If, like me, you're already suffering from severe FOMO just by glancing at the hundreds of promising films in the 73rd Berlinale line-up or are wondering what to watch out for in international cinemas for the rest of 2023, you might profit from some bespoke pointers... et voilà:
If you like your arthouse with a good dose of crime & want to see how the Cannes director approaches a trans story:
Till the End of the Night by Christoph Hochhäusler
with Timocin Ziegler, Thea Ehre, Michael Sideris
An undercover investigator is supposed to gain the trust of a criminal through a fictitious relationship with a contact person.
World premiere, Competition
If you like Petzold + actors Beer & Brandt (both in Transit) & the next superstar Langston Uibel (my prediction) & want to see the second film in Petzold’s latest trilogy after Undine & how the director tells a queer story:
Afire by Christian Petzold
with Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs, Matthias Brandt, Jonas Dassler
A group of friends in a holiday home by the Baltic Sea where emotions run high as the parched forest around them catches fire.
World premiere, Competition
If you like Greece & … well, Schanelec & are curious about Toronto artist Doug Tielli’s music for the film:
Music by Angela Schanelec
with Aliocha Schneider, Agathe Bonitzer, Marisha Triantafyllidou, Argyris Xafis
A boy grows up with his step-parents in Greece. At the age of 20, he unwittingly murders his father. While serving his sentence, he falls in love and has a child with a woman who works in the prison -- unaware of the fact that she is his biological mother.
World premiere, Competition
If you’re curious about the hype around the recent release of the love letters between authors Ingeborg Bachmann and Max Frisch & you love veteran von Trotta’s depiction of strong female characters & want to see the chemistry between Krieps + Zehrfeld:
Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert by Margarethe von Trotta
with Vicky Krieps, Ronald Zehrfeld, Tobias Resch, Basil Eidenbenz, Luna Wedler
Examining the relationship between writers Ingeborg Bachmann and Max Frisch.
World premiere, Competition
If you liked Atef’s recent French-language Cannes feature More Than Ever & appreciate bestseller adaptations:
Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything by Emily Atef
with Marlene Burow, Felix Kramer, Cedric Eich
Set in a warm summer in 1990 in former East Germany, the romantic drama follows a young woman who begins a relationship with a charismatic farmer twice her age.
World premiere, Competition
If you cannot wait to see how Locarno winner Polat & Toni Erdmann DoP Patrick Orth made it into the Berlinale’s competitive platform fostering “aesthetically and structurally daring works from independent, innovative filmmakers (and)… support new perspectives in cinema”:
In the Blind Spot by Ayşe Polat
with Katja Bürkle, Ahmet Varlı, Çağla Yurga, Aybi Era, Maximilian Hemmersdorfer
In a remote city in north-east Turkey, the stories of a German film team and a Turkish secret service agent, whose little daughter seems to be haunted by a mysterious force, become intertwined. A complex net of conspiracy and trauma unfolds.
World premiere, Encounters
If you’re up for the umpteenth recent retelling of Empress Sisi’s life & trust Finsterwalder to do something new and weird & Hüller to deliver that:
Sisi & I by Frauke Finsterwalder
with Sandra Hüller, Susanne Wolff, Georg Friedrich, Stefan Kurt, Sophie Hutter
In this wild reinterpretation of the “Sisi” myth, the focus is on Austrian Empress Elizabeth’s close friendship with her last lady-in-waiting, Irma Countess von Sztáray, who falls in love with the charismatic Sisi and is captivated by her modern ideas.
World premiere, Panorama
If you are curious what Derki will deliver after his outstanding documentary Of Fathers and Sons:
Under the Sky of Damascus by Heba Khaled, Talal Derki, Ali Wajeeh
Experiencing violence is commonplace for Syrian women but they do not discuss the prevalence of – often sexual – exploitation for fear of revenge. A collective of young women want to break the taboo with a theatre project. But how free are they themselves?
World premiere, Panorama, Documentary Form
If you are a fan of Rogowski (Transit; Undine; Great Freedom; A Hidden Life; I was at Home, But; In the Aisles; Victoria; Tiger Girl; Love Steaks; …) & exciting young Italian cinema:
Disco Boy by Giacomo Abbruzzese
with Franz Rogowski, Morr Ndiaye, Laëtitia Ky, Leon Lučev
After a painful journey through Europe, Aleksei arrives in Paris to join the Foreign Legion. In the Niger Delta, Jomo struggles against the oil companies threatening his village. One day, at the head of an armed group, he kidnaps French nationals. A commando of the Foreign Legion intervenes, led by Aleksei. The destinies of Aleksei and Jomo merge and continue across borders, bodies, life and death.
World premiere, Competition, Debut film
If you need a laugh in between the drama and politics & an enjoyable education in German humour (yes...) and cultural heritage:
Loriot’s Great Cartoon Revue
with
Loriot
"Divorce is the correction of a tragic error."
World premiere, Animation, Berlinale Special
Canada @ Berlinale shoutout:
If you ever had a BlackBerry phone & want to see what Toronto’s Matt Johnson is up to after The Dirties and Operation Avalanche & you intend to shout “We The North!” in Berlin:
BlackBerry by Matt Johnson
with Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, Matt Johnson, Cary Elwes, Saul Rubinek
The story of the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the world's first smartphone.
World premiere, Competition
Berlinale Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian told Deadline magazine that BlackBerry, alongside several other English-language Canadian titles, are maybe “not the kind of movies that you were expecting, but for me, they are great examples of the fresh vibrant, strong North American titles.”
by
@JuttaBrendemuhl
image: Petzold: Afire, courtesy Schramm Film / Berlinale
