Film Festivals

Debut feature films from the sections Competition, Panorama, Forum, Generation and for the first time also debut films from the Perspektive Deutsches Kino will compete for the Best First Feature Award in 2012. The award is endowed with 50,000 Euros to be split between the producer and the director of the winning film.

The winners will be announced at the official award ceremony in the Berlinale Palast on February 19.

A three-person jury will decide on the Best First Feature:

Moritz Rinke (Germany)
The dramatist and novelist received the 1997 PEN Club Literature Award for his second play “The Man Who Never Yet Saw Woman’s Nakedness”. His new adaptation of “Die Nibelungen” became one of the most successful German theatre productions. In 2008 Franziska Stünkel filmed his award-winning work “The Vineta Republic”, and in 2010 his first novel “Der Mann, der durch das Jahrhundert fiel” became a bestseller.

Hania Mroué (Lebanon)
Hania Mroué is founder and director of the Metropolis Art Cinema, the first art-house cinema in Lebanon opened in 2006. Since 2001 she is the Managing Director of the Arab film festival “Cinema Days of Beirut”. For the release of Arab and international auteur films she started the MC Distribution company. At the Doha Film Institute she is in charge as Chief Arab programmer for the Doha Tribeca Film festival and DFI’s year round initiatives.

Matthew Modine (USA)
The performances of the award-winning American actor include Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, Robert Altman’s Short Cuts and Alan Parker’s Birdy. Matthew Modine made his screenplay/directorial feature debut with If…Dog…Rabbit. Jesus Was a Commie, his award winning short film, is currently playing at festivals around the globe. His recent roles include Girl in Progress, Family Weekend and The Dark Knight Rises.


The following 27 films have qualified for the Best First Feature Award:

Panorama (6)

Cherry by Stephen Elliot, USA
Chocó (Choco) by Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza, Columbia
HIGHWAY by Deepak Rauniyar, Nepal/USA
Kuma by Umut Dag, Austria
My Brother the Devil** by Sally El Hosaini, Great Britain
Sharqiya by Ami Livne, Israel/France/Germany


Forum (8)

Ang Babae sa Septic Tank (The Woman in the Septic Tank) by Marlon N. Rivera, the Philippines
Francine by Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky, USA/Canada
Hemel by Sacha Polak, Netherlands/Spain
Kashi (Choked) by Joong-Hyun Kim, Republic of Korea
Koi ni itaru yamai (The End of Puberty) by Kimura Shoko, Japan
Príliš mladá noc (A Night Too Young) by Olmo Omerzu, Czech Republic/ Slovenia
Salsipuedes by Mariano Luque, Argentina
Tepenin Ardi (Beyond the Hill) by Emin Alper Turkey/Greece


Generation (10)

Kplus

ARCADIA by Olivia Silver, USA
Kauwboy by Boudewijn Koole, Netherlands
Kikoeteru, furi wo sita dake (Just Pretended to Hear) by Kaori Imaizumi, Japan
Pacha by Héctor Ferreiro, Bolivia/Mexico


14plus

Comes A Bright Day by Simon Aboud, Great Britain
Electrick Children by Rebecca Thomas, USA
Joven & Alocada (Young & Wild)** by Marialy Rivas, Chile
Nosilatiaj. La Belleza (Beauty) by Daniela Seggiaro, Argentina
Un Mundo Secreto (A Secret World) by Gabriel Mariño, Mexico
Una Noche by Lucy Mulloy, USA/Cuba/Great Britain

Perspektive Deutsches Kino (3)

DIE VERMISSTEN (REPORTED MISSING) by Jan Speckenbach, Germany
Gegen Morgen (Before Tomorrow) by Joachim Schoenfeld, Germany
Westerland by Tim Staffel, Germany


** The films denoted with ** are no longer qualified for candidacy if they win an award at the Sundance Film Festival.

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[caption id="attachment_2313" align="alignnone"]Puos Keng Kang (The Snake Man) by Tea Lim Koun, Cambodia[/caption]

With the addition of a series of Special Screenings to the titles already announced, the program of the Berlinale Forum is now complete.

In the documentary Lawinen der Erinnerung, Dominik Graf, one of Germany’s most influential film and television directors, puts together a portrait of another leading television personality in the form of author, director and producer Oliver Storz. In the process, his film also contributes to German television history and German history in general.

