The Berlinale cherishes its reputation as the pre-eminent film festival for international LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender) cinema. The Berlinale, particularly the Panorama section, has had a pink streak for decades. In recent years, it has also helped launch many gay-themed films to significant box office success and international distribution. In addition, Berlin is the place where over 150 gay film festival programmers and film buyers from around the world congregate t...
IRANIAN FILM TAKES LEAD IN CRITICS POLL
Trade magazine Screen International has been conducting a poll among leading international critics to predict the film that will win the Golden Bear award, the Berlinale's top prize. Each day in the trade's dailies, seven internationally respected critics are polled to get their response and to (possibly) handicap the winner, which will be announced on Sunday. The critics include Scott Foundas (Film Comment, USA), Derek Malcolm (London Even...
EUROPEAN FILM MARKET OPENS WITH HIGH HOPES
The European Film Market, the professional parallel event to the Berlin Film Festival, opened yesterday with anticipation of a busy buying session that signal the reemergence of the market after three disasterous years of economic recession. Market registration has increased by 15% from last year and offices are filled to capacity at the Martin Gropius Bau, the Market’s main venue, and the Marriot Hotel. Unofficial offices have also been s...
There was a conspicuous empty chair when the jury of the 61st Berlinale held its press conference on Thursday afternoon. Jury President Isabella Rossellini read a pronouncement that the empty chair was a symbolic gesture of support for Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who was invited to participate on the jury but was prevented from leaving his country. Panahi was sentenced last month to a six-year prison term and also received a ban from making movies for the next 20 years. The...
While Bollywood is among the most recognizable cinema genres in the world (and rivals Hollywood in its prolific popularity), there is another Indian cinema, of a more independent stripe, that is emerging. The Berlinale is focusing on these groundbreaking films that tackle serious and poetic subjects, with nary a dancing girl in sight.
One of the films generating the most excitement and interest is THE MAN BEYOND THE BRIDGE, a bittersweet dramatic film that has already captured t...
While there is certainly a network of gay film festivals around the globe, the Berlinale (in particular the Panorama section) is considered ground zero for programmers and distributors interested in films with a gay persuasion. The Festival not only proudly showcases the work but also is the only major A list festival to give out a specific award for gay cinema, the legendary Teddy Awards. The Teddys celebrate their 24th anniversary this year as the "gay Oscar".
Feature...
With a record number of sales companies participating at this year's European Film Market (along with an obvious drop in the number of buyers), it is heartening to hear that there are new companies coming into the fold, attempting to re-energize the sales sector and infuse it with new blood and new energy.
A company that is coming on strong at the Market is CINESAVVY, a new sales and production company based in Toronto. The buzz surrounding this new kid on the block is the high-profile c...
The Berlinale, because of its history and Berlin's geographic location as the nexus between Western and Eastern Europe, has become an important place for Eastern European organizations to make announcements and for Eastern European films to be showcased.
One of the oldest film festivals in Europe, Film Festival Zlin in the Czech Republic, will kick off its 50th anniversary celebration in Berlin on Tuesday evening, 16 February with a cocktail reception at the Czech Republic Embassy...
As has become a pleasant habit here at the Berlinale, Asian cinema is highly prominent in all sections of the Festival. The Berlinale has long been the international launching pad for films and filmmakers from the Far East. The Festival is credited with giving their first international recognition to such celebrated filmmakers as Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou, Kim Ki-Duk, Johnnie To and Chan Wook Park. Ang Lee's debut film PUSHING HANDS premiered in Berlin and Lee eventually went on to win ...
One of German cinema's most famous and respected actresses, Hanna Schygulla, is receiving a multi-film hommage as part of this year's 60th anniversary celebrations of the Berlinale. This iconic actress, who is most associated with the work of German pioneering director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, has been a prolific actress since the 1960s and is one of the only German talents known around the world for her vivid acting style.
Hanna Schygulla was born in 1925 in Königshütte, Upper ...
As part of the sixtieth birthday celebration, the Berlinale is hosting the world premiere of TRACE OF THE BEARS (Spur Der Baren), a German documentary by Berlin-based Zero Film, that traces the history of one of the world's great film events. While other A-list festivals such as Cannes or Venice are artistic, economic and tourist events, the Berlinale is unique for its political dimensions and its highly developed sense of social and world consciousness.
The Festival’s history r...
In a first for the Berlinale, a film from Iraq had its world premiere last evening in the Panorama section. SON OF BABYLON, co-written and directed by Mohamed Al-Daradji, is a stirring drama about coming to terms with tragedy and moving forward despite the burden of personal loss. Filmed in stark poetic set pieces, the film follows the journey of a Kurdish grandmother and her precocious grandson as they travel (mostly on foot) to discover the fate of the boy's father, who has been miss...
