Berlin International Film Festival continues to add films to the upcoming 72nd edition, confirming films in the Forum and Classics programs. The Forum Special program includes 27 feature-length works in the main program, 14 feature-length works and shorts in the Forum Special program; and Berlinale Classics will present seven world premieres of classic films in digitally restored versions. The Berlinale Classics section opens with Mamma Roma on February 11, and the silent film Brüder (Brothers) with a live music concert will premiere on February 13.

Forum Main Program

Afterwater
Germany / Spain / South Korea / Serbia
by Dane Komljen
with Jonasz Hapka, Signe Westberg, Boban Kaluđer
World premiere

Akyn (Poet)
Kazakhstan
by Darezhan Omirbayev
with Yerdos Kanayev, Serik Salkinbayev, Klara Kabylgazina
European premiere

Bashtaalak sa’at (Shall I Compare You to a Summer’s Day?)
Egypt / Lebanon / Germany
by Mohammad Shawky Hassan
with Donia Massoud, Ahmed El Gendy, Salim Mrad
World premiere / debut film

Camuflaje (Camouflage)
Argentina
by Jonathan Perel
with Felix Bruzzone, Margarita Molfino, Iris Avellaneda
World premiere / documentary form

Cette maison (This House)
Canada
by Miryam Charleswith Schelby Jean-Baptiste, Florence Blain Mbaye, Eve Duranceau
World premiere / debut film

La edad media (The Middle Ages)
Argentina
by Alejo Moguillansky, Luciana Acuña
with Cleo Moguillansky, Luciana Acuña, Alejo Moguillansky
World premiere

L’état et moi
Germany
by Max Linz
with Sophie Rois, Jeremy Mockridge, Hauke Heumann
World premiere

Europe
Germany / France
by Philip Scheffner
with Rhim Ibrir, Thierry Cantin, Didier Cuillierier
World premiere

Une fleur à la bouche (A Flower in the Mouth)
France / Germany / South Korea
by Éric Baudelaire
with Oxmo Puccino, Dali Benssalah
World premiere

Für die Vielen – Die Arbeiterkammer Wien (For the Many – The Vienna Chamber of Labour)
Austria
by Constantin Wulff
World premiere / documentary form

Geographies of Solitude
Canada
by Jacquelyn Mills
with Zoe Lucas
World premiere / documentary form

Happer’s Comet
USA
by Tyler Taormina
with Grace Berlino, Jax Terry, Ryan McGlade
World premiere

Jet Lag
Switzerland / Austria
by Zheng Lu Xinyuan
with Lin Wenqing, Zoe, Zheng Lu Xinyuan
World premiere / documentary form

Mato seco em chamas (Dry Ground Burning)
Brazil / Portugal
by Adirley Queirós, Joana Pimenta
with Joana Darc, Léa Alves, Andreia Vieira
World premiere

Miền ký ức (Memoryland)
Vietnam / Deutschland
by Kim Quy Bui
with Mong Giao Vu, Thi Thu Trang Nguyen, Van Thai Nguyen
European premiere

Mis dos voces (My Two Voices)
Canada
by Lina Rodriguez
with Ana Garay Kostic, Marinela Piedrahita, Claudia Montoya
World premiere / documentary form

Najeneun deopgo bameneun chupgo (Hot in Day, Cold at Night)
South Korea
by Park Song-yeol
with Won Hyang-ra, Park Song-yeol, Shin Won-woo
International premiere

Nie zgubiliśmy drogi (We Haven’t Lost Our Way)
Poland
by Anka Sasnal, Wilhelm Sasnal
with Agnieszka Żulewska, Andrzej Konopka, Oskar Hamerski
World premiere

Nuclear Family
USA / Singapore
by Erin Wilkerson, Travis Wilkerson
with Travis Wilkerson, Erin Wilkerson, Matilda Wilkerson
European premiere / documentary form

Rewind and Play
Germany / France
By Alain Gomis
World premiere / documentary form

