An emotionally closed-off German father and his sullen teenage son traipse about northern Norway in Bright Nights (Helle Nachte), a film in which the near-barren landscapes are not quite as empty as the characters. This is director Thomas Arslan’s follow-up to his Bratwurst Western Gold, which played in competition in Berlin in 2013, though at least that film had some genre elements it could tip its hat to; here it's just a long trudge to nowhere with a mulish refusal to explain anything or let any soupcon of narrative, character development or backstory spoil the pristine landscapes.
Arslan’s films have...
Arslan’s films have...
- 2/13/2017
- by Boyd van Hoeij
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
After an initial line-up that included Aki Kaurismäki‘s The Other Side of Hope, Oren Moverman‘s Richard Gere-led The Dinner, Sally Potter‘s The Party, and Agnieszka Holland‘s Spoor, the Berlin International Film Festival have added more anticipated premieres. Highlights include one of two (maybe three) new Hong Sang-soo films this year, On the Beach at Night Alone, along with Volker Schlöndorff‘s Return to Montauk with Stellan Skarsgård and Nina Hoss, as well as the high-profile world premiere of James Mangold‘s Logan and the international premiere of Danny Boyle‘s T2: Trainspotting.
With Paul Verhoeven serving as jury president for the 67th edition of the festival, check out the new additions below.
Competition
Bamui haebyun-eoseo honja (On the Beach at Night Alone)
South Korea
By Hong Sangsoo (Nobody’s Daughter Haewon, Right Now, Wrong Then)
With Kim Minhee, Seo Younghwa, Jung Jaeyoung, Moon Sungkeun,...
With Paul Verhoeven serving as jury president for the 67th edition of the festival, check out the new additions below.
Competition
Bamui haebyun-eoseo honja (On the Beach at Night Alone)
South Korea
By Hong Sangsoo (Nobody’s Daughter Haewon, Right Now, Wrong Then)
With Kim Minhee, Seo Younghwa, Jung Jaeyoung, Moon Sungkeun,...
- 1/10/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
This was a busy year at Tiff, where I was a juror for Fipresci, helping to award a prize for best premiere in the Discovery section. Not only did this mean that some other films had to take a back burner—sadly, I did not see Eduardo Williams’ The Human Surge—but my writing time was a bit compromised as well. Better late than never? That is for you, Gentle Reader, to decide.Austerlitz (Sergei Loznitsa, Germany)So basic in the telling—a record of several days’ worth of visitors mostly to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Oranienberg, Germany—Austerlitz is a film that in many ways exemplifies the critical theory of Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin. What is the net effect for humanity when, faced with the drive to remember the unfathomable, we employ the grossly inadequate tools at our disposal?Austerlitz takes its name from W. G. Sebald’s final novel.
- 9/20/2016
- MUBI
Nazi hunter thriller wins best film at the annual ‘Lolas’.
Lars Kraume’s Nazi hunter thriller, The People Vs. Fritz Bauer, won six Lola statuettes at this year’s German Film Awards after being tipped as the evening’s hot ticket with nine nominations.
The co-production between Berlin’s zero one film and Cologne-based Terz Film picked up the evening’s top award - the Lola in Gold for Best Film - as well as the statuettes for Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Ronald Zehrfeld), Best Production Design (Cora Pratz), and Best Costume Design (Esther Walz).
Accepting the Gold statuette from the hands of Germany’s State Minister for Culture and Media Monika Grütters, producer Thomas Kufus dedicated the award to the memory of Fritz Bauer.
Kurth knocks out Klaußner
While many thought that it was foregone conclusion that Burghart Klaußner would take the Lola home for his portrayal of the state prosecutor Fritz Bauer, nobody...
Lars Kraume’s Nazi hunter thriller, The People Vs. Fritz Bauer, won six Lola statuettes at this year’s German Film Awards after being tipped as the evening’s hot ticket with nine nominations.
The co-production between Berlin’s zero one film and Cologne-based Terz Film picked up the evening’s top award - the Lola in Gold for Best Film - as well as the statuettes for Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Ronald Zehrfeld), Best Production Design (Cora Pratz), and Best Costume Design (Esther Walz).
Accepting the Gold statuette from the hands of Germany’s State Minister for Culture and Media Monika Grütters, producer Thomas Kufus dedicated the award to the memory of Fritz Bauer.
Kurth knocks out Klaußner
While many thought that it was foregone conclusion that Burghart Klaußner would take the Lola home for his portrayal of the state prosecutor Fritz Bauer, nobody...
- 5/31/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Above: Pedro Costa's Horse Money
The Locarno Film Festival has announced their lineup for the 67th edition, taking place this August between the 6th and 16th. It speaks for itself, but, um, wow...
"Every film festival, be it small or large, claims to offer, if not an account of the state of things, then an updated map of the art form and the world it seeks to represent. This cartography should show both the major routes and the byways, along with essential places to visit and those that are more unusual. The Festival del film Locarno is no exception to the rule, and I think that looking through the program you will be able to distinguish the route map for this edition." — Carlo Chatrian, Artistic Director
Above: Matías Piñeiro's The Princess of France
Concorso Internazionale (Official Competition)
A Blast (Syllas Tzoumerkas, Greece/Germany/Netherlands)
Alive (Jungbum Park, South Korea)
Horse Money (Pedro Costa,...
The Locarno Film Festival has announced their lineup for the 67th edition, taking place this August between the 6th and 16th. It speaks for itself, but, um, wow...
"Every film festival, be it small or large, claims to offer, if not an account of the state of things, then an updated map of the art form and the world it seeks to represent. This cartography should show both the major routes and the byways, along with essential places to visit and those that are more unusual. The Festival del film Locarno is no exception to the rule, and I think that looking through the program you will be able to distinguish the route map for this edition." — Carlo Chatrian, Artistic Director
Above: Matías Piñeiro's The Princess of France
Concorso Internazionale (Official Competition)
A Blast (Syllas Tzoumerkas, Greece/Germany/Netherlands)
Alive (Jungbum Park, South Korea)
Horse Money (Pedro Costa,...
- 7/25/2014
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Looking back over the year at what films moved and impressed us, it is clear that watching old films is a crucial part of making new films meaningful. Thus, the annual tradition of our end of year poll, which calls upon our writers to pick both a new and an old film: they were challenged to choose a new film they saw in 2013—in theaters or at a festival—and creatively pair it with an old film they also saw in 2013 to create a unique double feature.
All the contributors were given the option to write some text explaining their 2013 fantasy double feature. What's more, each writer was given the option to list more pairings, with or without explanation, as further imaginative film programming we'd be lucky to catch in that perfect world we know doesn't exist but can keep dreaming of every time we go to the movies.
How...
All the contributors were given the option to write some text explaining their 2013 fantasy double feature. What's more, each writer was given the option to list more pairings, with or without explanation, as further imaginative film programming we'd be lucky to catch in that perfect world we know doesn't exist but can keep dreaming of every time we go to the movies.
How...
- 1/13/2014
- by Notebook
- MUBI
The Berlin School: Films from the Berliner Schule opening night reception at MoMA's Terrace 5 Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Rajendra Roy, the Celeste Bartos Chief Curator of Film at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and independent film critic Anke Leweke have organised The Berlin School: Films from the Berliner Schule at MoMA, running from November 20 through December 06, 2013. Some of the filmmakers participating in this impressive program are Angela Schanelec with Orly and Mein langsames Leben (Passing Summer), Ulrich Köhler with Bungalow and Schlafkrankheit (Sleeping Sickness). Actor Nina Hoss will present with Christian Petzold, Barbara and Jerichow and with Thomas Arslan, Gold.
Arslan will also present two of his earlier films Geschwister (Brothers And Sisters) and Im Schatten (In The Shadows).
Also appearing in post-screening discussions are Benjamin Heisenberg with his cinematographer Reinhold Vorschneider for Der Räuber (The Robber) and Christoph Hochhäusler, director of Falscher Bekenner (I Am Guilty...
Rajendra Roy, the Celeste Bartos Chief Curator of Film at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and independent film critic Anke Leweke have organised The Berlin School: Films from the Berliner Schule at MoMA, running from November 20 through December 06, 2013. Some of the filmmakers participating in this impressive program are Angela Schanelec with Orly and Mein langsames Leben (Passing Summer), Ulrich Köhler with Bungalow and Schlafkrankheit (Sleeping Sickness). Actor Nina Hoss will present with Christian Petzold, Barbara and Jerichow and with Thomas Arslan, Gold.
Arslan will also present two of his earlier films Geschwister (Brothers And Sisters) and Im Schatten (In The Shadows).
Also appearing in post-screening discussions are Benjamin Heisenberg with his cinematographer Reinhold Vorschneider for Der Räuber (The Robber) and Christoph Hochhäusler, director of Falscher Bekenner (I Am Guilty...
