Valentina Gomez, Philippe Legler. The world is about to end. Two biologists are sent to a nature reserve to investigate the inexplicable death of the living creatures. The park’s ranger is disturbed by the unsettling visit. Only a sacrifice can save the world.
Entertainment, 90mins. Dir: Phillip Guzman. Cast: Brea Grant, Christine Dwyer. A group of 1980s graduate students are close to discovering what happens to the human brain after staying awake for 200 hours, but something goes terribly wrong with one test subject.
CineStar 1
CinemaxX 13
12:20
Zoo Palast 3
13:30
MESSI AND MAUD
F**KING ADELAIDE
(Netherlands, Chile) Visit Films, 92mins. Dir: Marleen Jonkman. Cast: Rifka Lodeizen, Cristobal Farias. While on vacation in Chile, Dutch tourist Maud abandons her husband to travel alone. When she befriends a local boy who fills a void in her heart, the pair embark on a road trip to reinvent themselves.
(Australia) Closer Screens, 13mins. Dir: Sophie Hyde. Cast: Pamela Rabe, Kate Box, Tilda CobhamHervey, Brendan Maclean. A comedy drama told from six different perspectives of a family who reunite in Adelaide when mum plans to sell the family home.
CinemaxX 18
12:25 REGGAE BOYZ
(Germany, US) Partner Pictures, 73mins. Dir: Till Schauder. Cast: Winnfried Schafer, Bunny Wailer, Sheldon Sheppard. Jamaica tries to qualify its national soccer team for the World Cup. As its efforts fail, a German coach teams up with reggae musicians and a Rastafarian factory worker to unite Jamaica beyond the pitch. CinemaxX 11
12:30 BLIND DONNA
(Finland) Yle, the Finnish Broadcasting Company, 49mins. Dir: Heikki Kujanpaa. Cast: Alina Tomnikov, Eero Ritala, Essi Hellen. How does it feel when every date is a blind date? Zoo Palast 3
12:35 BOYS CRY
(Italy) The Match Factory, 96mins. Dir: Damiano D’Innocenzo, Fabio D’Innocenzo. Cast: Matteo Olivetti, Andrea Carpenzano. When youngsters Mirko and Manolo accidentally get involved in a hit and run, they uncover an opportunity for a prosperous underground
www.screendaily.com
MARKET 12:40 THE PERFECT GIRL
(Taiwan) Creative Century Entertainment, 95mins. Dir: Remus Kam. Cast: Tia Lee, Bryant Chang, William Hsieh, Josie Leung. Xin is a beautiful girl
career and better life. But this new world is tough, unforgiving and increasingly overwhelming.
who focuses on criminal psychology. One day, several human parts are dug out from her garden. Two girls died because of her boyfriend. Who will survive and what will be left in the end? Marriott Studio
killed in a tournament, he has no choice but to investigate. MGB Cinema
CinemaxX 17
LEMONADE L’ ANIMALE
(Austria) Films Boutique, 97mins. Dir: Katharina Muckstein. Riding on their tuned-up bikes, Mati and her posse of male friends intimidate their neighbourhood and harass the girls. In their village, they rule. But Mati’s standing is in danger when love enters their closed community. CinemaxX 2
12:40 THE PERFECT GIRL See box, above
12:50 CRAZY FIST
(China) All Rights Entertainment, 97mins. Dir: Qing Guo. Cast: Collin Chou, Huang Xiaoming, Wei Wang. A former mixed martial arts champion and inheritor of a corporation swore never to fight after accidentally killing his opponent during a fight. But when his brother is
(Romania, Germany, Canada) Pluto Film, 88mins. Dir: Ioana Uricaru. Cast: Malina Manovici, Steve Bacic, Dylan Smith. Mara, a newly-in-the-US married single mum from Romania, is faced with abuses of power when the process of getting her green card veers unexpectedly off course. How far will Mara go to get what she wants? CinemaxX 12
13:00 HOTEL MUNDIAL
(Brazil) Elo Company, 75mins. Dir: Jarleo Barbosa. Cast: Vero Gerez, Felipe Brum. The story of a long-distance relationship between an Argentine girl and a Brazilian guy. CinemaxX 19
RAVENS
(Sweden) Celluloid Dreams, 107mins. Dir: Jens Assur. Cast: Reine Brynolfsson,
Maria Heiskanen, Jacob Nordstrom. Klas refuses to take over the legacy of his father’s farm and seeks refuge in his passion for birds. CinemaxX 16
13:10 GAME GIRLS
(France, Germany) Doc & Film International, 90mins. Dir: Alina Skrzeszewska. A film about the hopes and dreams of women living on the fringes of contemporary American society. CinemaxX 15
SHUT UP & PLAY THE PIANO
(Germany, UK) Charades, 82mins. Dir: Philipp Jedick. Follows Chilly Gonzales from his native Canada to the late 1990s underground Berlin, from Paris to the world’s great philharmonic halls. CinemaxX 14
13:15
Zoo Palast 3
HASBEEN
OTHER PEOPLE’S PROBLEMS
(Australia) ZDF Enterprises, 7mins. Dir: Erin White. Cast: Maria Angelico, Ainslie Clouston. Reluctant copywriter and aspiring eco-warrior Florence embarks on a venture to ghost-write other people’s letters in exchange for second-hand clothing. Zoo Palast 3
(Finland) Yle, the Finnish Broadcasting Company, 12mins. Dir: Oskari Sipola. Cast: Johannes Brotherus, Mimosa Willamo, Salla Kozma. At 14 years old, Niklas was the biggest teen-pop star in Finland. But now, at 20, the fame has run out, and he’s just a has-been. With his music producer friend Salla, Niklas forms a band in an attempt to rise back to stardom.
