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Berlin International Film Festival · 2009

Berlin International Film Festival 2009

Generation

Aimed at younger audiences, Generation is split into Kplus, for the very youngest cinemagoers and 14plus for teenagers.

Programme

29 films · 9 reviews

Jump to a film

2001: A Space Odyssey (2001)

Review preview for 2001: A Space Odyssey

The long wordless opening of 2001 remains one of the most beautiful sequences on film.

Nicola Osborne · 4 out of 5
Kubrick and Clarke's quest to the stars.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 1968; Director: Stanley Kubrick; Writer: Stanley Kubrick. Based on the book by Arthur C Clarke; Stars: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter, Leonard Rossiter, Douglas Rain)

Full review

14plus - also screening as part of Retrospective.

Afterschool

Review preview for Afterschool

'An effective and realistic examination of a world where intelligent and privileged characters have reached near-adulthood without having any real understanding of basic morality.'

Jeff Robson · 4 out of 5
A boy at an exclusive American private school becomes increasingly obsessed with watching video clips on his computer.

(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Antonio Campos; Writer: Antonio Campos; Stars: Ezra Miller, Addison Timlin, Jeremy Allen White, Emory Cohen, Michael Stuhlbarg, Rosemarie Dewitt, Lee Wilkof, Paul Sparks, Bill Raymond, Gary Wilmes Christopher Mccann)

Full review

14plus

The Bogeyman (Mommo, Kiz Kardesim)

Review preview for The Bogeyman

As Ayse, Elif Bülbül is one of the cutest children to grace the screen for years, whilst Mehmet Bülbül delivers a subtle, multi-layered performance as her brother.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Rejected by their stepmother and cast out of their father's home, two children face an uncertain future.

(Country: Turkey; Year: 2009; Director: Atalay Tasdiken; Writer: Atalay Tasdiken; Stars: Elif Bülbül, Mehmet Bülbül, Mete Dönmezer, Mustafa Uzunyilmaz, Mehmet Usta) , Official site

Full review

Kplus. World Premiere

Cherrybomb

Three teenagers find a wild weekend of drink, drugs and stealing quickly spirals out of control.

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Lisa Barros D'Sa, Glenn Leyburn; Writer: Daragh Carville; Stars: Rupert Grint, Robert Sheehan, Kimberley Nixon, James Nesbitt, Conor MacNeill, Kathy Kiera Clarke, Lalor Roddy, Kat Kirk, Paul Kennedy, Niamh Quinn)

14plus. World Premiere

Eagle Hunter's Son (Die Stimme des Adlers)

The son of a Kazakh eagle hunter longs to shake of his heritage and embrace life in the city... but will an adventure change his mind?

(Country: Sweden, Germany; Year: 2009; Director: René Bo Hansen; Writer: René Bo Hansen, Staffan Julén, Stefan Karlsson; Stars: Bazarbai Matyei, Serikbai Khulan, Matei Mardan, Asilbek Badelkhan)

Kplus

The Exploding Girl

Review preview for The Exploding Girl

A minor mumblecore treat.

Paul Griffiths · 3 out of 5
Two long-time confidants negotiate feelings and friendships during their college break.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Bradley Rust Gray; Writer: Bradley Rust Gray; Stars: Zoe Kazan, Mark Rendall, Franklin Pipp, Maryann Urbano)

Full review

14plus. Also part of Forum

The Girl (Flickan)

A young girl who is left home alone one summer.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2009; Director: Fredrik Edfeldt; Writer: Karin Arrhenius; Stars: Shanti Roney, Annika Hallin, Leif Andrée, Maria Langhammer, Tova Magnusson-Norling)

Kplus. World Premiere

Glowing Stars (I Taket Lyser Stjärnorna)

A girl struggles to come to terms with her mum's cancer.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2009; Director: Lisa Siwe; Writer: Linn Gottfridsson, Lisa Siwe, Johanna Thydell; Stars: Annika Hallin, Samuel Haus, Anki Lidén, Josephine Mattsson)

14plus

I'm Gonna Explode (Voy A Explotar, I'm Going To Explode)

Review preview for I'm Gonna Explode

The issue of sex is carefully handled and the trajectory the pair take has a fumbling, teenage quality that makes it easy to believe.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A romance develops between two rebels without a cause.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2008; Director: Gerardo Naranjo; Writer: Gerardo Naranjo; Stars: Maria Deschamps, Juan Pablo de Santiago, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Rebecca Jones, Martha Claudia Moreno) , Official site

Full review

14plus

The Inheritors (Los Herederos)

Documentary observes how hard work defines the lives and existence of children and their families.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2008; Director: Eugenio Polgovsky)

Kplus

It's Not Me, I Swear! (C'est pas moi, je le jure!)