- 11/21/2013
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Kino resurrects an odd curio with Shoot the Sun Down, a counter-culture Western from 1978, notable for headlining Christopher Walken just prior to his Oscar win for The Deer Hunter and Margot Kidder before she was that year’s Lois Lane in Superman. Of further note, director David Leeds, who financed with his own production company, would never again lend his name to another film in any capacity. The film, which is obviously modeled after Sergio Leone’s Man With No Name series, considering it’s mysterious protagonist, has all the makings of a subversive genre entry, it’s stance on violence guided by an incredibly idiosyncratic score (that’s not Ennio Morricone) and Michael Chapman’s beautifully photographed landscapes (with plenty shots of rising/setting suns for its grand motif). However, muddled plotting and a comatosely constructed climax peg the film as rather forgettable, which is unfortunate considering its strange ambience.
- 11/5/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Hosted at one of Hollywood's most iconic venues, The Egyptian Theater, the German Currents Film Festivals brings to Los Angeles an outstanding selection of new cinematic works screening here for the first time. Now in its 7th edition this annual celebration of German-Language is co-presented by the Goethe Institut Los Angeles and the American Cinematheque, in cooperation with Austrian Consulate General and the Consulate General of Switzerland; with support of German Films, Deutsche Welle (Dw), The Friends of Goethe and Elma.
The festival includes narrative feature, documentaries, shorts, and family-friendly films that form part of the 4 day celebration from October 4th-7th. One of the highlights of the program is More Than Honey, which was recently chosen as the Swiss entry for the Foreign Language Academy Award, read more Here, which will be closing the festival on Monday night.
To discuss the film and interact with La audiences some of the filmmakers will also be in attendance:
Rayna Campbell - lead actress, Layla Fourie (North American Premiere)
Matt Sweetwood - director, Beerland (La Premiere)
Jan Ole Gerster - director, Oh Boy
Ennis Rotthoff - composer, Measuring The World (Us Premiere)
For more information click Here
For tickets and information about the Egyptian Theater click Here
Gala Opening Night - Us Premiere
Friday, October 4, At 7:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Measuring The World (Die Vermessung Der Welt)
Directed by Detlev Buck
Two of the greatest minds of the 19th century, mathematician Carl Friederich Gauss (Florian David Fritz) and scientist Alexander von Humboldt (Albrecht Abraham Schuch), dedicate their studies to measuring and comprehending the world they live in. Based on Daniel Kehlmann's best-selling novel of the same name, this visually stunning epic is a playful re-imagining of the great men’s lives. Humboldt, a man with a passion for global exploration, is contrasted with Gauss, a man who experiences his world through mathematical theories and figures. Humboldt, aided by his colleague, Aimé Bonpland, travels the globe physically engaging the world he wishes to understand, applying modern, scientific thinking to comparatively unknown regions. Though he remains in the same destitute community for much of his life, Gauss’ interior journey of mathematical discovery proves to be just as rich and visually stunning as Humboldt’s adventures in remote areas of the world. Fact and fiction are mixed, often to humorous effect, to chronicle the findings of two very different men who nevertheless sought the same answers. Measuring The World was nominated for two German Film Awards in 2013, and the film has won Best Costume Design and Best Make-up Design awards at the 2013 Austrian Film Awards.
In Person: Composer Enis Rotthoff
Germany / Austria (2012), 123 min. In German, French, Spanish with English Subtitles
Saturday, October 5, At 7:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature
Oh Boy
Directed by Jan Ole Gerster
Jan Ole Gerster's wry and vibrant feature debut Oh Boy, which swept the 2013 German Film Awards, paints a day in the life of Niko, a twenty-something college dropout going nowhere fast. Niko lives for the moment as he drifts through the streets of Berlin, curiously observing everyone around him and oblivious to his growing status as an outsider. Then on one fateful day, through a series of absurdly amusing encounters, everything changes: his girlfriend rebuffs him, his father cuts off his allowance, and a strange psychiatrist dubiously confirms his 'emotional imbalance'. Meanwhile, a former classmate insists she bears no hard feelings toward him for his grade-school taunts when she was “Roly Poly Julia,” but it becomes increasingly apparent that she has unfinished business with him. Unable to ignore the consequences of his passivity any longer, Niko finally concludes that he has to engage with life. Shot in timeless black and white and enriched with a snappy jazz soundtrack, this slacker dramedy is a love letter to Berlin and the Generation Y experience.
In Person: Director Jan Ole Gerster
Germany (2012), 85 min. In German with English subtitles
Us Distributor: Music Box Films
Saturday, October 5 At 9:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - L.A. Premiere
Beerland
Directed by Matt Sweetwood
Matt Sweetwood hails from the Midwest. Though he has lived in Germany for over ten years, the people and their culture remain a mystery to him. He undertakes a last-ditch attempt to figure the place out: by exploring the heart of German culture, their beer. If he delves into their rites and rituals, explores all the contradictions and stereotypes, will that make him, finally, a part of them? The infinite variety of beers, breweries and beer fests, the age-old history of beer, is more overwhelming than the American ever imagined. The trail of his research leads him to places far off the beaten tourist path, light-years away from the Oktoberfest. He encounters people whose dialect he barely understands. Amazingly, he finds that a country as small a Germany is subdivided into a thousand different tongues and customs, with beer as the common thread. He discovers a land full of oddities and contradictions. The Germans are deathly serious and silly at the same time, tradition-bound and weirdly visionary. Ultimately, he forms a real bond with them, finding friends where he least expected them.
In Person: Director Matt Sweetwood
Germany (2012), 85 min. In German and English with English Subtitles
Kindermatinee
Sunday, October 6 - 2:00 Pm Egyptian Theatre
The Adventures of Huck Finn (Die Abenteuer Des Huck Finn)
Directed by Hermine Huntgeburth
A lively German language adaptation of Mark Twain’s classic satire. Huck Finn, having found treasure with his best friend Tom Sawyer, is now chafing in the shoes and starched shirts that come with his new wealthy lifestyle. He’d like nothing more than to kick off his shoes and run wild along the river. He gets his chance when his drunken father (August Diehl) arrives and demands a share of Huck’s money. Huck decides to escape downriver and he brings along Jim, the house slave who has recently discovered that he will be handed over to a slave trader. The two travel the Mississippi River on a makeshift raft, hoping to outrun Huck’s violent father and find a place where Jim can be accepted as a free man. Twain’s timeless adventure is exuberantly brought to the screen in a film that can be enjoyed by the whole family.
Germany (2012), 101 min. In German with English Subtitles
Film Workshops
Sunday, October 6 - 1:00 - 1:50 Pm & 4:00 - 4:50 Pm
Join the Echo Park Film Center for an afternoon of cinematic exploration and education with the Epfc "Filmcicle" in the courtyard of the Egyptian Theatre. The "Filmcicle" is a bicycle powered cinema and school on 3 wheels. Using traditional analog motion picture film we encourage audience members - young and old - to spend some time with us creating cinematic wonder.
www.echoparkfilmcenter.org
Sunday, October 6 At 5:00 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - Us Premiere
Gold
Directed by Thomas Arslan; starring Nina Hoss
Official selection (competition) at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival, Gold is a Western about seven German immigrants who set out in search of gold in the backwoods of British Columbia during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898. Each have their motives: an older couple seeking security, a father (Lars Rudolph) hoping to help his impoverished family, an unpleasant newspaperman (Uwe Bohm) chronicling the journey, and a mysterious packer (Marko Mandic) with a past to outrun. The last to join is Emily Mayer (Nina Hoss), a metropolitan woman whose delicate demeanor masks a steely determination to survive. Assembled by a deceptively confident businessman of questionable motives, the settlers must travel through a relatively uncharted stretch of Canadian wilderness to reach their goal, the gold fields of Dawson. As the path grows more treacherous, betrayals come to light and desperate choices are made. Following in the footsteps of McCabe and Mrs. Miller and Meek’s Cutoff, Gold is an epic that offers an unconventional take on the well-worn Western genre.
Germany (2013), 101 min. In German with English Subtitles
Sunday, October 6, At 7:00 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - North American Premiere
Layla Fourie
Directed by Pia Marais
Winner of the Jury Special Mention at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival, Layla Frourie is a film about Layla, who is a single mother living with her son in Johannesburg and getting by with casual work. After training as a polygraph operator she manages to secure a job with a company specialising in lie detectors and security. On her way to her new workplace she is involved in an accident which will fundamentally change her life. Layla becomes entangled in a web of lies and deceit. The truth could lead to the loss of her son. For her third feature film Pia Marais - who has lived in Berlin for many years - returned to South Africa where she grew up to make this classic thriller. She uses the genre to take a look at a country which still bears the scars of apartheid. In this way, everyday life in South Africa enhances the tension in the screenplay which she co-wrote with Horst Markgraf. Almost casually, Layla Fourie develops into a political thriller which takes the audience into the paranoia, fear and mistrust of a society that is still profoundly affected by racial conflict.