(Canada) Rados Film, 98mins. Dir: Igor Stephen Rados. Cast: Christopher James Rika, Pola Stankovic. A poet trapped in an asylum strives to escape from two crazy doctors in competition over diametrically opposed schools of thought.
Zoo Palast 3
CinemaxX 11
HIT AND RUN
(Germany) lüthje schneider horl FILM, 18mins. Dir: Lea Becker. Cast: Sophia Schober, Philipp Rosenthal. Teenage girl Zoe and her friends crash her dad’s car into a deer while driving without a licence. Zoo Palast 3
MARY KILLS PEOPLE 2
(Canada) eOne, 85mins. Dir: Kelly Makin, Norma Bailey, David Wellington, Holly Dale. Cast: Caroline Dhavernas, Richard Short, Jay Ryan. The thrilling and thoughtprovoking drama follows a mother and doctor by day, who helps terminally ill patients who want to die on their own terms.
Broadcasting Company, 14mins. Dir: Aleksi Delikouras. Cast: Samuel Kujala, Jessica Oystila, Elina Knihtila. A series about a gamer whose mum destroys his computer. To be a professional player and to realise his dream, he must step out of his room, face the real world and learn the meaning of friendship.
MR STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT
(US) Keshet International, 12mins. Dir: Jack Ferry, Ryan Hunter, Daniel Hsia. Cast: Jeremy Shada, Arden Rose, Gabriel Conte, Raven Bowens. A charismatic student body president and his Machiavellian chief of staff give “high school politics” a new meaning.
13:45 NURSERY RHYME OF A MADMAN
14:00 BREAKING THE LIMITS
(Poland) Media Move, 107mins. Dir: Lukasz Palkowski. Cast: Jakub Gierszal, Kamila Kaminska. Based on true events about the fall and rebirth of a man who, after 14 years of abusing drags, became Double Ironman Word Champion. CineStar 1
THE CONGO TRIBUNAL
200 HOURS
NERD: DRAGONSLAYER666
(Germany, Switzerland) Magnetfilm, 100mins. Dir: Milo Rau. Milo Rau succeeds in gathering victims, perpetrators and observers of the conflict for a unique civil tribunal in eastern Congo. An unvarnished portrait of the largest and bloodiest economic war in human history.
