Film festival 2010

The Melbourne end of the festival wrapped up last night with a final screening of The White Ribbon, followed by a panel discussion and lively Q and A session. The punitive, shame-driven version of Christianity practised by the film’s village pastor and his family was the subject of some discussion. For me, faith and cultural identity stood out as a common thread in many festival films this year, as well as the continued fascination Lynden Barber has noted with Germany’s 20th century history.

Continue reading "Faith in Film " »

This session turned out to be a festival highlight for me, in particular for its three short documentaries. I love the feeling that good documentaries (and, indeed, fiction films) can bring of real discovery; of places, people and situations newly revealed, or shown from a fresh perspective. Both Rabbit à la Berlin and Cyclist offer unique viewpoints on the GDR, along with fascinating archival footage and photography of the former state. Wagah provides a parallel vision of sorts, reporting from another dividing line between states, the Indian-Pakistani border.

Continue reading "Berlin Shorts: Unique Visions" »

I would always choose an original language film over a dubbed version but, like any act of translation, subtitles bring their own idiosyncrasies.

There is a small moment in The White Ribbon where the school teacher (and narrator) is getting to know a shy young neighbour a little better. She addresses him using the polite form of ‘You’ - Sie - and he urges her to use the familiar – du. In English, there is no direct translation for these formal and informal modes of address – the subtitles translate this as him asking her not to call him ‘Sir.’ In this film, set in a small village prior to World War 1, such a translation is plausible – but as a translator, how would you deal with it in a contemporary film, with characters who would never call each other ‘sir’?
Continue reading "A Passing Thought on ... »

Pope Joan's Johanna Wokalek and John Goodman join Ringo Starr (in the 1975 film Lisztomania) among the more unconventional Popes to have graced the silver screen. Wokalek (along with Liv Ullmann who played Pope Joan in Michael Anderson's 1972 film of the same name) is of course a rare female celluloid pope. John Goodman also shrugs off papal stereotypes as a cheeky but lovable hedonist. His Pope is great fun, not for its realism but for its unexpected humour.

In contrast, Storm’s lawyers and diplomats set themselves apart from many on-screen counterparts by being possibly closer to the real. For one thing, they actually seem old enough to have completed university and clocked up enough work experience to get them into their high-powered positions, as opposed to the youthful geniuses cinema and TV often serve up. I don’t believe film always has to adhere to reality but, given Storm’s realist style, in this case it is needed and makes for an all the more gripping film.

Empire Online has a fun slide-show history of celluloid popes here.

When We Leave (Die Fremde) has won the Best Narrative Feature prize at the 9th Annual Tribeca Film Festival in New York and the film's star Sibel Kekilli has won best actress. Kekilli also won the Best Actress Lola at last week's German Film Awards. If you are in Melbourne you can still catch a session at the Kino tomorrow night.

The festival jury said of the film:
'When We Leave examines one woman’s struggle for personal freedom. It’s a theme that is often explored – but rarely told with such humanity, subtlety, craftsmanship or immediacy, as in tonight’s winning entry. When We Leave is a riveting and heartbreaking story of a woman trapped in an abusive relationship, who must not only free herself from that marriage, but also the cultural prejudices and judgments that would keep her there.'

and of Kekilli: -
'Among many brilliant performances we found one in particular that captivated from the first frame of the film and held us through a long and difficult journey. By turns this actress was joy and sorrow, and love and hope, a woman both strong enough to stand against generations of Muslim traditions and vulnerable enough to express the pain of a daughter cast aside by all who have loved her.'

You can see their comments in full here.

Kekilli's debut feature role, for which she won the Berlinale Golden Bear, was in Fatih Akin's breakthrough film Head On (2004). She also appears in another film in this festival, Kebab Connection . Akin's Soul Kitchen was also a feature of the Tribeca Festival.

The festival is heading into its final weekend in Melbourne and Sydney, with a little further to go in Brisbane and the Adelaide Program yet to kick off.

What are your highlights in the program? I’d love your comments right here on the blog if you can spare a moment - and also don’t forget to vote for your favourite film here and go into the draw for a range of prizes.

You may have seen a certain golden gnome hanging about the festival... he will be awarded to the film that wins the audience vote.

This morning’s screening of Kebab Connection has me thinking rather wistfully about sitting in the window seat of a certain small diner in Kreuzberg, Berlin, tucking into a pita pocket packed with sweetly spiced shavings of chicken, crispy salad and hot sauce and sipping a hot tea. If my window seat was already occupied, I could wander round the corner to my other favourite diner and pick up probably the best haloumi sandwich in the world. Salty cheese, melting in a hot wrap with juicy vegetables. A fresh-squeezed carrot juice on the side. Mmmm. If the line was too long there as well, I could cross the road to Hasir, the Turkish restaurant founded by Mehmet Aygün, who legend has it created the first German style döner kebab in 1971, then saw his invention sweep the nation and beyond. Now they are Germany’s favourite fast food, according to this report, with around 15,500 businesses selling some 400 tons of döner meat every day.