Germany (2013), 108 min. In English
In Person: lead actress Rayna Campbell
Monday, October 7 At 7:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - L.A. Premiere
The Shine of the Day (Der Glanz Des Tages)
Directed by Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel
Philip (Philip Hochmair) is is a young and successful actor working for the most important theatres in Vienna and Hamburg with a committed and single-minded approach to his craft. During a season in which he is busy with a production of Buchner’s Woyzeck, Philip is visited by the elderly Walter (Walter Saabel), who introduces himself as the uncle he’s never met. Walter is a former circus artist and the two men soon bond over stories of their careers. These two entertainers, both at different stages in their lives, learn from each other’s experiences. As his conversations with Walter grow more philosophical, Philip slowly emerges from his once isolated lifestyle. He is even inspired to enlist Walter’s assistance in helping a Moldavian neighbor with an immigration issue. The actors, though not related, essentially play themselves and the largely improvised script was developed around their personal experiences. The result is a rare onscreen friendship that feels warm and sincere. Co-directors Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel draw on their documentary filmmaking background to create a naturalistic atmosphere in which these performances can flourish.
Austria (2012), 101 min. In German with English Subtitles
Monday, October 7 At 9:15 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature
More Than Honey
Directed by Markus Imhoof
Winner of multiple awards, including 2013 German Film Award (Lola) for Best Documentary film, More Than Honey, directed by Oscar-nominated director Markus Imhoof (The Boat Is Full) tackles the vexing issue of why bees, worldwide, are facing extinction. With the tenacity of a man out to solve a world-class mystery, he investigates this global phenomenon, from California to Switzerland, China and Australia. Exquisite macro-photography of the bees (reminiscent of Microcosmos) in flight and in their hives reveals a fascinating, complex world in crisis. Writes Eric Kohn in Indiewire: "Imhoof captures the breeding of queen bees in minute detail, ventures to a laboratory to witness a bee brainscan, and discovers the dangerous prospects of a hive facing the infection of mites. In this latter case, the camera's magnifying power renders the infection in sci-fi terms, as if we've stumbled into a discarded scene from David Cronenberg's The Fly." This is a strange and strangely moving film that raises questions of species survival in cosmic as well as apiary terms.
Switzerland/Germany/Austria (2012), 90 min. In English and German w/English subtitles
Us Distributor: Kino Lorber...
The festival includes narrative feature, documentaries, shorts, and family-friendly films that form part of the 4 day celebration from October 4th-7th. One of the highlights of the program is More Than Honey, which was recently chosen as the Swiss entry for the Foreign Language Academy Award, read more Here, which will be closing the festival on Monday night.
To discuss the film and interact with La audiences some of the filmmakers will also be in attendance:
Rayna Campbell - lead actress, Layla Fourie (North American Premiere)
Matt Sweetwood - director, Beerland (La Premiere)
Jan Ole Gerster - director, Oh Boy
Ennis Rotthoff - composer, Measuring The World (Us Premiere)
For more information click Here
For tickets and information about the Egyptian Theater click Here
Gala Opening Night - Us Premiere
Friday, October 4, At 7:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Measuring The World (Die Vermessung Der Welt)
Directed by Detlev Buck
Two of the greatest minds of the 19th century, mathematician Carl Friederich Gauss (Florian David Fritz) and scientist Alexander von Humboldt (Albrecht Abraham Schuch), dedicate their studies to measuring and comprehending the world they live in. Based on Daniel Kehlmann's best-selling novel of the same name, this visually stunning epic is a playful re-imagining of the great men’s lives. Humboldt, a man with a passion for global exploration, is contrasted with Gauss, a man who experiences his world through mathematical theories and figures. Humboldt, aided by his colleague, Aimé Bonpland, travels the globe physically engaging the world he wishes to understand, applying modern, scientific thinking to comparatively unknown regions. Though he remains in the same destitute community for much of his life, Gauss’ interior journey of mathematical discovery proves to be just as rich and visually stunning as Humboldt’s adventures in remote areas of the world. Fact and fiction are mixed, often to humorous effect, to chronicle the findings of two very different men who nevertheless sought the same answers. Measuring The World was nominated for two German Film Awards in 2013, and the film has won Best Costume Design and Best Make-up Design awards at the 2013 Austrian Film Awards.
In Person: Composer Enis Rotthoff
Germany / Austria (2012), 123 min. In German, French, Spanish with English Subtitles
Saturday, October 5, At 7:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature
Oh Boy
Directed by Jan Ole Gerster
Jan Ole Gerster's wry and vibrant feature debut Oh Boy, which swept the 2013 German Film Awards, paints a day in the life of Niko, a twenty-something college dropout going nowhere fast. Niko lives for the moment as he drifts through the streets of Berlin, curiously observing everyone around him and oblivious to his growing status as an outsider. Then on one fateful day, through a series of absurdly amusing encounters, everything changes: his girlfriend rebuffs him, his father cuts off his allowance, and a strange psychiatrist dubiously confirms his 'emotional imbalance'. Meanwhile, a former classmate insists she bears no hard feelings toward him for his grade-school taunts when she was “Roly Poly Julia,” but it becomes increasingly apparent that she has unfinished business with him. Unable to ignore the consequences of his passivity any longer, Niko finally concludes that he has to engage with life. Shot in timeless black and white and enriched with a snappy jazz soundtrack, this slacker dramedy is a love letter to Berlin and the Generation Y experience.
In Person: Director Jan Ole Gerster
Germany (2012), 85 min. In German with English subtitles
Us Distributor: Music Box Films
Saturday, October 5 At 9:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - L.A. Premiere
Beerland
Directed by Matt Sweetwood
Matt Sweetwood hails from the Midwest. Though he has lived in Germany for over ten years, the people and their culture remain a mystery to him. He undertakes a last-ditch attempt to figure the place out: by exploring the heart of German culture, their beer. If he delves into their rites and rituals, explores all the contradictions and stereotypes, will that make him, finally, a part of them? The infinite variety of beers, breweries and beer fests, the age-old history of beer, is more overwhelming than the American ever imagined. The trail of his research leads him to places far off the beaten tourist path, light-years away from the Oktoberfest. He encounters people whose dialect he barely understands. Amazingly, he finds that a country as small a Germany is subdivided into a thousand different tongues and customs, with beer as the common thread. He discovers a land full of oddities and contradictions. The Germans are deathly serious and silly at the same time, tradition-bound and weirdly visionary. Ultimately, he forms a real bond with them, finding friends where he least expected them.
In Person: Director Matt Sweetwood
Germany (2012), 85 min. In German and English with English Subtitles
Kindermatinee
Sunday, October 6 - 2:00 Pm Egyptian Theatre
The Adventures of Huck Finn (Die Abenteuer Des Huck Finn)
Directed by Hermine Huntgeburth
A lively German language adaptation of Mark Twain’s classic satire. Huck Finn, having found treasure with his best friend Tom Sawyer, is now chafing in the shoes and starched shirts that come with his new wealthy lifestyle. He’d like nothing more than to kick off his shoes and run wild along the river. He gets his chance when his drunken father (August Diehl) arrives and demands a share of Huck’s money. Huck decides to escape downriver and he brings along Jim, the house slave who has recently discovered that he will be handed over to a slave trader. The two travel the Mississippi River on a makeshift raft, hoping to outrun Huck’s violent father and find a place where Jim can be accepted as a free man. Twain’s timeless adventure is exuberantly brought to the screen in a film that can be enjoyed by the whole family.
Germany (2012), 101 min. In German with English Subtitles
Film Workshops
Sunday, October 6 - 1:00 - 1:50 Pm & 4:00 - 4:50 Pm
Join the Echo Park Film Center for an afternoon of cinematic exploration and education with the Epfc "Filmcicle" in the courtyard of the Egyptian Theatre. The "Filmcicle" is a bicycle powered cinema and school on 3 wheels. Using traditional analog motion picture film we encourage audience members - young and old - to spend some time with us creating cinematic wonder.
www.echoparkfilmcenter.org
Sunday, October 6 At 5:00 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - Us Premiere
Gold
Directed by Thomas Arslan; starring Nina Hoss
Official selection (competition) at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival, Gold is a Western about seven German immigrants who set out in search of gold in the backwoods of British Columbia during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898. Each have their motives: an older couple seeking security, a father (Lars Rudolph) hoping to help his impoverished family, an unpleasant newspaperman (Uwe Bohm) chronicling the journey, and a mysterious packer (Marko Mandic) with a past to outrun. The last to join is Emily Mayer (Nina Hoss), a metropolitan woman whose delicate demeanor masks a steely determination to survive. Assembled by a deceptively confident businessman of questionable motives, the settlers must travel through a relatively uncharted stretch of Canadian wilderness to reach their goal, the gold fields of Dawson. As the path grows more treacherous, betrayals come to light and desperate choices are made. Following in the footsteps of McCabe and Mrs. Miller and Meek’s Cutoff, Gold is an epic that offers an unconventional take on the well-worn Western genre.