(US) Raven Banner
(Finland) Yle, the Finnish
delphi LUX 2
Zoo Palast 5
13:25
Zoo Palast 3
February 20, 2018 Screen International at Berlin 29
»
SCREENINGS
LATIFA — A FIGHTING HEART
(France) Cinephil, 97mins. Dir: Olivier Peyon, Cyril Brody. The story of Latifa Ibn Ziaten is the story of a mother who becomes an activist. When her son is assassinated by a terrorist, her world falls apart. Instead of giving up hope, she decides to take action. CinemaxX 18
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 surefire scheme soon turns into a cat-and-mouse game with crooked cop Diana. delphi LUX 1
14:10 LOVE ME NOT
(Greece, France) Elle Driver, 102mins. Dir: Alexandros Avranas. Cast: Eleni Roussinou, Christos Loulis. A couple hire a young migrant to be their surrogate mother. After a confrontation with the girl, the woman goes for a drive. The same night, her husband gets a call: his wife is dead… her burned body was found in her wrecked car. CineStar 5
14:15 NATIONAL BIRD
(Germany, US) Ro Co Films International, 92mins. Dir: Sonia Kennebeck. Three former military operatives offer disturbing, first-hand accounts of the deadly impact that US drone warfare has had on civilians overseas. delphi LUX 3
14:20 THE GREENAWAY ALPHABET
(Netherlands) Wide House, 68mins. Dir: Saskia Boddeke. Cast: Chloe Greenaway, Peter Greenaway. In intimate conversations with his perceptive 16-year-old daughter Zoe,
we discover the whos, whats and whys about British film director, screenwriter and artist Peter Greenaway, whose motto is “art is life and life is art”. CinemaxX 2
PILI
(UK) Studio Soho International, 80mins. Dir: Leanne Welham. Cast: Bello Rashid, Mwanaidi Omari Sefi. In Tanzania, a single mother earning less than $1 a day is offered the opportunity to improve her circumstances, but the risks she must face have ever deepening consequences as she struggles to keep her HIV-positive status a secret. Parliament Studio
THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS
(Romania) Romanian Film Centre, 89mins. Dir: Vlad Zamfirescu. A beautiful night: after a day’s work, two friends sit on the balcony. Between them there is peace and trust, as it should be after 25 years of friendship. And yet Tom is very good at sneaking into the shadow of a doubt. CinemaxX 17
14:25 THE BEST PEOPLE
(US) 2Hands Productions, 87mins. Dir: Dan Levy. Cast: Anna Lieberman, Art Napiontek. Just as she is recovering from a breakdown, Anna’s world is rocked when her younger sister gets engaged. She teams up with the alcoholic best man to break up the engagement. dffb Cinema
RESURRECTION
(Belgium) TVCO, 110mins. Dir: Kristof Hoornaert. Cast: Johan Leysen, Gilles De Schryver, Kris Cuppens. A hermit who takes in a half-naked young man is faced with an agonising dilemma. CinemaxX 12
14:45 FORGET ABOUT NICK
(Germany) The Match Factory, 110mins. Dir: Margarethe von Trotta. Cast: Katja Riemann, Ingrid Bolso Berdal,
30 Screen International at Berlin February 20, 2018
Haluk Bilginer. Former model Jade and the struggling academic Maria have only one thing in common: their ex-husband. During his absence, the women find themselves living together in his luxury New York apartment. CinemaxX 15
15:00 ADAM
(Germany, Iceland, Mexico) Mexican Film Institute (IMCINE), 72mins. Dir: Maria Solrun. Cast: Magnus Mariuson, Eszter Tompa. After years of hospitalisations for alcoholism, a pop singer makes her son swear that he will never permit her to spend the rest of her life in an institution. CinemaxX 13
NAMME
(Georgia, Lithuania) Alpha Violet, 91mins. Dir: Zaza Khalvashi. Cast: Mariska Diasamidze, Aleko Abashidze. In a small village in Georgia, a family has inherited the mission to take care of a local healing water and to cure sick fellow villagers. Young daughter Namme stays as the guardian of traditions. CinemaxX 16
ONE OF THESE DAYS
(Lebanon) Celluloid Dreams, 91mins. Dir: Nadim Tabet. Cast: Manal Issa, Yumna Marwan, Reine Salameh, Panos Aprahamian. A 24-hour youth chronicle in Beirut: a terrorist attack has just taken place but Maya, Yasmina and their friends are still hungry for life, music and love. MGB Cinema
WHAT WALAA WANTS
(Denmark, Canada) Autlook Filmsales, 90mins. Dir: Christy Garland. Cast: Graeme Ring, Ekram Zubaydi. Raised in a refugee camp while her mother was in prison, Walaa is determined to survive bootcamp to become one of the few women on the Palestinian Security Forces. CineStar 2
15:30
(Brazil) Globo, 49mins. Dir: Mauro Mendonca Filho, Andre Felipe Binder, Rodrigo Meirelles. Cast: Tony Ramos, Monica Iozzi, Juliano Cazarre, Maria Casadevall. When an eccentric and corrupt millionaire hires an unsuccessful lawyer blessed by the Pope, strange things start to occur. Is Abel just diabolic or is he the devil himself ? Zoo Palast 5
CineStar 5
OUR FATHER
(Israel) Transfax Film Production, 105mins. Dir: Meni Yaesh. Cast: Moris Cohen, Rotem Zisman Cohen, Haim Zanati. Ovadia is the strongest and most violent doorman of Tel Aviv’s night clubs. He has no fear of anything and he never lost a fight. His biggest dream is to become a father. CinemaxX 11
15:45 MOVING INTO THE INFINITE
(Germany) Devadasi — Dance of the Heart, 122mins. Dir: Paramjyoti Carola Stieber. Cast: Carola Stieber, Dorje Drolma, Rav Yaakov. A woman’s unconventional calling to dance for God moves her to travel the world and celebrate with people of different heritage, lifestyles and religions, finding common ground in the heart. She leads us on a mystical journey. Parliament Studio
FRANCO ON TRIAL: THE SPANISH NUREMBERG?
