Struggle is the route to achievement, we all know the drill. If you’ve ever gone through any situation that makes this sound familiar, then you should hit the road to the cinemas. 
Watching these movies will make you feel as if you’re side by side with the characters, joining them as they wade through the deep waters of life’s so-called obstacles on the journey to their goals. Each and every one of them offers a different emotional outcome, ready to be experienced by their audience. 
Now, let’s get watching!

 

Daddy and the Muscle Academy
14:00 International 

A curious look into the world of one of the most popular subcultural icon, Tom of Finland, with the artist himself handing you the keys. A documentary-like essay film about the gay male body as a political destination. Celebrate them oily muscle landscapes and let yourself be inspired!

 

The Attendant
14:00 International 

A young white man visits a gallery of old master paintings. When the museum closes, he stays behind, arousing the sexual fantasies of an older black museum attendant.  Made in a period of Thatcherism and the AIDS crisis, the film poetically explores topics of imperialism, queer self-determination, lust and death.

 

Bulbul Can Sing
15:30 Zoo Palast 1 

“Why are you always angry? Girls should be modest. Girls should behave well.” Rima Das’ coming-of-age tale sees three youngsters try to follow their hearts, despite the crippling weight of moral expectation their society presses on them.

 

Compartment
16:30 CinemaxX 8 

Sex on the metro! The director has taken footage shot in a completely empty compartment on the London underground and married it to the off-camera reading of a pornographic text that includes detailed masturbation instructions for a female rider.

 

Dress rehearsal und karola 2
16:30 CinemaxX 8 

A tie or lace? After trying on numerous treasures from New York’s second-hand stores, Karola Gramann decides on a traditional dinner jacket with cummerbund and bow tie. We then see her posing & vogueing to Bryan Ferry’s “These Foolish Things”.

 

Beol-sae
20:00 HKW

Eunhee drifts from one relationship to the next, in a desperate search for love. But it’s not until a new Chinese teacher arrives in her life that sparks truly begin to fly.

 

Greta
22:30 CinemaxX 7

Pedro is an middle-aged gay nurse in Brazil, surrounded by suffering and sickness. And yet from that suffering comes a touching tale of friendship, love, and sex.

 

Rescreens:
Searching Eva – 14 :30 CineStar 7 
Héctor – 17:00 Colosseum 1
A Dog Barking at the Moon – 17:30 CineStar 3
Monos – 17:30 Cubix 7
Los Miembros de la Familia – 18:30 b-ware! Ladenkino
Das Geräusch Rascher Erlösung – 19:15 Kino Arsenal 2 
Sto Dnei do Prikaza – 19:15 Kino Arsenal 2
Lemebel – 20:00 CineStar 7 
So Pretty – 20:00 Werkstattkino@silent green
Breve Historia del Planeta Verde – 20:15 CineStar 3 
Lidérc Úr – 21:30 CinemaxX 3
Temblores – 22:00 Colosseum 1
Normal – 22:30 CineStar 7
The Man Who Drove With Mandela – 22:30 Kino Arsenal 2 

 

New week, half way through the Festival, and more eager than ever to watch movies, isn’t that right Berlinale fans? Today we’ll have a powerful mix between the old and the new, and the varying problems they face, representing their respective times and cultures as well. Plus, we’ve got some binary-breaking documentary films, that challenge not only categories of gender and sexuality, but the boundaries of documentary itself. 
So don’t rub your eyes just yet, grab a cup of coffee and let’s go have a peek on what today’s schedule has in store for us! 

 

Das Geräusch Rascher Erlösung
17:00 International 

With burning irony, the film reveals the political capacity of queer imagination. A delicate celebration of queer identity against patriarchal violence.

 

Normal
17:00 CineStar 7

What constitutes “normal”? Who governs the meaning of that word? In this enigmatic documentary Adele Tullis interrogates rituals of gender performance that have become so entrenched in our society.

 

Sto Dnei do Prikaza
17:00 International 

An unsparing portrait of five young men in search of a sense of belonging and security, told in dreamlike but disturbing images. These are men who suspect that they will not survive their military service in the Soviet army.

