Day 3: Chileee

Day three of the Berlinale and I am so cheeky by saying that the todays theme will be : South America. Or better: Chile. We have two films running in the cinema today who were shot in that beautiful country. Firstly we have “Rara”. The movies is told from the perspective of 13year old Sara, who is living with her sister, her mother and the girlfriend of her mother. The movie gently observes her rich world of emotions and how she deals with socal conventions, the struggle of growing-up and her belonging in the family. Kind of a Coming-of-Age with a queer content, which also reflects the social and political situation of queer people in Chile today. Worth watching!

The other one is about a father who lives with his 18year old gay son Continue reading Day 3: Chileee

Day 2: The Kids are Alright (sometimes)

That relationships between parents and their children are not always the easiest, i am sure everyone got their stories to tell about that. But two of the films from the TEDDY program, which will be shown today, brings this subject on a whole new level. In “Jonathan”, the protagonist of the same name, takes care of his father who is sick of cancer. They have some tensions between them, because of the mother who disappeared and the father never talked about it. When an old friend of a father shows up who reveals some secrets of the past, Jonathans world starts to crumble and conflicts arises. In the movie “Don’t Call Me Son” we learn about a boy, who finds out that his “mother” stole him from a hospital when he was a newborn. Continue reading Day 2: The Kids are Alright (sometimes)

Day 1: Let the games begin!

Dear friends, Let the games begin: It’s the opening day of the International Film Festival Berlin! Today we have a special film for you, which will also be the opening film for the section Panorama this evening. “Ja, Olga Hepnarova” is a story about a young woman, who turns from a social outcast into a mass murderer and the last woman hanged in the Czechoslovakia. But to tell you even more, the story is based on true events and the directors should know about, because they already shot a documentary about Olga Hepnarova called “Everythins is Crap”.

For more informations you can read the film desscription below. We will now go to Potsdamer Platz, have a look around and be happy about our personal fifth season of the year! Cheers and see you later, folks!


Ja, Olga Hepnarova
I, Olga Hepnarova

Czech Republic/ Poland/ Slovakia/  France 2016
105´
Director: Tomas Weinreb, Petr Kazda
Cast: Michalina Olszanska, Martin Pechlat, Klara Meliskova, Marika Soposka

Olga is a complex young woman desperate to break free from her unfeeling family and social conventions. With her Louise Brooks like tomboyish looks she drags herself, chain-smoking, from one job to another until she appears to find her niche as a truck driver. Although she has female lovers she does not form a bond with any of them; instead she clashes, time and again, venting herself in wordless emotional outbursts and other behavioural extremes. Meticulously composed and shot in elegiac black-and-white this film tells the story of the short life of an exceptionally lonely young woman who turns into a mass murderer when, on 10 July 1973 – as she has just turned 22 – she drives a rented truck into a group of people, killing eight. In a letter acknowledging her deed she writes that she sought to take revenge on the world and on those she felt hated her. In spite of clear indications that she was mentally ill she was executed – making her the last woman to be publicly executed in Czechoslovakia. After producing several documentaries and shorts together, this film marks the directors’ first drama. The film is based on a lengthy period of research which culminated initially in a documentary entitled “Everything is Crap”.

Jà, Olga Hepnarovà(1)

21:00, CinemaxX 7


Girl Talk
Girl Talk

USA 2015

Director:Wu Tsang
Cast: Fred Moten

Girl Talk features poet and critical theorist Fred Moten dancing in slow motion, or ‘dragged time’, to an a cappella rendition of Betty Carter’s jazz standard “Girl Talk”, here reinterpreted and performed by musician Josiah Wise. Wearing a velvet cloak covered in jewels, Moten turns euphorically in a sunlit garden as the crystals adorning his body refract pink, blue, and green rays. In exploring the figure of the drag queen and the mother, Moten and Tsang, poet and artist, remain unfixed in any one persona.

Girl Talk

10.02-22.0 2. / daily 19:00 – 21:00 Akademie der Künste as an Installation

Anna Naklab

Anna Naklab revived the Reamonn Classic “Supergirl” last year and went through the rooftop with it. To be exactly, to the top of the charts! Already in 2013, she sang a cover version of Chris Isaacs “Wicked Games” which got produced by a friend and was honoured with a platinum record in the Netherlands and Australia. With tracks such as “Swept Away” or “Something Near”, the 22-year old singer proofs how perfectly her song writing talent and her unique voice match.

This year, she will perform at the TEDDY Ceremony and we are all looking forward to getting blown away by the power of her voice.