60th Berlinale: First Films in the Panorama Section

In this anniversary year, old and new masters as well as newcomers define the programme of the Panorama section. Back with new works are not only Lothar Lambert and Peter Kern, but also directorial duo Jacques Martineau and Olivier Ducastel, as well as Isao Yukisada, E J-Yong and Sébastien Lifshitz. Recent young feature films are represented by Mat Whitecross, Anahí Berneri and Scud, while the documentaries of Lucy Walker, Tamara Trampe/Johann Feindt and Michael Stock are exemplary for the impressive Panorama Dokumente.

After visiting Asia, North and South America, and Europe to select films, half of the 50 works in the programme are now certain. They take a lively look at world cinema creations during the recent crisis and reveal that the documentary is again putting in a strong showing in 2010: documentaries make up about one third of the programme. From the start, the Panorama’s mission has been to discover films for the coming arthouse season and to provide the market with inspiration.

Once more, over 20,000 moviegoers will participate during the Berlinale in the Panorama Audience Award that is to be presented on February 21, 2010.

The Panorama Dokumente and the complete feature film programme will be announced towards the end of January. All of the films are screening as either world or European premieres. To date, the following films have been confirmed for the Main Programme, Panorama Special and Panorama Dokumente:

MAIN PROGRAMME + PANORAMA SPECIAL

Amphetamine by Scud, Hongkong, China (WP)

with Thomas Price, Byron Pang, Winnie Leung

Besouro by João Daniel Tikhomiroff, Brazil

with Aílton Carmo, Jessica Barbosa, Anderson Santos de Jesus, Flávio Rocha, Irandhir Santos

Blutsfreundschaft (Initiation) by Peter Kern, Austria

with Helmut Berger, Harry Lampl, Melanie Kretschmann, Michael Steinocher, Manuel Rubey, Matthias Franz Stein, Oliver Rosskopf, Heribert Sasse, Gregor Seberg

El mal ajeno by Oskar Santos, Spain (WP)

with Eduardo Noriega, Belén Rueda, Angie Cepeda, Cristina Plazas, Clara Lago

Golden Slumber by Yoshihiro Nakamura, Japan

with Masato Sakai, Yuko Takeuchi, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Gekidan Hitori, Nao Omori, Sango Kitamura

Just Another Love Story by Kaushik Ganguly, Rituparno Ghosh, India (WP)

with Rituparno Ghosh, Indraneel Sengupta, Chapal Bhaduri, Raima Sen, Jisshu Sengupta

Kawasakiho růže (Kawasaki's Rose) by Jan Hřebejk, Czech Republic (WP)

with Daniela Kolářová, Martin Huba, Lenka Vlasákova, Milan Mikulčík

Kosmos by Reha Erdem, Turkey/Bulgaria

with Sermet Yeşil, Türkü Turan, Hakan Altuntaş, Sabahat Doğanyılmaz, Korel Kubilay

L'arbre et la forêt (Family Tree) by Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau, France (WP)

with Guy Marchand, Françoise Fabian, Sabrina Seyvecou, Yannick Renier

Nacidas para sufrir (Born To Suffer) by Miguel Albaladejo, Spain

with Adriana Ozores, Petra Martinez, Malena Alterio, Ricard Borrás, Jorge Calvo, Marta Fernández Muro, Maria Elena Flores

Parade by Isao Yukisada, Japan

with Tatsuya Fujiwara, Karina, Shihori Kanjiya, Kento Hayashi, Keisuke Koide

Phobidilia by Doron Paz, Yoav Paz, Israel

with Ofer Shechter, Efrat Baumwald, Shlomo Bar Shavit, Efrat Dor

Plein sud (Going South) by Sébastien Lifshitz, France

with Yannick Renier, Léa Seydoux, Nicole Garcia, Théo Frilet, Pierre Périer

Por tu culpa (It's Your Fault) by Anahí Berneri, Argentina/France (WP)

with Erica Rivas, Ruben Viani, Nicasio Galán, Zenón Galán, Osmar Núñez

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll by Mat Whitecross, UK

with Andy Serkis, Naomie Harris, Olivia Williams, Bill Milner, Tom Hughes

Son Of Babylon by Mohamed Al-Daradji, Iraq/UK/France/United Arab Emirates/The Netherlands/Egypt/Palestinian territories