(Germany, Spain) New Docs, 102mins. Dir: Lucia Palacios, Dietmar Post. Cast: Mercona Puig Antich, Francsisco Exteberria. Spain is after Cambodia, the country with the most mass graves worldwide. In 2013, an Argentinean judge launched an attempt to prosecute crimes committed during the Franco dictatorship. Will this become the Spanish Nuremberg? CinemaxX 17
SHAKEDOWN
(US) Stray Dogs, 72mins. Dir: Leilah Weinraub. Immerses the viewer in the queer strip club scene of 2000s Los Angeles, relating its protagonists’ search for freedom and selfdetermination with great immediacy. CineStar 1
16:10 I ACT, I AM
PERSPECTIVE CANADA: FIRST LOOK
(Canada) Telefilm Canada, 57mins. Dir: various. CinemaxX 2
15:55 VIRUS TROPICAL
VADE RETRO
(France, Belgium) Elle Driver, 87mins. Dir: Jeremie Renier, Yannick Renier. Cast: Leila Bekhti, Zita Hanrot, Johan Heldenbergh. Mona is struggling with her acting career. Her sister Sam is her opposite: a shining star of French cinema, living with her boyfriend and son. What seems to be a dream life for Mona becomes unbearable for Sam.
(Colombia) Stray Dogs, 97mins. Dir: Santiago Caicedo. Born into 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 14
16:00 CARNIVORES
(Slovenia) Slovenian Film Centre, 105mins. Dir: Miroslav Mandic. Cast: Luna Zimic Mijovic, Gregor Zorc. While researching or playing a role, an actor decides to quit acting and live the life of his character instead. Could the transformation of a performance into real life become the ultimate form of acting? CinemaxX 19
16:20 ROAD TO MARS
(Mexico) Cinema Republic, 94mins. Dir: Humberto Hinojosa. Cast: Camila Sodi, Luis Gerardo Mendez, Tessa La. Emilia escapes from a
hospital to travel through Baja California with her best friend. They meet a man claiming to come from space to destroy the Earth. They think he is crazy, but something makes them reconsider. CinemaxX 12
16:30 EASY
(Ukraine, Italy) MPM Premium, 91mins. Dir: Andrea Magnani. Cast: Nicola Nocella. Easy, an ex-pilot, is given a new job far from the racing circuits: taking a coffin with the body of a Ukrainian bricklayer, from Italy to a small village in Ukraine. CinemaxX 13
HUMAN FLOW
(Germany) Human Flow UG, 140mins. Dir: Ai Weiwei. Portrays the international crises that gave rise to 60 million refugees today. delphi LUX 2
THE HUNTER
(Italy, Germany) Beta Film, 55mins. Dir: Stefano Lodovichi, Davide Marengo. Cast: Francesco Montanari, Miriam Dalmazio, David Coco, Roberta Caronia. Palermo, 1993. A mafia war claims the life of criminals as well as the innocent. Fighting them is the young and ambitious provincial prosecutor Barone. This is the incredible and untold story of the “hunting season” of the 1990s. Zoo Palast 5
SUBS
(Germany) Molina Film. KG, 111mins. Dir: Oskar Roehler. Cast: Katja Riemann, Oliver Masucci, Samuel Finzi, Lize Feryn. A wealthy man searching for a new housekeeper for his luxurious villa, places an online ad saying “Slave wanted”. Claus and Evi Muller-Todt’s life of carefree prosperity changes forever when Bartos and Lana enter their home. delphi LUX 1
16:40 HUMBOLDT IN MEXICO. THE GAZE OF THE EXPLORER
(Mexico) Mexican Film
www.screendaily.com
Institute (IMCINE), 83mins. Dir: Ana Cruz. Cast: Alexander von Humboldt, Alexander Holtmann, Aime Bonpland, David Psalmon. The documentary covers the travel of Humboldt to Mexican lands on his voyage to America, as well as the vast scientific and anthropological research that he observed in 1803, in so called New Spain.
of a 1980s Brazilian TV show.
