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Berlin International Film Festival · 2017

Berlin International Film Festival 2017

Panorama

Programme

52 films · 11 reviews

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1945

Review preview for 1945

As stark as its empty landscapes, as measured as the tread of the strangers along the poplar avenue, as compelling as the panic that grows in the village ahead of them.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
A Hungarian village becomes a mirror for the failure of an entire society.

(Country: Hungary; Year: 2017; Director: Ferenc Török; Writer: Gábor T Szántó, Ferenc Török, Krisztina Esztergályos; Stars: Péter Rudolf, Bence Tasnádi, Tamás Szabó Kimmel, Dóra Sztarenki, Ági Szirtes, József Szarvas, Eszter Nagy-Kálózy, Iván Angelus, Marcell Nagy, István Znamenák, Sándor Terhes, Miklós B. Székely, György Somhegyi, Tünde Szalontay, Béla Gados)

Full review

European premiere

Adriana's Pact (El Pacto de Adriana)

When beloved Aunt Adriana is suddenly charged with having worked for the Chilean secret police under Pinochet, her niece picks up her camera and searches for answers.

(Country: Chile; Year: 2017; Director: Lissette Orozco; Stars: Adriana Rivas, Lissette Orozco)

Belinda

Documentary tracking a Yenish youngster.

(Year: 2017; Director: Marie Dumora)

Berlin Syndrome

Review preview for Berlin Syndrome

The sex element, while erotically shot, is almost exclusively reserved for the moment in which Clare was enjoying the experience, thus stripping away the usual voyeuristic downside that often accompanies this genre.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A passionate holiday romance leads to an obsessive relationship, when an tourist wakes one morning in a Berlin apartment and is unable to leave.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2017; Director: Cate Shortland; Writer: Shaun Grant, Melanie Joosten; Stars: Teresa Palmer, Max Riemelt, Matthias Habich, Lucie Aron, Emma Bading, Cem Tuncay, Kristina Kostiv, Claude Heinrich, Malin Steffen, Lara Marie Müller, Thuso Lekwape, Charly Thorn, Elias Esser, Mariella Josephine Aumann, Morgane Ferru)

Full review

European premiere

Bones Of Contention

The mystery of the location of Federico García Lorca's remains, who has become a symbol of Franco's persecution of the LGBT community.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Andrea Weiss; Writer: Andrea Weiss)

Call Me By Your Name

Review preview for Call Me By Your Name

It is fundamentally a film about the workings of infatuation with a charmed fever that contaminates its characters.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
First love blooms over a long, hot summer for a teenager in Italy.

(Country: Italy, France, US, Brazil; Year: 2017; Director: Luca Guadagnino; Writer: James Ivory, based on the book by André Aciman; Stars: Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar, Esther Garrel, Victoire Du Bois)

Full review See: Luca Guadagnino in conversation on the costumes for Call Me By Your Name

European premiere

Casting JonBenet

The unsolved death of six-year-old American beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey remains the world’s most sensational child murder case. Over 15 months, responses, reflections and performances were elicited from the Ramsey’s Colorado hometown community, creating a bold work of art from the collective memories and mythologies the crime inspired.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Kitty Green)

International premiere

Centaur

Story of the bond between horse and human.

(Country: France, Germany, Netherlands, Kyrgyzstan; Year: 2016; Director: Aktan Arym Kubat; Writer: Ernest Abdyjaparov, Aktan Arym Kubat; Stars: Nuraly Tursunkojoev, Zarema Asanalieva, Aktan Arym Kubat, Taalaikan Abazova, Ilim Kalmuratov, Bolot Tentimyshov, Maksat Mamyrkanov)

World premiere

Chavela

The life of singer Chavela Vargas.

(Country: US, Spain, Mexico; Year: 2017; Director: Catherine Gund, Catherine Gund, Daresha Kyi)

Ciao Ciao

A young woman returns to her village from the city.