with Yassir Talib, Shazada Hussein, Bashir Al-Majid

The Man Who Sold The World by Swel Noury, Imad Noury, Morocco

with Said Bey, Fehd Benchemsi, Audrey Marnay, Latifa Ahrrare, Hakim Noury

Yeobaewoodle (The Actresses) by E J-Yong, Republic of Korea

with Yoon Yeo-jeong, Lee Mi-sook, Ko Hyun-joung, Choi Ji-woo, Kim Ok-vin, Kim Min-hee

PANORAMA DOKUMENTE

Alle meine Stehaufmädchen - Von Frauen, die sich was trauen

(All My Tumbler Girls Or All About Women Who Dare To...)

by Lothar Lambert, Germany (WP)

Beautiful Darling: The Life And Times Of Candy Darling, Andy Warhol Superstar by James Rasin, USA (WP)

Hazman havarod (Gay Days) by Yair Qedar, Israel

Making The Boys by Crayton Robey, USA (WP)

with Mart Crowley, Edward Albee, Tony Kushner, Terrence McNally, Dominic Dunne, William Friedkin, Robert Wagner

Postcard To Daddy by Michael Stock, Germany (WP)

Waste Land by Lucy Walker, co-directors: João Jardim, Karen Harley, UK/Brazil

Wiegenlieder (Lullaby) by Tamara Trampe, Johann Feindt, Germany (WP)

with Detlef Jablonski, Helmut Oehring, Santos, Apti Bisultanov, Jocelyn B. Smith

Berlinale 2009: With 48 films, the Panorama is Now Complete

This year’s Panorama will present 17 feature films in its Main Programme, 15 in Panorama Special, and 16 in its Panorama Dokumente series. Five short supporting films will be screened prior to full-length films that are related in topic. In all, 35 films are world premieres and 13 are directorial debuts. Five films will be shown as Celebration Presentations - 30 Years of Programming. For 10 Years Panorama Audience Award (PPP), we will also be re-screening the winning films of the past decade.

Opening Films

The Panorama Main Programme will open on February 5 with the French production Human Zoo by Danish director Rie Rasmussen. In her debut feature, she also plays the lead, a young woman who joins a deserter to escape the horrors of the Balkan crisis.

Panorama Special opens on February 6 with Nord (North), the first work of Norwegian director Rune Denstad Langlo. With his fine sense for seeing the comic in the tragic, he tells of a man’s search for his baby son in the icy north.

Panorama Dokumente will show two films on February 6, both of which deal with topics relevant to the Festival as a whole, i.e., they present analyses and impacts of globalization, as well as perspectives on Kashmir , Pakistan , and Kabul .

Globalization

In The Yes Men Fix The World by Mike Bonanno, Andy Bichlbaum and Kurt Engfehr (USA), the Yes Men, heroes of the subversive and playful globalisation critique already encountered in the 2004 Panorama, unmask not only pseudo-legal economic crimes, but also the privatization mania of the Milton Friedman mindset. Neither Dow Chemicals, nor Halliburton and the BBC are safe from the Yes Men’s muckraking activities. Other films on this topic were announced earlier; they include The Shock Doctrine by Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross, Garapa by José Padilha, as well as Coyote by Chema Rodríguez.

Perspectives on Kashmir , Pakistan , and Kabul

Udi Aloni’s Kashmir: Journey To Freedom (USA/Israel) impressively presents the opposite of what we commonly see of this region in the Western media: here it is a matter of restoring peace and of how resourceful people become in their fight for it. The impact of uprooting people and their disorientation are of great significance here, as can also be seen in Helga Reidemeister’s Mein Herz sieht die Welt schwarz – Eine Liebe in Kabul (War And Love In Kabul). By closely observing the situation in two families, the German director enables viewers to directly perceive prevailing values and their fragility. Also in Khalid Gill’s German production, Chan di chummi (Kiss The Moon), the bigger picture unfolds via individual observation: in the Pakistani culture, transgenders once had a place in society – now, as traditions erode, their position is endangered.

