photo:Donata Wenders
It’s Berlinale halftime. Not that I actually know what day it is – festivals just blur into one very long period of uncountable days – but my calendar tells me that half of the joyous and exhausting time is already over.
I’m ill and have been schlepping myself around Potsdamer Platz more than I’ve been thrillingly jumping there, which results in me seeing less films than I originally planned.
Still I’ve seen 16 films in the past 5 days, so I will split this halftime review into two parts: Competition films (today) and everything else (tomorrow). This way it’s just not as overwhelming for both me to write and you to read.
With this as a backdrop continue reading what I’ve seen so far and which films you should and shouldn’t miss…
Read on…
by Lia | Movies
As part of the Berlinale 300 promising directors, actors, authors and other film professionals have been invited to partake in this year’s Berlinale Talents Summit. This year they will learn, work and discuss everything on the topic “2015: A Space Discovery”. In addition to their private program the Berlinale Talents also offers panel discussions, conversations or lectures by renown film professionals such as Darren Aronofski (this year’s Berlinale jury president), Wim Wenders or The Yes Man. Luckily those are open to the public and even luckier, we have tickets to a few of the events for you to win.
Find out which panels we are inviting you to after the click…
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by Lia | Events, Movies
photo by Ali Ghandtschi
It’s nearly Berlinale time and the city is buzzing with excitement.
The festival will show more than 400 films and is expecting close to half a million visits to the screenings taking place across the city. The program is already online and the first tickets have gone on sale. But how is one expected to make sense of the huge selection and find films one actually will enjoy?
Of course there are plenty of articles with recommendations that can give you an idea. Those are usually films that were raved about at Sundance, films that have been anticipated highly, films from famous directors, with ingenious actors or winners from a few years back. However you never know if that simply means that tickets will sell out immediately or if those films are actually down your alley ( I’m thinking back to that horrific Monuments Men for example). And it’s good to keep in mind that writers who do recommend movies before they’ve premiered often haven’t seen the films either, so really it’s just a lucky guess based on what they know from press releases and participants of the project.
Therefore we recommend you to also make your own choices! Read our little guide on how to select the right films for your Berlinale visit …
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by Lia | Events, Movies
The red carpet is soon to be rolled out once again as Berlin hosts the 65th edition of the world’s largest public film festival—Berlinale. This international film festival spans 11 days, from February 5th until the 15th, and is the first cinema showcase in Europe each year. This year, their program boasts more than 400 films, coming from a vast variety of backgrounds. Some recurring themes include subversion, human rights, gender equality, politics and existentialism, the majority of which are explored through poignant documentaries. Dieter Kosslick, the festival director, claims that many of these films put the focus on “strong women in extreme situations.” (However, out of the 23 Competition films, only 3 feature female filmmakers.) There will also be tons of opportunities for celebrity sightings around Potsdamer Platz, with Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Emma Watson, Cate Blanchett, Helen Mirren, Christian Bale, Natalie Portman and many more set to attend.
Ticket sales for select screenings started February 2nd, with more tickets to be released 2-3 days prior to each screening. Not sure which films to watch? We put together a list of our top 10 most anticipated films this year! Click on to see which movies made the cut. Read on…
by Skylar | Events, Misc., Movies
Another German competition film from this year’s Berlinale makes it to the screen. There was plenty of applause for Feo Aladag’s Inbetween Worlds after the press screening. It didn’t end up winning any bears, but that doesn’t mean anything really…
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by Lia | Movies
Stations of the Cross was, as I mentioned in the reviews, one of my Highlights of the Berlinale 2014. „ I feel like I’ve just been run over by a train“ said a journalist in the press conference after the film. And I felt pretty much the same. The religious fanaticism of the protagonist, which director Dietrich Brüggemann leaves much room in the typical formality, develops an enormous power that captured me for quite a while.
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by Lia | Movies
Black Coal, Thin Ice
In the past 10 days I was in war in Afghanistan (In between Worlds), in India with a couple of Bavarians (Amma & Appa), robbed a bank (The Dog) and sat in one room with George Clooney (Press Conference). I saw 37 films in the 10 Berlinale days and as you can imagine I’m pretty buggered.
The Internaional Berlin Film Festival was a movie marathon and also demanded high emotional intensity from me. Because with each new film you dive into a new world. And if everything goes well and the audience can really identify with the characters the stories don’t simply happen to them on screen, but also to those watching.
So the film spectacle swollowed me whole and then spit me back out into the real world yesterday. Now I’m trying to comprehend what happened to me, make meaning out of what I saw and survived.
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by Lia | Entertainment, Movies
The first Berlinale day began with loud shouting. I had forgotten how upset people can get, when they are afraid to miss something and was completely unprepared for the rage of some Mister, who screamed loudly thinking he might not make it into the screening of Wes Andersons latest work The Grand Budapest Hotel. If he made it into the cinema after all I cannot tell you, as I was way ahead of him in the queue, but if the film was worth the fuss I will tell you after the jump…
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by Lia | Entertainment, Movies
It amazes me how many films that I saw at the Berlinale in February are only hitting the German screens now. Certainly, there are films that didn’t have a distribution deal when they were in the Berlinale, but surely the big ones like Prince Avalanche were safe bets. Either way Prince Avalanche is finally in the theatres and it’s a film that is indeed worth watching.
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by Lia | Movies
Nina Hoss is gorgeous, amazing, talented and plenty of other positive things. Her new movie GOLD is good, but wasn’t quite as amazing and great as she is…
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by Lia | Movies
