by Helen Barlow
This week the Berlinale announced the programme for its reduced 71st edition. Initially, the festival will be online from March 1 to 5 mostly as an industry event, and it plans to host a physical summer public event in June.
The competition comprises 15 films, most notably Daniel Bruhl’s directorial debut, Next Door, in which he also stars; Celine Sciamma’s Petite Maman, her follow-up to Portrait of a Lady on Fire; Xavier Beauvois’ Drift Away starring Jeremie Renier and Maria Schrader’s I’m Your Man.
Two of the 11 movies screening in the non-competitive Berlinale Special section will be headed our way soon. French Exit stars awards contender Michelle Pfeiffer as a socialite widow who moves to Paris, while Kevin Macdonald’s The Mauritanian, starring two more contenders, Jodie Foster and Tahar Rahim, follows the incredible but true story of Guantanamo Bay inmate Mohamedou Ould Slahi, based on his memoir. There’s also a documentary about Tina Turner, while Michael Caine stars as a cranky author forced to take part in a book tour in Best Sellers.
There are no Australian films to be seen, even in the sidebars. But in the market (EFM), Cornerstone will be selling Dark Horse director James Napier Robertson’s and Paula Whetu Jones’ New Zealand film Whina starring Rena Owen. The biopic, which will be distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Transmission Films, is about Dame Whina Cooper, a beloved Māori matriarch who worked tirelessly to improve the rights of her people, especially women. At nearly 80 years of age, Cooper became nationally revered as the ‘Mother of The Nation’ when she led the first Māori Land March over 1,000 kilometres from Te Hapua in the Far North to Wellington in 1975.
Competition
Albatros (Drift Away) by Xavier Beauvois, with Jérémie Renier, Marie-Julie Maille, Victor Belmondo
Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc (Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn) by Radu Jude, with Katia Pascariu, Claudia Ieremia, Olimpia Mălai
Fabian oder Der Gang vor die Hunde (Fabian – Going to the Dogs) by Dominik Graf, with Tom Schilling, Saskia Rosendahl, Albrecht Schuch
Ghasideyeh gave sefid (Ballad of a White Cow) by Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam, with Maryam Moghaddam, Alireza Sanifar
Guzen to sozo (Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy) by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, with Kotone Furukawa, Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Fusako Urabe
Herr Bachmann und seine Klasse (Mr Bachmann and His Class) by Maria Speth, with Dieter Bachmann and pupils of class 6b
Ich bin dein Mensch (I’m Your Man) by Maria Schrader, with Maren Eggert, Dan Stevens, Sandra Hüller
Inteurodeoksyeon (Introduction) by Hong Sangsoo, with Shin Seokho, Park Miso, Kim Minhee
Memory Box by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, with Rim Turki, Manal Issa, Paloma Vauthier
Nebenan (Next Door) by Daniel Brühl, with Daniel Brühl, Peter Kurth
Petite Maman by Céline Sciamma, with Joséphine Sanz, Gabrielle Sanz, Nina Meurisse
Ras vkhedavt, rodesac cas vukurebt? (What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?) by Alexandre Koberidze, with Ani Karseladze, Giorgi Bochorishvili, Vakhtang Fanchulidze
Rengeteg – mindenhol látlak (Forest – I See You Everywhere) by Bence Fliegauf, with Laura Podlovics, István Lénárt, Lilla Kizlinger, Zsolt Végh, László Cziffer, Juli Jakab, Ági Gubík
Természetes fény (Natural Light) by Dénes Nagy, with Ferenc Szabó, Tamás Garbacz, László Bajkó
Una Película de Policías (A Cop Movie) by Alonso Ruizpalacios, with Mónica Del Carmen, Raúl Briones
Berlinale Special
Best Sellers by Lina Roessler, with Michael Caine, Aubrey Plaza
Courage by Aliaksei Paluyan, with Maryna Yakubovich, Pavel Haradnizky, Denis Tarasenka
French Exit by Azazel Jacobs, with Michelle Pfeiffer, Lucas Hedges, Valerie Mahaffey, Imogen Poots
Je suis Karl by Christian Schwochow, with Luna Wedler, Jannis Niewöhner, Milan Peschel
Language Lessons by Natalie Morales, with Natalie Morales, Mark Duplass, Desean Terry
Limbo by Cheang Soi, with Lam Ka Tung, Liu Cya, Lee Mason, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi
The Mauritanian by Kevin Macdonald, with Jodie Foster, Tahar Rahim, Shailene Woodley, Benedict Cumberbatch
Per Lucio (For Lucio) by Pietro Marcello
Tides by Tim Fehlbaum, with Nora Arnezedar, Iain Glen, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina
Tina by Dan Lindsay, T. J. Martin, with Tina Turner, Angela Bassett, Oprah Winfrey, Katori Hall
Wer wir waren (Who We Were) by Marc Bauder, with Alexander Gerst, Sylvia Erle, Dennis Snower, Matthieu Ricard