(Country: France; Director: Song Chuan; Writer: Song Chuan)

World premiere

Close-knit (Karera ga honki de amu toki wa)

When her mother leaves, Tomo is taken in by her uncle and his transsexual partner. Before long, the members of this new family find themselves confronted with social conventions.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2017; Director: Naoko Ogigami; Writer: Naoko Ogigami; Stars: Tôma Ikuta, Eiko Koike, Kenta Kiritani, Mugi Kadowaki, Misako Tanaka, Lily, Mimura, Rin Kakihara)

Discreet

A man approaching middle age gets caught up in the darker depths of his past.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Travis Mathews; Writer: Travis Mathews; Stars: Jonny Mars, Atsuko Okatsuka, Joy Cunningham, Jordan Elsass, João Federici, Ed Hattaway, Bill Johnson, Bob Swaffar, Maria Moya, Jason Neulander, Buddy Brown, Bjorn Taylor, Tatiana Panovich, Juan Pablo Gonzales, Ariana Guerra)

World premiere

Dream Boat

Documentary about the passengers on an all-gay cruise.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2017; Director: Tristan Ferland Milewski)

Erase And Forget

Documentary about Vietnam veteran James Gordon ‘Bo’ Gritz, who became the inspiration for Rambo and John 'Hannibal' Smith.

(Country: UK; Year: 2017; Director: Andrea Luka Zimmerman; Writer: Taina Galis, Andrea Luka Zimmerman; Stars: Ted Kotcheff, Bo Gritz)

Fighting Through The Night (Combat au bout de la nuit)

This nearly five-hour-long documentary essay takes us directly to the heart of Europe’s misery: to Athens.

(Director: Sylvain L'Espérance)

International premiere

Five Stars (Fünf Sterne)

Documentary, sees the filmmaker and her friend contemplate friendship and love.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2017; Director: Annekatrin Hendel)

Fluidø

It is the year 2060. The world is free of AIDS but a novel drug can be made from certain mutations of the virus.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2017; Director: Shu Lea Cheang; Stars: Sadie Lune, Caprice Crawford, William E. Morris, Alexander Mersmann, Kay Garnellen, Aérea Negrot)

World premiere

From The Balcony (Fra Balkongen)

Cinematic collage considering the world from a balcony vantage point.

(Country: Norway; Year: 2017; Director: Ole Giæver; Writer: Ole Giæver; Stars: Ole Giæver, Marte Magnusdotter Solem)

World premiere

Ghost Hunting (Istiyad Ashbah)

A set-up for an experiment in an empty room. Former inmates reconstruct an Israeli secret service interrogation centre. These Palestinian men use role play to come to terms with their memories and the humiliation they have experienced.

(Country: France, Palestine, Switzerland, Qatar; Year: 2017; Director: Raed Andoni)

Ghost In The Mountains

A man returns to his home after many years.

(Country: China; Year: 2017; Director: Yang Heng; Stars: Tang Shenggang, Liang Yu, Shang Meitong, Xiang Peng, Zhang Yun)

World premiere

God's Own Country

Review preview for God's Own Country

Debut feature director Francis Lee grew up on a Yorkshire farm and it shows in every inch of this film.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Young sheep farmer Johnny numbs his daily frustrations with binge drinking and casual sex, until the arrival of a Romanian migrant worker offers the promise of something else.

(Country: UK; Year: 2017; Director: Francis Lee; Writer: Francis Lee; Stars: Josh O'Connor, Alec Secareanu, Gemma Jones, Ian Hart)

Full review See: Feature: God's Own Country director Francis Lee talks about authenticity and emotion in his film , Alec Secareanu and Josh O'Connor interview about God's Own Country

European premiere

Headbang Lullaby

1986. A government official secures a bridge between two hostile communities near Casablanca ahead of the king’s visit.

(Country: Morocco, France, Qatar, Lebanon; Year: 2017; Director: Hicham Lasri; Stars: Aziz Hattab, Latefa Ahrrare, Zoubir Abou el Fadl, El Jirari Benaissa, Salma Eddlimi, Adil Abatorab )

World premiere

Honeygiver Among the Dogs

Buddhist film noir sees a policeman look for a suspect in mountainous Bhutan.

(Country: Bhutan; Year: 2016; Director: Dechen Roder; Writer: Dechen Roder; Stars: Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk, Sonam Tashi Choden, Kunga Dorji, Chencho Dorji)

European premiere

Hostages

A re-telling of the Tbilisi hijacking of November18th, 1983 that shows how the fierce desire for freedom and independence in a group of young Soviets turned into a readiness to use violence.

