SHARE
COPY LINK

CULTURE

Berlinale: Famous Berlin film festival to spotlight pandemic-era movies

Berlin's international film festival next month will feature 15 movies made under the pandemic in competition for its Golden Bear top prize, organisers said Thursday.

Berlinale: Famous Berlin film festival to spotlight pandemic-era movies
A scene from pandemic-era film and Berlinale entry, 'Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn'. Photo: DPA

Directors including Emmy winner Maria Schrader (“Unorthodox”),
German-Spanish actor Daniel Brühl (“Rush”) and French director Celine Sciamma (“Portrait of a Lady on Fire”) will be premiering new work at the event, which will take place online because of Germany's partial lockdown.

The Berlinale's artistic director, Carlo Chatrian, said all contenders for the top prizes at the March 1st-5th event were “films that either in their production or their post-production process have endured the pandemic”.

READ ALSO: Berlin's Berlinale film fest to be held both online and live due to pandemic

“If only a few of them show directly the new world we are living in, all of them carry beneath their surfaces the uncertain times we are experiencing,” he said in a video presenting the lineup.

“A sense of apprehension is everywhere.”

Schrader will unveil “I'm Your Man”, a sci-fi comedy about a woman played by Sandra Hüller (“Toni Erdmann”) finding a custom-made Mr Right.

Brühl, who came to international attention with the bittersweet comedy “Good Bye, Lenin” and is now part of the Captain America franchise, will make his directorial debut with “Next Door” about gentrification in Berlin.

Sciamma, who scooped the best screenplay award in Cannes with her critical smash hit “Portrait of a Lady on Fire”, has completed “Petite Maman” starring two young girls.

Two-part festival

One of Romania's top filmmakers, Radu Jude, who won the Berlinale's Silver Bear in 2015 for “Aferim!” about the origins of prejudice against the Roma, is back with “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn” about a teacher whose sex tape winds up on the internet.

Lebanese directors Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige will screen “Memory Box” about an immigrant mother in Montreal facing flashbacks of her country's civil war.

“Albatross” by France's Xavier Beauvois (“Of Gods and Men”) tells of the trials of a police officer in a northern village.

Festival circuit favourite Hong Sang-soo of South Korea will show “Introduction” featuring his frequent muse Kim Min-hee, who clinched best actress in Berlin in 2017.

Other titles include “A Cop Movie”, a Mexican documentary by Alonso Ruizpalacios, Iranian death penalty drama “Ballad of a White Cow” by Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam and Denes Nagy's Hungarian World War II feature
“Natural Light”.

The Berlinale, now in its 71st edition, is the first major European cinema showcase of the year and ranks with Cannes and Venice among the continent's top film festivals.

As a result of the coronavirus outbreak, it is scheduled to take place in two parts this year, one in March for industry professionals and one in June with screenings for general audiences.

The jury will be made up of six previous Golden Bear winners including last year's laureate, dissident Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, who claimed the prize for “There Is No Evil” about capital punishment in his country.

By Deborah Cole

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

CULTURE

EXPLAINED: What to know about Germany’s youth culture pass

As of June 14th, anyone turning 18 this year can sign up for €200 worth of free books, music, theatre and cinema tickets under Germany's 'Kulturpass' scheme. Here's why and how they can use it.

EXPLAINED: What to know about Germany's youth culture pass

What’s Germany’s culture pass?

The KulturPass – or culture pass – is a bit like a voucher that young people in Germany can use to buy tickets to cultural events, or even products like books or sheet music.

Anyone turning 18 in 2023 – estimated to be about 750,000 people – can get their hands on the pass. They will have €200 credit that they can spend on a special culture pass platform over two years for event tickets and other cultural offers. 

It’s worth noting that the digital pass is available to all young people living in Germany, even if they don’t hold German citizenship.

How is it given out?

The pass won’t be handed out automatically – those who are eligible have to sign up and prove their identity and age. To do so, simply head to the Kulturpass website (you can change the language from German to English by clicking on ‘Profil’) or download the Kulturpass app on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

Cultural venues can also sign up to sell their tickets or entrance cards via the Kulturpass app and website, so they can get a boost to their sales by promoting it on this central platform.

READ ALSO: Everything that changes in June 2023 in Germany

Why is Germany doing this?

The move follows similar youth culture projects by other countries, including France, Italy and Spain. 

The German government initiative has two major aims: the first is to give young people an opportunity to get out and experience live culture in a way they weren’t able to during the pandemic.

Culture Minister Claudia Roth said last year that she hoped the KulturPass would get “young people go out and experience culture, see how diverse and inspiring it is”.

This, the government hopes, will create the next generation of culture vultures. 

The second aim is to help give a boost to cultural institutions like theatres, galleries, live music venues and similar businesses. 

The culture industry was one of the hardest hit in the pandemic, due to the Covid shutdowns put in place by the German government to combat the spread of the virus. 

Venues have struggled to encourage people to break out of their pandemic habits and get out to live events again. 

What kind of events can young people go to?

The emphasis is on live events to get people away from their home and to give the arts scene a boost. Theatres and concert venues will likely be a popular choice, but also independent bookshops, art galleries, and small business cinemas.

Amazon, Spotify, big chain cinemas – those kinds of vendors are excluded. Instead, the emphasis will be on local, independent venues and higher culture like opera, theatre, and concerts, as well as books and music.

Are there plans to roll it out to other age groups?

At the moment, this is a pilot project for people turning 18 this year. Depending on how it goes, the government may be looking at plans to roll such a pass out for 16 and 17 year-olds as well.

To hear more on this story, tune into our Germany in Focus podcast episode released on Friday, March 26th. 

SHOW COMMENTS