history, atmosphere and opening film

On Thursday, February 15, the 74th Berlin Film Festival opened. He talks about its history, the atmosphere in which it began, and the opening film Andrey Plakhov.

The Berlinale’s pedigree dates back to the Cold War. The festival, held in West Berlin under the patronage of Germany, was boycotted by the USSR, and with it the rest of the socialist countries. Moreover, it is difficult to say who boycotted whom more: opponents of cultural interaction were strong both in Moscow and in West Germany. It took a quarter of a century of political fuss, diplomatic tricks and misfires for the impossible to become possible.

Exactly fifty years ago, in 1974, for the first time at the Berlinale, although out of competition, a Soviet film was shown. It was shot by Rodion Nakhapetov, and it was called symbolically – “With you and without you.”

And in 1977, a retrospective about Lenin was brought to Berlin from Moscow, at the same time the film “The Ascension” by Larisa Shepitko received the main prize – the Golden Bear.

Then the romance with the Berlinale flared up in full force. Ten years later, in 1987, the festival took place almost entirely under the sign of Soviet perestroika. Two recently “shelf” films were included in the competition: “Theme” by Gleb Panfilov and “Mournful Insensibility” by Alexander Sokurov. “Theme” brought the second “Golden Bear” to Soviet cinematography. A year later, the “Silver Bear” was awarded to “Commissar” by Alexander Askoldov, and in 1990, “Asthenic Syndrome” by Kira Muratova.

Subsequently, attention shifted towards Chinese, Iranian, as well as American and Latin American cinema. Nevertheless, until 2020 inclusive, the Russians took eight more “Silver Bears” from Berlin. And Eastern Europe continued to be a strategically important region for this festival. It still remains, but with adjustments for time and the dramatically changed international situation.

This year, for the first time in half a century, the Berlin program does not include a single Russian film, but there are three Ukrainian ones.

There are no films from Russia as such, but in the main competition Viktor Kosakovsky, who has roots in Russian cinema, is participating. His “Architecton” is a French-German-American co-production made in the signature style of this director, a recognized master of philosophical documentary. Kossakovsky’s competitors will be, among others, the famous Frenchmen Olivier Assayas and Bruno Dumont, the iconic Korean Hong Sang-soo, the Germans Andreas Dresen and Matthias Glasner, the Mauritanian Abderrahmane Sissako, the Dominican Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias and the American Aaron Shimberg.

In addition to the main one, the Berlinale will host another competition called “Clashes” – this is the brainchild of curator Carlo Chatrian, who, together with co-director Mariette Rissenbeck, will leave the festival next year. His new formula in our turbulent times will be sought by Trisha Tuttle, who is replacing them. After decades of political stability, this year’s Berlinale suffered a scandal when two lawmakers from the far-right AFD (Alternative for Germany) party were invited to the opening ceremony, sparking strong protests from activists at the traditionally left-wing festival.

The opening film of the Berlinale became symbolic in the sense of left-wing political engagement – “Such little things” directed by Tim Mylants based on the novel by Claire Keegan. The action takes place in 1985 in a small Irish town. Bill Furlong, the father of five daughters, earns food for his family through hard work selling coal. While supplying fuel to a local monastery, he unexpectedly witnesses something that is not intended for prying eyes. On the eve of Christmas, the unsightly secrets of the “Catholic courtyard” are revealed to him, about which many in the area are aware, but prefer to remain silent. Bill turns out to be capable not only of breaking the circle of silence, but also of purely human solidarity. Not least because he himself was abused as a child.

The main character is played by Cillian Murphy, an artist who was at the peak of his career after Oppenheimer. The abbess of the monastery is Emily Watson, the unforgettable heroine of the film “Breaking the Waves” by Lars von Trier. There she played the victim of religious fanaticism, here she played its cruel instrument. Scenes showing the abuse of young “sinners” who became pregnant, most often not voluntarily, are presented as a parallel to the Nazi death camps. This may be somewhat naive, but from the credits we learn that during the decades of the omnipotence of the Catholic Church in Ireland, about a thousand women and children died and were taken from them. The choice of this film to open the festival was also motivated by its star power: in addition to Murphy, Matt Damon, who acted as one of the producers, came to present the film. And Carlo Chatrian announced the premiere of this “quiet” but absolutely exceptional film as a good start to Zeitgeist Ireland 24, an annual celebration of Irish culture in Germany.