One of the anticipated titles having its International Premiere at the Berlinale today is HOWL, one of the hits of last month's Sundance Film Festival. More than 50 years after its initial publication, the tone poem HOWL is still a shocking bit of humanism, a cry for tolerance and a yell for individual self-expression. The poem's author, the beat poet Allen Ginsberg, remained a controversial figure his entire life. The impact of this envelope-pushing literary classic and the bohemian ph...
In what has to be one of the most bizarre red carpet scenarios in many a moon, the Berlinale is bracing for the buzz storm surrounding the world premiere of THE GHOST WRITER, the latest film from director Roman Polanski. And while the stars of the film, Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan will officiously walk the red carpet at the Berlinale Palast this evening, the film's celebrated director remains under house arrest in his ski villa in Switzerland.
Of course, this is not t...
THE MILK OF SORROW
The cinema of South America made a considerable noise at the closing ceremonies of the 59th Berlin International Film Festival, winning most of the top prizes. In a year that saw weak entries from Europe and the United States, the glory migrated south of the border.
THE MILK OF SORROW (La Teta Asustada) by Peruvian director Claudia Llosa won the evening’s top honor, the Berlinale Golden Bear. The film is a personal story that recalls the dark period of the 1980...
Although there is a clearly defined international circuit of gay and lesbian film festivals around the world (totalling more than 70 different events), the “queen of the crop” definitely remains the Teddy Award, which is given to LGBT films premiering at the Berlinale. The gay Oscar is not only a prize to be coveted but also is accompanied with one of Berlin’s hottest ticket parties, held last evening.
Tihe eight members of the international jury are all organizers of gay fi...
JERICHOW, the story of a love triangle gone bad, has won the prize for best film by the German Film Critics Association. Directed by Christian Petzold, the film, which premiered this past summer at the Venice Film Festival, stars Benno Furmann, Nina Hoss and Hilmi Solzer. In this tale of lies and deception. German actress Karoline Herfurth won the Best Actress award for her portrayal of a girl dealing with her brother’s suicide in Oscar winning director Caroline Link’s A YEAR AGO I...
HUMAN ZOO
The non-competitive Panorama section of the Berlinale often contains the festival’s most provocative and sought after films. While the works are by lesser known filmmakers, the quality is consistently high and leave both audiences and critics with something to debate and ponder long after the lights come up. This year, the section is presenting 17 feature films in its Main Programme, 15 in Panorama Special, and 16 in its Panorama Dokumente series. In addition, as part ...
Tuesday, 10 February----The 45th edition of the INTERNATIONAL FILM GUIDE, the definite yearbook of world cinema, had its first international exposure this wee, at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival. The Guide, again edited by film scholar Ian Haydn Smith and published by Wallflower Press, the largest independent film book publisher in the UK, was first published in 1963, and enjoys an unrivalled reputation as the most authoritative and trusted source of information on contemporary world...
Monday, 9 February ----
As it has done for the past twelve years, European Film Promotion, the pan-European body that represents 30 individual film boards, is presenting a group of ten young actors selected by a professional jury as "European stars of tomorrow".
The ten young actors selected for this year follow in the footsteps of previous talents who have since become recognizable names, including Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, Franka Potente, Daniel Brühl, Ludi...
Friday, 6 February----
The European Film Market, the professional component of the Berlinale, opened yesterday at the historic Martin Gropius Bau with more of a whimper than a bang. Attendance on the opening day and for today's first official day of market screenings was definitely sparse compared to years past, with hallways amazingly empty and ample empty seats available in the cafe and meeting points. "This is the slowest Berlin I've ever experienced", one veteran sales agent...
Thursday, 5 February----For the Berlin Film Festival, which opens this evening, the choice of an international action thriller is an odd choice for an Opening Night Film. The Festival, which has the reputation for championing gritty, social issue-oriented films, the choice is not as strange as it first appears. THE INTERNATIONAL, a globe-trotting espionage tale starring UK heartthrob Clive Owen and Australian thrush Naomi Watts, is directed by Tom Twyker, the German wunderkind who singlehandedly...
Wednesday, 4 February--------
With the global economy reeling and the film industry in a state of disarray, all eyes are turning to the Berlin International Film Festival, which opens tomorrow, to check the pulse of the international film industry. There is no question that these are challenging times for both film sellers and film buyers. With credit tight and films underperforming at the theatrical box office due to less discretionary income, the international distribution communi...
For the Berlin Film Festival, which opens this evening, the choice of an international action thriller is an odd choice for an Opening Night Film. The Festival, which has the reputation for championing gritty, social issue-oriented films, the choice is not as strange as it first appears. THE INTERNATIONAL, a globe-trotting espionage tale starring UK heartthrob Clive Owen and Australian thrush Naomi Watts, is directed by Tom Twyker, the German wunderkind who singlehandedly jumpstarted the New Ger...
