Berlin

OFFICIAL SELECTIONS & EFM MARKET SCREENINGS SCHEDULE

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OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

*FORUM SECTION*

YOUNG SOLITUDE

DCP/HD • France • 2018 • 100’

 Directed by: Claire Simon 

Produced by: Sophie Dulac Production

Co-produced by: Carthage Films

Original language: French

Claire Simon portrays an important time for any individual, from 16 to 18 years of age.

Set in the Paris suburbs in high school (for those lucky enough to go), teenagers chat after and even during class, sitting in the hallway or outside on a bench, looking at the city below them.

Claire Simon sets up a cinematic dialog with the teens, speaking about their personal history, their family, but also passions and loneliness.

At this age, they start thinking about leaving their family, when there is one, and even run away from it when it’s completely broken. Being by yourself can bring as many good things as bad ones. This film becomes a place where they search and discuss the meaning of all this.

A pure coming-age story, Young Solitude is an ode to youth. 

FRENCH distributor: SOPHIE DULAC

17.02 3:55PM @CinemaxX 1

*FORUM SECTION*

THE WALDHEIM WALTZ

DCP/HD • Austria • 2018 • 93’

 Directed by:  Ruth Beckermann 

Produced by: Ruth Beckermann Film Production

Original languages: German, English, French

A film about truth and lies and how a guilty man can rise to power.

Ruth Beckermann documents the process of uncovering former UNESCO Secretary General Kurt Waldheim’s wartime past. It shows the swift succession of new allegations by the World Jewish Congress during his Austrian presidential campaign, the denial by the Austrian political class, the outbreak of anti-Semitism and patriotism, which finally led to his election.

Created from international archive material and what Beckermann shot at the time, the film shows that history repeats itself time and time again.  

AUSTRIAN distributor: FILMLADEN

*BERLINALE SPECIAL*

A JOURNEY TO THE FUMIGATED TOWNS

DCP/HD • Argentina • 2018 • 97’

 Directed by:  Fernando E. Solanas 

Produced by: Cinesur S.A

Original language: Spanish

A Journey to the Fumigated Towns is the final episode made by Fernando Solanas in a series of 8 films dedicated to the Argentinian’s crisis in the 21^st century.

Based on testimonies, re-creations, archives and photos, this investigative documentary reveals not only the after-effects of the soya’s model and other GMO’s grain productions with agrochemicals, on the health of the Argentinian people but also the global and environmental consequences.

Fernando Solanas unfolds dramatic stories and testimonies from locals, farmers and researchers. As a fearless director and a senator, he is convinced that Eco-agriculture produces food for everyone in a natural and profitable way.

*CULINARY CINEMA*

THE GREEN LIE

DCP/HD • Austria • 2018 • 97’

Directed by: Werner Boote 

Produced by: e&a Film

Original languages: German, English, Indonesian, Portuguese 

“When you shop with a conscience, you don’t save the world, you save the corporations”

Environmentally friendly electric cars, sustainably produced food products, fair production processes: Hurray! If everything the corporations tell us is true, we can save the world through our purchasing decisions alone! A popular and dangerous lie.

Are the industry's “green products” nothing more than a sales strategy?

In his new documentary film, Werner Boote (Plastic Planet, Everything's Under Control) shows us, together with environmental expert Kathrin Hartmann, how we can protect ourselves.

They easily banter, they agree to disagree and ultimately bring freshness to a never-ending debate.

GERMAN distributor: LITTLE DREAM ENTERTAINMENT

17.02 10:20AM @CinemaxX 5

EFM SCREENINGS

THE GREENAWAY ALPHABET

DCP/HD • The Netherlands • 2018 • 70’

Directed by: Saskia Boddeke

Produced by: Beeld

Co-produced by: NTR

Original languages: Dutch, English 

Peter Greenaway constructs an alphabet for and with his daughter Zoë as a blueprint of his life.

The fascinations of filmmaker Peter Greenaway, whose motto is "art is life and life is art", are captured like butterflies and arranged in an alphabet, a form suiting him perfectly as an encyclopedist. In intimate conversations with his perceptive 16-year-old daughter Zoë, we discover the ‘whos, whats and whys’ about Greenaway.

They begin with A, which stands for Amsterdam, but could also stand for autism, Zoë suggests. Greenaway’s boundless creativity and unconstrained flow of words brings this to mind indeed, and he admits to wearing the label with pride. The playful conversations don’t shy away from painful topics; we hear that Greenaway hasn’t seen two other children of his for years.

Later, heartbroken and in tears, Zoë asks him if for once, he can stop talking like a commentator.

