Yesterday the starting signal was already given with “Las Mil Y Una”. We hope you all had a good start into the Berlinale. Today is the first day that several films will be shown in one day. The most difficult decision today will be to decide which film to go to, as all films are very promising. But don’t worry, you can find all information about the films on our website. There you will find information such as film descriptions, biographies of the directors and screening data of the films.
After her mother’s death, Ida moves in with her aunt and cousins. Theirs is a loving family, but it soon transpires that the clan is engaged in criminal activities. A female driven exploration of family conflict fuelled by affection and cut-throat ethics.
Nora grows through observation. Always at her big sister’s side, she drifts around the housing blocks and sees people being in love, being high, spiteful and tender. When Nora meets Romy, she suddenly feels trapped in her own skin, and she starts to recognize her true self.
Amber belongs to a queer generation which no longer wants to allow society to dictate their identity. The teenagers proudly inhabit a spectrum of fluid identities and master their first loves and losses.
Curated by Panorama and organised with the Queer Academy, A Directors Exchange analyses the work of filmmakers whose films are being presented at the festival and are in contention for the TEDDY AWARD.
TIMETABLE
11.30am – 12.30pm: A Directors Exchange on Queering the Framework – In conversation with Patric Chiha and Matthew Rankin
Patric Chiha, director of Si c’était de l’amour, and Matthew Rankin, director of The Twentieth Century, use various styles and artistry in their films to queer the framework where stories told through dance and theatrical staging become celebrations of transformation.
Patric Chiha & Matthew Rankin
Patric Chiha: Born in Vienna, Austria in 1975, he studied fashion design in Paris and then film editing at the INSAS film school in Brussels. His short and documentary films have screened at several festivals. His feature film debut Domaine, starring Béatrice Dalle, premiered at the 2009 Venice Film Festival. His documentary Brothers of the Night screened in the 2016 Panorama.
Matthew Rankin: Born in Winnipeg, Canada in 1980. He studied at the Department of History and Classical Studies at McGill University in Montreal, as well as Université Laval in Quebec. In 2011, Rankin participated at Berlinale Talents. Following numerous short films, The Twentieth Century is his first feature film.
Moderation: Ana David
1pm – 2pm: A Directors Exchange on New Queer German Cinema – In conversation with Faraz Shariat and Leonie Krippendorff
Two films with a fresh take on coming of age and coming to terms with ideas of home and belonging in a post-migrant society. Faraz Shariat, director of Futur Drei and Leonie Krippendorff, director of Kokon, talk about their motivations, inspirations and desires for creating their own stories.
Faraz Shariat & Leonie Krippendorff
Faraz Shariat: Born in Cologne, Germany in 1994, he worked first as a director and actor at Schauspiel Köln and on video installations for the Staatstheater Hannover before studying dramatic arts at the University of Hildesheim. His work focuses on post-migrant experiences and stories about immigrant families. His debut feature film, Futur Drei, evolved from his autobiographical documentaries exploring his family history and from his work as a translator for refugees. The film was developed in collaboration with Paulina Lorenz and Raquel Molt in the Jünglinge film collective, where the three have been working together ever since they met at university.
Leonie Krippendorff: Born in Berlin, Germany in 1985, she studied directing at the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf from 2009 to 2016. Her graduation film, Looping, was nominated for numerous national and international prizes and won several. The screenplay for her debut feature film, Kokon, was selected for the 2018 Berlinale Talents Script Station. She is currently working on the screenplays for two new feature film projects. Variety chose her as one of “10 Europeans to Watch 2020.”
The Queer Academy is an annual convention of international filmmakers and festival organizers in the gay-lesbian-transgender context at the Berlinale. The QUEER ACADEMY aims to establish itself as an institute of queer cultural memory. The ACADEMY will become an archive of queer culture and history that binds together queer cultural productions and cooperates with other organizations. Since memories are essential for the identity construction, the QUEER ACADEMY will offer an opportunity for queer people to form and find their identity in queer memory.
TIMETABLE
1pm – 1.30pm: KEYNOTE – Darick Qin, Director of Operations, ShanghaiPRIDE
Established in 2009, ShanghaiPRIDE has faced extraordinary challenges in its fight to show queer films. Battling censorship and legal issues, every year it is more than a film festival, becoming a central cultural community event sharing screen stories about the love, hardships, growth and triumphs of LGBTQI* in China.
1.30pm – 3.30pm: PANEL: From Shorts to Series – Interdisciplinary Storytelling in Queer Narratives
In conversation with: Athina Rachel Tsangari, Director of Trigonometry, Berlinale Series
Lia Hietala & Hannah Reinikainen, Directors of Always Amber, Berlinale Panorama
Ray Yeung, Director of Suk Suk, Berlinale Panorama
Omer Sterenberg, Director of HaMa’azin (Listening In), Berlinale Shorts Gil Baroni, Director of Alice Júnior, Berlinale Generation
Athina Rachel Tsangari, Lia Hietala & Hannah Reinikainen, Ray Yeung, Omer Sterenberg and Gil Baroni
Moderation: Kristian Petersen
The queer narratives on display are strong examples of the different approaches taken by filmmakers to share their stories. Series delve into the complex layers of a character; fiction features experiment with different forms of storytelling to communicate our desires; documentaries present the courage of people taking authorship of their stories; shorts compress a complex story conveying more with images than words. With the diverse guests from this year’s festival the potentials of cinematic approaches will be analysed and discussed.
