Tag Archives: Berlinale

Queer Academy – A Directors Exchange 2020

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.”

Moderation: Nastaran Tajeri-Foumani 


Free admission / The events are held in English.

Queer Academy Summit 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.


Free Admission / The event is held in English.

TEDDY TODAY: Sunday the 1st of March

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.

Take advantage of this while it still lasts!

TEDDY TODAY: Wednesday the 26th of February 2020

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!

BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ
Berlinale Palast – 15:30

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.

WELCOME TO CHECHNYA
International – 16:30

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”.

GENIUS LOCI
CinemaxX 3 – 16:30

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.

DIE LETZTE STADT
CinemaxX 7 – 18:00

Die Letzte Stadt © Heinz Emigholz & Filmgalerie 451

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.

VENTO SECO
ZOO Palast 1 – 18:30

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.

SEX
ZOO Palast 2 – 19:00

Sex © Profile Pictures

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.

THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY
CinemaxX 8 – 19:30

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..

NICHT DER HOMOSEXUELLE IST PERVERS, SONDERN DIE SITUATION, IN DER ER LEBT
Akademie der Künste – 20:00

Nicht-der-Homosexuelle-ist-pervers-sondern-die-Situation-in-der-er-lebt @ Bernd Feuerhelm(vorne)
Foto: Bernd Feuerhelm(vorne)

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.

SUK SUK
CinemaxX 7 – 21:00

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.

TEDDY TODAY: Monday the 24th of February 2020

Here we are again, on the fifth day of the 70th Berlinale. Today we are welcoming 9 more films ready to be screened! Check them all out below:

Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the list of films that will be re-screened today, the 24th of February.

SHIRLEY
CinemaxX 7 – 12:00

Directed by: Josephine Decker
Short Description: Two imposing personalities are at the centre of this intensely atmospheric drama: horror writer Shirley Jackson and her husband Stanley Hyman, a literary critic and college professor. When young graduate student Fred Nemser and his pregnant wife Rose move in with the Hymans in the autumn of 1964, they soon find themselves under the magnetic spell of their brilliant and proudly unconventional hosts.

PLAYBACK. ENSAYO DE UNA DESPEDIDA
CinemaxX 3 – 16:30

Playback. Ensayo de una despedida © Agustina Comedi

Directed by: Agustina Comedi
Short Description: Argentina in the late 1980s: Catholic, conservative and shaped by a military dictatorship. “La Delpi”, the sole survivor of a group of transgender women and drag queens, talks about how their shows in basement theatres galvanised the community and helped them in their struggle against AIDS and police violence. How they healed their wounds with lipstick, playback performances and improvised
stage outfits.

DISPATCHES FROM ELSEWHERE
Zoo Palast 2 – 17:00

Jason Segel as Peter, Eve Lindley as Simone – Dispatches from Elsewhere _ Season 1, Episode 2 – Photo Credit: Zach Dilgard/AMC

Directed by: Jason Segel (Ep. 1) and Wendey Stanzler (Ep. 2)
Short Description: A chain of strange coincidences leads computer scientist Peter to the mysterious Jejune Institute. Its charismatic director Octavio promises Peter a way out of the invisibility and quiet desperation of his everyday life, offering him instead the gateway to a life full of magic, beauty and “divine nonchalance”. Peter plays along. But is this really a game? Is it an alternative reality? Or a conspiracy making a bid for social control? Together with Simone, Janice and Fredwynn, Peter tries to decipher the signs and symbols and to get to the bottom of the institute’s secrets.

SCHWESTERLEIN
Berlinale Palast – 18:15

Directed by: Véronique Reymond
Short Description: Lisa has given up her ambitions as a playwright in Berlin and moved to Switzerland with her children and husband, who runs an international school there. When her twin brother Sven, a star actor at Berlin’s Schaubühne theatre, falls ill with leukaemia, Lisa returns to the German capital. His hopes of getting back on the stage give Sven the strength he needs to fight the disease. But when his condition deteriorates and his mother, also an actor, proves unreliable, Lisa takes the reins and whisks her brother back to Switzerland.

BLOODY NOSE, EMPTY POCKETS
CinemaxX 3 – 19:00

Directed by: Bill Ross
Short Description: In this film, one can find the protagonists in the shadow of the glitzy world of Las Vegas, in a bar called Roaring 20s, which is on the brink of closure. Always observing, but nonetheless, in the thick of it, they accompany the last 24 hours in and around the bar, enabling the viewer to immerse themselves in a microcosm that might well be found in many places in the world but that nobody likes to look at too closely.

EXTRACTIONS
Cubix 5 – 20:30

Extractions © Thirza Cuthand

Directed by: Thirza Cuthand
Short Description: Extractions parallels resource extraction with the booming child apprehension industry. As the filmmaker reviews how these industries have affected her, she reflects on having her own eggs retrieved and frozen to make an Indigenous baby.

HAMA’AZIN
Cubix 5 – 20:30

HaMa'azin © Shiri Kuban

Directed by: Omer Sterenberg
Short Description: He is young and works for Israeli military intelligence. On headphones, he listens in on the conversations of Palestinians. The phonecalls of one gay couple, in particular, begin to fascinate him more and more. Privy to the complicated relationship between the two as it unfolds, he doesn’t know whether and, if so, in what way he should follow his feelings. For here, too, the private is political, and the most intimate things of all can lead to disaster.

BUSHIDO ZANKOKU MONOGATARI
CinemaxX 8 – 21:30

Directed by: Tadashi Imai
Short Description: The attempted suicide of his fiancée prompts a Japanese salary-man to read his family chronicles and look back at the life of his ancestors. They were samurai, the military nobility caste who carried out acts of violence at the behest of feudal lords, but suffered even more so under their cruelty, often forced into ritual suicide (seppuku). The women were under constant threat of kidnapping and rape, and the men subjected to arbitrary disfigurement and homosexual slavery.

INFLORESCENCE
Cubix 9 – 21:30

Directed by: Nicolaas Schmidt
Short Description: Autumn again on planet Earth. Eternally united, a couple of pink rose petals endure the slings and arrows of a heavy thunderstorm. A romantic-conceptualist bedtime story of resistance and redundancy, or the awkward ambivalence of truth, dream, life and love.