10 Years Panorama Audience Award (PPP)

Since 1999, “radioeins”, “tip” magazine, and Panorama have organized the Panorama Audience Award. Over 20,000 viewers participate each year by casting their votes for their favourite films. The award is presented on the last day of the Festival, and the winning film is re-screened. In 2009, audiences will be able to see their favourites from over the past decade again at special screenings in Cubix 7 and 8 at Alexanderplatz (for a list of the films, go to the very end of this announcement).

For the occasion, the Berlin artist Christian Bilger has designed a new sculpture. The organizers would also like to thank Hubertus Brand who created the sculpture that was awarded for the first ten years.

The TEDDY – Queer Film Award at the Berlinale will be presented at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of World Cultures) on Friday, February 13. The jury - whose eight members are festival makers from around the globe - will be awarding this prize in Berlin for the 23rd time.

To complete the list of films presented in the first two Panorama press releases, we would like to announce the following titles: filmlist see below.

Panorama Main Programme (ONLY NEW TITLES!)

Dongbei, Dongbei (A North Chinese Girl) by Zou Peng, People’s Republic of China (WP)

With Tian Yi-Wen, Wu Rui-Peng, Liu Xing-Ping

Rabioso sol, rabioso cielo (Raging Sun, Raging Sky) by Julián Hernández , Mexico (WP)

With Jorge Becerra, Javier Oliván, Guillermo Villegas, Giovanna Zacarias

Rossiya 88 ( Russia 88) by Pavel Bardin, Russian Federation (WP)

With Petr Fyodorov, Vera Strokova, Kazbek Kibizov

Schläft ein Lied in allen Dingen (Sleeping Songs) by Andreas Struck, Germany (WP)

With Stefan Rudolf, Chulpan Khamatova, Traute Hoess, Paula Kalenberg, Barnaby Metschurat

Strella by Panos H. Koutras, Greece (WP)

With Mina Orfanou, Yiannis Kokkiasmenos, Minos Theoharis, Betty Vakalidou

Vingança (Retribution) by Paulo Pons, Brazil

With Bárbara Borges, Erom Cordeiro, Branca Messina, Guta Stresser, Marcio Kieling

Panorama Special

Claustrophobia by Ivy Ho

With Karena Lam, Ekin Cheng, Felix Lok, Derek Tsang, Chucky Woo

End Of Love by Simon Chung, Hong Kong , China (WP)

With Chi Kin Lee, Guthrie Yip, Ben Yeung, Joman Chiang, Clifton Kwan

Nord (North) by Rune Denstad Langlo , Norway (WP)

With Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Marte Aunemo, Lars Olsen, Mads Sjogard Pettersen, Astrid Solhaug

Short Cut To Hollywood by Marcus Mittermeier, Jan Henrik Stahlberg, Germany , Austria , USA (WP)

With Jan Henrik Stahlberg, Marcus Mittermeier, Christoph Kottenkamp, Marta McGonagle, Allison Findlater-Galinsky

Yang Yang by Yu-Chieh Cheng, Taiwan (WP)

With Sandrine Pinna, Ruei-Jia Chang, Chien-Wei Huang

Panorama Dokumente

Chan di chummi (Kiss The Moon) by Khalid Gill, Germany (WP)

City of Borders by Yun Suh , USA (WP)

Ein Traum in Erdbeerfolie (Comrade Couture) by Marco Wilms, Germany (WP)

With Frank Schäfer, Sabine von Oettingen, Klaus Ehrlich, Marco Wilms, Jürgen Hohmuth

Endstation der Sehnsüchte (Home From Home) by Sung-Hyung Cho, Germany (WP)

Kashmir: Journey To Freedom by Udi Aloni , USA / Israel

Mein Herz sieht die Welt schwarz - Eine Liebe in Kabul (War And Love In Kabul) by Helga Reidemeister, Germany (WP)

The Good American by Jochen Hick , Germany (WP)

With Tom Weise, Keith Richmond, Freddy Spells, Vin Nolan, Alex Baresi

The Yes Men Fix The World by Mike Bonanno, Andy Bichlbaum, Kurt Engfehr, USA

VON WEGEN (OFF WAYS) by Uli M Schueppel, Germany (WP)