Germany (2013), 101 min. In German with English Subtitles
Sunday, October 6, At 7:00 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - North American Premiere
Layla Fourie
Directed by Pia Marais
Winner of the Jury Special Mention at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival, Layla Frourie is a film about Layla, who is a single mother living with her son in Johannesburg and getting by with casual work. After training as a polygraph operator she manages to secure a job with a company specialising in lie detectors and security. On her way to her new workplace she is involved in an accident which will fundamentally change her life. Layla becomes entangled in a web of lies and deceit. The truth could lead to the loss of her son. For her third feature film Pia Marais - who has lived in Berlin for many years - returned to South Africa where she grew up to make this classic thriller. She uses the genre to take a look at a country which still bears the scars of apartheid. In this way, everyday life in South Africa enhances the tension in the screenplay which she co-wrote with Horst Markgraf. Almost casually, Layla Fourie develops into a political thriller which takes the audience into the paranoia, fear and mistrust of a society that is still profoundly affected by racial conflict.
Germany (2013), 108 min. In English
In Person: lead actress Rayna Campbell
Monday, October 7 At 7:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - L.A. Premiere
The Shine of the Day (Der Glanz Des Tages)
Directed by Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel
Philip (Philip Hochmair) is is a young and successful actor working for the most important theatres in Vienna and Hamburg with a committed and single-minded approach to his craft. During a season in which he is busy with a production of Buchner’s Woyzeck, Philip is visited by the elderly Walter (Walter Saabel), who introduces himself as the uncle he’s never met. Walter is a former circus artist and the two men soon bond over stories of their careers. These two entertainers, both at different stages in their lives, learn from each other’s experiences. As his conversations with Walter grow more philosophical, Philip slowly emerges from his once isolated lifestyle. He is even inspired to enlist Walter’s assistance in helping a Moldavian neighbor with an immigration issue. The actors, though not related, essentially play themselves and the largely improvised script was developed around their personal experiences. The result is a rare onscreen friendship that feels warm and sincere. Co-directors Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel draw on their documentary filmmaking background to create a naturalistic atmosphere in which these performances can flourish.
Austria (2012), 101 min. In German with English Subtitles
Monday, October 7 At 9:15 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature
More Than Honey
Directed by Markus Imhoof
Winner of multiple awards, including 2013 German Film Award (Lola) for Best Documentary film, More Than Honey, directed by Oscar-nominated director Markus Imhoof (The Boat Is Full) tackles the vexing issue of why bees, worldwide, are facing extinction. With the tenacity of a man out to solve a world-class mystery, he investigates this global phenomenon, from California to Switzerland, China and Australia. Exquisite macro-photography of the bees (reminiscent of Microcosmos) in flight and in their hives reveals a fascinating, complex world in crisis. Writes Eric Kohn in Indiewire: "Imhoof captures the breeding of queen bees in minute detail, ventures to a laboratory to witness a bee brainscan, and discovers the dangerous prospects of a hive facing the infection of mites. In this latter case, the camera's magnifying power renders the infection in sci-fi terms, as if we've stumbled into a discarded scene from David Cronenberg's The Fly." This is a strange and strangely moving film that raises questions of species survival in cosmic as well as apiary terms.
Switzerland/Germany/Austria (2012), 90 min. In English and German w/English subtitles
Us Distributor: Kino Lorber...
- 10/4/2013
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
Russia’s new anti-piracy legislation will be put to the test with the country’s first online premiere ahead of a theatrical release.
Andrei Marmontov’s The Gold is a historical drama that will first be available on the CinemaWell.com platform next Monday [Aug 26] from 6pm, Moscow time.
It is intended to act as a promotional tool for the film‘s theatrical opening.
Not to be confused with Thomas Arslan’s Gold (which opens in Russia on October 10), the Sverdlovsk Film Studios production is based on the eponymous novel by 19th Russian writer Dmitri Mamin-Sibiriak whose work portrayed life in the Ural Mountains.
A family of businessmen are given two months to settle the gambling debts of their missing brother – a daunting task until help suddenly appears in the form of a real life gold mine. But then their problems really start.
It stars Sergei Bezrukov, Andrei Merzlikin, and Anna German.
The online...
Andrei Marmontov’s The Gold is a historical drama that will first be available on the CinemaWell.com platform next Monday [Aug 26] from 6pm, Moscow time.
It is intended to act as a promotional tool for the film‘s theatrical opening.
Not to be confused with Thomas Arslan’s Gold (which opens in Russia on October 10), the Sverdlovsk Film Studios production is based on the eponymous novel by 19th Russian writer Dmitri Mamin-Sibiriak whose work portrayed life in the Ural Mountains.
A family of businessmen are given two months to settle the gambling debts of their missing brother – a daunting task until help suddenly appears in the form of a real life gold mine. But then their problems really start.
It stars Sergei Bezrukov, Andrei Merzlikin, and Anna German.
The online...
- 8/22/2013
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
★★☆☆☆ A German western starring Nina Hoss, Gold (2013) follows up its Berlinale premiere with a showing at Edinburgh. A tale of greed and migration, Thomas Arslan's ambitious genre piece sadly fails to rise above a gentle canter in this bland and strangely pedestrian feature. An alluring balm for the soul, the lure of gold has drove many across the landscape of Canada in search of prosperity. Set in 1898, Gold follows the trials and tribulations of Emily (Nina Hoss) a young female divorcee who joins a group of German settlers who are embarking on a perilous journey north in search of the lucrative gold country of Dawson.
Commencing as a septet, the group slowly dwindles as the hardships of this 2,500 km expedition take their toil, with each and every step further north leading them further into a wilderness of despair and despondence. For a director whose protagonists always seem to be...
Commencing as a septet, the group slowly dwindles as the hardships of this 2,500 km expedition take their toil, with each and every step further north leading them further into a wilderness of despair and despondence. For a director whose protagonists always seem to be...
- 6/25/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
The Berlinale has come and gone so quickly, so intensely. Everyone was catching the flu or a cold, and I was left with the sniffles. My last two days I was lucky to be able to catch some films. Before that I only saw Don Jon’s Addiction which I was charmed by. Scarlett Johanssen played the best role of her life, she is a great comedienne. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt was delightful. Upstream Color bit off more than it could chew. The reviews express my feelings about it better than I can.
A quick list of films seen by me and by other discerning women:
Concussion, starring Catherine Deneuve, a bored house wife story has been told before. This time, the two protagonists were attractive lesbian women and it was beautifully filmed, but nothing beats Belle de Jour also starring Catherine Deneuve.
The Weimar Touch is a series of films from the Weimar era in Germany which preceded the Nazi era and films which were influenced by filmmakers of the Weimar era. MoMA Chief Curator of Film, Rajendra Roy and Laurence Kardish, the former Senior Curator of Film at MoMA were members of the Curatorial Board (along with Rainer Rother, Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kinemathek, Connie Betz (Deutsche Kinemathek, Programme Coordinator Retrospective, and Hans-Michael Bock (Cinegraph, Hamburg). Maybe I could catch more of these fantastic sounding films in New York.
