Perspektive Deutsches Kino is coming of age. For the past 18 years, the Berlinale has dedicated itself with this section to supporting promising German filmmakers and talents who are self-confidently searching for their own form of artistic expression.
The topics preoccupying young filmmakers have not changed much. Rightly, things often revolve around love, identity, freedom, and self-realization. Yet over the years the stories and their protagonists have become more international — as borne out by the twelve documentaries and fiction films in this year’s program
Director and actress Maryam Zaree was born in one of Iran’s most notorious political prisons. In her documental debut, Born in Evin (prod: Tondowski Films, Berlin), she embarks on a personal search for clues: in an effort to break the silence, she talks with her parents about the violent circumstances surrounding her birth. And she asks other children born in Evin about their experiences and the traumatic consequences. Maryam Zaree’s cinematic approach unfolds through her own biography, but beyond this it alerts us to the horrors of persecution and dehumanization in Iran and the rest of the world.
Director Udita Bhargava was born in India. She returns to her home country with Dust, her full-length graduation film. In it she tells the story of David (Morten Holst) and his journey to the turbulent heart of present-day India to look for traces of his dead girlfriend. Set against the backdrop of a left-wing uprising, Dust oscillates between worlds of recollection and foretastes of the future, and shows us Indians caught in an inhuman conflict.
Born in Vienna, Deniz Cooper takes his debut fiction film, Fisch lernt fliegen (Fish Takes Off) to Italy. A young woman (Salka Weber) stands on the Rialto Bridge in Venice; in a cool box is her dead goldfish. Initially she had planned to let it be carried out to sea. But then an emotion that is even stronger causes her misgivings, and so she packs the fish up again. In the surreal setting of an empty city, she sets out in search of lost meaning.
Stefan Sick’s documentary film Das innere Leuchten (The Inner Light) observes in a nursing home the daily life of those affected by dementia and dares a poetic interpretation of this special state. Developing a strong sense of emotional intimacy with the protagonists, the film makes it possible for us to experience their perspective on the world and reveals their aura — their inner light.
Three Berlin films will round off this year’s Perspektive program.
Director Simona Kostova was born in Bulgaria and in Dreissig (Thirty) – her graduation film for the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (dffb) — she takes us out on the town to party all night. On a Friday in October, six friends, in their early thirties, experience the intensity of the here and now in Berlin Neukölln. Kostova’s debut film will first premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam; afterwards you’ll be able to see it here with us.
David Dietl’s Berlin Bouncer brings together legendary doormen Frank Künster, Smiley Baldwin, and Sven Marquardt in a documentary about the party metropolis of Berlin. These three striking characters come from quite different backgrounds, yet they all got caught up in the nightlife of the 1990s. Since then they are renowned for being the toughest selectors at the doors of the city’s most popular clubs. The film portrays Berlin’s cultural history from the fall of the Wall to the pulsating present.
Thomas Moritz Helm’s directional debut, which he also produced himself, is also set in Berlin. Heute oder morgen (Before We Grow Old) is about three young people who just let themselves drift for an entire summer, and, on the count of three, throw themselves into all sorts of love affairs. Contrary to conventional moral reasoning, they don’t worry about tomorrow and try to squeeze the most out of life.
Twelve fiction and documentary films have been invited to compete for the Compass-Perspektive-Award, which includes €5,000 in prize money. This year’s jury members are FIRST STEPS’ program director Andrea Hohnen, actor and director Jerry Hoffmann, and producer Trini Götze (Trimafilm).
Berlin Bouncer
by David Dietl
Documentary
World premiere
Born In Evin
by Maryam Zaree
Documentary
World premiere
Dreissig (Thirty) by Simona Kostova
with Övünç Güvenişik, Pascal Houdus, Raha Emami Khansari, Kara Schröder, Henner Borchers, Anja Langer
Feature film
German premiere
Dust
by Udita Bhargava
with Morten Holst, Vinay Pathak, Abu Bakr Golu, Kalyanee Mulay, Babita Goyal
Feature film
World premiere
Fisch lernt fliegen (Fish Takes Off)
by Deniz Cooper
with Salka Weber, Alessandro Bressanello, Julia Edtmeier, Florian Carove, Dominic Oley
Feature film
World premiere
Heute oder morgen (Before We Grow Old)
by Thomas Moritz Helm
with Paula Knüpling, Maximilian Hildebrandt, Tala Gouveia
Feature film
World premiere
Das innere Leuchten (The Inner Light)
by Stefan Sick
Documentary
World premiere
Guests of the Perspektive Deutsches Kino:
Tackling Life
by Johannes List
Documentary
Tba.
Award winner Max Ophüls Preis 2019 for Best Feature Film
Films announced so far:
easy love
by Tamer Jandali
with Stella Vivien Dhingra, Sophia Seidenfaden, Sönke Andersen, Lenika Lukas, Pina Felizitas, Amelie Liebst
Feature film
World pemiere
Die Einzelteile der Liebe (The Components of Love)
by Miriam Bliese
with Birte Schnöink, Ole Lagerpusch, Andreas Döhler, Justus Fischer
Feature film
World premiere
Die Grube (The Pit)
by Hristiana Raykova
Documentary
World premiere
Off Season
by Henning Beckhoff
with Franziska Petri, Godehard Giese
Medium-long feature film
World premiere
Oray
by Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
with Zejhun Demirov, Deniz Orta, Cem Göktaş, Ferhat Keskin, Mikael Bajrami
Feature film
World premiere
Guest of the Perspektive Deutsches Kino:
6Minuten66 (6Minutes66)
by Katja Feldmeier and Julius Feldmeier
Documentary
World premiere