The 35th TEDDY AWARD ceremony might have officially ended yesterday but we’ve still got a few tricks left up our sleeves… Director Dasha Nekrasova joined our studio today, together with actress & writer Madeline Quinn and actress Betsey Brown, to discuss her feature debut THE SCARY OF SIXTY-FIRST. Consistently irreverent in tone, and reaching its peak during a memorable, psychedelic nocturnal trek to Epstein’s New York residence, the film exacts ruthless, mocking revenge on the perpetrator, while also taking us on a brilliant romp back through the history of film and the media.
Today we’ve had the pleasure of welcoming the director of WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY (original title: “Guzen to Sozo”) – Ryusuke Hamaguchi – to offer us a better understanding of his feature film. His new work could be described as a collection of short episodes, each revolving around a woman. They tell stories of an unexpected love triangle, a failed seduction trap, and an encounter that results from a misunderstanding. Awoken your curiosity?
Ending a new Berlinale day on the right note with director John Greyson and his moving short film INTERNATIONAL DAWN CHORUS DAY. Born out of pandemic isolation, the powerful story is based on the real-life satirical anti-dictatorship filmmaker Shady Habash, who died in Cairo’s notorious Tora prison, and Egyptian queer activist Sarah Hegazi, famously incarcerated for flying a rainbow flag at a Cairo concert, who later committed suicide after suffering severe trauma in prison. Despite the delicate theme it deals with, Greyson’s film gives freedom a whole new meaning.
Up next we’ve welcomed Jacqueline Lentzou in our TEDDY studio to chat about her long-awaited feature debut – MOON, 66 QUESTIONS. The story tackles notions of acceptance and communication (or the lack of it), while accompanying the flow of the unconscious and vivifying the grey areas of family life at the same time. Get an insight into the touching story here:
In an insightful and simply captivating interview, director Truong Minh Quý examines his latest short film THE MEN WHO WAIT (original title: “Les Attendants”), which parallels two storylines that seem to be completely disconnected from each other at first, yet gradually fuse together as the film progresses. This film is a raw, emotionally arresting account of two parallel desires: the need for sexual encounters and the need for a home. Shot entirely on analogue film, the intimacy translated seamlessly through camerawork.
Today’s ReScreenings:
ESQUI, Director: Manque La Banca, Argentina / Brasil, 2021 21:30h, Silent Green
On the fifth day of the Berlinale special edition, we had the pleasure of “interrogating” director Yana Ugrekhelidze about her recent feature film INSTRUCTIONS FOR SURVIVAL. In an insightful interview, she presents the story centred around a couple whose lives are a constant battle yet decide to stick together against all odds.
Director Ronny Trocker’s second feature film, HUMAN FACTORS (original title: “Der menschliche Faktor”) is a subtle family drama that smoothly transitions between different perspectives of an event. It circles around the microcosm of family and questions our perception of reality and how we experience it. A must-see feature that keeps you on the edge of the seat.
“Who are you?” – “The queen of punks, in the land of pain in the ass.” Seven girls live under the same roof but haven’t chosen each other, just like a family. Emerging from difficult backgrounds, here in the safe house, the girls find a new community, in a way they’d never experienced before. They are sharing joy and pain, passionately rebel against the shortcomings of their surrounding – the young women’s temperaments are different, their lust for life large, their place in society too precarious for things to be all peace, love and harmony. Home director Lora is always there for them when they need her. Or is it the other way around?