(Country: Russia, Georgia; Year: 2017; Director: Rezo Gigineishvili; Stars: Avtandil Makharadze)

Inflame

A young TV editor for a news channel experiences how the truth is increasingly manipulated.

(Country: Turkey; Year: 2017; Director: Ceylan Ozgun Ozcelik; Writer: Ceylan Ozgun Ozcelik; Stars: Algi Eke, Taner Birsel, Özgür Çevik, Nazan Kesal, Kadir Cermik, Boncuk Yilmaz, Ipek Türktan, Serhat Midyat, Selen Uçer, Asiye Dinçsoy)

Insyriated (In Syria)

Review preview for Insyriated

The idea that a family would face the war crime equivalent of lions, tigers and bears in the space of a few hours barges through the boundaries of belief.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
A woman tries to hold her family together under a constant barrage of war.

(Country: Belgium, France, Lebanon; Year: 2017; Director: Philippe Van Leeuw; Writer: Philippe Van Leeuw; Stars: Hiam Abbass, Diamand Bou Abboud, Juliette Navis, Mohsen Abbas, Moustapha Al Kar, Alissar Kaghadou, Ninar Halabi, Mohammad Jihad Sleik, Elias Khatter, Husam Chadat)

Full review

In The Intense Now (No Intenso Agora)

A personal essay which analyses and compares images of the political upheavals of the 1960s.

(Director: João Moreira Salles)

I Am Not Your Negro

Review preview for I Am Not Your Negro

The full use of what film can do is eye-opening - the juxtapositions jolt awareness of what is important and remains necessary.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
Essay film based on James Baldwin's writing about the story of race in modern America.

(Country: US, France, Belgium, Switzerland; Year: 2016; Director: Raoul Peck; Writer: James Baldwin)

Full review See: Interview with Gay Talese about James Baldwin and I Am Not Your Negro , Gay Talese in conversation on James Baldwin and I Am Not Your Negro , Article about the 89th Academy Awards Oscar Best Documentary Feature Film nominees

European premiere

I Think Of Germany At Night (Denk ich an Deutschland in der Nacht)

Documentary about electronic music pioneers.

(Country: Germany, France; Year: 2017; Director: Romuald Karmakar)

Just Like Our Parents (Como Nossos Pais)

Rosa longs only to be perfect: in her job, as a mother, daughter, wife, lover... And the harder she feels she’s getting it all wrong.

(Country: Brazil; Director: Laís Bodanzky; Writer: Laís Bodanzky, Luiz Bolognesi; Stars: Maria Ribeiro, Paulo Vilhena, Felipe Rocha, Sophia Valverde, Jorge Mautner, Clarisse Abujamra, Annalara Prates)

World premiere

The King's Choice (Kongens nei)

When the German army invades Norway in April 1940, King Haakon is under pressure: should he legitimise Germany’s occupation with his signature or appeal to his people to resist?

(Country: Norway; Year: 2016; Director: Erik Poppe; Writer: Harald Rosenløw-Eeg, Jan Trygve Røyneland; Stars: Jesper Christensen, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Karl Markovics, Tuva Novotny, Katharina Schüttler, Erik Hivju, Svein Tindberg, Arthur Hakalahti, Juliane Köhler, Ketil Høegh, Andreas Lust, Gerald Pettersen, Jan Frostad, Rolf Kristian Larsen, Hans Jacob Sand)

The Misandrists

Review preview for The Misandrists

Something like a cross between Carry On Solanas! and The Beguiled

Jane Fae · 4 out of 5
A radical female ‘army of lovers’ is preparing itself to fight for a world without men.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2017; Director: Bruce La Bruce; Writer: Bruce La Bruce; Stars: Susanne Sachße, Viva Ruiz, Kembra Pfahler, Caprice Crawford, Grete Gehrke, Kita Updike, Victoire Laly, Olivia Kundisch, Lina Bembe, Til Schindler, Dominik Hermanns)

Full review

My Wonderful West Berlin (Mein wunderbares West-Berlin)

An absorbing journey through time to explore queer lifestyles in former West Berlin and the beginnings of the post-war gay movement.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2017; Director: Jochen Hick; Writer: Jochen Hick; Stars: Wolfgang Cihlarz, Egmont Fassbinder, Romy Haag, Peter Hedenström, René Koch, Wolfgang Müller, Bob Schneider, Klaus Schumann, Wolfgang Theis, Rosa von Praunheim, Udo Walz, Westbam, Ades Zabel)

One Thousand Ropes

Story about a man trying to face his past, his daughter - and his inner ‘demons’.