Hangmen Also Die! by Fritz Lang sounded so great. I got the ticket, but damn I missed the film because of a meeting. The notes written for Hangmen Also Die by Rainer Rother of the Deutsche Kinemathek, "Prague 1942. Following the assassination of Nazi Reich Protector Heydrich...a professor’s daughter hides the culprit in her parents’ apartment…sadistic, elegant and effeminate." Doesn’t that sound great? The gender bending in Vicktor Viktoria was charming and funny. Julie Andrews saw this actress and copied her style perfectly. They look like twins. Other films in the Restrospective had me going to the Film Museum to ask for the boxed set, but the prints are from so many places, the clearance on them would be nearly impossible I guess…no boxed set. Other films in The Weimar Touch were so enticing! I had seen A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Max Reinhardt himself and William Dieterle, (U.S. 1935) the last time when I was in high school and then didn’t know who Max Reinhardt was. Car of Dreams was a favorite of those who saw it. Casablanca in which Victor Lazlo and Ilse Lund play out their doomed love was directed by Hungarian born director Mihaly Kertesz (Michael Curtiz) and Humphrey Bogart is almost the only “real” American in the ensemble. I had never been aware of how The Weimar Touch formed that film. Others: The Chase, Confessions of a Nazi Spy, Le Corbeau – what a great film that is, a film that was saved only by Sartre and Cocteau’s speaking out in favor of director Henri-Georges Clouzot. This is a film Michael Haneke saw when he created The White Ribbon. A Dutch film, Somewhere in the Netherlands by Ludwig Berger in 1940, Gerhard Lamprecht’s Einmal Eine Grosse Dame Sein, British film, First a Girl, by Victor Saville, Fury by Fritz Lang, Gado Bravo from Portugal 1934, Gluckskinder from Germany in 1936, The Golem, The Mystery of Moonlight Sonata, Hitler’s Madman, How Green Was My Valley by John Ford in 1941 which was influenced by his friend F.W. Murnau, Max Ophuls’ Comedy About Gold, Letter from an Unknown Woman by Max Ophuls, M by Joseph Losey, Mollenard by Robert Siodmak, None Shall Live by Andre de Toth, Out of the Past by Jacques Tourneur, Peter, Pieges, The Queen of Spades, The Small Back Room, Some Like it Hot, To Be or Not to Be by Lubitsch, Touch of Evil by Orson Welles, Cabaret by Bob Fosse, Dial M for Murder, On the Waterfront, The Student of Prague, Tokyo Story were all touched by The Weimar Touch. What a collection!
Tokyo Kazoku (Tokyo Story) by Yoji Yamada was sweet and sad as the parents travel from their hometown of Hiroshima to visit their grown children in Tokyo – different from Ozu’s Tokyo Story, but “the story of family estrangement and the isolation inherent in modern society” as expressed in the story notes of Rainer Rother along with the reminders of the recent tsunami and its losses make this story deeply touching.
Interesting was Dark Blood by George Sluizer. It was not as spooky as The Vanishing, but to see River Phoenix, so beautiful in this role with such a sexy Judy Davis was a treat, if a bit dated. Elle s’en va with a Catherine Deneuve, aged after Umbrellas of Cherbourg and perhaps the same character takes a funny tour through rural France that I enjoyed. I missed Pourquoi Israel, part of the Homage to Claude Lanzmann but got to see Sobibor, 14 Octobre 1943 which was astounding. The bravery of the hero who was on screen the entire time, Yehuda Lerner, looked like a movie star. The entire story was so unexpected for me; how did it happen that I had never heard the story of the uprising at Sobibor before? I know Shoah and sat through it without a minute of disinterest – but that was in college. Claude Lanzmann justifiably said that this story was too unique and special to include in Shoah.
An odd Romanian film, the comedy A Farewell to Fools directed by Goodan Dreyer and starring child actor Boodan Iancu, Gerard Depardieu, Harvey Keitel and a cruelly beautiful Laura Morante, (and dubbed!) it is being sold in the market by Shoreline. It stands out in contrast to the Golden Bear Winner, the Romanian film Child’s Pose directed by Calin Peter Netzer and produced by Ada Solomon. This feisty portrayal of the nouveau riche seems like a fictional continuation of the doc her husband directed and which she produced in 2010: Kapitalism: Our Improved Formula.
Ada Solomon’s speech at the Awards Ceremony Closing Night deserves an award itself. Starting with the comment that she is more used to fighting than to winning, she pointedly thanked not only those who helped her but also those who did not help her whose resistance to her making this film made her stronger and more powerful. She pointed out the great need to have equal representation of women in the ranks of directors and producers as well, a theme which has been expressed repeatedly during this festival in many forms. (Read Melissa Silverstein’s blog on the joint meeting of women's films festivals initiated in Berlin by The International Women's Film Festival Dortmund|Cologone and the Athena Film Festival entitled "You Cannot Be Serious" in which women from many countries discussed the statistics and the status of women directors and other positions in the industry and continued the creation of a worldwide network pushing towards a more level playing field. Check out The International Women's Film Festival Network for more information).
Child's Pose, good in the vein of Separation, went head to head with the Chilean critic's choice, Gloria whose star Paulina Garcia, won the Best Actress Award. Could have gone both ways. The two older women were both great.
By the Way, Gloria was produced by Fabula, the Chilean company of the Lorrain Brothers who produced No as well as Crystal Fairy and director Sebastian Silva’s other films.
Jay Weissberg of Variety describes Child's Pose best as a "dissection of monstrous motherly love" and a "razor-sharp jibe at Romania's nouveau riche (the type is hardly confined to one country), a class adept at massaging truths and ensuring that the world steps aside when conflict arises."
I would like to suggest to the festival event planners that next year the Awards Ceremony’s onscreen presentation (which goes on simultaneously with the announcements of the prize winners) post the name of the winner along with the film title in its own language and in English as well as the country of origin. It’s difficult enough to follow the film with simultaneous translation in English via earphones; at least put the film titles in English for us foreigners.
A friend of mine remarks that the 2 most prestigious prizes at the festival went not to American or West European films, but to those from smaller countries with developing film cultures, Child’s Pose from Romania and Denis Tanovic’s Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker from Bosnia/ Herzogovina.
She goes on with her commentary of what she saw:
"Competition film Gold by Thomas Arslan provoked mixed response, but I liked it – Nina Hoss as the lead is excellent, plus there are long passages of the group on horseback trekking thru Alaska to the Klondike amidst spectacular landscapes. And the camerawork is wonderful. So that’s enough to keep me in my seat.
Night Train to Lisbon has been panned by virtually every trade publication critic as boring at the least. Nevertheless I enjoyed all the famous actors –Jeremy Irons, Lena Olin, Charlotte Rampling, Tom Courtenay, and yes Bruno Ganz. It is a story about the oppressive regime and a secret resistance group of in 1970s Portugal. Circles is a powerful and tough film by Srdan Folubovic about the revelations amidst survivors of a terrible event 12 years after the end of the war in Yugoslavia. Terrific performances support a complex and tough tale of how history permeates memory and behavior down thru the generations. Cold Bloom is the 4th feature of Atsushi Funahashi, who made last year’s powerful Nuclear Nation documentary about the effects if the tsunami. A drama about how the tsunami affected young workers and small businesses in the region is told thru the tragedy of a young couple. The title refers to a fantastic closing sequence under the cherry trees at night illuminated by street lamps, at once beautiful and bizarre. Gloria winner of the Golden Bear was clearly everyone’s favorite (although I could not get into the screening). Portrait of a middle aged woman in Chile (and winner of Best Actress award) it will hopefully make it across the ocean to these shores.
And finally, it is worth noting that the Forum Expanded section was extensive this year, showing diverse kinds of work including off site installations from every corner of the globe. Probably it is the single most important showcase for artists work in the film festival world. Kudos to the curators and the artist/filmmakers for keeping this exciting new work in front of the public year after year!"
Another friend who can’t decide whether to be credited here, a transplanted Los Angeleno who was born in Germany and lives in Berlin now had a very interesting insight into Two Women, wondering out loud if the two women and the two boys were transferring their homosexual feelings upon their cross parental lovers and likewise whether the two mothers were not actually acting out their lesbian affinities.
She also noted the sexual complexities of many of the films was of great interest to her. Examples she sites are the homosexual (But Not) pedophiliac feelings of a priest as depicted in In The Name Of; Gloria – not breaking news that a 58 woman is sexually alive – this film has a popular crowd pleasing charm which almost disqualifies it from the “festival” seriousness of a film like Child’s Pose, but both women are stellar.
My unnamed friend also said that, Camille Claudel failed to engage as did The Nun.
I would like to take this further, but it is very late for Berlin and now on to Guadalajara, a fascinating city and the seat of international, Iberoamerican co-productions which I think will become my obsession for the rest of the year.
Adios!
A quick list of films seen by me and by other discerning women:
Concussion, starring Catherine Deneuve, a bored house wife story has been told before. This time, the two protagonists were attractive lesbian women and it was beautifully filmed, but nothing beats Belle de Jour also starring Catherine Deneuve.
The Weimar Touch is a series of films from the Weimar era in Germany which preceded the Nazi era and films which were influenced by filmmakers of the Weimar era. MoMA Chief Curator of Film, Rajendra Roy and Laurence Kardish, the former Senior Curator of Film at MoMA were members of the Curatorial Board (along with Rainer Rother, Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kinemathek, Connie Betz (Deutsche Kinemathek, Programme Coordinator Retrospective, and Hans-Michael Bock (Cinegraph, Hamburg). Maybe I could catch more of these fantastic sounding films in New York.
