Festival of love and hot spots – Newspaper Kommersant No. 12 (7457) dated 01/24/2023

The official program of the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, which will be held from 16 to 26 February, has been made public. She comments Andrey Plakhov.

At a press conference after the announcement of the program, the director of the festival, Carlo Shatrian, was asked why there are so many melodramas and films about love in it. Indeed, at a superficial glance, such an impression arises, but perhaps it will be corrected. What else catches the eye (and this is already more significant) is that in the main competition, made up of 18 films, there are many new ones and few big names. Of the latter, the pioneers and activists of the new waves of the last century predominate. These are German veterans – 80-year-old Margarethe von Trotta (“Ingeborg Bachmann: Journey into the Desert”) and overcoming the 60-year milestone Christian Petzold (“Big Red Sky”) and Angela Chanelek (“Music”). To them you can add the 75-year-old Frenchman Philippe Garrel (“Great Chariot”).

Of the younger ones, the German Emily Atef is represented in the competition (“One day we’ll tell each other everything”), her compatriot Christoph Hochhäusler (“Until the end of the night”), Australian Ivan Sen (“Limbo”), South African John Trengov (“Manodrom”), American Celine Song (“Past Lives”). There is in the competition and anime (“Suzume Closes the Doors” Makoto Shinkai), and documentaries (“Inflexible” Nicolas Philibert).

The predictions about the inclusion in the Berlin program of paintings by Finn Aki Kaurismäki, Romanian Kristi Puyu, as well as a new work by Kirill Serebrennikov about Eduard Limonov did not come true. Most likely, these films will appear in the spring in the program of the Cannes Film Festival – the eternal rival of the Berlinale.

In another competitive program – Encounters (“Meetings”) there are even more new names; among them Malika Musaeva, a student of Alexander Sokurov. Her directorial debut will be screened in Berlin “The cage is looking for a bird”, filmed in Ingushetia, on the border with Chechnya, with non-professional Chechen performers in their own language. In this picture, various women’s destinies are intertwined, their internal conflict unites them – overcoming lack of freedom, searching for their own independent path. Musayeva continues her film education and professional career in Germany, but she intends to continue filming about her compatriots in the Chechen language. The appearance of this film at the Berlinale is especially significant, since last year it was rejected by the Cannes Film Festival – perhaps due to the idea of ​​a boycott of Russian cinema that seized the minds of many then; in any case, this is how Alexander Sokurov commented on the Cannes decision.

Another film garnering attention on the Encounters program is the documentary “Eastern front”filmed in Ukraine by Vitaly Mansky in co-authorship with Evgeny Titarenko in co-production of Latvia, Czech Republic, Ukraine and the USA.

The Ukrainian plot, along with the Iranian one, will become the main one at the Berlinale, a festival that has long been famous for its political engagement.

This year, attention is focused on two hot spots where blood is shed and people are dying. In various programs of the Berlinale, a record number of Iranian films, as well as Ukrainian or related to Ukraine, will be shown. Suffice it to say that the premiere special screening of the documentary will take place at the festival. “Superpower” Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufman, one of the main characters of which will be Vladimir Zelensky.

In addition, the Panorama program includes films “Do you love me?” Tonya Noyabreva (Ukraine-Sweden) and “Iron Butterflies” Roman Any (Ukraine-Germany). And in the Generation program there are also two Ukrainian tapes – “We won’t disappear” Alisa Kovalenko and “Waking up in silence” Mila Zhluktenko. There is another Ukrainian film in the short competition – “This is a date” Nadia Parfan, as well as German – “Woman in Macueni” Daria Belova.

Out of competition in Berlin will show the thriller “Inside” by Vassilis Katsupis, in which Willem Dafoe plays an art thief, a biopic “Golda” Gaia Nattiva with Helen Mirren as Golda Meir and other expected hits. The jury of the main competition will be headed by the role model of youth and students, actress Kristen Stewart: there have never been such young jury presidents at the festival. The Berlinale will open with Rebecca Miller’s comedy Come to Me Baby, starring Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway and Marisa Tomei. The Honorary Golden Bear at the festival will be awarded to Steven Spielberg.