Comedy drama about a troubled youngster growing up in a dysfunctional family.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2008; Director: Philippe Falardeau; Writer: Philippe Falardeau, Bruno Hébert; Stars: Antoine L'Écuyer, Suzanne Clément, Daniel Brière, Catherine Faucher, Gabriel Maillé, Jules Philip, Micheline Bernard, Jean Maheux, Denis Gravereaux, Evelyne Rompré)

Kplus

Katia's Sister (Het Zusje van Katia)

Story of a young girl, trying to cope with the fact that her mother and sister are prostitutes.

(Country: Netherlands; Year: 2008; Director: Mijke de Jong; Writer: Andrés Barba, Jan Eilander, Jolein Laarman; Stars: Ian Bok, Fred Goessens, Jennifer Jago, Chico Kenzari, Olga Louzgina, Betty Qizmolli, Rogier Schippers, Julia Seijkens, Tatiana Sharkova, Tara van den Kerkhof)

14plus

Lala's Gun (Gun Lala De Qiang)

A boy comes of age as he tries to searches for his dad to give him his gun.

(Country: China; Year: 2009; Director: Ning Jingwu)

14plus. World Premiere

Lippel's Dream (Lippels Traum)

A 10-year-old's imagination runs wild after he is left alone with a copy of 1001 Nights.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Lars Büchel; Writer: Ulrich Limmer, Paul Maar; Stars: Karl Alexander Seidel, Anke Engelke, Christiane Paul, Amrita Cheema, Steve-Marvin Dwumah, Moritz Bleibtreu, Uwe Ochsenknecht, Eva Mattes, Edgar Selge, Marius Weingarten)

Kplus. World Premiere

Mamma Moo & Crow (Mamma Mu & Kråkan)

Mamma Moo is an adventurous and off-the-wall cow, who thinks it would be great fun to be pals with Crow, the only problem is, Crow doesn't share her enthusiasm for friendship.

(Country: Sweden, Germany, Hungary; Year: 2009; Director: Igor Veichtaguin; Writer: Jujja Wieslander)

Kplus

Max Embarrassing (Max Pinlig)

How do you win over the girl you fancy in class when your mum is MAX embarassing?

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2008; Director: Lotte Svendsen; Stars: Samuel Heller-Seiffert, Mette Agnete Horn, Lars Bom, Reimer Bo Christensen, Anna Agafia Svideniouk Egholm, Rasmus Bjerg, Louise Mieritz, Faysal Mobahriz)

Kplus. International Premiere

Miao Miao

The burgeoning love lives of two shool pals.

(Country: Hong Kong, Taiwan; Year: 2008; Director: Cheng Hsiao-tse; Writer: Cheng Hsiao-tse, Tsai Yi-fen; Stars: Chang Yung-yung, Fan Wing, Ke Jia-yan)

14plus

Mary And Max (Mary & Max)

Review preview for Mary And Max

Exquisite attention to detail that creates not only a complex portrait of each of the main characters but also a vivid sense of place.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Claymation about the friendship between an eight-year-old Aussie and a 44-year-old New Yorker.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2009; Director: Adam Elliot; Writer: Adam Elliot; Stars: Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana, Barry Humphries, Bethany Whitmore, Renée Geyer, Ian 'Molly' Meldrum, John Flaus, Julie Forsyth) , Official site

Full review See: Sundance Diary: Opening night and day one... the sequel , Sundance Diary: Opening Night and Day One

Kplus

My Suicide

The obsessive multimedia-wanderings of a youth who declares he will top himself on camera.

(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: David Lee Miller; Writer: Eric J Adams, David Lee Miller, David Lee Miller, Jordan J Miller, Gabriel Sunday; Stars: Gabriel Sunday, David Carradine, Mariel Hemingway, Brooke Nevin, Nora Dunn, Michael Welch, Zachary Ray Sherman, Vanessa Lengies, Harry Shearer, Tony Hale)

14plus World Premiere

Niloofar

A young Iraqi girl dreams of learning to read and write... a difficult ambition in a village where only boys are permitted to go to school.