The documentary project in arbeit / en construction / w toku / lavori in corso (in the works) by Minze Tummescheit and Arne Hector is structured according to the principle of the chain interview, with the first interview partner leading the film team on to the second and so on. What all of their number have in common are the cooperative structures in which they work. Yet the most important question they debate is that of their own legitimacy: does it make sense or is it even possible to position oneself outside of industrial progress, the public arena of politics or the global market?

Revivals and “unearthings” of seldom seen works also have a firm place in the Forum programme. Tom Kalin’s artful, provocative film Swoon, perhaps one of the best examples of the New Queer Cinema of the 1990s, can thus be seen a full 20 years after its original premiere at the 1992 Forum. Wynn Chamberlain’s 1968 media satire Brand X is a US underground classic long thought lost and now all the more ripe for discovery.

We are also presenting restored prints of The Connection and Ornette: Made in America as an introduction to the oeuvre of legendary American director Shirley Clarke, with a discussion with film restoration expert Dennis Doros providing some additional context. Kawashima Yuzo is best known for Bakumatsu tayoden (The Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate). Two additional works, Suzaki Paradaisu: Akashingo (Suzaki Paradise: Red Light) and Kino to ashita no aida (Between Yesterday and Tomorrow), show a Japanese director capable of recording social change like few of the rest of his generation.

The rediscovery of the Cambodian cinema of the 1960s and early 70s has been a true adventure. The documentary Le sommeil d’or by Davy Chou (showing in the main programme) is dedicated to this “Golden Age”, with the one-off screenings of three films by directors Ly Bun Yim [Puthisen Neang Kongrey (12 Sisters), 1968] and Tea Lim Koun (Peov Chouk Sor, 1967) and Puos Keng Kang (The Snake Man, 1970) rescued from Cambodia’s tragic history providing insight into a largely unfamiliar film nation’s past.


2012 Forum Special Screenings:

Brand X by Wynn Chamberlain, USA

in arbeit / en construction / w toku / lavori in corso (in the works) by Minze Tummescheit/Arne Hector, Germany – WP

Lawinen der Erinnerung by Dominik Graf, Germany – WP

Swoon by Tom Kalin, USA

Bakumatsu taiyoden (The Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate) by Kawashima Yuzo, Japan

Kino to ashita no aida (Between Yesterday and Tomorrow) by Kawashima Yuzo, Japan

Suzaki Paradaisu Akashingo (Suzaki Paradise: Red Light) by Kawashima Yuzo, Japan

The Connection by Shirley Clarke, USA

Ornette: Made in America by Shirley Clarke, USA

Peov Chouk Sor by Tea Lim Koun, Cambodia

Puos Keng Kang (The Snake Man) by Tea Lim Koun, Cambodia

Puthisen Neang Kongrey (12 Sisters) by Ly Bun Yim, Cambodia

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[caption id="attachment_2311" align="alignnone"]Electrick Children by Rebecca Thomas[/caption]

The Generation 14plus competition at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival will open with the US directorial debut Electrick Children by Rebecca Thomas. The director and her leading actors Julia Garner (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Rory Culkin (Lymelife) and Billy Zane (Titanic) are expected on the red carpet for this world premiere on February 10. Garner plays a young Mormon who breaks out of her strict religious community and plunges herself into the nightlife of Las Vegas.

The Swiss documentary Die Kinder vom Napf will kick off the competition of Generation Kplus also on February 10. Director Alice Schmid accompanies 50 mountain farm children through the four seasons in the “Wild West” of Lucerne Canton. For the international premiere, the filmmaker and the children from the mountain village of Romoos are coming to Berlin.

Generation is also expecting a number of other well-known guests for the premieres of their films. For Kronjuvelerna (The Crown Jewels): Bill Skarsgård (Shooting Star 2012) and Alicia Vikander (Shooting Star 2011). For Comes A Bright Day: Craig Roberts (Submarine), Imogen Poots (28 Weeks Later), Kevin McKidd (Grey’s Anatomy) and Timothy Spall (The King’s Speech). For Lal Gece (Night of Silence): Ilyas Salman (Abbas in Flower). For ARCADIA: Ryan Simpkins (A Single Man), John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone). The final list of guests will be released shortly before the festival begins.

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[caption id="attachment_2307" align="alignnone"]Leave It On The Floor by Sheldon Larry, USA/Canada[/caption]

This year’s Panorama is presenting 53 feature films: 18 in the main programme, 15 in Panorama Special and 20 in Panorama Dokumente.

