Gemma Casadevall
Berlin (EFE).– The Berlinale opens its 73rd edition with the exhibition of the romantic comedy “She came to me” to later turn to reality, send its message of solidarity to Ukraine and try to regain its popular character, freed from restrictions of covid.
The 19 candidates for the Bears, on which the jury chaired by Kristen Steward and with the Spanish director Carla Simón among its members, will decide, are an exponent of different “current crises”, according to the director of the Berlinale, Carlo Chatrian, when Submit your schedule.
The festival aims to be a “window on the world”, with several films in competition focused on childhood, such as the Spanish “20,000 species of bees”, by Estíbaliz Urresola, about a transsexual girl, or “Totem”, by the Mexican Lila Aviles.
The inaugural “She came to me”, out of competition, will provide the light tone, with Rebecca Miller directing and Anne Hathaway in the cast.
In the following days, the candidates for the Bear will parade, alternated with special guests and honorees, such as the American actor and director Sean Penn, who will premiere “Superpower”, and his compatriot Steven Spielberg, who will receive the Golden Bear of Honor.
“Superpower” is the long-awaited documentary that Penn and Aaron Kaufmann began shooting in Ukraine in 2021 and that made them witnesses to the start of the Russian invasion, on February 24, 2022. President Volodimir Zelenski is its central figure and is expected to also his virtual intervention before the Berlinale.
Stewart, at 32 years old the president of the youngest jury in the history of the festival, will have among her team Simón, who returns to Berlin after having won the Golden Bear in 2022 with “Alcarrás”, and the Romanian Radu Jude, winner of the top prize in 2021 with “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn”.
The selection of the candidates for the Bears includes many representatives of independent cinema and young names, such as the aforementioned Spanish and Mexican directors.
From Portugal, “Mal Viver” by Joao Canijo, a director who is also present in the second section of the festival, “Encounters”, with the counter-mould of the previous one, “Viver mal”, will compete.
There will be five German representatives, among them “Music”, by Angela Schanelec, and “Ingeborg Bachmann”, by the veteran Margarethe von Trotta and with Vicke Krieps in the role of the great Austrian writer, traveling through the desert after her break with Max Frisch .
Another German, Christian Petzold, returns to the festival where he is a regular with “Roter Himmel”. It is a film with an air of continuity from “Ondina”, also played by Paula Beer. The representation of the host cinema is completed by Christoph Hochhäusler and Emily Atef.
“Blackberry” will provide a dose of irony, about the rise and fall of these smartphones, directed and performed by Canadian Matt Johnson. On the British side, the contest “Manodrome”, directed by John Trengove and with Adrien Brody and Jesse Eisenberg.
The next reality check will come from France, “Sur l’Adamant”, in which Nicolas Philibert immerses himself in the day-to-day life of a day-care center for the disabled. The other French contestant is “Le grand Chariot”, with Philippe Garrel affecting his family.
The European cycle is completed by the Franco-Italian “Disco Boy”, a harsh film directed by Giacomo Abbruzzese with the German Franz Rogowski playing a rootless man enrolled in the French legion.
Two animated films come from Asian cinema: the Japanese “Suzume” by Makoto Shinkai, and “Art College 1994” by Liu Jian, which was added to the selection at the last moment. The American “Past Lives”, by Celine Song, covers the love journey of a South Korean woman -Greta Lee-, from continent to continent.
Two Australians -“Limbo”, by Ivan Sen, and “The survival of Kindness”, by Rolf de Heer-, and the Chinese “The shadowless tower”, by Zhang Lu, complete the list of candidates.
Golda, Seneca y Boris Becker
Three productions out of competition will bring some media impact to the red carpet. Helen Mirren, star of “Golda”, the film centered on Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, is expected.
The screening of “Seneca” will bring the presence of John Malkovich, while for the premiere of the documentary “Boom! Boom! The world vs. Boris Becker” is expected for the former German tennis star, after spending eight months in a British jail for financial problems.
The Berlinale aspires to recover its hallmark this year: that of a festival open to the public that, with the exception of the years of the pandemic, sold 330,000 tickets.
