Berlin Film Festival today revealed the first 22 films in the 2019 Panorama program, including directorial debuts from actors Jonah Hill and Alexander Gorchilin. The 17 feature films and five documentary films, represent a total of 21 production countries. 14 of the films will be celebrating world premieres in Panorama. Nine of the selected works are first films,
37 Seconds – Japan
by HIKARI (Mitsuyo Miyazaki)
with Mei Kayama, Misuzu Kanno, Makiko Watanabe, Shunsuke Daitō, Yuka Itaya
World premiere – Debut film
Director HIKARI, aka Mitsuyo Miyazaki, tells the story of Yuma, a young Japanese woman who suffers from cerebral palsy. Torn between her obligations towards her family and her dream to become a manga artist, Yuma struggles to lead a self-determined life.
Dafne – Italy
by Federico Bondi
with Carolina Raspanti, Antonio Piovanelli, Stefania Casini
World premiere
Dafne is a self-aware and bright young woman with Down syndrome. When her mother dies, she has to attend to her father too, on top of attempting to process her own grief.
The Day After I’m Gone – Israel
by Nimrod Eldar
with Menashe Noy, Zohar Meidan
World premiere – Debut film
Nimrod Eldar’s first feature tells the stories of injured animals, injured daughters and an injured country. Leaving Tel Aviv might be the last hope for the single father.
A Dog Called Money – Ireland / United Kingdom
by Seamus Murphy
with PJ Harvey
Documentary
World premiere – Debut film
Award-winning photographer Seamus Murphy provides a glimpse into the creative process of groundbreaking British musician PJ Harvey filming her in a London recording studio and during their joint travels to Afghanistan, Kosovo and Washington D.C..
Estou Me Guardando Para Quando O Carnaval Chegar (Waiting for the Carnival) – Brazil
by Marcelo Gomes
Documentary
World premiere
A documentary film about the Brazilian town of Toritama, the self-proclaimed capital of jeans. The workers of the city’s self-managed small businesses only get one real break from their self-exploiting lives in the textile business: the annual Carnival.
Eynayim Sheli (Chained) – Israel / Germany
by Yaron Shani
with Eran Naim, Stav Almagor, Stav Patai
World premiere
Israeli director Yaron Shani presents the second part of his “Love Trilogy”, the story of policeman Rashi, whose private life is thrown out of balance by a sudden loss of authority on the job.
Flatland – South Africa / Germany / Luxembourg
by Jenna Bass
with Faith Baloyi, Nicole Fortuin, Izel Bezuidenhout
World premiere
An unusual road movie from South-African filmmaker Jenna Bass about friendship, female self-determination and the social power structures of a divided nation.
Greta – Brazil
by Armando Praça
with Marco Nanini, Denise Weinberg, Demick Lopes, Gretta Star
World premiere – Debut film
Armando Praça’s directorial debut depicts a queer, intergenerational Brazil. An older, gay nurse takes one of his patients into his own home. His neighbour, an ailing transwoman, is part of this parallel society portrayed in this moving drama.
Hellhole –Belgium / Netherlands
by Bas Devos
withWilly Thomas, Alba Rohrwacher, Lubna Azabal, Hamza Belarbi
World premiere
In his second feature, Belgian director Bas Devos paints the portrait of a wounded city in enigmatic images: at its centre stand Brussels and the haunting stories of the city’s lost souls.
Jessica Forever – France
by Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel
with Aomi Muyock, Sebastian Urzendowski, Augustin Raguenet, Lukas Ionesco, Eddy Suiveng, Paul Hamy, Maya Coline
European premiere – Debut film
Filmmakers Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel (winners of the Golden Bear for Best Short Film for As Long as Shotguns Remain in 2014) return with their French end-of-days dystopia Jessica Forever, in whicha group oforphan rebels are fortified in a villa with heavy arms to brace for a drone war with a faceless enemy.
Kislota (Acid) – Russian Federation
by Alexander Gorchilin
with Filipp Avdeev, Alexander Kuznetsov, Arina Shevtsova, Alexandra Rebenok, Savva Saveliev
International premiere – Debut film
The stylistically confident and energetic directorial debut by 26-year-old actor Alexander Gorchilin deals with sex, drugs, and young adults’ search for meaning in modern-day Russia.