Among the final films to be included in the Panorama is the US indie Cherry with Heather Graham, James Franco and Lili Taylor. It portrays a confident young woman who explores her own sexuality and has to deal with the prejudice of those around her. In The Convoy, Alexei Mizgirev presents an apocalyptic portrait of the police and the army in Russia today. After her success with her film Megane (Glasses) in 2008, Japanese filmmaker Naoko Ogigami is returning to the Panorama with Rentaneko (Rent-a-Cat). It’s the enchanting story of a young woman who rents cats to people who are lonely. After presenting his star-studded Taiwan saga Monga in the Panorama 2010, director Dove is coming back to Berlin with his film Love, starring Shu Qi. Crowd-sourcing has rarely made a more monumental work possible: in Iron Sky, a largely Finnish production featuring Udo Kier, director Timo Vuorensola paints a dark picture of the world being threatened from outer space that leads right into the White House. Austrian director Peter Kern’s film is ultimately a surprise: GLAUBE, LIEBE, TOD (BELIEF, LOVE, DEATH) is an intimate drama about the conflicts smouldering between the generations and how an immigrant falls victim to them.

New discoveries include Columbian director Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza’s Chocó, in which a young woman learns to assert herself in a rural world. Deepak Rauniyar’s HIGHWAY is a Nepalese road movie: all the passengers on a bus are in a hurry to get somewhere, but the ride is constantly delayed by strikes.

List of newly announced titles

Panorama fictional films

Bugis Street Redux by Yonfan, Hong Kong
with Hiep Thi Le, Michael Lam, Greg-O, Ernest Seah

Cherry by Stephen Elliott, USA
with Ashley Hinshaw, James Franco, Heather Graham, Dev Patel, Lili Taylor – WP

Chocó by Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza, Columbia
with Karent Hinestroza, Esteban Copete, Fabio García, Daniela Mosquera, Jesús Benavides – WP

GLAUBE, LIEBE, TOD (BELIEF, LOVE, DEATH) by Peter Kern, Austria
with Traute Furthner, Peter Kern, Joao Moreira Pedrosa – WP

HIGHWAY by Deepak Rauniyar, Nepal/USA
with DAYAHANG Rai, ASHA Magarati, SHRISTI Ghimire, EELUM Dixit – WP

Iron Sky by Timo Vuorensola, Finland/Netherlands/Australia/ Germany
with Christopher Kirby, Götz Otto, Julia Dietze, Udo Kier – WP

Love by Doze, Niu Chen-zer, China/Taiwan
with Shu Qi, Vicky Zhao, Ethan Juan, Mark Jau

Man On Ground by Akin Omotoso, South Africa
with Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Fabian Adeoye Lojede, Fana Mokoena

My Brother The Devil by Sally El Hosaini, Great Britain
with James Floyd, Saïd Taghmaoui, Nasser Memarzia, Fady Elsayed – WP

Rentaneko (Rent-a-Cat) by Naoko Ogigami, Japan
with Mikako Ichikawa, Reiko Kusamura, Ken Mitsuishi, Maho Yamada, Kei Tanaka – WP

The Convoy by Alexey Mizgirev, Russian Federation
with Oleg Vasilkov, Azamat Nigmanov, Dmitry Kulichkov – WP


Panorama Dokumente

Wo men de gu shi (Our Story –10-year ‘Guerrilla Warfare’ of Beijing Queer Film Festival) by Yang Yang, People’s Republic of China

