please welcome new contributor John Lynn-Fernandez
M Night Shyamalan, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, and Connie Nielsen are on the jury
The Berlin Film Festival kicked off last night. It's the second of the "Big Five" film festivals each year (after Sundance, before Cannes). In this preview, some films that stand out as potential highlights of the festival. But, of course, you never know which discoveries or films will emerge as the triumphs until audiences are watching them...
THE JURY
M. Night Shyamalan has been selected as the president of the jury of the main competition. Joining him for jury duty include Brazilian director Karim Ainouz (Invisible Life) and Japanese director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (hot off his Oscar nomination for Drive My Car). Also on the jury are Tunisian-French film producer Saïd Ben Saïd, German director Anne Zohra Berrached, Zimbabwean novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga, and Danish actress Connie Nielsen. It will be interesting to see what this jury selects, with directors with such conflicting styles as Shyamalan and Hamaguchi choosing the best films of the lineup.
The Kegelstatt Trio
FORUM
The Forum section this year has one of the most exciting lineups it’s ever had. The highlight, on paper, has to be Rita Azevedo Gomes’ The Kegelstatt Trio, which tells the story of a friends who were once lovers who fall further apart as life moves on. Azevedo Gomes’s previous film, A Portuguese Woman, was a vibrant and beautiful addition to the canon of slow cinema and featured some of the best cinematography of the last decade.
Happer's Comet
Poet
Also to note are the new films from Kazak director Darezhan Omirbaev and American indie director Tyler Taormina. Taormina’s follow up to his well received Ham on Rye, Happer’s Comet clocks in at a brief 62 minutes but should continue his growth as a director. Omirbaev, who has been in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard many times, premieres Poet, which traces the story of a poet who retraces the life of a rebellious poet in the 19th century.
The Forum’s impact may be most felt with its slate of documentaries. The highlights include Erin and Travis Wilkerson’s Nuclear Family (Travis’ last film, Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun? was a prodigious recollection of the American South’s pending racial comeuppance) which first played at the Mar de La Plata festival, Alain Gomes’ Rewind and Play (Gomes’ last won the Silver Bear in the main lineup for his fantastic Felicite), Camouflage by Jonathan Perel, A Flower in the Mouth by Eric Baudelarie, and James Benning’s The United States of America.
Nobody's Hero
OTHER SELECTIONS
The Panorama sidebar is one of the other major sections of the festival but most of the work in this strand is by newer directors. Even so, there is one major director with a film in competition: Alain Guiraudie. His film Nobody’s Hero opened the Panorama and tells the story of a man who falls in love with an older prostitute after a terrorist attack occurs in a city in central France. Guiraudie’s last two films pushed boundaries and were masterful works (Stranger by the Lake and Staying Vertical) so it’s a surprise the director’s new work is in this section.
Dark Glasses
Two other films of note will play in a the Special Screenings section of the festival, firstly the new film from prolific director Quentin Dupieux, Incredible But True, which tells another fantastical story for the director, this time of a couple who moves into a new house but has something lurking in the basement. The second film of note is the newest film by Italian horror master Dario Argento, Dark Glasses, which follows a serial killer who stalks prostitutes. Hopefully this latest film from the 81 year old Argento will be a return to form after quite a few uneven and poorly received films. Lastly to note in the sidebar will be a new short from Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel, titled North Terminal.
Coma
ENCOUNTERS
The Encounters Sidebar is a completely new section of the festival created by Carlo Chatrain and his selection team which features more experimental and challenging works that may not normally make the main strand. Since its inception some of the best films in recent years have premiered here (Cristi Puiu’s Malmkrog, Heinz Emigholz’s The Last City, and Josephine Decker’s Shirley for example).
This year the potential standout is the latest film from one the greats, Bertrand Bonello (of House of Tolerance, Nocturama, and Zombi Child fame). His Coma explores the virtual reality of a young girl and features one of the final performances of the late Gaspard Ulliel. Another film from a French director, Arnaud de Paileres, plays in Encounters: American Journal.
