After the Austrian chainsaw massacre (THE CHILDREN OF THE DEAD at Berlinale Forum) now a "German chainsaw massacre," alas without a Schlingensief’s political acumen or sensibility for the signs of the times. Fatih Akin is clearly getting ready for his first Hollywood gig, directing Stephen King’s FIRESTARTER. “Playing with genre film has been running through my work since Short Sharp Shock in 1998,“ says Akin.I initially walked out neither loving nor hating The Golden Glove, giving a "yes but" interview to a colleague just after the screening. It took me a day to get off the fence about Golden Bear winner Fatih Akin’s lastest Berlinale competition title. Continue reading "#Berlinale19 #review: Horror, Honka, Hamburg..." »
✔ Double score on sitting in the very last row on Sunday. Before breakfast at Friedrichstadtpalast for the very atmospheric and excellently played Austrian competition entry The Ground Beneath her Feet by Marie Kreuzer; and two hours later at Berlinale Palast for Israeli-German co-production The Operative with a very good Diane Krüger and Martin Freeman in an okay spy thriller. 
✔ Wang done. Think of Wang Quan’an’s slow-quirky competition title as Fargo in the steppe, or Zacharias Kunuk in Mongolia. The Chinese director has a promising track record, winning the Berlinale top honour, the Golden Bear in 2007 for "Tuya's Marriage” and a Silver Bear three years later for "Tuan Yuan.” “Öndög” (dinosaur egg, we learn) has the most amazing love scene --involving a camel, a wolf and a rifle-- and more feisty feminism than any New York indie. As the herder heroine replies to her suitor: “If I need a man I’ll let you know, but not today."
✔ Can Con. Check check check. Auspicious to see Toronto theatre & film actors Catherine Fitch and Lisa Codrington in fine supporting roles (as damaged women in a self help group on forgiveness) in the otherwise uneven opening night film THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS by Lone Scherfig, a Canadian co-production. A critic next to me slept through it, so half a stamp as well for “napped during screening” by association.
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 fans, from rookies to veterans.
How did it take me a decade to start #BerlinaleBingo? Well, here it is. Copy this one, or make your own & play along. I will post my progress here and on Twitter and Instagram throughout the Berlinale.
In a loose series, we’ll be highlighting the professionals behind the camera that together bring stories to life, the 