(Country: New Zealand; Year: 2016; Director: Tusi Tamasese; Writer: Tusi Tamasese)

Pendular

The relationship between a dance artist and a sculptor.

(Country: Brazil, Argentina, France; Year: 2017; Director: Júlia Murat; Writer: Júlia Murat, Matias Mariani)

World premiere

Politics, Instructions Manual (Política, Manual De Instrucciones)

A detailed look at the construction of Podemos.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2016; Director: Fernando León de Aranoa; Writer: Fernando León de Aranoa; Stars: Carolina Bescansa, Ada Colau, Xavier Domènech, Íñigo Errejón, Pablo Iglesias, Juan Carlos Monedero, Alexis Tsipras)

European premiere

Revolution Of Sound. Tangerine Dream

Documentary about one of Germany's first electronic bands.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2017; Director: Margarete Kreuzer)

Requiem for Mrs J (Rekvijem za gospodju J)

Review preview for Requiem for Mrs J

Comedy doesn't come in many darker shades than that employed by Serbian director Bojan Vuletic in Requiem For Mrs J, this is truly the vantablack of humour.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Jelena wants to end her life and she’s only got a week to sort things out... a situation that proves difficult.

(Country: Serbia; Year: 2017; Director: Bojan Vuletic; Writer: Bojan Vuletic; Stars: Mirjana Karanovic, Jovana Gavrilovic, Danica Nedeljkovic, Vucic Perovic, Mira Banjac, Aleksandar Alac, Vladimir Aleksic, Radoje Cupic, Zinaida Dedakin, Boris Isakovic, Valcho Kamarashev, Katarina Markovic, Radoslav 'Rale' Milenkovic, Radovan Miljanic, Bora Nenic)

Full review

Skins (Pieles)

An episodic film that merges the lives of people with very different kinds of deformities into a stylised round of bodies that do not adhere to social norms.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2017; Director: Eduardo Casanova; Writer: Eduardo Casanova; Stars: Jon Kortajarena, Macarena Gómez, Candela Peña, Carmen Machi, Ana Polvorosa, Joaquín Climent, Javier Bódalo, Secun de la Rosa, Adolfo Fernández, Antonio Durán 'Morris', María Jesús Hoyos, Itziar Castro, Alberto Bang, Ana María Ayala)

Small Talk (Ri Chang Dui Hua)

Drama about a mother and daughter relationship.

(Country: Taiwan; Year: 2016; Director: Hui-Chen Huang)

Strong Island

Review preview for Strong Island

Goes against the grain of modern crime documentaries.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
The filmmaker investigates the shooting of his brother.

(Country: US, Denmark; Year: 2017; Director: Yance Ford)

Full review

Tania Libre

Story of Cuban artist Tania Bruguera.

(Country: US, Cuba; Year: 2017; Director: Lynn Hershman-Leeson)

The Taste Of Betel Nut (Bing Lang Xue)

Story of sex, love, trust and brutality.

(Country: China; Year: 2017; Director: Hu Jia; Stars: Zhao Bing Rui, Yue Yue, Shen Shi Yu)

World premiere

Tiger Girl

Margarete’s life is turned upside down when tough girl Tiger appears and starts saving her from pushy men... but things soon turn criminal.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2017; Director: Jakob Lass; Writer: Jakob Lass, Eva-Maria Reimer, Ines Schiller, Nicholas Woche; Stars: Ella Rumpf, Maria-Victoria Dragus, Enno Trebs, Orce Feldschau, Benjamin Lutzke, Franz Rogowski, Ulrik Bruchholz, Lana Cooper, Robert Gwisdek, Robert Maaser, Joshua Grothe, Eskindir Tesfay, Lucas Englander, Kristin Suckow, Franziska Arnold)

Until Death Us Do Part (Bis daß der Tod euch scheidet)

Construction worker Jens and shop assistant Sonja marry and have a child. Sonja wants to go back to work but Jens is against this. Traditional role models clash with modern concepts of marriage under socialism. The situation escalates.

