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Berlin International Film Festival · 2021

Berlin International Film Festival 2021

Panorama

Programme

19 films · 6 reviews

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All Eyes Off Me

Danny is pregnant by Max who is busy trying out Avishag’s sexual fantasies with her. She wants him to hit her when they have sex. Avishag takes her bruises to Dror, whose dog she sits. A generational portrait that asks: how liberated are we really?

(Country: Israel; Year: 2021; Director: Hadas Ben Aroya; Stars: Elisheva Weil, Yoav Hayt, Elisheva Weil, Yoav Hayt)

World premiere

A Balance (Yuko No Tenbin)

In her new documentary, Yuko wants to tell the true story behind the scandal of a relationship between a female student and her teacher. When she learns about her own father's secret she has to rethink her principles.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2020; Director: Yujiro Harumoto; Stars: Yumi Kawai, Ken Mitsuishi, Kumi Takiuchi, Masahiro Umeda, Yumi Kawai, Ken Mitsuishi, Kumi Takiuchi, Masahiro Umeda)

Bliss (Glück)

Review preview for Bliss

Bliss is one of those films whose craft may not immediately be apparent to the average viewer, but it’s a beautifully constructed piece of work.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Two sex workers meet in a Berlin brothel. In a place where the female body is a commodity, they experience moments of happiness.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2021; Director: Henrika Kull; Writer: Henrika Kull; Stars: Katharina Behrens, Malik Blumenthal, Jean-Luc Bubert, Eva Collé, Ian Hansen, Mike Hoffmann, Ottokar Lehrner, Maria Mägdefrau, Katharina Behrens, Malik Blumenthal, Jean-Luc Bubert, Eva Collé, Ian Hansen, Mike Hoffmann, Ottokar Lehrner)

Full review See: Interview with Henrika Kull about Bliss

World premiere

Brother's Keeper (Okul Tıraşı)

Review preview for Brother's Keeper

The director shows the warmth of the children against the cool aloofness of teachers who feel little connection to their wards, even as we know even Yusuf's herculean efforts are likely to prove ineffectual.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
When a boy falls ill at an authoritarian boarding school, his friend struggles to get the staff to take notice.

(Country: Turkey, Romania; Year: 2021; Director: Ferit Karahan; Writer: Gülistan Acet, Ferit Karahan; Stars: Samet Yıldız, Ekin Koç, Mahir İpek, Melih Selçuk, Cansu Fırıncı, Nurullah Alaca)

Full review

World premiere

Celts (Kelti)

Belgrade in 1993. The pent-up tension of uncertain times is released at a children’s birthday party. While the kids celebrate in the living room dressed up as Ninja Turtles, the adults discuss, flirt, smoke and drink in the kitchen.

(Country: Serbia; Year: 2021; Director: Milica Tomovic; Writer: Tanja Sljivar, Milica Tomovic; Stars: Dubravka Kovjanic, Stefan Trifunovic, Nikola Rakocevic, Slaven Doslo, Jovana Gavrilovic, Milica Grujicic, Olga Odanovic, Nada Sargin, Jelena Djokic, Jovan Belobrkovic, Dubravka Kovjanic, Stefan Trifunovic, Nikola Rakocevic, Slaven Doslo, Jovana Gavrilovic)

World premiere

Censor

Review preview for Censor

Running a tight 84 minutes, the film still feels like an epic journey into both its seedy world and its heroine’s psyche.

Jeremy Mathews · 3.5 out of 5
When film censor Enid discovers an eerie horror that speaks directly to her sister's mysterious disappearance, she resolves to unravel the puzzle behind the film and its enigmatic director – a quest blurring the lines between fiction and reality in terrifying ways.

(Country: UK; Year: 2021; Director: Prano Bailey-Bond; Writer: Prano Bailey-Bond, Anthony Fletcher; Stars: Niamh Algar, Clare Holman, Michael Smiley, Adrian Schiller, Felicity Montagu, Beau Gadsdon, Nicholas Burns, Sophia La Porta, Vincent Franklin, Guillaume Delaunay, Max Bennett, Andrew Havill, Tina Louise Owens, Sean Buchanan, Erin Shanagher)

Full review

Copilot (Die Welt Wird Eine Andere Sein)

Asli and Saeed fall in love in the mid-1990s. Although Asli’s mother is against their relationship, they secretly get married. Then he disappears. A sensitive love story that recounts how Saeed changes Asli’s life – before the entire world is shaken.

(Country: Germany, France; Year: 2021; Director: Anne Zohra Berrached; Writer: Anne Zohra Berrached, Stefanie Misrahi; Stars: Canan Kir, Roger Azar, Darina Al Joundi, Aziz Dyab, Ceci Chuh, Özay Fecht, Meral Perin, Jana Julia Roth, Hans Jürgen Alf, Nicolas Chaoui, Zeynep Ada Kienast, Marlene Fahnster, Canan Kir, Roger Azar, Darina Al Joundi)

World premiere

Death of a Virgin, And The Sin Of Not Living

A group of friends pool their money to pay for their first sexual encounter. Their journey to see a sex worker is accompanied by boastful teenage conversations, but also sensitive inner monologues.

(Country: Lebanon; Year: 2021; Director: George Peter Barbari; Writer: George Peter Barbari; Stars: Etienne Assal, Adnan Khabbaz, Jean Paul Franjieh, Saad Elie Dankoura, Feyrouz AbouHassan, Thuraya Baghdadi, Maria Doueihi, Windy Ishak, Tala Abourjess, Etienne Assaf, Rayan Assaf, Joe Azouri, Aya Bizri, Elie Dargham, Ghadi Dawra)

World premiere

Dirty Feathers

Documentary about the homeless in the border towns of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez we meet people living without a home.