Scala
Thailand
by Ananta Thitanat
with Pongpop Inheen, Saman Watcharasirirot, Nakorn Nuannngein
World premiere / debut film / documentary form

Super Natural
Portugal
by Jorge Jácome
with Alexis Fernandes, Bárbara Matos, Celestine Ngantonga Ndzana
World premiere / debut film / documentary form

Terra que marca (Striking Land)
Portugal
by Raul Domingues
with Maria Alice Sousa, Manual Jesus Duro, Joaquim Sousa
World premiere / documentary form

Três tigres tristes (Three Tidy Tigers Tied a Tie Tighter)
Brazil
by Gustavo Vinagre
with Pedro Ribeiro, Jonata Vieira, Isabella Pereira
World premiere

O trio em mi bemol (The Kegelstatt Trio)
Portugal / Spain
by Rita Azevedo Gomes
with Rita Durão, Pierre Léon, Ado Arrieta
World premiere

The United States of America
USA
by James Benning
World premiere / documentary form

El veterano (The Veteran)
Chile
by Jeronimo Rodriguez
World premiere

Berlinale Classics

Mamma Roma
Italy 1962
by Pier Paolo Pasolini
with Anna Magnani, Ettore Garofolo, Franco Citti, Silvana Corsini, Luisa Loiano
World premiere of the digitally restored version (4K DCP)

Mamma Roma is an early neo-realistic masterpiece by Pier Paolo Pasolini, starring the consummate character actor Anna Magnani. The social drama is about a prostitute unable to rise in the world because her son chooses a delinquent path. In his second film, Pier Paolo Pasolini evoked the misery and eros of the Italian sub-proletariat. With Christian iconography located somewhere between the Last Supper and the Crucifixion, Mamma Roma traces the via dolorosa of two people on the margins of society. The restoration by CSC – Cineteca Nazionale was done from the original 35mm negative and an optical sound track that was provided by RTI-Mediaset in cooperation with Infinity+ and Cine34. By integrating some sections from a print held in the CSC – Cineteca Nazionale that had been missing from earlier versions, it was possible to reconstruct the original version of the film.

Kawaita hana (Pale Flower)
Japan 1964
by Masahiro Shinoda
with Ryo Ikebe, Mariko Kaga, Takashi Fujiki, Naoki Sugiura, Shin’ichiro Mikami
World premiere of the digitally remastered version (4K DCP)

Masahiro Shinoda’s enthralling gangster pic Kawaita hana glorifies big city life in a tale about a contract killer recently released from prison who falls for an enigmatic gambler. Beholden to the Aesthetics of Shadow concept with its expressive light and dark camerawork, the film, shot in black-and-white and Cinemascope, intensifies into an existential drama, accentuated by composer Tore Takemitsu’s cool jazz score. Kawaita hana was digitally re-mastered by the Japanese Shochiku Co. Ltd. in cooperation with the Japan Foundation. Shochiku provided the original 35mm negative for the 4K master, Shochiku MediaWorX Inc. processed the restoration.

Skřivánci na niti (Larks on a String)
Czechoslovakia 1969/1990
by Jiří Menzel
with Rudolf Hrušínský, Vlastimil Brodský, Václav Neckář, Jitka Zelenohorská
World premiere of the digitally restored version (4K DCP)

With Skřivánci na niti, a romantic tale that is as poetic as it is subversive, director Jiří Menzel debunks state regimentation and posturing as theatre of the absurd, with the government functionaries serving as the chief comic relief. This satire, made during the Prague Spring era and based on short stories by Bohumil Hrabal, is set in a communist re-education camp, where political “reactionaries” and female prisoners form an alliance. Banned in 1969, censored scenes were re-integrated in 1989 and the film had its international premiere at the 1990 Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Bear. That version served as a reference for the digital restoration, which was done using the original picture and sound negatives. The restoration was done by the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, working with the Národni filmový archiv, Prague, the Czech Film fund, UPP, and Soundsquare.