With the Einstürzende Neubauten, Roland Galenza, Heiner Mueller, Alexander Pehlemann, Claus Löser

Supporting Films

575 Castro Street by Jenni Olson , USA

Featuring the voice of Harvey Milk

Das Ende des Schweins ist der Anfang der Wurst (The End Of The Pig Is The Beginning Of The Sausage) by John Edward Heys, Germany (WP)

With Napoleon Seyfarth

Gevald by Netalie Braun , Israel

With Gil Naveh, Noga Meltzer, Adili Liberman, Samira Saraya

Queer Sarajevo Festival 2008 by Masa Hilcisin, Cazim Dervisevic , Bosnia and Herzegovina (WP)

Tanjong Rhu (The Casuarina Cove) by Junfeng Boo, Singapore (WP)

With Nick Shen, Scott Lei, Yann Yann Yeo

10 Years Panorama Audience Award (PPP)

Solas (Alone) by Benito Zambrano , Spain 1998

With Ana Fernandez, Maria Galiana, Carlos Alvarez-Novoa

Nationale 7 by Jean-Pierre Sinapi, France 1999

With Nadia Kaci, Olivier Gourmet, Lionel Abelanski, Chantal Neuwirth

Berlin is in Germany ( Berlin Is In Germany ) by Hannes Stöhr, Germany

2001

With Jörg Schüttauf, Julia Jäger, Robin Becker, Tom Jahn

Im toten Winkel. Hitlers Sekretärin (Blind Spot. Hitler's Secretary) by André Heller, Othmar Schmider, Austria 2001

Knafayim Shvurot (Broken Wings) by Nir Bergman, Israel 2002

Wotj Orli Zilbershatz-Banai, Maya Maron, Nitai Gvirtz, Vladimir Freedman

Die Spielwütigen (Addicted To Acting) by Andres Veiel, Germany 2003

With Prodomos Antoniadis, Constanze Becker, Karina Plachetka, Stephanie Stremler

Va, vis et deviens (Live and Become) by Radu Mihaileanu , France /Israel 2004

With Yael Abecassis, Roschdy Zem, Moshe Agazai, Moshe Abebe

Bubot Niyar (Paper Dolls) by Tomer Heymann , Israel /Switzerland 2005

Blindsight by Lucy Walker, Great Britain 2006

Lemon Tree by Erab Riklis, Israel/Germany/France 2008

With Hiam Abbass, Rona Lipaz-Michael, Doron Tavory, Ali Suliman

Berlinale 2009: Panorama Announces First Titles

“Almost half the programme has been decided”, reports Panorama director Wieland Speck, who recently returned from trips to Asia, North and Latin America , as well as several European countries, where he viewed and selected films. He is referring here to the first 21 films in the Panorama programme, which will ultimately include about 50 productions.

Documentaries will again make up approximately a third of the section – their large number is due to the great appeal of documentary works today. For instance, José Padilha, winner of the Golden Bear in 2008 for Tropa de elite (The Elite Squad), will present his documentary Garapa, a work that radically addresses the issue of global hunger. Chema Rodríguez, who screened Estrellas de la linea (The Railroad All-Stars) in the 2006 Panorama, reveals in Coyote how people smugglers do business in South America . He tells the story of three families who set all their hopes on those members who are willing to try to make their way through Mexico to the USA .

In the Indonesia entry At Stake, five young directors explore prevailing moral conceptions in the world’s most populous Islamic country: the topics range from female genital mutilation to the conflict that results when unmarried women want to go to the gynaecologist.

Alongside a number of renowned names like Wolfgang Murnberger, Tom DiCillo, Julie Delpy and Ulli Lommel, this year’s feature films include many discoveries.

In Jean-Paul Lilienfeld’s La journée de la jupe (Skirt Day), Isabelle Adjani plays a teacher who works in a violent milieu where suddenly the tables turn. Jan Krüger, whose short film Freunde (The Whiz Kids) won the Silver Lion in Venice in 2001, recounts in Rückenwind (Light Gradient) a post-emancipatory love story set in Berlin ’s outskirts. Actress Rie Rasmussen (who played the lead in Luc Besson’s Angel-A) depicts in Human Zoo, her directorial debut, the grim post-traumatic life of a young woman in Paris after she has escaped the horrors of the Balkan crisis.