 

Breve Historia del Planeta Verde
19:30 Zoo Palast 2

A neon-lit tale of unconditional friendship, this film transports you into a world that will leave you speechless. Aliens, outsiders, and misfits unite to take you on a truly magical journey.

 

Searching Eva 
20:00 CineStar 7 

A true celebration of fluidity and moldable identities. A very close look into the life of the digital generation. An intriguingly queer piece of filmmaking.

 

A Dog Barking at the Moon
22:30 CinemaxX 7

A beautiful mosaic of the lives of multiple generations of a wealthy Chinese family. The film confronts suppressed desire, the social importance of marriage, and the frostiness that exists within the walls of the family home

 

Heute oder Morgen
22:30 CinemaxX 1

Summer in Berlin. Two Berliners, Maria and Niels, and one British student, Chloë, are three twenty-somethings. Drifting libidinously through Berlin, they plunge headlong into a carefree and chaotic love affair with each other.

Rescreens:
Ne Croyez Surtout Pas Que Je Hurle – 11:00 CineStar 8
Monos – 12:00 CinemaxX 7 
So Pretty – 13:45 CineStar 8 
Monstri – 14:00 Delphi Filmpalast
Entropia – 16:00 CinemaxX 5
False Belief – 17:00 Werkstattkino@silent green
To Thávma Tis Thálassas Ton Sargassón – 17:00 Cubix 9
Demons – 20:00 Cubix 9
Héctor – 21:00 CinemaxX 3
Mother, I am Suffocating. This is My Last Film About You – 21:30 CinemaxX 4
A Rosa Azul de Novalis – 22:15 Cubix 9
Los Miembros de la Familia – 22:45 Cubix 7 

Politics. Culture. Passion. Survival – Solid words that could, although only partly, represent the themes of today’s queer films. With scenes that will have you on the edge of your seat and leave you wondering long after, even just by a glance, it could plant a seed of curiosity deep within us. 
Now it’s true that a movie can never be fully described by several sentences, moreover only words, it could however give us a crumble’s taste of these films. And what can provoke you more to watch a movie than the sensation of suspense, the eagerly growing desire to know more and experience the whole thing? Being aware of that, we wouldn’t want to starve you. Instead, as promised, we have prepared today’s movies’ teasers on a silver plate.

 

False Belief
12:30 Kino Arsenal 1

False Belief is the love story of a couple caught up in the gentrification of a neighborhood that is wiping out a seminal African-American cultural legacy and displacing its original residents. The film exposes a corrupt justice system that employs incarceration as a political and economic weapon.

 

The Man Who Drove With Mandela
13:00 Zoo Palast 2 

The eventful life of renowned theatre director and anti-apartheid activist Cecil Williams, who emigrated to South Africa. With Corin Redgrave as Williams, Greta Schiller’s impressive film reminds us of this forgotten hero and won her the 1999 Teddy Award.

 

Four Quartets
15:30 CinemaxX 3 

Moving to the film’s rhythmic pulse and the intoxicating music of the queer club, we dance with Raf on a night of physical and sexual self-expression.

 

Mother, I am Suffocating. This is my last movie about you 
19:00 CineStar 8 

In this multilayered and achingly intimate cinematic essay a story of migration in its widest sense unfolds. Breaking taboos and challenging limitations, the film is a radical plunge into an emotionally moving river of life.

 

A Rosa Azul de Novalis 
19:30 Kino Arsenal 1 

Tender and beguiling, The Blue Flower of Novalis invites you on an intimate journey with main protagonist Marcelo. Brace yourself for a performative and elusive ride with a passion that won’t leave you untouched.

 

Monos 
20:00 International 

Patagrande, Rambo, Leidi, Sueca, Pitufo, Lobo, Perro and Bum Bum. Eight stray teenagers, each bearing a code name, form a paramilitary squad on a remote hilltop. The film asks us what human nature becomes when released from authority.  

 

So Pretty 
21:30 Delphi Filmpalast 

A utopian film on translation, transposition, and transition, in character or otherwise. A witty and aesthetically binding exploration of gender politics and the problem of organizing love.

