Today is the start of Berlinale’s “Publikumstag” (Audience Day), which usually only happens on the last Sunday of the festival. This year, there’s four days to catch up on all the movies you haven’t seen yet. đ
As always, you can find all the times and cinemas below.
And don’t forget: tomorrow at 9 pm CET you can watch the live ceremony of the TEDDY AWARDS via our livestream. You can find our fabulous lineup here.
RERUNS:
Alis 17.02. / 15:30 Filmtheater am Friedrichshain
Bashtaalak saâat (Shall I Compare You to a Summerâs Day?) 17.02. / 21:00 Cubix 7
Tonight’s the big night and the Golden Bears of the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival will be awarded. The TEDDY team is also getting antsy – only two more days until our very own award show, which will be streamed LIVE from Berlin’s VolksbĂŒhne on Friday at 9pm CET.
And while you’re getting hyped up for our show, you can still catch some of the movies premiering today. Discover all the times and cinemas below – plus the re-runs! đŹ
Synopsis: Ben plants a tree on the street in front of his house in Neve Shaâanan, a migrant neighbourhood in the south of Tel Aviv. The district is on the up, and Ben has bought and upgraded a flat here together with his partner Raz. This gay couple now enjoys a settled existence, their days are structured by a well-established routine and everything is in its proper place. Time then, to tackle their desire to have children. And so, assiduously and conscientiously, they set about searching for a suitable egg donor and surrogate mother. One day, when a neighbourly conflict escalates over the tree he has planted, Ben becomes witness to brutal police violence against an Eritrean. The incident upsets his self-image and his plans for a life together with Raz.
Synopsis: Diva is a fan letter to Diva Cat Thy, a Vietnamese transwoman, street food vendor, and performer, who openly shares her life and struggles daily on social media. Trying to bridge distances of both geography and language, the French director uses found footage posted online by Diva and her community to get in touch with her. He has never met her, cannot travel to Vietnam due to COVID-19 restrictions, and relies on his boyfriend, an Australian of Vietnamese origins, who helps translate the footage and acts as an intermediary. In a conversation constructed through subtitles and surtitles, the film not only reveals the filmmakerâs adoration for Diva, but also his and his partnerâs process of understanding and making meaning of Divaâs life as well as their own in relation to it. Divaâs life, on the streets of Saigon as a transitory street food vendor, online as a social media celebrity, and on stage as a bingo singer and circus performer, is interwoven with the processes of looking at (or watching) her and of translation, as well as with a reflection about queer identity, distance, intimacy, and incoherent histories. Diva is a fleeting moment in a womanâs life, one that promises to reach out to a wider queer and solidarity community, blurring the spheres of the online and the real.
Synopsis: A double exposure, a portrait of a body, a house that oscillates between its narrative past and its literal presence. The melodramatic, 1950s films of amateur filmmaker Joan Thurber Baldwin are psychically projected onto the house in which my grandmother raised seven kids as it is cleaned out and put up for sale after she passed away. Upholding the narrative structures of melodrama that often center around men, even when the films are about women, the film asks the viewer, as Thurber says in her introduction, to pay attention to the peripheries. (Carl Elsaesser)
Synopsis: âIâm still here!â shouts 19-year-old Neve Kelly at her mother, but she does not react. Neve is horrified to discover that she herself is dead. Realising that people canât see her, she looks on as friends and family worry why she has not come home after the party last night and form search parties to comb the forest for her. Neve takes care of her battered body, washes the blood off the back of her head and changes her dirty clothes. She has no memory of last night. What on earth happened to her? Determined to find her killer, she starts investigating her own death. She uncovers deeply buried secrets and is forced to re-examine everything about her life and the people she cared about.
Wow, time is flying by – tomorrow night the Berlinale’s Golden Bears are already being awarded! But before that, we have quite a number of fascinating TEDDY movies premiering for you today!