Zoë’s spontaneous questions penetrate Greenaway to the core, enabling his wife, multimedia artist Saskia Boddeke, to make a deeply personal portrait not only of the artist, but also of Greenaway the father in his battle against time.

20.02 2:20AM @CinemaxX 2

THE RAPE OF RECY TAYLOR

DCP/HD • USA • 2017 • 91’

Directed by: Nancy Buirski

Produced by: Augusta Films

Co-produced by: Transform Films Inc

In association with: Artemis Rising and Matador content

Original language: English

To the countless women whose voices have not been heard.

Recy Taylor, a 24-year-old black mother and sharecropper, was gang raped by six white boys in 1944 Alabama. Common in Jim Crow South, few women spoke up in fear for their lives. Not Recy Taylor, who bravely identified her rapists. The NAACP sent its chief rape investigator Rosa Parks, who rallied support and triggered an unprecedented outcry for justice. 

More and more women are now speaking up after rape.

Our film tells the story of black women who spoke up when danger was greatest; it was their noble efforts to take back their bodies that led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott and movements that followed.

The 2017 Global March by Women is linked to their courage. From sexual aggression on 40’s southern streets to today’s college campuses and to the threatened right to choose, it is control of women’s bodies that powered the movement in Recy Taylor’s day and fuels our outrage today.

VARIETY:  "Recy’s tale still resonates today as it triggers questions about race, sexual abuse and gender inequality"

THE INDEPENDENT UK: "Recy Taylor was the woman at the heart of Oprah Winfrey's powerful Golden Globes speech - a woman who suffered so brutally, but battled tirelessly for justice"

Venice Horizons Competition - Special Prize for Human Rights

UK distributor: MODERN FILMS

US distributor: THE ORCHARD

16.02 9AM @CinemaxX 1

MAI 68, LA BELLE OUVRAGE

DCP/HD • France • 1968/2018 •117'

 Directed by:  Jean-Luc Magneron 

Produced by: Wide Management

Original language: French

2018 RESTORED VERSION NOW AVAILABLE

Shot during the Paris events, based on exclusive interviews and archives, MAI 68 sheds a new light on this social revolution using powerful testimonies from citizens and celebrities.

Originally entitled REPRESSION, MAI 68 is a long indictment against police brutalities, filmed on the front line.

Starting with the well-known speech by President Charles de Gaulle about the reaction of public forces during the riots, the film brings testimonies from both sides: the politicians and the intellectuals (students, artists).

Timeless and relevant, MAI 68 has never been so close.

19.02 4:55PM @MGB Cinema

LET THE CHILD BE THE GUIDE

DCP/HD • France • 2017 • 100’

 Directed by:  Alexandre Mourot 

Produced by: Dans le sens de la vie

Original language: French

“Education should not limit itself to seeking new methods for a mostly arid transmission of knowledge:  its aim must be to give the necessary aid to human development.”

Maria Montessori

Inherited from Maria Montessori in 1907, the Montessori Method is a child-centered educational approach celebrating and nurturing each child's desire to learn. An approach valuing the human spirit and a full child development —physical, social, emotional, cognitive.

This method is more and more popular and Montessori schools are opening worldwide today. Because self-development and respect are essentials to our society, film director Alexandre Mourot sets his camera up in the oldest Montessori school in France (with kids from 3 to 6 years of age) and observes.

He meets happy children, free to move around, working alone or in small groups. Some read, others make bread, do divisions, laugh or sleep. The teacher remains very discreet.

Children guide the film director throughout the whole school year, helping him understand the magic of their autonomy and self-esteem – the seeds of a new society of peace and freedom, which Maria Montessori dedicated her life work to.

JAPANESE distributor: DOMA INC

TAIWANESE distributor: JOINT ENTERTAINMENT

ITALIAN distributor: WANTED FILMS

THAI distributor: MOVIE MATTERS

18.02 11:10AM @CineStar 6

IMPOSED PIECE

DCP/HD • Belgium • 2017 • 74’

 Directed by:  Brecht Vanhoenacker

Produced by: Caviar

Original languages: Dutch, English, Korean

Imposed Piece is a cinematographic chronicle revealing one of the most prestigious violin’s competition: the Queen Elisabeth.

Through this documentary, the audience meets some of the twelve finalists and follows their intense preparation. These young and talented musicians finally have the chance to manifest themselves as soloists after years of practice and sacrifices. Pressure and expectations are high. In complete seclusion and during an eight-days period, they must study a compulsory piece and a concerto of their choice. 

Little by little, the film reveals how they prepare, how they cope with stress and how they reflect on their past and future.

SOUTH KOREAN distributor: CINEBLOOMING

17.02 8:55AM CinemaxX 5