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Berlin International Film Festival · 2014

Berlin International Film Festival 2014

Generation

Selection of films for younger audiences. The Kplus films will be judged by a jury of 11 to 14-year-olds and the 14plus films by a jury of 14-18-year-olds. A selection of short films also plays in this section.

Programme

28 films · 6 reviews

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3 Indian Tales (3 Histoires d'Indiens)

Three stories over four seasons. Depicting the life of a new generation of Native Americans who are less resigned and more active than their parents. From the inside out, this fictional feature offers authentic insights into everyday life on a reservation today.

(Year: 2014; Director: Robert Morin)

World premiere. 14plus

52 Tuesdays

Review preview for 52 Tuesdays

There is no effort to sanitise characters' lives in order to get a message across, and as a result the film never feels preachy.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Over the course of a year, a teenage girl adjusts to life as a woman while her mother adjusts to life as a man.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2013; Director: Sophie Hyde; Writer: Matthew Cormack, Matthew Cormack, Sophie Hyde; Stars: Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Del Bert, Beau Travis Williams, Imogen Archer, Mario Spate, Sam Althuizen, Danica Moors, Susan Hyde, Greg Marsh, Audrey Mason-Hyde, Susie Skinner)

Full review

European premiere. 14plus

Above Us All

After the death of her Indigenous mother in Australia, Shay’s father insists on returning to his old home in Belgium. Grief and leave-taking are dealt with quite differently in these two places.

(Country: Netherlands, Belgium; Year: 2014; Director: Eugenie Jansen)

World premire. 14plus. Out of competition

Arctic (ärtico)

What’s the value of family when everything has lost all rhyme or reason? Gabri Velázquez presents the everyday moods and states of mind of Spanish adolescents during the economic crisis.

(Year: 2014; Director: Gabri Velázquez)

World premiere. 14plus

Atlántida

A hot summer day in a village in Argentina. Adults are nowhere in sight and time has come to a stop. Yet for two teen sisters everything is in motion. It is their feelings and desires that propel the film onwards.

(Country: Argentina, France; Year: 2014; Director: Inés María Barrionuevo; Writer: Inés María Barrionuevo; Stars: Guillermo Pfening)

World premiere. 14plus

Aunt Hilda (Tante Hilda!)

The genetically-engineered grain called “Attilem” is supposedly the new wonder weapon against global hunger. Only environmentally-minded Hilda has her doubts.

(Country: France, Luxembourg; Year: 2013; Director: Jacques-Rémy Girerd; Writer: Jacques-Rémy Girerd, Benoît Chieux, Iouri Tcherenkov; Stars: Sabine Azéma, Josiane Balasko, François Morel, Bruno Lochet, Serguei Vladimirov, Gilles Détroit, Bernard Bouillon, Nicolas Demorand, Nathalie Fort, Jean-Paul Racodon, Christian Taponard, Line Wible, Jean-Pierre Yvars)

European premiere. Kplus

Beyond Beyond (Resan till Fjäderkungens Rike)

In search of his mother, the little rabbit Johan enters the fantastic underworld of the Feather King.

(Country: Sweden, Denmark; Year: 2014; Director: Esben Toft Jacobsen; Writer: Jannik Tai Mosholt, Esben Toft Jacobsen; Stars: Edvin Ryding, Tuva Novotny, Gustaf Hammarsten, Lennart Jähkel, Sissela Kyle, Leif Andrée, Pelle Falk Krusbæk, Søs Egelind, Lars Brygmann, Flemming Quist Møller)

World premiere. Kplus

The Blue Wave (Mavi Dalga)

This clique of girls still talks about boys, clothes and the latest music. Yet its carefree days are drawing to a close. A new life is imminent, and this feels both exciting and dangerous.

(Country: Turkey, Netherlands, Greece, Germany; Year: 2013; Director: Zeynep Dadak, Merve Kayan; Writer: Zeynep Dadak, Merve Kayan; Stars: Ayris Alptekin, Onur Saylak, Baris Hacihan, Albina Ozden, Nazli Bulum, Begüm Akkaya, Sude Aslantas, Derya Durmaz, Cüneyt Yalaz, Sefa Tokgoz, Fehime Seven, Tülin Özen, Banu Fotocan, Sabahattin Aysavki, Nilufer Akin)

International premire. 14plus

Broken Hill Blues (Ömheten)

In Kiruna, a small Nordic mining community, the earth trembles day and night. Sparse in dialogue and with a gentle empathy for its protagonists, this directorial debut tells of growing up on very unstable ground.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2013; Director: Sofia Norlin; Writer: Sofia Norlin; Stars: Sebastian Hiort af Ornäs, Alfred Juntti, Lina Leandersson, Ella Nordin, Jenny Sandberg, Pär Andersson, Robin Edholm, Alexandra Dahlström, Sven Björklund, Kemal Görgü, Michael Odhag, Sonja Lindblom, Jesper Johansson, Camaron Silverek, Malin Dahl)

International premiere. 14plus

A Christmoose Story (Midden in de Winternacht)

Mr Moose, Santa Claus’s flying elk, has crashed into the barn and urgently needs help from little Max.