“Blut muss fließen” – Undercover unter Nazis by Peter Ohlendorf, Germany – WP


Panorama short supporting films

7 Deadly Kisses by Sammaria Simanjuntak, Indonesia
with Sunny Soon, Daud Sumolang – WP

A Lazy Summer Afternoon with Mario Montez by John Heys, Germany – WP

Green Laser by John Greyson, Canada – WP

ZUCHT und ORDNUNG (LAW and ORDER) by Jan Soldat, Germany – WP


List of fictional films announced earlier
10+10 by Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wang Toon, Wu Nien-Jen, Sylvia Chang, Chen Guo-Fu, Wei Te-Sheng, Chung Meng-Hung, Chang Tso-Chi, Arvin Chen, Yang Ya-Che and others, Taiwan
Death For Sale by Faouzi Bensaïdi, Belgium/France/Morocco/United Arab Emirates
Diaz – Don’t Clean Up This Blood by Daniele Vicari Italy/ Romania /France – WP
Die Wand (The Wall) by Julian Roman Pölsler, Austria/Germany – WP
Dollhouse by Kirsten Sheridan, Ireland – WP
Elles by Malgoska Szumowska, France/Poland/Germany
Fon Tok Kuen Fah (Headshot) by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, Thailand/France
From Seoul To Varanasi by Kyuhwan Jeon, Republic of Korea
Hot boy noi loan – cau chuyen ve thang cuoi, co gai diem va con vit (Lost In Paradise) by Vu Ngoc Dang, Vietnam
Indignados by Tony Gatlif, France – WP
Keep The Lights On by Ira Sachs, USA
Kuma by Umut Dag, Austria – WP
La mer à l’aube (Calm At Sea) by Volker Schlöndorff, France/Germany
L’âge atomique by Héléna Klotz, France
Leave It On The Floor by Sheldon Larry, USA/Canada
Mai-wei (My Way) by KANG Je-kyu, Republic of Korea
Mommy Is Coming by Cheryl Dunye, Germany – WP
Parada (The Parade) by Srdjan Dragojevic, Serbia/Republic of Croatia/ Macedonia/Slovenia
Sharqiya (Central Station) by Ami Livne, Israel/France/ Germany – WP
The Woman Who Brushed Off Her Tears by Teona Strugar Mitevska, Macedonia/Germany/Slovenia/Belgium – WP
Wilaya by Pedro Pérez Rosado, Spain
Xingu by Cao Hamburger, Brazil


List of documentaries announced earlier

Anak-Anak Srikandi (Children of Srikandi) by the Children of Srikandi Collective, Germany/Indonesia – WP
Angriff auf die Demokratie – Eine Intervention (Democracy Under Attack – An Intervention) by Romuald Karmakar, Germany – WP
Audre Lorde – The Berlin Years 1984 to 1992 by Dagmar Schultz, Germany – WP
Brötzmann – Da gehört die Welt mal mir (Brötzmann – That’s When The World Is Mine) by Uli M Schueppel, Germany – WP
with Caspar Brötzmann, Eduardo Delgado Lopez, Danny Lommen
Call Me Kuchu by Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Katherine Fairfax Wright, USA – WP
Detlef by Stefan Westerwelle, Jan Rothstein, Germany
with Detlef Stoffel, Anneliese Stoffel, Gustav-Peter Wöhler, Lilo Wanders, Corny Littmann – WP
Herr Wichmann aus der dritten Reihe (Henryk from the back row) by Andreas Dresen, Germany – WP
In the Shadow of a Man by Hanan Abdalla, Egypt – WP
König des Comics (King of Comics) by Rosa von Praunheim, Germany – WP
with Ralf König, Joachim Król, Hella von Sinnen, Ralph Morgenstern
La Vierge, les Coptes et Moi (The Virgin, the Copts and Me) by Namir Abdel Messeeh, France/Qatar/Egypt
Marina Abramovic The Artist is Present (Marina Abramovic The Artist is Present) by Matthew Akers, USA
Olhe pra mim de novo (Look at me again) by Kiko Goifman, Claudia Priscilla, Brazil
The Reluctant Revolutionary by Sean McAllister, Great Britain/Ireland
The Summit by Franco Fracassi, Massimo Lauria, Italy – WP
Ulrike Ottinger – die Nomadin vom See (Ulrike Ottinger – nomad from the lake) by Brigitte Kramer, Germany – WP
with Ulrike Ottinger, Ingvild Goetz, Irm Hermann, Ulrich Gregor
Unter Männern – Schwul in der DDR (Among Men – Gay in East Germany) by Markus Stein, Ringo Rösener, Germany – WP
with Eduard Stapel, Frank Schäfer, Jürgen Wittdorf, John Zinner, Helwin Leuschner
Vito by Jeffrey Schwarz, USA
Words of Witness by Mai Iskander, USA – WP

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[caption id="attachment_2305" align="alignnone"]Last Call at the Oasis [/caption]

“Trust in Taste” is the motto of the 6th Culinary Cinema of the 62nd Berlinale that will be held from February 12 to 17, 2012. Fifteen films about food and the environment will be presented in the Martin-Gropius-Bau.

This year’s Culinary Cuisine includes a remarkable number of premieres.