Scroll down to find out about all the films coming out today, and don’t forget to check out the re-runs as well – plenty of fascinating content! đ»
Synopsis: The German Federal Republicâs 1961 recruitment agreement with Turkey not only brought âguest workersâ to Germany but also their music. Cem Kayaâs dense documentary film essay is a tutorial in Turkish-German recent history that tells a tale of assembly line jobs, homesickness and family reunification, the bazaar in the elevated railway station at Berlinâs BĂŒlowstraĂe, xenophobia and racism, the wistful songs of the early years and the hip-hop of the post-reunification period. These are the stories shared by musicians beginning with Metin TĂŒrköz and YĂŒksel Ăzkasap, to the psychedelic Derdiyoklar and the chart-topping rapper Muhabbet. Their music has evolved a long way from that of German bands and has always developed out of the Turkish community and its desires. This is the world of Radio Yilmaz, various music cassette labels, protest rocker Cem Karacaâs German exile, and wedding bands that also sing in Kurdish and Arabic to meet the demands of the market. Extensive archival research and an interest in Turkish popular culture are recurring themes in Cem Kayaâs work. With Ak, Mark ve ĂlĂŒm, he has created a rhythmic and vividly narrated cinematic encyclopaedia of Turkish music in Germany.
SCREENING TIMES:
15.02. / 16:00 International
15.02. / 16:20 Cubix 2 [Screening for industry professionals | With accreditation only]
Synopsis: Since 2017, #MeToo and the no-longer-covered-up abuse of countless women by Harvey Weinstein have called many things into question in the film industry. This documentary analysis of the male gaze in cinema is based on Nina Menkesâ lecture âSex and Power: The Visual Language of Oppressionâ. In it, Menkes uncovers patriarchal narrative structures that lie behind supposedly classic set-ups and camera angles. Making use of feminist film theorist Laura Mulveyâs theses on the objectification and sexualisation of the female body, she shows how aesthetic decisions such as camera movement or lighting influence the perception of women on screen, and how shot design functions as an instrument and a mirror of power relations. In doing so, she determines a connection between established film language and a culture of misogyny that leads to the abuse of women beyond the screen. Her individual analyses of scenes from 120 years of film history demystify many a cult film in the independent canon â because the film language that has been shaped by the patriarchy pervades more than just Hollywood cinema.
Synopsis: Fernanda returns to her uncleâs ranch in GoiĂĄs in mid-western Brazil after an absence of many years, bringing the ashes of her deceased adoptive mother back home. Her appearance and her search for the truth about her roots shake the façade of her middle- class family. For her landowner uncle, a conservative mayor of the local municipality who is campaigning for re-election, Fernandaâs investigations and accusations are rapidly becoming a threat. But she remains unyielding in her bid for truth and justice.
Synopsis: If from Every Tongue It Drips is a hybrid documentary film that uses the framework of quantum physics to explore the ways that personal relationships and political movements at once transcend and challenge time, space, identity, and location. The film follows the lives of a couple living in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka; Ponni writes Rekhti, a form of 19th-century, Urdu, queer poetry; the other, Sarala, is the camera operator. As their personal lives unfold on camera, the lines between rehearsal and reality, location and distance, self and other dissipate and reinforce one another. Simultaneously, through the poet and the camera operatorâs daily lives, interconnections between British colonialism, Indian nationalism, and the impact of both on contemporary poetry, dance, and music in South Asia are revealed.
Synopsis: In a home in Columbia, ten young women take a seat, one after another, and close their eyes. They are asked to picture Alis, an imaginary friend, and to bring her story to life in a creative dialogue with the filmmakers. Like the interviewees, Alis used to live on the streets of BogotĂĄ. This imaginary companion is the seed for an extraordinary documentary format, serving as a reflective and delicate point of entry to the protagonistsâ own stories. Alis becomes a surface for the projection of past traumas, or the travails of companions who fell by the wayside, and also for life visions and desires for the future. The imaginary friend is a blank slate for exploring individual ideas of freedom, as well as battles that have yet to be fought.
Synopsis: A small film crew ventures into the compartments of Mumbaiâs local trains that are reserved for women. âWhat makes you angry?â is the simple question the filmmaker poses to the trainâs female passengers. Acquaintances and women who are encountering each other by chance are invited to reveal their opinions and stories in a space that is public, yet protected. Their answers and observations are manifold: sometimes funny, sometimes depressing, sometimes combative, sometimes resigned, but always honest, they come together to form an increasingly complex tapestry.