 

YE
22:00 Zoo Palast 2

A visually binding, sensual search for intimacy through the intimate and poignant portraits of three misfits who own the night. Join them in their quest and get lost in the dark of the night…

 

Rescreens:
Der Boden unter den Füssen – 09:30 Friedrichstadt-Palast, 18:00 Friedrichstadt-Palast, 21.00 Haus der Berliner Festspiele
To Thávma Tis Thálassas Ton Sargassón – 12:00 CinemaxX 7
Mitt Liv Som Hund – 14:00 International
Parsi – 14:00 Werkstattkino@silent green, 21.30 CinemaxX 3
Temblores – 17:00 Cubix 9
Vivir en Junio con la Lengua Afuera – 17:00 Werkstattkino@silent green, 21.30 CinemaxX 3
Los Miembros de la Familia – 17:45 CineStar 3
Buddies – 19.15 Kino Arsenal 2
Serpentário – 19.30 CineStar IMAX
Blue Boy – 21.30 CinemaxX 3
Entropia – 21.30 CinemaxX 3
Four Quartets – 21.30 CinemaxX 3
Héctor – 21.30 CinemaxX 3
Lidérc Úr – 21.30 CinemaxX 3
Yulia & Juliet – 21.30 CinemaxX 3
Monstri – 22.15 Cubix 9

My oh my, don’t we have a long list of films today? Unlike any other day, today we have 15 Berlinale queer movies to drown ourselves in! But don’t worry, in case you can’t catch all of the movies you’d like to watch, you can easily find out when the next screening dates are right here in our Blog; just go to All Films 2019 and find all of the information about your selected movie there!
Now where to start.. Movies from around the globe, different characters, different stories, different years, yet all queer. What a vast selection! Let’s get an eyeful of these intriguing films’ content, shall we?

 

Vivir en Junio con la Lengua Afuera 
13:00 Kino Arsenal 1

Reinaldo Arenas spent much of his adult life on the island as a persona non grata because of his open homosexuality and politically dissident views In this film three Cuban artists attempt to commit to memory one of Arenas’s most famous poems about yearning for a homeland that has been ripped away from those who fought to free it. A witty take on dismantling toxic politics.

 

Ne Croyez Surtout pas que je Hurle
15:00 Kino Arsenal 1 

Frank Beauvais watched 400 films between April and October 2016. In this intimate portrait of himself, the filmmaker uses fragments of those films to plunge us into the depths of his mind.

 

Ber Boden Unter Den Füssen
15:30 Berlinale Palast

Marie Kreutzer’s portrait of the jet-setting Lola reveals that there is sometimes just a thin line separating polar opposites such as order and chaos, rise and fall – even for someone who thrives in a society fixated on achievement.

 

Yulia & Juliet
15:30 CinemaxX 3 

 Love and tension simmer within the confines of a youth detention centre. 

 

Serpentàrio
15:45 Zoo Palast 2 

In this poetic trip mixing imagination with memory one can explore the creative force of melancholy and solitude.

 

Héctor
16:00 CinemaxX 5 

Director Victoria Giesen Carvajal takes us on a poetic journey to a mystical island off the Chilean coast, where a young worker falls in love with the mysterious Hector.

 

Parsi
17:30 Kino Arsenal 1

A poetic journey through uncertainty, surprise, images, and memories that will grab you by the imagination and will make you feel the rush.

 

Monstri
18:30 CineStar 8 

A heartbreaking look into a relationship that is about to end. Loneliness, longing, and grief saturate this masterfully captured portrait of love, that has many faces.

 

Self-Portrait in 23 Rounds: a Chapter in David Wojnarowicz’s Life, 1989–1991
19:00 Zoo Palast 2

A deeply moving film looking into the soul of a man who exposed his vulnerability in a variety of aesthetic forms. A genuine and loving portrait of artist David Wojnarowicz. Don’t forget to visit KW’s exhibition “David Wojnarowicz: Photography & Film 1978-1992”. To 

 

To Thávma Tis Thálassas Ton Sargassón
21:30 Zoo Palast 1 

A nightmarish tale that will surprise you at moments when you expect it the least. Brace yourselves, because this is going to be an insane ride! One that you will never forget.

 

Blue Boy
21:30 CinemaxX 3 

An unusual visit to Berlin’s infamous Blue Boy Bar, the film investigates the world of male sex workers in Berlin. Are you ready to look them in the eye?