Notre Musique (Our Music)
Switzerland / France 2004
by Jean-Luc Godard
with Sarah Adler, Nade Dieu, Rony Kramer, Simon Eine, Jean-Christophe Bouvet
World premiere of the digitally restored version (4K DCP)

According to the rules of his dialectic of shot/reverse shot, in his late work Notre Musique, Jean-Luc Godard squares off disturbing montages of fictional and documentary war images with film theory doctrine and philosophical aphorisms, using that to question notions of individual guilt and responsibility. In parallel, two young women question the guests of a book fair in Sarajevo about historical guilt and responsibility. Notre Musique was restored in 4K by Patrick Lindenmaier (Andromeda Film AG) from a 35mm negative. The lab worked with the film’s cinematographer, Julien Hirsch, on the color correction. The digitization was made possible by Loterie Romande, Canton de Vaude, SRG SSR / RTS, Fondation Leenaards, and the Cinémathèque suisse.

Tommy
United Kingdom, 1975
by Ken Russell
with Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed, Roger Daltrey, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Jack Nicholson, Pete Townshend, Tina Turner
World premiere of the digitally restored version (4K DCP)

Tommy is cinema’s first ever rock opera. Eccentric director Ken Russell has rendered the story of a traumatized child who ascends to idol of the masses into an all-star satire of the pop music industry, with hits and hysteria, pomp and pop art coalescing into a symphonic synthesis of the arts. The songs, by The Who’s Pete Townshend, were recorded for playback on a Quintaphonic Sound system. The digital 4K restoration was done by Sony Pictures Entertainment from an original 35mm negative and a 35mm color inter-positive. Partners responsible for the 4K scan, the digital frame restoration, and the color correction and other adjustments were Cineric, Inc. and Roundabout Entertainment in the USA, and the Prasad Corporation in India. David Bernstein acted as colorist. Audio conforming and audio restoration was done by Deluxe Audio Services.

Suzhou he (Suzhou River)
China / Germany 2000
by Lou Ye
with Zhou Xun, Jia Hongsheng, Hua Zhongkai, Yao Anlian, Nai An
World premiere of the digitally restored version (4K DCP)

Lou Ye’s tragic love story Suzhou he, about a motorcycle courier who is accused of kidnapping and killing the woman he loves, draws a portrait of a generation uprooted, set against the backdrop of modern Shanghai. Shot on coarse-grain 16mm stock, the film is a captivating Chinese variation on the neo-noir trend of the era, following in the footsteps of Hitchcock’s Vertigo. With its neo-realistic urban images and night-time passages that encapsulates the alternative sub-culture, Lou Ye created a cinematic puzzle of illusion and reality. Despite the Chinese government’s embargo at the time of its international release, Suzhou he has attained cult status in its country of origin and is now considered a classic of modern Chinese cinema. The digital restoration was based on the original A/B negative. Scanning took place at Screenshot, the digital dust-busting at The Post Republic, and color grading by Moritz Peters. The Dolby 5.1 sound was mastered at Basis Berlin Postproduction by Ansgar Frerich and Sebastian Tesch.

Brüder (Brothers)
Germany 1929
by Werner Hochbaum
with Gyula Balogh, Erna Schumacher, Ilse Berger as well as dockworkers and female laborers
World premiere of the digitally restored version (2K DCP)

This silent film classic of proletarian cinema is about the Hamburg dockworker’s strike of 1896/97, and two brothers who face off against each other. One is a labour leader; the other is a policeman. The digital restoration by the Deutsche Kinemathek was done in cooperation with the Filmarchiv Austria and broadcaster ZDF/ARTE. The screening on February 13 will be accompanied by live music performed by the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Raphael Haeger. The new music, composed by Martin Grütter, was commissioned by ZDF/ARTE. The digital restoration was funded by the FFE Film Legacy Subsidy Programme.