Synopsis: Star, a suicidal teen now too old for foster care, develops a candid rapport with An, a student from Shanghai who is assigned to watch her while she is in hospital. A nightly exchange of secrets, text messages and possessions quickly expands the boundaries of their relationship, altering their inner chemistry.
SCREENING TIMES:
15.02. / 18:00 CinemaxX 7
15.02. / 18:35 Cubix 2 [Screening for industry professionals | With accreditation only]
RERUNS:
Le variabili dipendenti (The Dependent Variables) 15.02. / 12:30 Filmtheater am Friedrichshain
“Hectic” barely begins to cover the start of the 36th TEDDY AWARD, but nothing makes us happier than running back and forth and preparing all the upcoming events and screenings for you!
Without further ado, here are todayâs wonderful TEDDY premieres:
Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the list of reruns. đ»
Synopsis: Benedetta, 15, lives in rural Italy with her parents and her two little sisters. After work, her father enjoys tinkering with cars while her mother takes out her frustration on Benedetta. When a funfair sets up on the familyâs doorstep, she meets a fairground worker named Amanda who lives a self-determined life and defies gender norms. Benedetta is immediately fascinated by the older Amandaâs self- confidence and independence, and school quickly fades into the background. The two barely talk; their cautious friendship is not one fuelled by grand emotions but rather by genial affection, curiosity and unspoken acknowledgement.
SCREENING TIMES:
13.02. / 16:00 Zoo Palast 1
13.02. / 18:25 Cubix 3 (Screening for industry professionals | With accreditation only)
Synopsis: A millennial death doula introduces us to the world of end-of-life care. With a matter-of-fact demeanor and intense physicality, she guides us into the largely uncharted waters of corpse careâpractical, political, and spiritual. She performs her knowledge within a field of props that are the tools of her trade, kept in a âmobile corpse kitââeveryday items that she manipulates to profound use. The film, drawn from workshops, research, and interviews conducted with several end-of-life doulas from different cultural backgrounds, is a skill share, threaded with humor, grief, unknowing, and a desire for justice. The doulaâs work encourages us to turn towards that which we strive so hard to avoid.
Synopsis: White Sands Crystal Foxes is an experimental film journey through the point of view of a young queer person who daydreams about the erotics of a world where humans are willfully in submission to nature, and foxes are the only mammals still able to procreate. In this speculative world, in heightened states of emotion, crystals form from human secretions, such as tears, cum, and piss, and are considered to be valuable sources of energy. Foxes are polyamorous creatures slowly becoming the dominant mammals populating the world. Holes are infinite portals, social architectures, thresholds, and energy conductors. Drawing connections between chemical warfare, climate change, sustainable energy, and queering time and space, Liz Rosenfeld transforms a 360° immersive environment (a planetarium) into a speculative future lexicon of flesh, holes, crystals, and foxes.
SCREENING TIMES:
13.02. / 21:30 Zeiss-GroĂplanetarium
RERUNS:
Bashtaalak saâat (Shall I compare you to a summer’s day?) 13.02. / 18:00 Cubix 6
Dreaming Walls 13.02. / 12:00 Zoo Palast 2 13.02. / 13:35 Cubix 4 (Screening for industry professionals | With accreditation only)
A Love Song 13.02. / 13:00 International 13.02. / 16:00 Cubix 1 (Screening for industry professionals | With accreditation only)
The third festival day is buzzing with lively events and especially with our delightful premieres â 9 taking place only today! Weâve comprised a list of all the premieres and reruns scheduled for today to make your life easier. Check them out belowđ
As if that wasnât eventful enough, keep an eye out for our TEDDY Talk: The TEDDY Winners Path through a Pandemic. The event will be broadcasted live at 4 PM (CET) at teddyaward.tv/live.
