Berlin

 DOL

Wednesday, February 14-----Veteran Berlin Film Festival goers know that the program section that often has the most challenging, invigorating and energetically inventive cinema choices are in the Berlinale Forum, which has only grown in stature under the stewardship of Forum head Christoph Terteche. “We see the Berlinale Forum as a kind of laboratory for the mainstream cinema of the future”, Terteche explained. “We offer our audiences and attending professionals a challenging group of films that use innovative storytelling techniques and cutting-edge technologies that will eventually make their way into the mainstream”.

SHOTGUN STORIESThis year, the section is offering such cinematic treats as ELVIS PELVIS, the film debut of UK director Kevin Aduaka, about a father and son who are obsessed with rock legends Elvis Presley and Jimi Hendrix; MONA LISA, Chinese director Li Ying’s mix of documentary and narrative technique that details the story of a child’s abduction; ICHIJKU NO KAO (Faces Of A Fig Tree), Japanese actress-turned director Momoi Kaori’s portrait of a bizarre nuclear family; DOL, Kurdish director Hiner Saleem’s multi-character study of life in the Kurdish region of Iraq; and American independent director Jeff Nichol’s SHOTGUN STORIES, about a family feud between half brothers in America’s Deep South. 

DONOther highlights include: DON, Bollywood director Farhan Aktar’s fast-paced version of the classic gangster film; SUBSTITUTE, French soccer star Vikash Dhorasoo and Super-8 filmmaker Fred Poulet’s off-kilter view of the 2006 World Cup; CAMPAIGN, Japanese director Kazuhiro Soda’s searing commentary on the election bid of a young reform candidate; and STATE LEGISLATURE, award-winning American documentarian Frederick Wiseman’s powerful film on democracy in action in the halls of power in the state capital of Idaho.

KILLER OF SHEEPThe Forum is also presenting the classic American indie film KILLER OF SHEEP, a pioneering drama that chronciles life in black America, by African-American director Charles Burnett. The film, which was released in 1978 in the US and was shown at the Forum in 1980, where it won the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize, is a milestone film in the independent film canon, and its rare showing is a tribute not only to the film's pioneering director, but the Forum's continued role as a keeper of the flame of international independent cinema.

Sandy Mandelberger, Berlin Online Dailies Editor