In Felipe Ugarte’s and Juantxo Sardon’s Mugaritz B.S.O., musician Felipe Ugarte translates delicious and visually pleasing culinary dishes made by Basque star chef Andoni Luis Aduriz from San Sebastián into music. The musician and the cook show how ingredients for a dish and music develop worldwide out of a region’s landscape and tradition. Andoni Luis Aduriz is coming extra to Berlin to prepare a meal for his film.

Entre les Bras (Step Up to the Plate) by Paul Lacoste documents the stirring change of generations at the French three-star restaurant Bras in Laguiole. Father Michel Bras is convinced that getting to the top is easier than staying there. After this documentary, Michael Kempf will have the delicate task of creating a meal inspired by the French cuisine.

In the documentary Last Call at the Oasis by Oscar-winner Jessica Yu, experts and tireless activists, such as the real Erin Brockovich, fight the local and global misuse of water. Filmmakers and experts discuss surprising ways to solve the shortage of water. One proposal involves recycling wastewater. Christian Lohse will cook a meal for the occasion.

In TSAO Jui-Yuan’s fictional film Joyful Reunion, a top vegetarian chef is forced to close his restaurant because he has lost his memory. When he eats a dish from his childhood, his memory comes back and he recognizes his first love again. Named Cook of the Year by Der Feinschmecker magazine, Marco Müller will prepare a meal that captures this melodrama.

The late screenings at 10 p.m. will focus on social and ecological topics. In Das Rohe und das Gekochte (The Raw and the Cooked) Monika Treut documents the emergent green movement in Taiwan. On a powerful visual journey around the world, Canned Dreams depicts the plight of all the workers who contribute to producing a can of ravioli. Lupe el de la Vaca (Lupe of the Cow) presents several small-scale Mexican farmers who master their harsh lives with humour and music. In the Korean gangster film Hindsight, the boss of a gang falls in love with a fellow student during a course in cooking. In Oma & Bella, Alexa Karolinski portrays how her grandmother and her grandmother’s girlfriend cultivate Jewish traditions in Charlottenburg.

A number of shorts films will supplement the programme: Should The Wife Confess? (Bernardo Camisão), Asparragos (Laura Zuallaert), Lepokoa (Safy Nebbou) and Pokot Ash Yoghurt (Francesco Amato, Stefano Scarafia).

“Youth Food Cinema” will address the importance of traditions in the family at 9:30 a.m. on February 17. The Mexican film Canela (Cinnamon) by Jordi Mariscal tells the story of a girl, her grandmother and their love of cooking. Afterwards, the chef of the Mexican embassy, Armando Hernández, will prepare a Mexican meal with students. As Grandmother Tere says in the film: “Cooking well is not a question of age but of talent.”

Films in Culinary Cinema 2012

Canela (Cinnamon) Mexico
By Jordi Mariscal
With Ana Martín, Isabel Yudice, Norma Angélica, Mónica Dionne, Carlos Cobos
World premiere

Canned Dreams Finland
Documentary by Katja Gauriloff
International premiere

Comme un chef (The Chef) France
By Daniel Cohen
With Jean Reno, Michaël Youn, Raphaëlle Agogué, Julien Boisselier, Salomé Stevenin, Serge Larivière, Issa Doumbia, Bun Hay Mean
International premiere

Entre les Bras (Step Up to the Plate) France
Documentary by Paul Lacoste
World premiere

Hindsight Republic of Korea
By Lee Hyeon-seung
With Song Gang-ho, Shin Se-kyung, Chun Jeong-myung
European premiere

Joyful Reunion Taiwan/China
By Tsao Jui-Yuan
With Gua Ahleh, Huo Siyan, Lan Zheng-Long (Blue), Kenneth Tsang
World premiere

Last Call at the Oasis USA
Documentary by Jessica Yu
International premiere

Lupe el de la Vaca (Lupe of the Cow) Mexico
Documentary by Blanca X. Aguerre
International premiere

Mugaritz B.S.O. Spain
Documentary by Felipe Ugarte, Juantxo Sardon
German premiere

Oma & Bella Germany/USA
Documentary by Alexa Karolinski
World premiere

Das Rohe und das Gekochte (The Raw and the Cooked) Germany/Taiwan
Documentary by Monika Treut
World premiere


Short films

Asparragos Belgium/Peru
Documentary by Laura Zuallaert
German premiere

Lepokoa (The Scarf) Spain/France 2003
By Safy Nebbou
With Pilar Rodríguez, Joseba Apaolaza, Olatz Beobide, Manu Gaigne