Two potentially major German language films will also be present in the lineup: documentarian Ruth Beckerman’s Mutzenbacher and Cyril Schaublin’s Unrest. Beckerman’s last documentary, The Waldheim Waltz played at the New York Film Festival and received great notices.) Schaublin’s Unrest details the story of a worker at a watch factory in Switzerland that joins an anarchist group. His prior work Those Who Are Fine received good festival exposure, including being one of the best reviewed films at New York’s New Directors/New Films festival in its year.
Flux Gourmet
Two other films to highlight Encounters. First, experimental director Argentine Gaston Solnicki returns with Little Love Package after his highly regarded Kekszakallu. Second is the new film from Peter Strickland. He continues to make beautiful and expressionistic queer cinema (The Duke of Bergundy and In Fabric) and his new film Flux Gourmet stars Asa Butterfield, Ariane Labed, and Gwendolyn Christie.
Alcarras
One Day One Night
MAIN COMPETITION
Of course even though Encounters, Forum, and the other sidebars will feature major films, all the high profile action and reviews will take place in the Main Competition. Two major directors will have their first premieres in competition at any of the three big European festivals. Carla Simon will continue the director’s look at provincial life in Catalonia with Alcarras. Her prior film, Summer 1993 did extremely well with critics upon its release. Isaki Lacuesta will premiere One Year, One Night. He recently won the Golden Seashell at San Sebastian for Between Two Waters and his newest film tells the story of a couple who survives the attack on the Bataclan theater. Noemie Merlant, Nahuel Perez Biscayart, and Quim Gutierrez star.
Peter Von Kant
The French contingent will be large in the lineup as well. François Ozon opened the festival last night with his adaptation of Fassbinder’s Petra von Kant, Peter von Kant. This is Ozon’s sixth time in competition and he recently came close to the Golden Bear, taking the Grand Jury Prize for By the Grace of God.
That Kind of Summer
Canadian director Denis Côte, will be back in the main lineup with his film That Kind of Summer. his more playfully experimental Covid film, Social Hygiene won best director in Encounters last year, and will be his fourth time in the main competition.
Also premiering is the rising director Michael Hers with his film The Passengers of the Night. His last film Amanda received respectable reviews and he has been heralded as a major talent.
Fire
Of course, The French contingent is not complete without Claire Denis, one of the greatest working artists. Her new film, Fire, stars Vincent Lindon, Juliette Binoche, Mati Diop, and Gregoire Colin. Wildly enough, Denis has never had a film play in the main competition at Berlinale.
Leonora Addio
There are still more European directors playing in the lineup. Paolo Taviani’s returns with Leonora Addio, which will be his first film directed since his brother’s death. The brothers had previously won the Golden Bear for Cesar Must Die (and they also are holders of the 1977 Palm D’or with Padre Padrone).
Also playing will be Ursula Meier’s The Line, starring Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, which tells the story of a daughter who attacks her mother and then receives a restraining order to not go anywhere near her home. This will be Meier’s second time to play in the main competition after her great film Sister played in 2012.
Rimini
Last from the Europeans is German extremist filmmaker Ulrich Seidl, Rimini, will show. The film has been circulated as a potential title the last few years to hit one of the big festivals and it’s finally showing the light of day. Seidl’s last film to play Berlinale was Paradise: Hope and he’s been a staple of the festival circuit with his other films playing normally in Cannes and Venice.
Everything Will Be OK
Finally, it's important to note that there are two high profile films from the Asian contingent. Documentarian Rithy Panh will again appear for Everything Will be OK. Panh’s The Missing Picture received an Oscar nomination a few years ago, but this new release will only be his second time in the Berlinale main competition. Moving from his native Cambodia, Panh will use his figurine storytelling style to recount the Myanmar protests and denounce authoritarianism.
The Novelist's Film
Finally there's Hong Sang-Soo’s The Novelist’s Film, starring Hong regular, Kim Min-hee. The film will likely continue to build upon Hong’s body of work and provide pleasures in every moment. It will be Hong’ s sixth time in the main competition (he's previously won Director and Screenplay at Berlinale)
The Berlinale Film Festival began yesterday, February 10th, and continues through February 20th, 2022.