Hangmen Also Die! by Fritz Lang sounded so great. I got the ticket, but damn I missed the film because of a meeting. The notes written for Hangmen Also Die by Rainer Rother of the Deutsche Kinemathek, "Prague 1942. Following the assassination of Nazi Reich Protector Heydrich...a professor’s daughter hides the culprit in her parents’ apartment…sadistic, elegant and effeminate." Doesn’t that sound great? The gender bending in Vicktor Viktoria was charming and funny. Julie Andrews saw this actress and copied her style perfectly. They look like twins. Other films in the Restrospective had me going to the Film Museum to ask for the boxed set, but the prints are from so many places, the clearance on them would be nearly impossible I guess…no boxed set. Other films in The Weimar Touch were so enticing! I had seen A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Max Reinhardt himself and William Dieterle, (U.S. 1935) the last time when I was in high school and then didn’t know who Max Reinhardt was. Car of Dreams was a favorite of those who saw it. Casablanca in which Victor Lazlo and Ilse Lund play out their doomed love was directed by Hungarian born director Mihaly Kertesz (Michael Curtiz) and Humphrey Bogart is almost the only “real” American in the ensemble. I had never been aware of how The Weimar Touch formed that film. Others: The Chase, Confessions of a Nazi Spy, Le Corbeau – what a great film that is, a film that was saved only by Sartre and Cocteau’s speaking out in favor of director Henri-Georges Clouzot. This is a film Michael Haneke saw when he created The White Ribbon. A Dutch film, Somewhere in the Netherlands by Ludwig Berger in 1940, Gerhard Lamprecht’s Einmal Eine Grosse Dame Sein, British film, First a Girl, by Victor Saville, Fury by Fritz Lang, Gado Bravo from Portugal 1934, Gluckskinder from Germany in 1936, The Golem, The Mystery of Moonlight Sonata, Hitler’s Madman, How Green Was My Valley by John Ford in 1941 which was influenced by his friend F.W. Murnau, Max Ophuls’ Comedy About Gold, Letter from an Unknown Woman by Max Ophuls, M by Joseph Losey, Mollenard by Robert Siodmak, None Shall Live by Andre de Toth, Out of the Past by Jacques Tourneur, Peter, Pieges, The Queen of Spades, The Small Back Room, Some Like it Hot, To Be or Not to Be by Lubitsch, Touch of Evil by Orson Welles, Cabaret by Bob Fosse, Dial M for Murder, On the Waterfront, The Student of Prague, Tokyo Story were all touched by The Weimar Touch. What a collection!
Tokyo Kazoku (Tokyo Story) by Yoji Yamada was sweet and sad as the parents travel from their hometown of Hiroshima to visit their grown children in Tokyo – different from Ozu’s Tokyo Story, but “the story of family estrangement and the isolation inherent in modern society” as expressed in the story notes of Rainer Rother along with the reminders of the recent tsunami and its losses make this story deeply touching.
Interesting was Dark Blood by George Sluizer. It was not as spooky as The Vanishing, but to see River Phoenix, so beautiful in this role with such a sexy Judy Davis was a treat, if a bit dated. Elle s’en va with a Catherine Deneuve, aged after Umbrellas of Cherbourg and perhaps the same character takes a funny tour through rural France that I enjoyed. I missed Pourquoi Israel, part of the Homage to Claude Lanzmann but got to see Sobibor, 14 Octobre 1943 which was astounding. The bravery of the hero who was on screen the entire time, Yehuda Lerner, looked like a movie star. The entire story was so unexpected for me; how did it happen that I had never heard the story of the uprising at Sobibor before? I know Shoah and sat through it without a minute of disinterest – but that was in college. Claude Lanzmann justifiably said that this story was too unique and special to include in Shoah.
An odd Romanian film, the comedy A Farewell to Fools directed by Goodan Dreyer and starring child actor Boodan Iancu, Gerard Depardieu, Harvey Keitel and a cruelly beautiful Laura Morante, (and dubbed!) it is being sold in the market by Shoreline. It stands out in contrast to the Golden Bear Winner, the Romanian film Child’s Pose directed by Calin Peter Netzer and produced by Ada Solomon. This feisty portrayal of the nouveau riche seems like a fictional continuation of the doc her husband directed and which she produced in 2010: Kapitalism: Our Improved Formula.
Ada Solomon’s speech at the Awards Ceremony Closing Night deserves an award itself. Starting with the comment that she is more used to fighting than to winning, she pointedly thanked not only those who helped her but also those who did not help her whose resistance to her making this film made her stronger and more powerful. She pointed out the great need to have equal representation of women in the ranks of directors and producers as well, a theme which has been expressed repeatedly during this festival in many forms. (Read Melissa Silverstein’s blog on the joint meeting of women's films festivals initiated in Berlin by The International Women's Film Festival Dortmund|Cologone and the Athena Film Festival entitled "You Cannot Be Serious" in which women from many countries discussed the statistics and the status of women directors and other positions in the industry and continued the creation of a worldwide network pushing towards a more level playing field. Check out The International Women's Film Festival Network for more information).
Child's Pose, good in the vein of Separation, went head to head with the Chilean critic's choice, Gloria whose star Paulina Garcia, won the Best Actress Award. Could have gone both ways. The two older women were both great.
By the Way, Gloria was produced by Fabula, the Chilean company of the Lorrain Brothers who produced No as well as Crystal Fairy and director Sebastian Silva’s other films.
Jay Weissberg of Variety describes Child's Pose best as a "dissection of monstrous motherly love" and a "razor-sharp jibe at Romania's nouveau riche (the type is hardly confined to one country), a class adept at massaging truths and ensuring that the world steps aside when conflict arises."
I would like to suggest to the festival event planners that next year the Awards Ceremony’s onscreen presentation (which goes on simultaneously with the announcements of the prize winners) post the name of the winner along with the film title in its own language and in English as well as the country of origin. It’s difficult enough to follow the film with simultaneous translation in English via earphones; at least put the film titles in English for us foreigners.
A friend of mine remarks that the 2 most prestigious prizes at the festival went not to American or West European films, but to those from smaller countries with developing film cultures, Child’s Pose from Romania and Denis Tanovic’s Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker from Bosnia/ Herzogovina.
She goes on with her commentary of what she saw:
"Competition film Gold by Thomas Arslan provoked mixed response, but I liked it – Nina Hoss as the lead is excellent, plus there are long passages of the group on horseback trekking thru Alaska to the Klondike amidst spectacular landscapes. And the camerawork is wonderful. So that’s enough to keep me in my seat.
Night Train to Lisbon has been panned by virtually every trade publication critic as boring at the least. Nevertheless I enjoyed all the famous actors –Jeremy Irons, Lena Olin, Charlotte Rampling, Tom Courtenay, and yes Bruno Ganz. It is a story about the oppressive regime and a secret resistance group of in 1970s Portugal. Circles is a powerful and tough film by Srdan Folubovic about the revelations amidst survivors of a terrible event 12 years after the end of the war in Yugoslavia. Terrific performances support a complex and tough tale of how history permeates memory and behavior down thru the generations. Cold Bloom is the 4th feature of Atsushi Funahashi, who made last year’s powerful Nuclear Nation documentary about the effects if the tsunami. A drama about how the tsunami affected young workers and small businesses in the region is told thru the tragedy of a young couple. The title refers to a fantastic closing sequence under the cherry trees at night illuminated by street lamps, at once beautiful and bizarre. Gloria winner of the Golden Bear was clearly everyone’s favorite (although I could not get into the screening). Portrait of a middle aged woman in Chile (and winner of Best Actress award) it will hopefully make it across the ocean to these shores.
And finally, it is worth noting that the Forum Expanded section was extensive this year, showing diverse kinds of work including off site installations from every corner of the globe. Probably it is the single most important showcase for artists work in the film festival world. Kudos to the curators and the artist/filmmakers for keeping this exciting new work in front of the public year after year!"
Another friend who can’t decide whether to be credited here, a transplanted Los Angeleno who was born in Germany and lives in Berlin now had a very interesting insight into Two Women, wondering out loud if the two women and the two boys were transferring their homosexual feelings upon their cross parental lovers and likewise whether the two mothers were not actually acting out their lesbian affinities.
She also noted the sexual complexities of many of the films was of great interest to her. Examples she sites are the homosexual (But Not) pedophiliac feelings of a priest as depicted in In The Name Of; Gloria – not breaking news that a 58 woman is sexually alive – this film has a popular crowd pleasing charm which almost disqualifies it from the “festival” seriousness of a film like Child’s Pose, but both women are stellar.
My unnamed friend also said that, Camille Claudel failed to engage as did The Nun.
I would like to take this further, but it is very late for Berlin and now on to Guadalajara, a fascinating city and the seat of international, Iberoamerican co-productions which I think will become my obsession for the rest of the year.
Adios!
- 3/10/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Below you will find our total coverage of the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival by Adam Cook.