(Country: Netherlands; Year: 2013; Director: Lourens Blok; Writer: Andreas Steinhöfel, Daan Bakker, Marko van Geffen, Daan Bakker, Marco van Geffen; Stars: Arjan Ederveen, Dana Goldberg, Carla Hardy, Brian Herring, Derek de Lint, Dennis Reinsma, Jelka van Houten, Jeroen van Koningsbrugge)

International premiere. Kplus

Come to My Voice (Were Dengê Min)

Jiyan’s Kurdish father will only be let out of prison if he turns in a weapon. The search for the gun that he has never possessed takes Jiyan and his grandmother on an odyssey.

(Country: Turkey, France, Germany; Year: 2014; Director: Huseyin Karabey; Writer: Huseyin Karabey, Abidin Parilti; Stars: Emrah Ozdemir, Selim Bulut, Feride Gezer, Nazmi Sinan Mihci, Tuncay Akdemir, Ali Tekbas, Muhsin Tokcu, Kadir Ilter, Melek Ulger, Sabahettin DAG)

World premiere. Kplus

The Contest - To The Stars And Back (MGP Missionen)

For Karl, a boy from the country, moving to Copenhagen is like a voyage into a completely new world. A girl named Sawsan tries to help him. Yet it is not long before all of Denmark is searching not only for a superstar, but for the two children who have vanished without a trace.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2013; Director: Martin Miehe-Renard; Writer: Gitte Løkkegaard, Martin Miehe-Renard; Stars: Sylvester Espersen Byder, Laura Christensen, Laura Drasbæk, Ole Dupont, Lado Hadzic, Mian Hussein, Joakim Ingversen, Ali Kazim, Lars Knutzon, Line Kruse, Malika Sia Paul, Meinhard St. John, Natali Vallespir)

International premiere. Kplus

Einstein And Einstein

China’s one-child policy has had a profound impact on Li Wan’s family. When she is 13 years old, she is given a dog named Einstein to console her for her father’s disinterest. But Li Wan is more interested in astrophysics and rebelling against social norms.

(Country: China; Year: 2013; Director: Baoping Cao; Stars: Jinglin Guo, Xueying Zhang)

European premiere. 14plus

Finn

Finn just has to learn to play the violin! Music entwines reality and dreams – and helps him see his dead mother again.

(Country: Netherlands; Year: 2013; Director: Frans Weisz; Writer: Janneke van der Pal; Stars: Jenny Arean, Jan Decleir, Daan Schuurmans, Mels van der Hoeven, Mark van Eeuwen, Hanna Verboom)

International premiere. Kplus

The Fort

After moving, Chinu finds it difficult to adjust to his new surroundings. But gradually he makes new friends and gains more confidence.

(Country: India; Year: 2014; Director: Avinash Arun; Writer: Avinash Arun, Omkar Achyut Barve, Tushar Paranjpe; Stars: Amruta Subhash, Archit Deodhar)

World premiere. Kplus

Galore

Review preview for Galore

Its plot unfolds in fits and starts, like summer holidays remembered.

Andrew Robertson · 3 out of 5
A dramatic love triangle set against the backdrop of raging bushfires. The summer nights hardly cool off and the parties keep getting wilder. Falling in love for the first time is a mysterious thing and here lies the danger for Billie, Danny and Laura.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2013; Director: Rhys Graham; Writer: Rhys Graham; Stars: Ashleigh Cummings, Lily Sullivan, Toby Wallace, Maya Stange, Oscar Redding, Daniel Webber, Natasha Novak, Aliki Matangi, Kallum Humphries, Angus Murphy, Elena Pellone, Ben Toyer, Rylie Humphries, Daniel Ruspandini, Graham Gall)

Full review

International premiere. 14plus

God Help The Girl

Review preview for God Help The Girl

The film staggers from one embarrassment to the next.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 1.5 out of 5
An anorexic girl in Glasgow has ambitions to become a singer/ songwriter

(Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: Stuart Murdoch; Writer: Stuart Murdoch; Stars: Emily Browning, Olly Alexander, Hannah Murray, Pierre Boulanger, Cora Bisset)

Full review

European premiere. 14plus

Holiday (Feriado)

In a remote region in the Andes, shy Juan Pablo meets self-assured Juano. A fragile romance evolves that transcends all class distinctions. Their tender explorations are set against a corruption scandal that shakes Juan Pablo’s rich banking family to the core.