MGB Cinema
CinemaxX 19
CinemaxX 16
18:30 THE LAST BIRTHDAY
(US) BKE Productions, 9mins. Dir: Jaclyn Bethany. Cast: Anna Popplewell, Greta Bellamacina, Gus Barry. An experimental telling of the last day of the Romanov siblings. 19:15
NORTHERN WIND
(France, Tunisia, Belgium) Be For Films, 91mins. Dir: Walid Mattar. Cast: Philippe Rebbot, Mohamed Amine Hamzaoui, Kacey Mottet Klein, Corinne Masiero. Northern France. When Herve’s factory was relocated abroad, he tries to become a fisherman. In Tunis, where the factory was relocated to, Foued works in Herve’s old job. Their destinies mirror and echo one another. CinemaxX 16
THE MAN WITH THE MAGIC BOX
(Poland) Reel Suspects, 105mins. Dir: Bodo Kox. Cast: Piotr Polak, Olga Boladz, Sebastian Stanki Stankiewicz. In a not-so-distant dystopian future, Adam moves into an old apartment block and finds himself time-travelling to the 1950s by listening to a strange radio he discovers in a closet. CinemaxX 15
17:00 FACK JU GOEHTE 3
(Germany) Picture Tree International, 120mins. Dir: Bora Dagtekin. Cast: Elyas M’Barek, Katja Riemann, Jella Haase. Life at Goethe High School is rough: ex-con teacher Miller’s class is about to fail graduation, thanks to daily violence and disorder. Miller’s last hope is an anti-mobbing seminar to save the school’s and the students’ future.
AVANT PREMIERE — DISCOFOOT
17:40 GUTLAND
(Luxembourg) Stray Dogs, 107mins. Dir: Govinda Van Maele. Cast: Frederick Lau, Vicky Krieps.
A stranger finds refuge in a small village. As he gradually integrates into the community, it turns out he is not the only one with a past to hide.
CinemaxX 19
CinemaxX 2
CinemaxX 14
CineStar 5
(Romania/UK) Romanian Film Centre, 102mins. Dir: Serge Ioan Celibidachi. Cast: Marcel Iures, Eric Aradits. A life-affirming story that celebrates the purity of childhood, friendship, love and the bittersweetness of nostalgia.
17:45 COMRADE DETECTIVE
Claudia Michelsen, Maria Ehrich, Emilia Schule. Berlin 1959: illegitimate children, premarital sex, homosexuality and emancipation remain taboo. In these oppressive times, the Schollack family are searching for happiness.
A live performance film captured during an intimate concert by Ryuichi Sakamoto in New York City.
Zoo Palast 3
(Finland) Eyewell, 104mins. Dir: AJ Annila. Cast: Sidse Babett Knudsen, Tommi Korpela, Ville Virtanen, Helen Soderqvist. During 1930s great depression Stalin invites all the workers of the world to build a new society based on justice, equality and freedom. As the political climate changes, they become unwanted and people start disappearing.
17:10 THE WAR GAME
(Sweden, Denmark) Copenhagen Bombay Sales, 84mins. Dir: Goran Kapetanovic. Cast: Loke Hellberg, Malin Levanon, Emilio Silva, Meja Bjorkefall. Malte finds himself in the midst of a conflict between two groups of children. Malte sees the conflict as a chance to gain a foothold among the kids. But before he knows it, the conflict has escalated to entirely new heights. CinemaxX 18
17:20
KU’DAMM 59
(Germany) ZDF Enterprises, 91mins. Dir: Sven Bohse. Cast: Sonja Gerhardt,
(US, Japan) Doc & Film International, 65mins. Dir: Stephen Nomura Schible.
www.screendaily.com
wilderness and are met with life changing obstacles along the way.
MARKET
RYUICHI SAKAMOTO: ASYNC AT THE PARK AVENUE ARMORY
CineStar IMAX
level of his computer game. But finishing the game turns out to be only the start of an adventure that takes him into the city’s old puppet museum.
(Sweden) SVT, 58mins. Dir: Tom Caley, Petter Jacobsson. Cast: Ballet de Lorraine. An ass kicking, DJ spinning, twerking, freestyling battle comedy where football rules are twisted and braved by captivating music and dance.
