German Film @ Canada - Goethe-Institut

At 75, and just off the Berlinale Documentary Jury, Ulrike Ottinger is working on her next art doc, PARIS CALLIGRAMMES, which takes her back to her days as an art student in Paris.
Her personal memories of the city during the revolutionary 1960s, the Paris bohème and of her contemporaries are combined with exclusive archival material to create a "calligramme", a typographical poem.

Here is an excerpt from her yet-unpublished director’s statement, courtesy of the filmmaker:
Continue reading "Ulrike Ottinger next: Paris Calligrammes" »

Continue reading "GOETHE FILMS: Ulrike Ottinger in Asia (win tix!)" »

Biggest winner:
(noticeably increased number of) documentaries.

Biggest laughs:
Udo Kier’s look (you’ll know which one when you see it) in Gus van Sant’s Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot.

Best #TimesUp moment (tie):
Continue reading "#Berlinale2018: Top Take-aways" »

Two German actors with fluent French in Cédric Kahn's accomplished Berlinale competition drama La Prière: Alex Brendemühl and Hanna Schygulla.


The Brendemühl on the left stars in two great Berlinale 2018 films (Transit and The Prayer), the Brendemühl on the right ... doesn't. Continue reading "#Berlinale2018 photo impressions (2)" »

Director Thomas Stuber (A Heavy Heart, at TIFF15) reads from author Clemens Meyer's short story In The Aisles --watch the trailer* before the late Berlinale competition premiere-- at the Audi Berlinale Lounge (in German):


... and from his script for the film with European Shooting Star Franz Rogowski and Toni Erdmann's Sandra Hüller (in German):


*Did you recognize actor Peter Kurth here, who played the lead Herbert in A Heavy Heart?

Part of a series of mini profiles on the blog German Film @ Canada on the movers and shakers that make the Berlinale one of the most important events in the international film calendar: the filmmakers, programmers, curators, industry promoters and visitors, from rookies to veterans.

Name and role: Matthijs Wouter Knol, Director of European Film Market at Berlinale since 2014; 2008-2014 Head of Programming Berlinale Talents; 2007-2008 IDFA Industry Office and 2001-2007 documentary producer in Amsterdam.

This is my 12th Berlinale (and the 30th market anniversary)!
I have visited the EFM as a producer since 2006, before I started working for the Berlinale in 2008, so the market was my first connection to the festival in Berlin.

Why the Canada in Focus programme at EFM 2018? Continue reading "#BerlinalePeople: Matthijs Wouter Knol, head of..." »

by @JuttaBrendemuhl

Part of an ongoing series of mini profiles on the blog German Film @ Canada on the movers and shakers that make the Berlinale one of the most important events in the international film calendar: the filmmakers, programmers, curators, industry promoters and visitors, from rookies to veterans.

Name and role: Jesse Cumming, Toronto-based film curator, programming associate (TIFF), writer (Cinema Scope, MUBI Notebook, The Brooklyn Rail), occasional publicist. Part of Berlin Critics' Week and Berlinale Talent Press 2018.

This is your 1st Berlinale – what’s your personal mission?

I already have too much I want to do. I’m an extremely slow writer, so I suppose one goal is to improve my efficiency as I work on my Talent Press coverage. Doing so will hopefully leave more time for exhibitions, Critics’ Week panels, meetings, catching up with friends and colleagues, and - natürlich - more films.

With your Berlin Critics’ Week hat on: What special role do your see for “cinema as a cultural space” right now?
Continue reading "#BerlinalePeople: Jesse Cumming, programmer/critic" »

What's the season between Christmas (left) and Easter (right)?


Why the Berlin International Film Festival of course! Or as Christian Petzold just lovingly boiled it down: "It's cold and Potdamer Platz sucks...
Continue reading "#Berlinale2018 photo impressions (1)" »

Part of an ongoing series of mini profiles on the blog German Film @ Canada on the movers and shakers that make the Berlinale one of the most important events in the international film calendar: the filmmakers, programmers, curators, industry promoters and visitors, from rookies to veterans.

Back again in the Berlinale competition is (my cousin) Alex Brendemühl, who I caught up with before his Saturday and Sunday premieres:

Name & role: Alex Brendemühl, actor and writer, known for WAKOLDA (2013), MAL DE PIERRES (2016), HEDI SCHNEIDER IS STUCK (2015). Brendemühl played in last year’s Berlinale opener DJANGO and is back this year with two films in competition: the (French) world premiere of Cédric Kahn’s THE PRAYER and Christian Petzold’s (German) world premiere of TRANSIT.

What was the most amazing moment when you were in the Berlin Film Festival opener last year?
Just everything about that night! Starting on the afternoon of the opening, with the view from my hotel room over the red carpet being set up. And being at this amazing showcase for the first time. Then our huge portraits were put up at the entrance of the theatre… and then the premiere itself at the Berlinale Palast, in this enormous, beautiful cinema, with amazing sound...

You’re back, with directors Kahn and Petzold. What was the biggest difference in their directing styles? Continue reading "#BerlinalePeople: Alex Brendemühl, actor" »