Pokot Ash Yoghurt (Living Food Communities) Italy
Documentary by Francesco Amato, Stefano Scarafia
World premiere

Should The Wife Confess? Belgium/Portugal
By Bernardo Camisão
With Sofia Caessa, Hilbren Buys
German premiere

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[caption id="attachment_2303" align="alignnone"]Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate[/caption]

With seven more films, the Competition program of the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival is nearing completion. To date it includes 22 films, of which 17 are vying for the Golden and Silver Bears. 18 films will celebrate their world premieres in the Competition of the Berlinale 2012.

A special screening of Steven Soderbergh’s action thriller Haywire in the Berlinale Palast will supplement the programme.

Like last year, the winner of the Golden Bear will be screened after the award ceremony on February 18.

“We are very pleased that a large number of this year’s Competition films are screening in Berlin as world premieres. Many entries in the Competition 2012 revolve around radical changes and departures. They shift perspectives, presenting history and stories from the point of view of those involved,” says Festival Director Dieter Kosslick.


Further films in the Competition programme:

A moi seule (Coming Home)
France
By Frédéric Videau (Le fils de Jean-Claude Videau, Variéte Francaise)
With Agathe Bonitzer, Reda Kateb
World premiere

Bel Ami
Great Britain
By Declan Donnellan, Nick Ormerod (feature debut)
With Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci
World premiere / out of competition

En kongelig affære (A Royal Affair)
Denmark/Czech Republic/Germany/Sweden
By Nikolaj Arcel (Islands of Lost Souls, Sandheden om mænd, Königspatience – Intrige im Parlament)
With Mads Mikkelsen, Alicia Vikander, Trine Dyrholm, David Dencik, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard
World premiere

Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate
Hong Kong, China
By Hark Tsui (Once Upon A Time In China, Detective Dee And The Mystery Of The Phantom Flame, Time And Tide)
With Jet Li, Zhou Xun, Chen Kun, Kwai Lun Mei
European premiere / out of competition – 3D

Rebelle
Canada
By Kim Nguyen (La cite, Truffe, Le Marais)
With Rachel Mwanza, Alain Bastien, Serge Kanyinda
World premiere

Shadow Dancer
Great Britain/Ireland
By James Marsh (Project Nim, The King, Man On Wire)
With Clive Owen, Andrea Riseborough, Gillian Anderson
European premiere / out of competition


Special screening in the Berlinale Palast:
Haywire
USA
By Steven Soderbergh (Sex, Lies and Videotape, Traffic, Erin Brockovich)
With Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, Channing Tatum
German premiere


Films already announced:

Aujourd´hui by Alain Gomis, France/Senegal – WP
Barbara by Christian Petzold, Germany – WP
Captive by Brillante Mendoza, France/Philippines/Germany/Great Britain – WP
Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die) by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, Italy – WP
Csak a szél (Just The Wind) by Bence Fliegauf, Hungary/Germany/ France – WP
Dictado (Childish Games) by Antonio Chavarrías, Spain – WP
Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close by Stephen Daldry, USA – IP (out of competition)
Gnade (Mercy) by Matthias Glasner, Germany/Norway – WP
Jayne Mansfield’s Car by Billy Bob Thornton, Russian Federation/USA – WP
Jin líng Shí San Chai (The Flowers Of War) by Zhang Yimou, People’s Republic of China – EP (out of competition)
Kebun binatang (Postcards From The Zoo) by Edwin, Indonesia/Germany/Hong Kong, China – WP
L´enfant d’en haut (Sister) by Ursula Meier, Switzerland/France – WP
Les Adieux à la reine by Benoît Jacquot, France/Spain – WP
Metéora (Meteora) by Spiros Stathoulopoulos, Germany/Greece – WP
Tabu by Miguel Gomes, Portugal/Germany/Brazil/ France – WP
Was bleibt (Home For The Weekend) by Hans-Christian Schmid, Germany – WP

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27 films from 22 countries will be competing for the Golden Bear and Silver Bear Jury Prize, the DAAD Short Film Award and a short film nomination for the European Film Prize.