Continue reading "This festival is making me ... »

Storm is a gripping legal thriller and realist drama, set at the International Criminal Tribunal (ICT) in The Hague, where war criminals go on trial. It won multiple awards at the 2009 Berlinale and the Silver Lola at last week’s German Film Awards. If you are in Sydney, I recommend the Friday night screening, which is followed by a panel session on Law and Politics at the Movies. Dr. Ben Saul, a Sydney Uni Associate Professor of International Law, will be among the panellists.

This film really does leave you wanting to ask an international lawyer if that’s what it’s really like - here’s your chance! I caught the Sunday night session in Melbourne, followed by an illuminating panel discussion with Monash University’s Dr. Gideon Boas and Peter Krausz. Boas was Senior Legal Officer at the ICT for the former Yugoslavia, during the trial of Slobodan Milošević - so well placed to comment.

Storm presents a world where ‘justice’ is a shared goal but also a malleable concept that can be swayed by bureaucracy, EU politics, behind the scenes deals and hidden threats. It was interesting to hear Dr. Boas’ opinion on the accuracies and otherwise in the film, which he called a 'mixture of emotion and law.'



Continue reading "Storm" »

I’m a fan of Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen. He steals the show in Bond film Casino Royale (2006) with his creepy turn as an asthmatic arch-villain who weeps blood instead of tears; and his morose psychiatrist in Lone Scherfig’s comedy Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (2002) is a deadpan delight.

It seems I’m not alone. Peter Krausz introduced The Door to a large audience on Sunday night. When he mentioned Mikkelsen, an audible ripple of enthusiasm traveled through the room and from the row behind me, I heard an energetic “Yes!” Continue reading "Mikkelsen opens The Door " »

This documentary made we want to go back to Istanbul. I've spent only the briefest few days there but what a glorious assault on the senses it was. It's a place of contrasts and collisions, where cosmopolitan metropolis meets ancient city and Europe joins Asia across the Bosphorus Strait. Fatih Akin's film brings the city to life through its music.

Our guide is German experimental rocker Alexander Hacke, exploring the city with a mobile recording studio. Hacke and Akin first visited Istanbul together when Hacke worked on Akin's breakthrough feature Head On. Now the pair return to record musicians ranging from rappers to rockers to oud players and to give us a glimpse of the breadth and depth of the city's music and musical heritage. Continue reading "Crossing the Bridge - The ... »

Last night Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon swept the German Film Awards, picking up 10 Lolas, including best film, best director, several acting awards and a very deserved win for Christian Berger's wonderful black and white cinematography. This caps off an amazing run of awards, which include the Palme d'Or at Cannes and a Golden Globe for best foreign language film. The film was also an Oscar nominee for best foreign language film.

I saw this extraordinary film for the first time in last night's festival session and expect it will take a good while yet to mull over. Its atmosphere still lingers and I keep coming back to a statement from the elderly narrator at the story's beginning. He tells us that the strange events he is about to describe, that happened in the small village he taught in as a young man, may explain later events in his country's history. What might this tale of hidden things in a small, close community tell us more broadly about 20th century Germany?


Continue reading "The White Ribbon sweeps the ... »

Last night the Goethe Institut’s Eva Schulz and German Consul General Dr. Anne-Marie Schleich launched the Melbourne end of the festival with the good news that Iceland’s volcanic eruption has not stopped the films arriving, or stopped special guests Sönke Wortmann and Erica Fischer from attending.

Introducing Soul Kitchen, Schulz said: ‘Whoever says Germans can't cook or laugh should think again!’ – and laugh the audience did, myself included. Soul Kitchen is a rich feast, packed with comic excess, food, music, romance, lovable rogues and arch villains.
Continue reading "Soul Kitchen" »

The festival is already underway in Sydney and tonight Melbourne and Perth audiences will be served some Culinary Comedy for their first course. Perth festival-goers can mix Whiskey with Vodka, while here in Melbourne we’ll be treated to Fatih Akin’s Soul Kitchen.

I’m looking forward to getting to know Akin’s films better this festival. The director told cineuropa.org that after finding acclaim with his international award-winning dramas Head On (2003) and The Edge of Heaven (2007) he wondered: ‘Am I able to do something different? Am I able to make people laugh?’
Continue reading "Culinary Comedy spotlight ... »