(Country: US, Mexico; Year: 2021; Director: Carlos Alfonso Corral)

World premiere. Documentary

Genderation

Twenty years after Gendernauts, Monika Treut seeks out the pioneers of the transgender movement back then to find out how their lives and their activism have evolved, how they have grown into their identities and how their energy continues to have an impact today.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2021; Director: Monika Treut; Writer: Monika Treut; Stars: Annie Sprinkle, Stafford, Beth Stephens, Sandy Stone, Susan Stryker, Max Wolf Valerio, Annie Sprinkle, Stafford, Beth Stephens, Sandy Stone, Susan Stryker, Max Wolf Valerio)

World premiere. Documentary

Human Factors

Review preview for Human Factors

Added together, the elements create a compelling urgency by making the who, why and when of its movements unpredictable yet emotionally honest.

Jeremy Mathews · 4 out of 5
A mysterious house break in exposes the agony of an exemplary middle class family.

(Country: Germany, Italy, Belgium, Denmark; Year: 2021; Director: Ronny Trocker; Writer: Ronny Trocker; Stars: Mark Waschke, Marthe Schneider, Spencer Bogaert, Hassan Akkouch, Karen Margrethe Gotfredsen, Sabine Timoteo, Isaak Dentler, Jule Hermann, Anne-Catrin Märzke, Katia Fellin, Wanja Valentin Kube, Marie Rosa Tietjen, Hannes Perkmann, Daniel Séjourné, Jasper Tack)

Full review

The Last Forest (A Última Floresta)

Review preview for The Last Forest

Bolognesi achieves a bracing hybrid that changes the usual dynamic between documentary viewer and subject.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
In powerful images, alternating between documentary observation and staged sequences, and dense soundscapes, Luiz Bolognesi documents the Indigenous community of the Yanomami and depicts their threatened natural environment in the Amazon rainforest.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2021; Director: Luiz Bolognesi; Writer: Luiz Bolognesi, Davi Kopenawa; Stars: Davi Kopenawa, Davi Kopenawa)

Full review

World premiere. Documentary

Miguel's War

Review preview for Miguel's War

One of the most impressive documentaries of the year.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A portrait of a gay man who confronts the ghosts of his past. After fleeing war and repression 37 years ago, Miguel returns to Lebanon where he traces hidden longings, unrequited love and tormenting feelings of guilt.

(Country: Lebanon, Germany, Spain; Year: 2021; Director: Eliane Raheb; Writer: Eliane Raheb; Stars: Miguel Jleilaty)

Full review See: Interview with Eliane Raheb about Miguel’s War

World premiere. Documentary

Night Raiders

In a dystopian future, children are considered property of the military regime which trains them to fight in a state boarding school. A Cree woman tries to get her daughter back.

(Country: Canada, New Zealand; Year: 2021; Director: Danis Goulet; Writer: Danis Goulet; Stars: Amanda Plummer, Shaun Sipos, Eric Osborne, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, David MacInnis, Alex Tarrant, Gail Maurice, Birva Pandya, Pamela Matthews, Suzanne Cyr, Violet Nelson, Elena Khan, Brooklyn Letexier-Hart, Kevin Allan Hess, Scott Barker)

World premiere

North By Current

The unexplained death of his niece leads the director back to his family. His investigation of injustice and the arbitrariness of officialdom turns into cathartic family therapy.

(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: Angelo Madsen Minax)

World premiere. Documentary

Souad

Egyptian Souad, 19, has several identities: one on social media, others as a diligent student and an obedient daughter. When Souad’s ideas of a self-determined life are shattered, her younger sister sets out to look for answers.

(Country: Egypt, Tunisia, Germany; Year: 2021; Director: Ayten Amin; Writer: Ayten Amin, Mahmoud Ezzat; Stars: Bassant Ahmed, Basmala Elghaiesh, Hussein Ghanem, Hagar Mahmoud, Sarah Shedid, Carol Ackad, Mona Elnamoury, Islam Shalaby, Bassant Ahmed, Basmala Elghaiesh, Hussein Ghanem, Hagar Mahmoud, Sarah Shedid, Carol Ackad, Mona Elnamoury)

World premiere

Ted K

Unconventional biopic of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.

(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: Tony Stone; Writer: Tony Stone, Gaddy Davis; Stars: Sharlto Copley, Drew Powell, Bob Jennings, Travis W Bruyer, Tahmus Rounds, Christian Calloway, Samantha Jones, Amber Rose Mason, Sal Rendino, Brooke Hoover, Wayne Pyle, Megan Folsom, Keith Barber, Dannielle Rose, Daniel Knight)

World premiere

Theo And The Metamorphosis (Théo Et Les Métamorphoses)

A 27-year-old with Down’s syndrome, lives in seclusion in the forest with his father. Every day he trains his body to become a samurai. One day his father goes away and Théo is alone with his world of thoughts. He decides to start a new life.

(Country: France, Switzerland; Year: 2021; Director: Damien Odoul; Writer: Damien Odoul; Stars: Ayumi Roux, Louise Morin, Pierre Meunier, Theo Kermel, Elia Sulem, Ayumi Roux, Louise Morin, Pierre Meunier, Theo Kermel, Elia Sulem)

World premiere

The World After Us (Le monde après nous)

When penniless young writer Labidi meets Elisa he knows she’s the one for him. But Paris is expensive.

(Country: France; Year: 2021; Director: Louda Ben Salah; Stars: Louise Chevillotte, Jacques Nolot, Saadia Bentaïeb, Aurélien Gabrielli, Louise Chevillotte, Jacques Nolot, Saadia Bentaïeb, Aurélien Gabrielli)

World premiere