(Country: East Germany; Year: 1978; Director: Heiner Carow; Writer: Heiner Carow, Barbara Rogall, Günther Rücker, Dieter Wolf; Stars: Katrin Saß, Martin Seifert, Berko Acker, Renate Krößner, Peter Zimmermann, Werner Godemann, Henny Müller, Alfred Struwe,)

Untitled

“This film is intended to show an image of the world that can only be created when one does not pursue any subject, or make any value judgement or follow any objective. When one lets one’s self be carried along by nothing more than one’s own curiosity and intuition.”

(Country: Austria, Germany; Year: 2017; Director: Michael Glawogger, Monika Willi; Writer: Michael Glawogger, Monika Willi)

World premiere

Vaya

A journey to Johannesburg has an unexpected ending for four people.

(Country: South Africa; Year: 2016; Director: Akin Omotoso; Writer: Craig Freimond, Tshabalira Lebakeng, Antony Mafela, David Majoka, Madoda Nthuli, Harriet Perlman, Robbie Thorpe; Stars: Warren Masemola, Phuthi Nakene, Sihle Xaba, Harriet Manamela, Zimkhitha Nyoka, Nomonde Mbusi, Azwile Chamane-Madiba, Mncedisi Shabangu, Emmanuel Nkosinathi Gweva, Msimang Sibusiso, Jabulani Mthembu)

Venus - Filly the Lesbian Little Fairy (Vênus - Filó a fadinha lésbica)

In this animated fairy-tale Filly, a lesbian fairy with nimble fingers, seduces women by day dressed as a boy.

(Country: Brazil, Portugal; Year: 2017; Director: Sávio Leite)

Virgin Machine (Die Jungfrauen Maschine)

Hamburg journalist Dorothee travels to the USA to learn about love through personal observation and interviews. During her research she meets a number of women who show her a new side to romance and sexuality.

(Country: West Germany; Year: 1988; Director: Monika Treut; Writer: Monika Treut; Stars: Ina Blum, Marcelo Uriona, Gad Klein, Peter Kern, Hans-Christoph Blumenberg, Dominique Gaspar, Susie Bright, Shelly Mars, Fritz Mikesch, Wolfgang Raach, George Lannan, Erica Marcus, Rhonda Jarvis, Carla Wood Saivre, Fakir Musafar)

Vazante

Review preview for Vazante

Inti Briones's muddy, saturated black and white imagery complements director Daniela Thomas' tight close-ups and lingering landscape shots in conveying both the paradox of the location and the pressure its inhabitants feel.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Drama about slavery in the gemstone mines of Brazil before independence from Portugal.

(Country: Brazil, Portugal; Year: 2016; Director: Daniela Thomas; Writer: Beto Amaral, Daniela Thomas; Stars: Adriano Carvalho, Luana Tito Nastas, Sandra Corveloni, Juliana Carneiro da Cunha, Roberto Audio, Vinicius Dos Anjos, Toumany Kouyaté, Jai Baptista, Fabrício Boliveira, Isadora Favero, Vasco Pimentel, Maria Helena Dias, Adilson Magah, Maria Aparecida Fátima de Jesus, Alexandre da Sena)

Full review

World premiere

When The Day Had No Name

Six Macedonian teenagers set out on a fishing expedition.

(Country: Republic of Macedonia, Belgium; Year: 2017; Director: Teona Strugar Mitevska; Writer: Teona Strugar Mitevska, Elma Tataragic; Stars: Leon Ristov, Hanis Bagashov, Dragan Mishevski, Stefan Kitanovic, Ivan Vrtev Soptrajanov, Igor Postolov, Pirunika Kiselicki, Ana Tatabitovska, Ines Hodzic, Irina Apelgren, Labina Mitevska, Ratka Radmanovic, Nikolina Kujaca, Erina Poplavska, Ana Kostovska)

The Wound

Review preview for The Wound

Trengove strikes a good balance between showing the cultural importance, even though on the wane, of old-fashioned masculinity and personal drama between Xolani and Kwanda, slowly ratcheting up the tension to breaking point.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Sexual repression and coming of age prove a dangerous mix for a small community.

(Country: South Africa; Year: 2017; Director: John Trengove; Writer: John Trengove, Thando Mgqolozana, Malusi Bengu; Stars: Nakhane Touré, Bongile Mantsai, Niza Jay Ncoyini)

Full review See: John Trengove interview about The Wound

European premiere