(Country: France; Year: 2008; Director: Sabine El Gemayel; Writer: Sabine El Gemayel; Stars: Amir Aghai, Mobina Aynehdar, Nayereh Farahani, Tooraj Faramarzian, Hengameh Ghaziani, Shahab Hosseini, Fatemah Motamed-Aria, Roya Nonahali, Sadegh Safai)

Kplus

The Other Bank (Gagma Napiri)

An exiled boy goes on a journey to find his father.

(Country: Georgia, Kazakhstan; Director: George Ovashvili; Stars: Tedo Bekhauri, Galoba Gambaria, Nika Alajajev, Tamara Meskhi, Archil Tabukashvili)

Kplus

Skirt Day (La Journée de la Jupe)

Review preview for Skirt Day

A stark political satire, exposing all the divisions and frictions – social, sexual, racial, cultural and religious – of a modern multi-cultural France.

Anton Bitel · 3.5 out of 5
A teacher accidentally takes her class hostage.

(Country: France; Year: 2008; Director: Jean-Paul Lilienfeld; Writer: Jean-Paul Lilienfeld; Stars: Isabelle Adjani, Denis Podalydès, Yann Collette, Jackie Berroyer, Nathalie Besançon, Marc Citti, Khalid Berkouz, Yann Ebonge, Sonia Amori, Kevin Azaïs, Sarah Douali, Hassan Mezhoud, Karim Zakraoui, Fily Doumbie)

Full review

14plus

Snow (Snijeg)

The women of a Bosnian village - left virtually devoid of men after the war - must decide whether to sell it off to developers.

(Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, France, Iran; Year: 2008; Director: Aida Begic; Writer: Aida Begic, Aida Begic, Noémie de Lapparent, Franz Rodenkirchen, Faruk Sabanovic, Elma Tataragic; Stars: Zana Marjanovic, Jasna Beri, Sadzida Setic, Vesna Masic, Emir Hadzihafizbegovic, Irena Mulamuhic, Jelena Kordic, Jasmin Geljo, Dejan Spasic, Alma Terzic)

14plus

Sorasoi

A dance teacher tries to brush up a group of teens' skills... but the kids are keener to get some action away from the classes.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2008; Director: Katsuhito Ishii, Shunichiro Miki, Yuuuka Ooosumi; Stars: Sohta Aoyama, Sayuri Ichikawa, Ryu Morioka, Fumi Nikaido, Masako Satoh, Ai Makino)

14plus

The Secret Of Kells (Brendan And The Secret Of Kells)

Review preview for The Secret Of Kells

Captivatingly creative but over-fussy in terms of story, this is still an entertaining and accomplished debut.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A young monk goes on an adventure as he tries to help complete an illuminated manuscript.

(Country: Belgium, Ireland, France; Year: 2009; Director: Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey; Writer: Tomm Moore, Fabrice Ziolkowski; Stars: Evan McGuire, Mick Lally, Brendan Gleeson, Christen Mooney)

Full review

Kplus

The Strength Of Water

Disaster strikes young twins in a remote Maori community.

(Country: New Zealand, Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Armagan Ballantyne; Writer: Briar Grace Smith; Stars: Jim Moriarty, Nancy Brunning, Hato Paparoa, Melanie Mayall-Nahi, Isaac Barber, Pare Paseka)

Kplus

Teenage Response

Thirteen youngsters tell "their stories".

(Country: Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Eleni Ampelakiotou)

14plus

Unmade Beds

Review preview for Unmade Beds

Strives for profundity but instead grates irritatingly.

George Williamson · 3 out of 5
Two young foreigners find romance in the vibrant, artistic underground of London's East End.

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Alexis Dos Santos; Writer: Alexis Dos Santos; Stars: Fernando Tielve, Déborah François, Michiel Huisman, Iddo Goldberg, Richard Lintern, Katia Winter, Leonardo Brzezicki, Alexis Dos Santos, Lucy Tillet, Al Weaver) , Official site

Full review

14plus

Who Is Afraid Of The Wolf? (Kdopak by se vlka bál)

A girl who dreams of being Little Red Riding Hood, begins to think her mum has been switched with an alien.

(Country: Czech Republic; Year: 2008; Director: Mária Procházková; Writer: Mária Procházková; Stars: Dorota Dedková, Jitka Cvancarová, Pavel Reznícek, Martin Hofman, Jana Krausová, Matous Kratina, Marie Boková, Marek Taclík, Eva Leintbergerová)

Kplus