Berlinale #2: "Cuckoo", "La Cocina," and "All The Long Nights"

by Elisa Giudici

There are days when every film starts off more than promisingly. Your heart races because you think you're about to watch a great movie, but movies don't always live up to their promise.

CUCKOO © NEON

CUCKOO by Tilman Singer
This year's Berlinale promises a wealth of intriguing horror films. Unfortunately, the first one to be presented, one of the most anticipated this year, turns out to be a classic case of a film with a phenomenal start that derails just as spectacularly while seeking its development and conclusion. Despite the film being far from successful, there's a clear impression that, with a bit more experience, writer/director Tilman Singer is destined for a very bright future...

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Berlinale #1: Cillian Murphy in "Small Things Like These"

Elisa Giudici, TFE's frequent festival friend is in Berlin for the 74th annual Berlinale...

SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE © Shane O'Connor

by Elisa Giudici

"If you want to get on with life, sometimes you have to ignore things" Billy Furlong's wife remarks to him. It's 1985, and life in the Irish town of New Ross is modest yet dignified, for the most part. It's in the subtleties and the fine line between two worlds that the agony and suffering of Berlinale's opening film unfolds.  

Adapted from Claire Keegan's novel, Tim Mielants' Small Things Like These portrays the story of a "soft-hearted man" named Billy (Cillian Murphy, teased by his wife for his unwavering tendency to aid those in need...

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I'll Link to That: System Crasher, A Man Called Otto, Turning Red

• Collider Tom Hanks A Man Called Otto (a remake of Sweden's A Man Called Ove) is getting a Christmas 2022 theatrical release. You might recall that the original was nominated for Best Makeup so Hanks is already attempting to dominate that category next year with this film and those prosthetics on Elvis...
• TFE ...the trailer of which we discussed here a few days back
• The Daily Beast lots of drama on the set of Euphoria this season

Andrew Garfield, Elliot Page, Tahar Rahim, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, Paul Thomas Anderson, a gay film causing a stir in Egypt, and more...

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Berlinale Prize Winners: Claire Denis, Carla Simón, and Isabelle Huppert

by Nathaniel R

The annual Berlinale proved to be yet another excellent film festival for female filmmakers. France's legendary auteur Claire Denis (Beau Travail, White Material, 35 Shots of Run) took Best Director for her latest Both Sides of the Blade (pictured above) which stars two incredible French titans of acting, Vincent Lindon and Juliette Binoche. This is Denis' very first prize at one of the Big Three European festivals if you can believe it. The top prize of the festival, the Golden Bear, went to rising Catalan filmmaker Carla Simón (Summer 1993) for her ensemble drama Alcaras about a family who may lose their farm.  

Complete list of winners after the jump and we do expect at least a couple of them to pop up in next year's International Feature Film Oscar race since the buzz often starts at Berlin for some entries to that category...

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A peek at what's playing at the 72nd annual Berlinale

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...

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