German actress Sandra Hüller, Palestinian artist Emily Jacir as well as filmmaker David OReilly will be picking the winners in 2012:

International Short Film Jury:

Sandra Hüller (Germany)
After ten years in the business, renowned and prize-winning actress of the screen and stage Sandra Hüller already boasts a remarkably wide repertoire of roles. She has performed regularly in theatres since 2006, in both classic and modern pieces. For her first major film role in Hans-Christian Schmid’s Requiem she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlinale in 2006 as well as the German Film Prize. In 2011 she performed in two Berlinale films: Brownian Movement (2010, directed by Nanouk Leopold – Forum); and Über uns das All (Above Us Only Sky, 2011, directed by Jan Schomburg – Panorama).

Emily Jacir (Palestine)
Emily Jacir, one of the Arab world’s leading contemporary artists, works in a variety of media, including installation, performance, social intervention, photography, film and video. She has exhibited her works throughout the world and been honored many times for her artistic achievements including a Golden Lion at the 2007 Venice Biennale. Jacir is currently leading the Home Workspace in Beirut where she has created the curriculum and programming for 2011-2012. She is also preparing a new work for the dOCUMENTA (13) that opens this June.

David OReilly (Ireland)
The Irish-born filmmaker, now based in California, is known for his groundbreaking contemporary 3D animation. He has received over 75 awards for his short films that have been shown worldwide at more than 200 festivals. His first festival was at the Berlinale 2008, where he presented RGB XYZ. At the 2009 Berlinale he won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film with Please Say Something. His latest short film, The External World, screened at Venice (2010) and Sundance (2011), and went on to win numerous awards.

Berlinale Shorts 2012:

Ad balloon, Lee Woo-jung, Republic of Korea, 24’ (IP)
An das Morgengrauen, Mariola Brillowska, Germany, 3’ (WP)
Ein Mädchen Namens Yssabeau, Rosana Cuellar, Germany / Mexico, 18’ (DP)
Enakkum Oru Per, Suba Sivakumaran, USA / Sri Lanka, 12’ (WP)
Erotic Fragments No. 1, 2, 3, Anucha Boonyawatana, Thailand, 7’ (IP) Gurehto Rabitto, Atsushi Wada, France, 7’ (WP)
impossible exchange, Mahmoud Hojeij, Lebanon, 10’ (WP)
Karrabing! Low Tide Turning, Liza Johnson, Elizabeth A. Povinelli, Australia, 14’ (WP)
La Santa, Mauricio López Fernández, Chile, 14’ (WP)
LI.LI.TA.AL., Akihito Izuhara, Japan, 8’ (WP)
Licuri Surf, Guile Martins, Brazil, 15’ (IP)
Loxoro, Claudia Llosa, Spanien / Peru / Argentine / USA, 19’ (IP)
Mah-Chui, Kim Souk-young, Republic of Korea, 23’ (IP)
Nostalgia, Gustavo Rondón Córdova, Venezuela, 30’ (WP)
Panchabhuta, Mohan Kumar Valasala, India, 15’ (WP)
PUSONG WAZAK! Isa Na Namang Kwento Ng Pag-ibig Sa Pagitan Ng Isang Kriminal at Isang Puta, Khavn De La Cruz, Philippines, 15’ (WP)
Rafa, João Salaviza, Portugal / France, 25’ (WP)
Say Goodbye to the Story (ATT 1/11), Christoph Schlingensief, Germany, 23’ (WP)
Shi Luo Zhi Di, Zhou Yan, People’s Republic of China, 25’ (WP)
Strauß.ok, Jeanne Faust, Germany, 5’ (WP)
The End, Barcelo, France, 17’ (WP)
The Man that Got Away, Trevor Anderson, Canada, 25’ (WP)
Utsikter, Marcus Harrling, Moa Geistrand, Sweden, 12’ (WP)
Uzushio, Naoto Kawamoto, Japan, 6’ (WP)
Vilaine Fille Mauvais Garçon, Justine Triet, France, 30’ (IP)
Yi chang ge ming zhong hai wei lai de ji ding yi de xing wei, Sun Xun, People’s Republic of China, 12’ (WP)
zounk!, Billy Roisz, Austria, 6’ (WP)


Berlinale Shorts Special 2012:

Magyarország 2011, András Jeles, Ágnes Kocsis, Ferenc Török, Simon Szabó, Márta Mészáros, Péter Forgács, László Siroki, György Pálfi, Bence Fliegauf, András Salamon, Miklós Jancsó, Ungarn, 75′ (IP)
presented by Béla Tarr

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