(Country: Ecuador, Argentina; Year: 2014; Director: Diego Araujo)

World premiere. 14plus

Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart (Jack et la mécanique du cœur)

A cuckoo clock beats in Jack’s chest, instead of a heart. Falling in love is strictly forbidden, because strong emotions will cause his clock to tick wildly out of control.

(Country: France; Year: 2013; Director: Stéphane Berla, Mathias Malzieu; Writer: Mathias Malzieu, Mathias Malzieu; Stars: Mathias Malzieu, Olivia Ruiz, Grand Corps Malade, Jean Rochefort, Rossy de Palma, Babet, Marie Vincent, Emily Loizeau, Arthur H.)

International premiere. Kplus

Joy Of Man's Desiring (Hitono Nozomino Yorokobiyo)

After an earthquake, Haruna and her little brother Sotha are taken in by relatives. Nobody has told the boy that his parents are dead, a fact that weighs heavily on Haruna.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2013; Director: Masakazu Sugita)

World premiere. Kplus

Natural Sciences (Ciencias naturales)

There’s nothing to keep Lila at her boarding school high up in the cold and foggy mountains. This 12-year-old girl does not know who her father is but wants to find him. She sets out on a complicated quest for the truth.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2014; Director: Matías Lucchesi; Writer: Matías Lucchesi; Stars: Paula Hertzog, Paola Barrientos, Sergio Boris)

World premiere. Kplus

Supernova

Review preview for Supernova

Gaite Jansen is compelling in the central role, holding the film together with the sort of assurance that's rare in actors twice her age.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Where Meis lives, absolutely nothing ever happens. She loses herself in wistful fantasies about love, sex and a world elsewhere.

(Country: Netherlands, Germany, Belgium; Year: 2014; Director: Tamar van den Dop; Writer: Tamar van den Dop; Stars: Gaite Jansen, Tamar van den Dop, Bob Schwarze, Elise van 't Laar)

Full review

World premiere. 14plus

That Boy Emil (Emil & Ida i Lönneberga )

Little Emil just wants to help, but then everything always goes wrong. Banned to the shed, he’s supposed to think about his misdeeds – that is, until he gets into mischief again.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2013; Director: Alicja Björk, Lasse Persson, Per Åhlin; Writer: Hans Åke Gabrielsson; Stars: Elisabeth Carlsson, Siw Carlsson, Rebecka Englund, Gustav Föghner, Gustav Föghner, Hans Åke Gabrielsson, Hans Åke Gabrielsson, Lindy Larsson, Astrid Lindgren, Tilda Ramde, Tilda Ramde, EwaMaria Roos, Allan Svensson)

German premiere. Kplus. Out of competition

Violet

In a shopping mall, Jesse’s best friend is stabbed to death right before his eyes.

(Country: Belgium; Year: 2013; Director: Bas Devos; Writer: Bas Devos)

World premiere. 14plus

We Are Mari Pepa (Somos Mari Pepa)

The four boys in the band Mari Pepa have only one song in their repertoire. Yet music is their big hope. Friendships and dreams are suffering from the constraints of everyday life. A film as poetic as punk rock.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2013; Director: Samuel Kishi; Writer: Samuel Kishi, Sofía Gómez-Córdova; Stars: Alejandro Gallardo, Arnold Ramírez, Moisés Galindo, Rafael Andrade, Petra Iñiguez Robles)

European premiere. 14plus

What We Do In The Shadows

Review preview for What We Do In The Shadows

In this fish-out-of-water comedy, mundanity is key.

Anton Bitel · 4 out of 5
Vampire mockumentary.

(Year: 2014; Director: New Zealand, US; Writer: Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement; Stars: Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement, Jonathan Brugh, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Stu Rutherford, Jackie van Beek, Ben Fransham, Elena Stejko, Jason Hoyte)

Full review

European premiere. 14plus

Wolfy, The Incredible Secret (Loulou, l'incroyable secret)

Review preview for Wolfy, The Incredible Secret

Unique in humour, unique in form

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
A young wolf and his best friend, a rabbit, go in search of his heritage in a country of carnivorous hunters

(Country: France, Belgium, Hungary; Year: 2013; Director: Eric Omond; Writer: Grégoire Solotareff, Jean-Luc Fromental; Stars: voices of Malik Zidi, Stéphane Debac, Anaïs Demoustier, Carlo Brandt, Marianne Basler, Léonore Chaix, Sarah-Jane Sauvegrain, Patrick Paroux, Marie Berto, Rémy Roubakha, John Arnold, Paul Bandey)

Full review

International premiere. Kplus

The Word (Obietnica)

After a silly infidelity, Janek is doing everything to try to win back his girlfriend.

(Country: Poland, Denmark; Year: 2014; Director: Anna Kazejak)

World premiere. 14plus