Here we are now.. at the end of our ten-day journey. We hope you feel more enriched than before and that you discovered some amazing films that you will further recommend. To all of you film lovers or people who are just discovering the wonders of the cinematic universe, here are some last screenings for today.
We hope everyone is just as excited about these new films as we are! Days are getting fuller and busier at the 70th Berlinale and we want to make sure you don’t miss out on anything and are able to find information easily.
Here you can discover today’s selection of films. As usual, the re-screenings can be found at the bottom of the page.
Don’t forget to keep an eye on our social media channels to keep yourself up to date with our events, interviews and so much more!
Sommerhaus Filmproduktion; Produzenten: J. Laube, M. Jungfleisch; Regie: Burhan Qurbani; Kamera: Yoshi Heimrath
Directed by: Burhan Qurbani Short Description: Francis has survived his escape from North Africa. When he wakes up on a beach in the south of Europe, he is determined to live a regular, decent life from now on. But he winds up in present-day Berlin where a stateless person without a work permit is treated just as mercilessly as the labourer Franz Biberkopf in Döblin’s classic novel of German modernism. Francis initially resists an offer to deal drugs in Hasenheide park, but then comes under the influence of Reinhold, his neurotic, sex-addicted pal who takes him in. When Francis meets club owner Eva and, after several dramatic experiences, the escort girl Mieze, he feels he’s found something for the first time, something he’s never known before: a little bit of happiness.
Directed by: David France Short Description: In 2017, the LGBTQI* community, human rights defenders and allies all over the world were shocked by the devastating news of crimes being committed in the Russian republic of Chechnya. In a coordinated action, the authorities were rounding up gay and bisexual men and women, and taking them to illegal prison facilities where they were tortured and forced to out others, with the result that they were either executed or released to their families where they were often subjected to “honour killings”.
Directed by: Adrien Mérigeau Short Description: There is chaos everywhere: in her head and outside, in the big city. Things are taking on a life of their own. Young Reine is on the search, but she does not know what she is looking for. In delicate drawings and fluid animations, we see the world through her eyes and her perception becomes tangible.
Directed by: Heinz Emigholz Short Description: An archaeologist and a weapons designer, who knew each other in a previous life as a filmmaker and a psychoanalyst, meet at an excavation site in the Negev desert and begin a conversation about love and war. A series of encounters with alternating actors in different roles ensues, which leads the viewer through the cities of Athens, Berlin, Hong Kong and São Paulo.
Directed by: Daniel Nolasco Short Description: Sandro’s life is somewhat monotonous. He works in a fertiliser factory, goes swimming and spends his evenings doing jigsaw puzzles of landscapes. Sandro has a purely sexual relationship with his colleague Ricardo. He always seems to be a bit of an outsider, not comfortable in his own skin, not really belonging. When Maicon, a man straight out of a Tom-of-Finland illustration, shows up in their small town and flirts with Ricardo, Sandro’s burgeoning feelings of jealousy set a change in motion.
Directed by: Amalie Næsby Fick Short Description: One kiss on the roof on a warm night in Copenhagen and Cathrine, in her early twenties, can no longer keep a grip on her life. On the one hand, there’s her colleague Selma, from whom she wants more after that first kiss. On the other, there’s her boyfriend Simon. For him, what little they have is actually plenty, and for some time now, even less has been enough for Simon in bed. For Cathrine, who works at a call centre giving tips on sex and love, it’s definitely not enough, and after Selma’s kiss she doesn’t know what to do. Torn between regret and desire, she drags everyone who loves her and who she loves into her chaos.
Directed by: John Mackenzie Short Description: Cockney gang boss Harold Shand wants to go legit and make London the “capital of Europe” by building an Olympic stadium in the Docklands. He is hoping to persuade the New York mafia to invest in the venture. But no sooner have its representatives arrived before Harold runs into problems. Two members of his gang have been murdered and he himself is almost killed by a bomb. To save face with the Americans, he needs to find the culprits right away – and he’s not squeamish about how he does it..
Directed by: Rosa von Praunheim Short Description: In the commentary, the word “gay” is uttered 90 times, which was still being used in the context of hate speech in 1971, two years after the abolition of Section 175 of the German criminal code, which criminalized homosexual acts between males. Delivered in a declamatory tone in voiceover to silent images showing clichéd gay scenes, the commentary provoked those unwilling to hear anything about it and those who were suffering from the use of the term in equal measure. It is a rare example of a film that has had a direct socio-political impact.
Directed by: Ray Yeung Short Description: With practised movements, Hong Kong taxi driver Pak gets ready, polishes the traditional bright red paint of his car to a high shine and picks up his granddaughter from school. In search of anonymous sex, he meets Hoi, who is retired, divorced and also a grandfather. After a first fleeting encounter, they begin to spend time together more often. But just one late-night text message threatens to throw their everyday lives off-balance.
