German Film @ Canada - Goethe-Institut

I remember sitting in the TIFF 2014 world premiere of Christian Petzold’s Phoenix, willing myself to let go. If you cannot suspend your disbelief and let Petzold take you by the hand, you will struggle to dive into his stories, which is true too for Petzold’s new Berlinale Competition contender Undine (and to a certain degree last year’s Transit, a relationship precursor to his latest). If you surrender to his curious storytelling, you are in for an intimately romantic and quietly humorous treat with Undine (trailer). Continue reading "Berlinale 2020: UNDINE #review" »

I remember sitting in the TIFF 2014 world premiere of Christian Petzold’s Phoenix, willing myself to let go. If you cannot suspend your disbelief and let Petzold take you by the hand, you will struggle to dive into his stories, which is true too for Petzold’s new Berlinale Competition contender Undine (and to a certain degree last year’s Transit, a relationship precursor to his latest). If you surrender to his curious storytelling, you are in for an intimately romantic and quietly humorous treat with Undine (trailer). Continue reading "Berlinale 2020: UNDINE #review" »

Wondering who the new TIFF Co-Head is? We chatted with Joana Vicente in January, just after she started at TIFF and was packing for the Berlinale.

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.

Name & role: Joana Vicente, Executive Director and Co-Head of TIFF as of late 2018. Producer of Oscar-nomitated CAPERNAUM. Formerly Executive Director of New York’s IFP - Independent Filmmaker Project (whose founder Sandra Schulberg is honoured with a Berlinale Camera Award this year).

This is my 6th Berlinale.

"I’ve always looked to TIFF as a prominent international platform for world cinema, with an impact that is both local and global,” you recently said about your new home. Where do you position the Berlinale on the international festival and industry circuit? Continue reading "Berlinale People: Joana Vicente, TIFF" »

My Goethe colleagues asked our group of 2019 international Berlinale Bloggers to answer 3 questions as the 69th Berlin International Film Festival is coming to the end, here's my take-away:

The times they are a-changin’ at the Berlinale. In 2020, long-time festival director Dieter Kosslick will be succeeded by a new team: Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek. If you could wish for something from the new leadership, what would it be? What should be different or better at the next Berlinale?
Continue reading "Times they are a-changin’ at Berlinale" »

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.

Name & role: Logan Ouellette, Canadian expat in Berlin. Tech startup guy. Film aficionado.

This is my 5th Berlinale.

Most lasting Berlinale memory to date:
Continue reading "Berlinale People: Logan Ouellette (Berlin/Ottawa)" »

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.

Name & role: Mario Pfeifer, producer/director/artist; Berlin Biennale 2018; in preparation for a survey exhibition at The Power Plant in Toronto for summer 2019.

This is my 15th Berlinale. Continue reading "Berlinale People: Mario Pfeifer, artist" »

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.

✔ More female-made films: Continue reading "#BerlinaleBingo 2019: Day 5" »

✔ 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." Continue reading "#BerlinaleBingo 2019: Day 2" »

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.

Name & role: Helene Hegemann, author (Axolotl Roadkill, Jage Zwei Tiger, Bungalow), script writer (TORPEDO), filmmaker (AXOLOTL OVERKILL), actor (DEUTSCHLAND 09). On her way to the Berlinale Gala opening...

This is my 9th Berlinale.

You spent the summer 2017 in residence in Toronto, courtesy of TIFF and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg. What traces has that left in your life & work (other than your dream of living off-the-grid in the Canadian wilderness)?
Continue reading "Berlinale People: Helene Hegemann, author" »