CinemaxX 11
17:30 THE ETERNAL ROAD
CinemaxX 17
17:40 GUTLAND See box, above
(US) A24, 82mins. Dir: Rhys Thomas. Cast: Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon Levitt. Set in Cold War Romania, this action-packed parody comedy follows two detectives investigating the murder of a fellow officer — in the process, they unravel a plot to destroy their country fuelled by its greatest enemy: capitalism. Zoo Palast 5
18:00 DARKNESS UNDER SUNSHINE
(China) Moonlight Sonata Pictures, 98mins. Dir: Blossom Chen. Cast: Masako Yuan, Zhiyun Liu, Shoujun Zhao. A Chinese girl in Germany who was kidnapped and sold into the sex trade at the age of 10 by a human trafficking organisation, begins plotting to bring the gang to justice. CineStar 4
HARVIE & THE MAGIC MUSEUM
INDIGO VALLEY
(Czech Republic, Belgium, Russia) Planet Nemo, 85mins. Dir: Martin Kotik. Harvie is a smart but a bit too lively boy with one ambition: to finish the last
(US) BKE Productions, 27mins. Dir: Jaclyn Bethany. Cast: Jaclyn Bethany, Barney White. Three lost souls travel through the Icelandic
19:30
OCTAV
CinemaxX 12
18:10 IN THE SHADOWS
(UK, Germany) MPM Premium, 117mins. Dir: Dipesh Jain. Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Shahana Goswami, Ranvir Shorey. In the walled city of old Delhi, a reclusive shopkeeper overhears a boy being beaten and starts desperately looking for the child. He will lose himself in the maze-like alleys of the city and discover a shocking truth. CinemaxX 13
18:20
AVANT PREMIERE — SCREAM FOR ME SARAJEVO
(Bosnia and Herzegovina) Eagle Rock Entertainment, 78mins. Dir: Tarik Hodzic. One of the most improbable rock shows ever: Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson in Sarajevo during the darkest days of the 1994 siege, bringing music to the people. CinemaxX 11
20:30 AVANT PREMIERE — ZUZANA: MUSIC IS LIFE
(US, Czech Republic) EuroArts Music International, 84mins. Dir: Harriet Gordon Getzels, Peter Getzels. Zuzana Ruzickova endured 40 years of persecution for her refusal to join the Communist Party, while becoming a legendary Bach interpreter and harpsichordist. CinemaxX 2
BINGO
(Brazil) Loco Films, 114mins. Dir: Daniel Rezende. Cast: Vladimir Brichta, Emanuelle Araujo, Leandra Leal. The story of Augusto, an irreverent artist searching for his place in the spotlight. After acting in soft porn he finally becomes Bingo the clown — the host
21:30 THEATRE OF WAR
(Argentina, Spain) Gema Films. 83mins. Dir: Lola Arias. Decades after the end of the Falklands War, English and Argentinian veterans come together to re-enact their experiences. CinemaxX 6
February 20, 2018 Screen International at Berlin 31
JURY GRID
ANTON DOLIN Meduza, Russia
KATJA NICODEMUS Die Zeit, Germany
NICK JAMES Sight & Sound, UK
SCREEN INTERNATIONAL
AVERAGE
★★★
★★★
★★
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3.1
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★
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1.4
THE HEIRESSES (Par-Ger-Uru-Nor-Bra-Fr) Marcelo Martinessi
★★
DOVLATOV (Rus-Pol-Ser) Alexey German Jr
★★★★
★★★ ★★
★★★ ★★★
★★ ★★★★
EVA (Fr-Bel) Benoit Jacquot
★★
TRANSIT (Ger-Fr) Christian Petzold
★★
DAUGHTER OF MINE (It-Ger-Switz) Laura Bispuri
★★
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THE PRAYER (Fr) Cédric Kahn
★★
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THE REAL ESTATE (Swe-UK) Mans Mansson, Axel Petersen 3 DAYS IN QUIBERON (Ger-Aust-Fr) Emily Atef U – JULY 22 (Nor) Erik Poppe
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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2.6
✖ Bad
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)
★★
★★★
2.1
★★
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2.0
Sub-editors Dominic Needham, Paul Lindsell, Tim Mawdsley, Willemijn Barker-Benfield, Adam Richmond, Richard Young
★★★
★
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2.0
Advertising and publishing Publishing director Nadia Romdhani +44 7540 100 315
★
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2.0
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★
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2.9
★★
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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32 Screen International at Berlin February 20, 2018
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2018-02-16 12:02