The festival takes place over six days (Sebastian Goethe/Getty)
The race to win the “Golden Bear” award kicked off on Thursday, in Berlin International Film Festival Held in a fully-attended version, with a tape by François Ozon is a re-reading of a 1970s film by German director Rainer Fernz Fassbinder.
After the festival is held by default in 2021, it will return to the red carpet, as it will be held in attendance, with the participation of an international jury headed by M Night Shyamalan.
During a press conference held by the committee on Thursday, its director and producer M Knight Shyamalan said, surrounded by colleagues, “I am very excited regarding the idea of seeing these films,” and “I feel like a child surrounded by ideal partners.”
Among the panelists, Japanese director Ryosuke Hamaguchi, who has just received four Oscar nominations for his movie “Drive My Car,” said the festival’s “role is to ensure that there is no gap” between commercial and artistic cinema. Going back to the history of cinema, we notice that there is no gap between these two categories.”
Eighteen films are competing in the festival, which runs until February 16. The event kicks off with the work of French director François Ozon, who won the “Grand Jury Prize” in 2019 for the movie Grace a Dieu.
In this work, the French director presents a beautiful story of passion, through a new reading of the film “The Peter Teas of Petra von Kant” by German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who died forty years ago.
The screening of the film “Peter von Kant”, in which the French actress Isabelle Adjani participates, at the beginning of the festival, adds a glamorous touch to the launch that marks the remarkable absence of the huge American productions and their stars from the German capital festival, which has been infected with mutant infections. Omicron It has the highest levels.
Eighteen filmmakers are competing to win the “Golden Bear” award this year, succeeding Romanian Radu Goudi, winner of last year’s award, including seven female directors, in light of the remarkable presence of French works.
Well-known personalities will compete in the festival, including the Italian veteran Paolo Taviani (90 years), for the movie “Leonora Adeo”, his first film since the death of his brother and permanent collaborator Vittorio. And they won the “Golden Bear” award ten years ago.
Festival followers are anticipating the screening of “On Anew Una Noche”, the first feature film regarding the November 13, 2015 attacks in Paris. The Spanish work was directed by Isaki Laquista, and the Argentinean Nauel Perez Pesquiart and the French Noemi Merlan starred in it.
Director Claire Denis entered the competition for the first time, with a film she co-wrote with Christine Angou, under the title “Fire”.
In general, French works as well as French actors (Juliette Binoche in a film by Claire Donny, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Emmanuel Pierre in a film by Michael Hirs…) will be strongly present at the festival.
Outside the official competition, the film “Black Glasses” by Italian director Dario Argento and “String battru” by French director Cantan Dubio will be shown at the festival.
French actress Isabelle Huppert is awarded an honorary Golden Bear as an honorary award for her career.
The presence of the business crews and the words of the jury members, which includes Japanese director Ryosuke Hamaguchi, Brazilian Karim Ainoz and French-Tunisian producer Said Ben Said, will not forget the dangerous health situation in Germany, as the place was equipped with masks and tests that will be conducted daily.
The number of films expected to be shown at the six-day festival has decreased between 20 and 25 percent.
It is noteworthy that the Egyptian film “Bishtlak Sa’at”, directed by Mohamed Shawky Hassan, will be shown on the fourth day of the festival, in its world premiere, within the “Berlinale Forum” section.
Somali director Mohamed Hrawi will present the world premiere of his film “Will My Parents Visit Me” in the short films section of the festival, which also hosts the films “The Staring… Absence” by Egyptian Mohamed Abdel Karim, and “All Your Stars Are On My Love” by Haig Evzian from Lebanon, in the section Expanded Forum.
The attendance of the festival represents an important step for it in light of the danger of marginalization.
While the American festivals continue cautiously, with the organization of the second “virtual” version of the recently concluded “Sundance” festival, the Italian Venice Festival was organized and the French were in attendance in 2021, and they are preparing to hold the next two editions of them with an attendance version as well.
(AFP, The New Arab)
