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The trans world in the 21st century, the new masculinity, racial exploitation and the war in Ukraine, the great themes of the Berlinale 2023

2023-02-25T10:41:07.827Z


The hallmark of the German festival has been its choice of films for their film value and their social or political commitment, something that has not been lost in its 73rd edition, with very low-level competition.


Carla Simón, winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlinale last year, has been part of the jury for the competition that will announce her prize list today, Saturday.

Having finished her deliberations, yesterday, Friday, the filmmaker recounted: "I like the tour that Berlin provides of cinematographies and themes."

And she confessed that, indeed, in the talks of the seven members of the jury they have talked about the themes of the films: “It is the line of the Berlinale, which does not mean that we also value the cinematographic.

But yes, we have debated a lot on the issues in the jury ”.

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For decades, the Berlinale has served as a social thermometer.

In this 2023 that momentum has been maintained, unfortunately accompanied by a low artistic level on average of the 19 films in the competition.

Carlo Chatrian, the creative director of the Berlinale, coming from the Locarno event, has opted for an editorial line based on German cinema —five films in the main section, of which only Rotel Himmel was estimable

,

by the always reliable Christian Petzold—, strange expeditions with the airs of artists, the disappearance of American cinema with stars and some interesting Latin American and European titles.

Asian cinema has almost disappeared, either by the Berlinale's own decision, or due to a lack of films due to the covid, and political persecution has drowned Iranian cinematography.

Concentration in favor of Iranian filmmakers persecuted by their Government at the door of the Berlinale Palast on February 18. CLEMENS BILAN (EFE)

For those films from Hollywood that knocked on the Oscar doors, the Berlinale Special Gala section was created;

Actually, those titles now prefer Venice, and more

indie

bets have been screened in the German capital such as

Infinity Pool,

by Brandon Cronenberg (with Alexander Skarsgård and Mia Goth);

Golda

(with Helen Mirren);

the documentary

Kiss The Future

(about the U2 concert in Sarajevo in 1997, with Matt Damon as producer and Bono two days on the red carpet without speaking to the press) or

She Came To Me

(by Rebecca Miller, with Anne Hathawy, Marisa Tomei and Peter Dinklage).

All these artists together would mean a quiet morning at the Cannes festival.

So all that remains is to break down the issues that have marked an edition that closes this weekend, with the awards ceremony today and the latest screenings tomorrow, Sunday.

Helen Mirren, with a Berlinale pin painted with the Ukrainian flag, at the 'Golda' press conference. CLEMENS BILAN (EFE)

One year of the Ukrainian war.

The contest has dedicated two red carpets to launch strong messages of support for Iranian filmmakers (all the creators present, plus the official jury, which includes actresses Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Golshifteh Farahani, exiled in France, and representatives of the organization got together last Saturday the 18th) and the Ukrainians.

Yesterday, on the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, those responsible for the Berlinale, the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, the German Minister of Culture, the directors of the Odesa and Kiev festivals, the teams of the three Ukrainian feature films and a short that have been screened in different sections, and members of the industry and the Ukrainian state film agency.

At the opening there was a live connection with kyiv,

Superpower,

about the invasion.

Matt Damon announced that he is in the beginning of the production of a documentary on the conflict, and in general, any participant in any talk with the press expressed his solidarity with Zelenski's compatriots.

The actress Thea Ehre, protagonist of 'Bis ans Ende der Nacht'. MICHELE TANTUSSI (REUTERS)

transsexuality.

Up to four films approached the trans universe from a perspective that tried to avoid the sordid.

In

20,000 species of bees,

In the competition section, the Spanish Estibaliz Urresola illustrates the days of reaffirmation before the family of an eight-year-old trans girl: she is clear, it is society that must conform to her decision.

That competition closed yesterday with the German film

Bis ans Ende der Nacht,

a

thriller

focused on the sentimental relationship between a policeman infiltrated in a drug trafficking network and a trans woman.

In addition, in Encounters, the philosopher Paul B. Preciado made his film debut with

Orlando, my political biography,

a film essay that takes advantage of Virginia Woolf's novel to talk about the Orlandos that inhabit the planet.

And in Panorama, the Colombian documentary

Transfariana

it illustrated the relationship in prison between a FARC guerrilla and a trans prostitute convicted of crimes she did not commit.

The protagonist of 'The Survival Of Kindness', by Rolf de Heer.

racial exploitation.

In sections like Forum, open to cinemas from all over the world with low-budget films and more risky proposals, ethnic confrontation and racial differences have been the daily theme.

In competition there were two noteworthy examples, and the two Australians:

Limbo,

a

thriller

whose plot was based on the mistreatment of aborigines by whites;

and

The Survival of Kindness,

by veteran Rolf de Heer, which opens with an unnamed black woman abandoned in a desert in a cage.

The latter has won the Fipresci prize from international critics.

Jesse Eisenberg, in 'Manodrome'.

The new masculinity against toxic masculinities.

A boiling dichotomy.

On the one hand, the New York husband of Nora, the protagonist of

Past Lives,

a sensitive man who affectionately endures the appearance of his wife's childhood love, a muscular and in love Korean, who also understands that his passion for Nora will never be able to set.

On the other, the protagonist of

Manodrome,

an Uber driver played by Jesse Eisenberg, who, like Travis Bickle of the 21st century, demonizes himself behind the wheel while he feels that women don't pay attention to him.

And for that reason he ends up in a misogynist sect.

The incel man has appeared in other sections, and it never ends well.

Image from 'Infinity Pool', by Brandon Cronenberg.

Sundance.

The old enemy of the Berlinale now feeds its sections.

It is not a social issue, but it has been widely discussed.

One of the favorites for the Golden Bear, the American

Past Lives,

by Celine Song, came from the contest founded by Robert Redford, as did the two horror titles in the Special Gala section:

Infinity Pool,

by Brandon Cronenberg, and the Australian

Talk .

Take.

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Source: elparis

All life articles on 2023-02-25

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