In addition, the 2009 Panorama has all reason to celebrate: “30 years of programming!” Headed by Manfred Salzgeber (under the name “Info-Schau”), this section was launched in 1980. Soon we’ll be announcing a number of cinematic highlights that we’ll screen to celebrate this anniversary, as well the complete 2009 Panorama programme.

So far the following films have been confirmed for the Main Programme, Panorama Special, and Panorama Dokumente. Eleven of these works are world premieres; five are directorial debuts:

Absolute Evil by Ulli Lommel , USA (world premiere)

With David Carradine, Carolyn Neff, Ulli Lommel, Chris Kiesa

Ander by Roberto Castón, Spain (directorial debut and world premiere)

With Josean Bengoetxea, Cristhian Esquivel, Mamen Rivera, Pilar Rodríguez, Leire Ucha

At Stake by Iwan Setiawan, Muhammad Ichsan, Lucky Kuswandi, Ucu Agustin, Ani Ema Susanti, Indonesia

PANORAMA DOKUMENTE

Coyote by Chema Rodríguez, Spain (world premiere)

PANORAMA DOKUMENTE

Der Knochenmann (The Bone Man) by Wolfgang Murnberger, Austria (world premiere)

With Josef Hader, Josef Bierbichler, Birgit Minichmayr, Simon Schwarz, Christoph Luser, Stipe Erceg

Fig Trees by John Greyson, Canada (world premiere)

With Van Abrahams, David Wall, Alexander Chapman

Fucking Different Tel Aviv by Yair Hochner, Avital Barak, Stephanie Abramovic, Elad Zakai, Eran Koblik Kedar, Ricardo Rojstaczer, Nir Ne'Eman, Hila Ben Baruch, Yossi Brauman, Sivan Levy, Eyal Bromberg, Anat Salomon, Sie Gal, November Wanderin, Yasmin Max, Germany/Israel

Garapa by José Padilha , Brazil (world premiere)

PANORAMA DOKUMENTE

Ghosted by Monika Treut, Germany/Taiwan (world premiere)

With Inga Busch, Huan-Ru Ke, Ting-Ting Hu, Jack Kao, Marek Harloff

Gururi No Koto (All Around Us) by Hashigushi Ryosuke, Japan

With Kimura Tae, Lily Franky, Baisyo Mitsuko

High Life by Gary Yates, Canada (world premiere)

With Timothy Olyphant, Stephen Eric McIntyre, Joe Anderson, Rossif Sutherland

Human Zoo by Rie Rasmussen , France (directorial debut and world premiere)

With Rie Rasmussen, Nikola Djuricko, Nick Corey, Vojin Cetkovic, Hiam Abbass, Said Amadis

La journee de la jupe (Skirt Day) by Jean-Paul Lilienfeld, France/Belgium

With Isabelle Adjani, Denis Podalydes, Yann Collette

Laskar Pelangi (The Rainbow Troops) by Riri Riza , Indonesia

With Cut Mini, Zulfani, Ferdian, Veris Yamarno, Ikranagara

Pedro by Nick Oceano, USA (directorial debut)

With Alex Loynaz,Justina Machado, Hale Appleman, DaJuan Johnson

Rückenwind (Light Gradient) by Jan Krüger, Germany (world premiere)

With Sebastian Schlecht, Eric Golub, Iris Minich, Denis Avevi

Sólo quiero caminar (Just Walking) by Agustin Diaz Yanes, Spain/Mexico

With Diego Luna , Victoria Abril, Ariadna Gil, Pilar López de Ayala, Elena Anaya

The Countess by Julie Delpy, Germany/France (world premiere)

With Julie Delpy, William Hurt, Daniel Brühl

Unmistaken Child by Nati Baratz , Israel (directorial debut)

With Tenzin Zopa

PANORAMA DOKUMENTE

When You're Strange by Tom DiCillo, USA

With Kevin Krasny

PANORAMA DOKUMENTE

White Lightnin' by Dominic Murphy, Great Britain/USA (directorial debut)

With Edward Hogg, Carrie Fisher, Muse Watson