Above: Denis Côté's Vic+Flo Saw a Bear
Impressions
#1
On Wong Kar-Wai's The Grandmaster and Ulrich Seidl's Paradise: Hope
#2
On Noah Baumbach's Frances Ha, Sebastián Leilo's Gloria and Denis Côté's Vic+Flo Saw a Bear
#3
On James Benning's Stemple Pass, J.P. Sniadecki/Huang Xiang/Xu Ruotao's Yumen and Bruno Dumont's Camille Claudel, 1915
#4
On Jafar Panahi/Kamboziya Partovi's Closed Curtain, Hong Sangsoo's Nobody's Daughter Haewon and Richard Linklater's Before Midnight
#5
On Andrew Bujalski's Computer Chess and Jacques Doillon's Love Battles
B-Sides
On The Weimar Touch retrospective, the Waves vs. Particles art installations by Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Verena Paravel, and mini-capsules on Hala Lofty's Coming Forth by Day, Thomas Arslan's Gold, Pia Marais' Layla Fourie, Nicolàs Pereda & Jacob Schulsinger's Killing Strangers and Shane Carruth...
Above: Denis Côté's Vic+Flo Saw a Bear
Impressions
#1
On Wong Kar-Wai's The Grandmaster and Ulrich Seidl's Paradise: Hope
#2
On Noah Baumbach's Frances Ha, Sebastián Leilo's Gloria and Denis Côté's Vic+Flo Saw a Bear
#3
On James Benning's Stemple Pass, J.P. Sniadecki/Huang Xiang/Xu Ruotao's Yumen and Bruno Dumont's Camille Claudel, 1915
#4
On Jafar Panahi/Kamboziya Partovi's Closed Curtain, Hong Sangsoo's Nobody's Daughter Haewon and Richard Linklater's Before Midnight
#5
On Andrew Bujalski's Computer Chess and Jacques Doillon's Love Battles
B-Sides
On The Weimar Touch retrospective, the Waves vs. Particles art installations by Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Verena Paravel, and mini-capsules on Hala Lofty's Coming Forth by Day, Thomas Arslan's Gold, Pia Marais' Layla Fourie, Nicolàs Pereda & Jacob Schulsinger's Killing Strangers and Shane Carruth...
- 2/24/2013
- by Notebook
- MUBI
The Weimar Touch
One of the most conflicting parts of attending a film festival like the Berlinale, especially if you are a professional, is trying to balance seeing the new films and the retrospective screenings—the latter often acting as an unreachable mirage in the distance. The cinephile inside oneself yearns to take in these 35mm blessings but ultimately has to take risks on new work either for the sake of coverage, or, really, to "keep up." I was able to attend a small handful of screenings from the festival's retrospective The Weimar Touch, particularly focusing on the "Know Your Enemy" subsection of films that took a stand against Nazism during the war, including André de Toth's remarkable None Shall Escape, Douglas Sirk's Hitler's Madman, Fritz Lang's Hangmen Also Die! and Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be. Watching these films in Berlin with German audiences helped intensify their significance,...
One of the most conflicting parts of attending a film festival like the Berlinale, especially if you are a professional, is trying to balance seeing the new films and the retrospective screenings—the latter often acting as an unreachable mirage in the distance. The cinephile inside oneself yearns to take in these 35mm blessings but ultimately has to take risks on new work either for the sake of coverage, or, really, to "keep up." I was able to attend a small handful of screenings from the festival's retrospective The Weimar Touch, particularly focusing on the "Know Your Enemy" subsection of films that took a stand against Nazism during the war, including André de Toth's remarkable None Shall Escape, Douglas Sirk's Hitler's Madman, Fritz Lang's Hangmen Also Die! and Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be. Watching these films in Berlin with German audiences helped intensify their significance,...
- 2/19/2013
- by Adam Cook
- MUBI
Richard Lormand's films are always a key to the best films at the festivals of Berlin, Venice and Cannes. If he reps them, you want to see them. And here they are:
Boris Khlebnikov's A Long And Happy Life: (Isa:Films Boutique) It takes conviction to decide to make a movie like this one, and that conviction permeates throughout, highlighting a strong, convincing performance by leading actor Alexander Yatsenko. Good script and skillful filmmaking also make this powerful tale of the little guy fighting the system all the more watchable. The idyllic beauty of the seaside village location and its surroundings becomes even more intriguing thanks to cinematographer Pavel Kostomarov (a Berlinale winner for Outstanding Artistic Achievement for his work in How I Ended This Summer).
Thomas Arslan's Gold: (Isa:The Match Factory) I'll be as guilty as anyone else who simply refers to this great movie as "the German western". Yet it's so much more in terms of every single aspect of filmmaking - script, direction, acting, cinematography, art direction, etc. (from the same production team as Christian Petzold's Barbara)... Yes, as an American, I get a real kick out of this adventurous western journey being mostly in German (authentically as it's about a group of Germans). But that alone would never have been enough to keep me glued to the screen in anticipation... And if you aren't a Nina Hoss fan yet, this one will convert you. To carry a film like this, it takes more than being one of the most accomplished actresses around - it takes a star.
Felix Van Groeningen's The Broken Circle Breakdown: (Isa:The Match Factory) The country and western motif continues with this Flemish gem and its sidebar nod to bluegrass music. Yes, bluegrass, and it rocks, especially when sung by leading actors Johan Heldenbergh and Veerle Baetens. Their performances are nothing less than incredible, and this is, without a doubt, one of the most heartbreaking films I've seen in a long time. Just thinking about it can bring a lump to my throat. The saddest feel-good movie I've ever seen. Felix van Groeningen is definitely a director to watch out for.
Sebastien Lifshitz's Bambi: (Isa:Doc & Film International) Only months since he debuted the groundbreaking doc Les Invisibles in Cannes, Sebastien Liftshitz offers us the inspirational Bambi, an affectionate portrait of French transsexual Marie-Pierre Pruvot. Sebastien has a probing eye of rare sensitivity which he has used in all of his films, such as the Teddy Award-winning fiction feature Wild Side. I was deeply moved by what Bambi's story represents today, and this is due just as much to sharp directorial skill as to the fascinating human subject.
Jacques Doillon's Love Battles (Mes Seances De Lutte): (Isa:Doc&Film International) This film can literally boast kick-ass performances by leading couple Sara Forestier and James Thierree. You gotta see it to believe it. I didn't see this one coming and I still can't quite figure out where it came from. Intense, moving, captivating... Jacques Doillon remains on the up, already sharing this new feature since recently premiering You Me And Us (Un Enfant De Toi) at November's Rome Film Festival. He proves once again that he is a master at dissecting the dramatic intricacies of the couple.
Danis Tanovic's An Episode In The Life Of An Iron Picker: (Isa:The Match Factory) There's so much injustice around and I love it when a director makes it his or her passion to say something about it. In this case, it's Oscar-winner Danis Tanovic, this time showing us life in a different kind of wartime - the struggles of daily life for the underprivileged and discriminated against. It takes a natural born filmmaker to pick up a Canon and start making a movie because he's mad as hell about a real event that happened in his own backyard.
David Gordon Green's Prince Avalanche: (Isa: Cinetic International) Let's welcome David Gordon Green back to the Berlinale - he hasn't shown a film here since his debut George Washington. Since then, he's had an eclectic career from sensitive indies to mainstream comedies. Prince Avalanche offers the best of both of those worlds and highlights two uber-talented American actors - Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch.
Boris Khlebnikov's A Long And Happy Life: (Isa:Films Boutique) It takes conviction to decide to make a movie like this one, and that conviction permeates throughout, highlighting a strong, convincing performance by leading actor Alexander Yatsenko. Good script and skillful filmmaking also make this powerful tale of the little guy fighting the system all the more watchable. The idyllic beauty of the seaside village location and its surroundings becomes even more intriguing thanks to cinematographer Pavel Kostomarov (a Berlinale winner for Outstanding Artistic Achievement for his work in How I Ended This Summer).
Thomas Arslan's Gold: (Isa:The Match Factory) I'll be as guilty as anyone else who simply refers to this great movie as "the German western". Yet it's so much more in terms of every single aspect of filmmaking - script, direction, acting, cinematography, art direction, etc. (from the same production team as Christian Petzold's Barbara)... Yes, as an American, I get a real kick out of this adventurous western journey being mostly in German (authentically as it's about a group of Germans). But that alone would never have been enough to keep me glued to the screen in anticipation... And if you aren't a Nina Hoss fan yet, this one will convert you. To carry a film like this, it takes more than being one of the most accomplished actresses around - it takes a star.