Mid90s – USA
by Jonah Hill
with Sunny Suljic, Lucas Hedges, Katherine Waterston, Na-kel Smith, Olan Prenatt
European premiere – Debut film
Oscar-nominated actor Jonah Hill’s debut behind the camera is his shot on 16mm declaration of love to the 1990s. Hill takes us into the summer of 13-year-old Stevie and depicts his life between domestic violence and the newfound recognition from a group of local skaters.
Los miembros de la familia (Family Members) – Argentina
by Mateo Bendesky
with Tomás Wicz, Laila Maltz, Alejandro Russek
World premiere
In Los miembros de la familia (Family Members), young Argentinian director Mateo Bendesky lets a family tale characterised by calm imagery unfold: in an abandoned house on the coast, the secrets of a pair of siblings gradually come to light.
Monos – Columbia / Argentina / Netherlands / Germany / Denmark / Sweden / Uruguay
by Alejandro Landes
with Julianne Nicholson, Moisés Arias, Sofia Buenaventura, Julián Giraldo, Karen Quintero
European premiere
Eight adolescent members of a paramilitary squad and their hostage hide in the Colombian mountains. The accidental killing of their treasured milk cow “Shakira” starts a battle for survival.
O Beautiful Night – Germany
by Xaver Böhm
with Noah Saavedra, Marko Mandić, Vanessa Loibl
World premiere – Debut film
The feature debut by Xaver Böhm is the newest production from Komplizen Film. In this Faustian tale, anxious Yuri encounters death in the form of an Austrian. Yuri is forced to confront his fears.
Selfie –France / Italy
by Agostino Ferrente
Documentary
World premiere
Agostino Ferrente’s documentary deals with police violence and the long shadow the Mafia still casts over today’s Italy. Two adolescent Neapolitans portray themselves and their surroundings with their smartphones.
Shooting the Mafia – Ireland / USA
by Kim Longinotto
Documentary
European premiere
Shooting the Mafia is a portrait of the life and work of Italian photographer Letizia Battaglia, who has been documenting the crimes of the Mafia in Palermo for decades.
Skin – USA
by Guy Nattiv
with Jamie Bell, Danielle Macdonald, Vera Farmiga, Bill Camp, Mike Colter
European premiere
Israeli-born director Guy Nattiv takes a deep dive into the USA’s neo-Nazi scene in Skin. His film tells the true story of skinhead Bryon Widner and his attempts to leave his extreme right-wing past behind.
The Souvenir – United Kingdom
by Joanna Hogg
with Honor Swinton-Byrne, Tom Burke, Tilda Swinton
European premiere
Renowned British auteur filmmaker Joanna Hogg depicts the ill-fated relationship between a young film student and a charismatic but secretive man. Featuring Tilda Swinton’s daughter Honor Swinton-Byrne in her first lead role.
Temblores (Tremors) – Guatemala / France / Luxembourg
by Jayro Bustamante
with Juan Pablo Olyslager, Mauricio Armas Zebadúa, Diane Bathen, María Telón
World premiere
Guatemalan director Jayro Bustamante (Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize for Ixcanul 2015) presents his second and highly personal feature. The coming out of an evangelical father shatters his family, his community and uncovers a profoundly repressive society.
To thávma tis thálassas ton Sargassón (The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea) – Greece / Germany / Netherlands / Sweden
by Syllas Tzoumerkas
with Angeliki Papoulia, Youla Boudali, Christos Passalis, Argyris Xafis, Thanassis Dovris
World premiere
The newest film from Greek director Syllas Tzoumerkas and his second collaboration with Angeliki Papoulia, star of the New Greek Cinema (Dogtooth, The Lobster), is a fierce and untamed crime tale, told in larger-than-life images.
What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael – USA
by Rob Garver
with Sarah Jessica Parker, Quentin Tarantino, Alec Baldwin, David O. Russell, Paul Schrader
Documentary
International premiere – Debut film
The portrait of the work of controversial film critic Pauline Kael (1919-2001) and her influence on the male-dominated worlds of cinema and film criticism.