 

Demons
22:00 Kino Arsenal 1

An explosive exploration of the human psyche, interpersonal relationships, and the power structures underlying cultural and artistic practices. Prepare yourself for a satirical dance macabre that might just leave you totally breathless.

 

Buddies
22:30 CineStar 7 

The first feature film ever to be made about the AIDS crisis and the film with which Edition Salzgeber has been founded, Buddies is a classic that you cannot miss! Historic, radical, and highly political, the film is a gentle reminder that we can only face hardship together, caring for each other.

 

Los Miembros de la Familia
22:30 CinemaxX 7 

An empty house near a small town on Argentina’s Atlantic coast. Following their mother’s death, siblings Gilda and Lucas have moved in for a short time. We’re left to work out the mysteries of their lives, whilst they uncover the mysteries of growing up.

 

Max
22:30 Kino Arsenal 2 

 Max Wolf Valerio proudly shares his adventure in becoming a heterosexual man after having been a lesbian woman. Probably the first cinematic portrait of a trans man, the film was made by Monika Treut, a pioneer of queer emancipation movements.

 

Split – William to Chrysis; Portrait of a Drag Queen
22:30 Kino Arsenal 2 

Portrait of a Drag Queen: A cinematic tribute to charismatic underground star International Chrysis (1951-1990) who determinedly united femininity and masculinity in one body. A life of extremes, spent in pursuit of harmony, full of young lovers, hormones, creativity and glamour.

 

Rescreens:
Temblores – 09:00 CinemaxX 7
Easy Love – 12:00 Colosseum 1, 20:00 CinemaxX 1

I hope you all had a great start. As the second day of the Berlinale begins, the movie marathon for you queer lovers also starts! We have 9 fully diverse queer movies for you to go through, it includes some short movies as well as Panorama movies; from surrealistic animation to a dramatic tale about finding a sense of belonging. And yes, we know that it’s super hard to decide when there are too many options, but we’ll guide you through this, so worry not my fellow movie marathoners!
Oh and by the way, here’s a quick reminder: The Teddy Jury Reception will be held at 22.00 in the Südblock / Aquarium. Don’t forget to come by and say hi!
Now we won’t keep you waiting… to know which one to put first on your priority to-watch list, here’s a little glimpse on each movie

 

Lidérc Úr
16:00 CinemaxX 5 

A surreal and absurd tale that will titillate your sensuality gently. Join in, and let’s look for a disappeared nipple together in this inexplicable, untameable, and joyously gay world.

 

Temblores
19:00 Zoo Palast 1 

Pablo’s world begins to crumble when it’s hit by the literal and metaphorical “temblores” (tremors) of an earthquake.

 

Easy Love
19:00 CinemaxX 3 

Field experiments in matters of the heart: Seven men and women between the ages of 25 and 45 are the authors of this film. Playing themselves, the actors draw on their own reality in order to explore what they could be..

 

Mitt Liv Som Hund
19:00 International 

Lasse Hallström evokes the world of the late 1950s, early 1960s and provides a light, gentle, and love-filled look into a young boy’s personal development.

 

La Fiera y la Fiesta
20:15 CineStar 3 

A wistful tribute to the transgressive Dominican filmmaker, Jean-Luis Jorge. Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas’ seventh directorial collaboration is a boldly inventive meditation on the ageing process and the pleasures of the flesh.

 

Dorian Gray im Spiegel der Boulevardpresse
21:00 Zeughauskino

Frau Dr Mabuse, boss of a media company, creates a glamorous artificial character to boost circulation. This futuristic media satire combines various different arts and styles into a piece of raging world theatre.

 

Entropia
21:30 CinemaxX 3

This sensual explosion of colors will leave you wanting more! A graduation film about the liberating aspects of exploring sexuality freely.

 

Kislota
22:00 Zoo Palast 2

A wild and wicked trip around a generation that struggles to get a grip on life. With a bottle of acid in the center, let yourself to be immersed in a dangerously corrosive reality.

 

Lemebel
22:30 CineStar 7 

Lemebel is a multi-layered portrait of one of South America’s most important and most provocative artists, a tireless fighter in dictatorial Chile and an uncomfortable gay activist who spoke out – right up to the end of his life.