Felix Van Groeningen's The Broken Circle Breakdown: (Isa:The Match Factory) The country and western motif continues with this Flemish gem and its sidebar nod to bluegrass music. Yes, bluegrass, and it rocks, especially when sung by leading actors Johan Heldenbergh and Veerle Baetens. Their performances are nothing less than incredible, and this is, without a doubt, one of the most heartbreaking films I've seen in a long time. Just thinking about it can bring a lump to my throat. The saddest feel-good movie I've ever seen. Felix van Groeningen is definitely a director to watch out for.
Sebastien Lifshitz's Bambi: (Isa:Doc & Film International) Only months since he debuted the groundbreaking doc Les Invisibles in Cannes, Sebastien Liftshitz offers us the inspirational Bambi, an affectionate portrait of French transsexual Marie-Pierre Pruvot. Sebastien has a probing eye of rare sensitivity which he has used in all of his films, such as the Teddy Award-winning fiction feature Wild Side. I was deeply moved by what Bambi's story represents today, and this is due just as much to sharp directorial skill as to the fascinating human subject.
Jacques Doillon's Love Battles (Mes Seances De Lutte): (Isa:Doc&Film International) This film can literally boast kick-ass performances by leading couple Sara Forestier and James Thierree. You gotta see it to believe it. I didn't see this one coming and I still can't quite figure out where it came from. Intense, moving, captivating... Jacques Doillon remains on the up, already sharing this new feature since recently premiering You Me And Us (Un Enfant De Toi) at November's Rome Film Festival. He proves once again that he is a master at dissecting the dramatic intricacies of the couple.
Danis Tanovic's An Episode In The Life Of An Iron Picker: (Isa:The Match Factory) There's so much injustice around and I love it when a director makes it his or her passion to say something about it. In this case, it's Oscar-winner Danis Tanovic, this time showing us life in a different kind of wartime - the struggles of daily life for the underprivileged and discriminated against. It takes a natural born filmmaker to pick up a Canon and start making a movie because he's mad as hell about a real event that happened in his own backyard.
David Gordon Green's Prince Avalanche: (Isa: Cinetic International) Let's welcome David Gordon Green back to the Berlinale - he hasn't shown a film here since his debut George Washington. Since then, he's had an eclectic career from sensitive indies to mainstream comedies. Prince Avalanche offers the best of both of those worlds and highlights two uber-talented American actors - Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch.
- 2/9/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
A universe away from the German bounty hunter roaming the Old West in "Django Unchained," the European adventurers in "Gold" hail from a more traditional playbook. Director Thomas Arsland's watchable oater only maintains a uniqueness for the sheer presence of German characters involved in a plight most commonly associated with American explorers. But as gold rush expeditions go, this one's just another perilous outing we've seen countless times before, competently realized in parts but lacking ingenuity at every turn. Anchored by a strong lead performance by "Barbara" star Nina Hoss as the wandering Emily, "Gold" holds some interest for the way it focuses on a cocksure female adventurer without entirely upending the formula, but that's a feat of dubious merit. Easily begging comparison to Kelly Reichardt's revisionist western "Meek's Cutoff," Arland's movie looks pedestrian in the shadow of the...
- 2/9/2013
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Another title scheduled to premiere in competition at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival is Thomas Arslan western movie simply Gold. The title may sound simple but as you’re going to see from two video clips that we have for you today, it looks that we’re dealing with one quite powerful story. Set in 1890′s, Arslan’s movie follows a young woman in a group of Germans who make a strenuous journey in search of gold. Written and directed by Thomas Arslan, Gold centers on a determined independent woman named Emily Meyer who joins a group of German immigrants to make the long journey to the...
- 2/8/2013
- by Fiona
- Filmofilia
A list of the movies being shown in the official program at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival, which runs Feb. 7-17.
In competition:
Dolgaya schastlivaya zhizn (A Long and Happy Life), director Boris Khlebnikov.
Prince Avalanche, David Gordon Green.
Uroki Garmonii (Harmony Lessons), Emir Baigazin.
Vic+Flo ont vu un ours (Vic+Flo Saw a Bear), Denis Cote.
W imie … (In the Name of), Malgoska Szumowska.
Camille Claudel 1915, Bruno Dumont.
Elle s’en va (On my Way), Emmanuelle Bercot.
Epizoda u zivotu beraca zeljeza (An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker), Danis Tanovic.
Gloria, Sebastian Lelio.
In competition:
Dolgaya schastlivaya zhizn (A Long and Happy Life), director Boris Khlebnikov.
Prince Avalanche, David Gordon Green.
Uroki Garmonii (Harmony Lessons), Emir Baigazin.
Vic+Flo ont vu un ours (Vic+Flo Saw a Bear), Denis Cote.
W imie … (In the Name of), Malgoska Szumowska.
Camille Claudel 1915, Bruno Dumont.
Elle s’en va (On my Way), Emmanuelle Bercot.
Epizoda u zivotu beraca zeljeza (An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker), Danis Tanovic.
Gloria, Sebastian Lelio.
- 1/28/2013
- by Associated Press
- EW - Inside Movies
A list of the movies being shown in the official program at this year's Berlin International Film Festival, which runs Feb. 7-17.
In competition:
"Dolgaya schastlivaya zhizn" ("A Long and Happy Life"), director Boris Khlebnikov.
"Prince Avalanche," David Gordon Green.
"Uroki Garmonii" ("Harmony Lessons"), Emir Baigazin.
"Vic+Flo ont vu un ours" ("Vic+Flo Saw a Bear"), Denis Cote.
"W imie ..." ("In the Name of"), Malgoska Szumowska.
"Camille Claudel 1915," Bruno Dumont.
"Elle s'en va" ("On my Way"), Emmanuelle Bercot.
"Epizoda u zivotu beraca zeljeza" ("An Episode in the Life of an Iron
Picker"), Danis Tanovic.
"Gloria," Sebastian Lelio.
"Gold," Thomas Arslan.
"La Religieuse" ("The Nun"), Guillaume Nicloux.
"Layla Fourie," Pia Marais.
"The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman," Fredrik Bond.
"Nugu-ui Ttal-do Anin Haewon" ("Nobody's Daughter Haewon"), Hong Sangsoo.
"Paradies: Hoffnung" ("Paradise: Hope"), Ulrich Seidl.
"Parde" ("Closed Curtain"), Jafar Panahi and Kambozia Partovi.
"Pozitia Copilului" ("Child's Pose"), Calin Peter Netzer.
"Promised Land,...
In competition:
"Dolgaya schastlivaya zhizn" ("A Long and Happy Life"), director Boris Khlebnikov.
"Prince Avalanche," David Gordon Green.
"Uroki Garmonii" ("Harmony Lessons"), Emir Baigazin.
"Vic+Flo ont vu un ours" ("Vic+Flo Saw a Bear"), Denis Cote.
"W imie ..." ("In the Name of"), Malgoska Szumowska.
"Camille Claudel 1915," Bruno Dumont.
"Elle s'en va" ("On my Way"), Emmanuelle Bercot.
"Epizoda u zivotu beraca zeljeza" ("An Episode in the Life of an Iron
Picker"), Danis Tanovic.
"Gloria," Sebastian Lelio.
"Gold," Thomas Arslan.
"La Religieuse" ("The Nun"), Guillaume Nicloux.
"Layla Fourie," Pia Marais.
"The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman," Fredrik Bond.
"Nugu-ui Ttal-do Anin Haewon" ("Nobody's Daughter Haewon"), Hong Sangsoo.
"Paradies: Hoffnung" ("Paradise: Hope"), Ulrich Seidl.
"Parde" ("Closed Curtain"), Jafar Panahi and Kambozia Partovi.
"Pozitia Copilului" ("Child's Pose"), Calin Peter Netzer.
"Promised Land,...
- 1/28/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Because, looking forward, 2013 promises to be such a fruitful cornucopia of cinema, we were excited to be able to easily list an additional 100 titles we are eagerly looking forward to catching in the new year. From these 200-101 titles, we’re happy to list several projects featuring the extremely busy Isabelle Huppert, include two English language projects, Ned Benson’s split film project The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby His/Hers and the Niels Arden Oplev film, Dead Man Down (and don’t forget her French projects, a starring turn in Serge Bozon’s followup, Tip Top as well as Guillaume Nicloux’s The Religious).
Additionally, the horror genre should be extremely noteworthy in the coming year, with new projects from Neil Marshall (The Descent), Alexandre Aja (High Tension), Fabrice Du Welz (Calvaire), Lucky McKee (May) and directing team Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury (Inside). We’ve got two Australian beauties playing...
Additionally, the horror genre should be extremely noteworthy in the coming year, with new projects from Neil Marshall (The Descent), Alexandre Aja (High Tension), Fabrice Du Welz (Calvaire), Lucky McKee (May) and directing team Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury (Inside). We’ve got two Australian beauties playing...
- 1/10/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.