Synopsis: The camera hovers, lost in reverie as voices and sounds waft through the gutted rooms of a building. Archive footage is sometimes projected onto unplastered walls and at others used as a soundtrack as we continue our tour. This is the legendary Chelsea Hotel, famous as the preferred abode of New Yorkâs bohemia from the 1950s to the 1980s. Here, bourgeois societyâs misfits â sex workers, poets, queers and artists â were able to find cheap accommodation and form alliances. In this documentary, the remaining tenants from that era grant access to their flats and give us an insight into their lives. They are the focus of a film that interweaves the present with the ghosts of the past. The completion of eight years of luxury refurbishment ahead of the buildingâs reopening as a hotel is eagerly awaited by some residents and dreaded by others.
Synopsis: James Gregory Atkinsonâs performative short film centers the history of the iconic Peacock Chair to interrogate contemporary social contexts and historical concepts of identities. The film engages the chairâs origins in forced prison labor in the Philippines, its status as an internationally traded âexoticâ commodity, its use in portrait photography, and its associations with Black radical activists such as Huey P. Newtonâto explore ideas of Black masculinities and resistance.
Synopsis: A remote lake in the North American landscape. The sand is yellow, the sky is blue and the mountains distant; there is nary a tree far and wide to provide shade. Faye is spending her days here in a trailer, with two books and a radio, leisurely birdwatching and stargazing. With her wiry build, wild blonde hair and hands that speak of a life of labour, she fits in perfectly here. Anything that breaks, she simply fixes; the only time she sits up and takes notice is when there is a knock at the door. Because Faye is waiting for Lito. Their connection goes way back to their youthful love for each other, but for some years now they have also shared the pain of loss â both are widowed. Max Walker-Silvermanâs gentle, laconic film is about contemplative introspection, the power of love and the depths of melancholy. Dale Dickeyâs portrayal of Faye is a touching mixture of inner strength and fragility, which is also reflected in the impressive natural scenery and a delicate soundtrack.
Synopsis: Four friends â Nic, Leo, Andrea and Raff â tell the stories of their gender transitions. Looking back on their childhood and youth, they share their personal memories and experiences. Even if they did not always conform to the social norms of femininity â all four were socialised as girls. Each of their gender biographies may be different, yet there are parallels. This helps them to understand each other and feel less alone. The discussions with partners, the choice of pronouns, the hormone therapy, decisions about surgery and dealing with the authorities â the processes are diverse, and lengthy. In the strictly binary world we live in, the decision to determine oneâs own gender identity is a subversive act.
Synopsis: In his dreams, bathed in a brilliant glow, Manu and his best friend Felipe are inching closer and closer together, yet they never kiss. A confusing desire, as Manu is dating Azul, and the two are about to have sex for the first time. In Mariano Biasinâs Sublime, a niggling desire simmers beneath the surface of 16-year-old Manuâs everyday life, his emotional turmoil bubbling up and revealing itself in indirect ways – during his attempt to find the right chords for his latest lyrics and in his flights of melancholic introspection, at band practices with the rest of the guys or during supper with his parents. Cautiously, with increasing resignation, Manu keeps trying to solve the conundrum: how do you avoid losing something precious, when itâs the very thing tearing you up inside?
Synopsis: While their classmates endure the visit to the concert with pranks, Pietro and Tommaso secretly get closer to each other in the box. During the playing of Vivaldiâs composition, their lips touch. When Tommaso invites Pietro to his home shortly afterwards, the tension is still in the air. The desire, however, soon gives way to an ambiguity that particularly irritates the otherwise cautious Pietro. What did the kiss mean?
Synopsis: A city at dawn. Traffic is flowing like red and white blood cells. A man sleeps, enveloped in the darkness â he is beautiful, he is naked, it is hot. We will never know what he is dreaming. The sun rises and the façades of the skyscrapers begin to sparkle
Synopsis: In the shadow of a colonial past and a neo-capitalist present, Inti, Jai and Pauline are searching for their place in a world that was not made for them. As they roam the neighbourhood looking for somewhere to settle, they question their parents about faith, spirituality, roots and their experiences of migration. They decide to occupy an empty bank building in order to fill it with their memories, dreams and role play. A portrait of our time that oscillates between documentary, performance art and surrealism.
Synopsis: A Hollywood villa on a sultry summer night. The escort does what he was hired to do and gives his client the illusion he has paid for. âIâll make you a starâ, the customer says, before the tide turns abruptly and the power dynamics are unsettled. A revenge movie of the queer kind.
