The 75th Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) is buzzing up Berlin’s winter from 13 to 23 Feb under the artistic direction of Amerikaanse tante Tricia Tuttle. The festival showcases a diverse array of films and events, and is (as the bear does) lining up those who are up for the much coveted “moments of importance” in international cinema and culture for the year ahead. Just with less très importante-flair than Cannes, and less swag than the IFFR.
This time around the festival was opened with a German drama “Das Licht” directed by Wuppertal (DE) born Tom Tykwer, setting a compellingly woke, dreamy, and righteous tone for the event (or maybe not). We’ve got a little snippet of the film for you too. Fun fact: the Berlinale’ international jury is presided over by another Amerricunn, Movie-Boomer and Bill Gates lookalike- Todd Haynes. Todd is overseeing the competition for the “prestigious” Golden Bear award. Good on you, Todd! Todd also has great hair.
We’d love to tell you about Berlinale, and how it is in real life in magnificent, glorious, European darling Berlin. But we can’t. Because Actually Interesting Broadcasting Media (or AIBM) is a European indie platform run by people with a lot of heart and no money. That kind of expense, time, and access is as of yet, beyond us. So, rather than spew impressions from direct experience, let’s just talk about some of that film-stuff, shall we?
DAS LICHT
Let’s start with “Das Licht”. Real good this, so woke2 , righteous and Bohemian. Definitely not about climate change and “wir schaffen das”. Or is it? We don’t know, because we didn’t watch, because we also don’t have enough money and time to watch everything and then write about it. But hey, if there is something that defines a good film, a true endorsement like no other, it ‘s having the Guardian hate on it and then seeing Euronews join in on the bashing. Packed and sealed, this Film is instant “cult”. What a victory for Wuppertal‘s own Tykwer! WUPP WUPP!!! Let us know if you’ve seen it. We’ll watch it when it streams on cinemember or mubi, because who knows if it’ll make the Netflix cut.
#WIR want to see this film. JA!
MORE FILMS
Many other “noteworthy” films are being screened at the event, here’s a few Nova calculated worthwhile (Nova is our AI model’ self-chosen name……………………………………………….
what….
What 🤨!?):
“Mickey 17”: South Korean big-shot-director Bong Joon-ho presented this science fiction satire, featuring hunk gone serieus Robert Pattinson. The film critiques technology and capitalism, delivering a humorous yet profound narrative (as per Nova). It all sounds pretty hypocritical and ignorant considering the entire thing is chewed up and spat out by the capitalist Amerricun propaganda machine Warner-Boomers (Bros, it’s Bros). But that’s the state of things today- “feel free to bite the hand that feeds you, because it’s made of steel and run by chatGPT”. No, all jokes aside, this seems like a fun film, we’ll watch it, nevermind the banter. Pattison can do any character, and is gorgeous if you like them soft and cute. The trailer looks dopey and almost really fun. They would have done better having Radu Jude (See below) have a say here and there. Read more at Cadena Ser
“Kontinental ’25”: Romanian director Radu Jude returned with a comedy-drama supposedly exploring the moral dilemmas of a bailiff (one who gets a legal say over something or someone), aiming for his second Golden Bear. Just the fact that this is a Romanian flick that looks like it was shot on a smartphone (fun fact: it was shot on a smartphone), and made the cut for Berlinale… makes it awesome and worthwhile. And, the last seven seconds of the trailer are really quite appetizing, and promising. Hot n ‘steamy is what it is! We want to Romanian too!
Read more at Reuters
“El mensaje”: A black-and-white co-production between Argentina and Spain, directed by Iván Fund. The film tells the story of a nine-year-old girl in Argentina who communicates with pets, offering a poetic perspective on human belief in times of crisis. Now there’s a film we want to see, it’s so “now”. After all, who hasn’t seen that one video on instagram where the cat wisperer teach us hoomans how to speak CAT? And also the subsequent videos of people all over instagram who try to speak CAT as well? No but seriously, this is the most artsy of the films so far, and while we try to make things all bubbly and fuzzy for ya, this one might actually have some serious soul in it.
Speaking of serious, “Only on Earth” is serious. Danish filmmaker Robin Petré presented this documentary capturing the devastating wildfires in Galicia (North-West Spain) in 2022, highlighting the profound impact on both nature and local communities. Now, us who live or have lived on the Mediterranean coast, we too know how real this can get. Croatia burns, Greece burns, France burns, and so on. This is a narrative that really touches on something real, painful and shared. It’s a must watch. Find more at El País
COME BACK FOR MORE
Come back later for more on how we missed the Berlinale, but still talk about it like WIR SIND Berliner. And also if you like cats. Yes, come back for more content on cats. Definitely more cats.
