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International Film Festival Berlin 2012
Video Details
Mark Cosgrove, Head of Programme at Watershed introduces the 62nd International Film Festival Berlin, and with Maddy Probst, Watershed's Programme Developer, reports direct from the festival.
9 - 19 Feb 2012
| Duration: | 2mins |
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Thoughout the 62nd International Film Festival Berlin Mark Cosgrove, Watershed Head of Programme and Maddy Probst, Watershed Programme Developer, micro-reported direct from the festival with news, views and mini-reviews of the films they saw there.
On his return Mark Cosgrove expanded his thoughts into a more in-depth reflection on the 2012 festival...
Julius Caesar, Angelina Jolie and Me - A Week at the Berlinale
If a week is a long time in politics then a week at a film festival is an eternity where you not only travel across time and space but into the minds of a terrified female victim of war, a confused second generation British/Egyptian teenager and a reluctant revolutionary. Taking in five films a day can leave the imagination bewildered and becalmed, ravaged and enlightened. What follows are just a few of the highlights and observations gleaned from one of the world's most expansive, and important, film festivals.
In his introduction to the Berlinale catalogue festival director Dieter Kosslick drew attention to the fact that it has been one year since the Arab Spring; an event that was tackled in many films across the programme. He also stressed the importance of freedom of expression for artists; another theme close to the festival's heart. These two strands found outstanding manifestation in two documentaries: The Reluctant Revolutionary and Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry.
In parenthesis - this year it felt like truth was much stranger and more emotionally engaging than fiction: documentaries were getting to the heart of the matter much more directly than drama.
Sean McAllister's The Reluctant Revolutionary follows Kais, a tourist guide in Yemen, as the revolution unfolds. His work is already perilous and drying up because of the Taliban and when a protest camp sets up in 'Change Square' in Yemen's capital Sana'a, Kais is non-committal, and adamant the protests won't solve anything. Over time, however, he begins to get involved and engaged: transforming from pro-President to, yes, a reluctant revolutionary, joining angry protestors in the increasingly bloody city streets.
Director McAllister is either foolish or brave (or possibly both) because he is obviously the only foreigner around in a volatile environment with secret police mingling amongst the crowds of protesters. This courage has overwhelmingly paid off and what he captures is quite extraordinary. Would the conventional media have caught footage of state troops firing into the crowds, following Kais into makeshift hospitals? The scenes are devastating. McAllister moves you along at a breathless pace, the mood of change and resilience a pervasive, all-consuming presence. It's quite incredible.
The art of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is inextricable from his politics and for a Chinese artist, that can be life (or at least liberty)-threatening. Ai Weiwei's work is not confrontational for the sake of it: rather, it draws much-needed attention to the state's wilful dismissal of its own people.
This is most apparent in the aftermath of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, where the state never issued the names or amount of dead, a large amount of them children, because of ill built schools. Ai Weiwei and colleagues documented and published the names of nearly 5500: later, he would make an installation in an art gallery from 5500 child-less school bags. In Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry you get a real sense of the cat and mouse confrontation between artist and state until finally, he is arrested. Released after 81 days, he is fined 2.5m dollars, banned from meeting people and using the internet. It is moving to see ordinary Chinese people leave money at Ai Weiwei's door - the power of the artist indeed!
Obviously the artist could not be at the screening (having restricted movements imposed on him). However, he managed to arrange for fortune cookies to be handed out to the audience, each containing a unique message from the man himself. Mine read "You can delete the words but you cannot delete the facts" - and was immediately disseminated into the Twitterverse.
Where fiction really mattered was to be found, somewhat surprisingly, in the hands of ultra-glamorous star Angelina Jolie. The red carpet razzmatazz was very much in evidence when the "Brangelina" road show hit town: the captivated paparazzi clogged the entrance to such an extent they almost prevented me from seeing her film! The film in question, In The Land of Blood And Honey, doesn't pull any punches. It dramatically depicts the horrors inflicted on Muslim women in the Bosnian war, and while it does slide into melodrama at the end, the first half brings us face to face with the abuses suffered during the conflict.
Somewhat similarly, Filipino director Brillante Mendoza's Captive started off with a bang, throwing Isabelle Huppert into the hands of terrorists in a dramatisation of the 2001 incident which saw Muslim terrorist group Abu Sayyaf take numerous people hostage from a Filipino island resort. The first hour is compelling, disorientating filmmaking that manages to give a raw glimpse into the ordeal - but the film flags in the second half. I later discovered that the director had intended the film to be three hours: longer would definitely have been better, allowing the film to more fully explore the relationship between captors and captives as well as the tedium and terror of over a year in captivity.
Last but not least, documentary and fiction were satisfyingly brought together in the Taviani Brothers' Caesar Must Die, a compelling testament to the transformative power of art that went on to win the top prize at this year's festival. Prisoners in an Italian jail perform Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and through the process realise, and understand, more about their own condition. One prisoner observes sadly: "ever since I discovered art this cell has truly become a prison."
The 80-year-old veteran Brothers effortlessly merge drama, fiction, documentary and real life. Through immersion in the drama of Shakespeare, the prisoners discover more about themselves and their world. Similarly we, cinema goers, immerse ourselves in films and discover more about our world, and ourselves: life and art enjoy the most complex of relationships, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Related Links:
Berlinale
Berlinale 2012
msc45 Shall be heading off to Berlin Film Fest where I gather temp is minus 16 ! at least I'll be snug inside cinema. Many tweets with #shedbff
msc45 A very busy flight to Berlin with a certain Christopher Lee - looking very dapper - on board ! #shedbff
msc45 Its colder than cold here but the welcome posters around Berlin read The Whole City is a Cinema - sounds good to me #shedbff
msc45 Now registered and a clutch of tickets in hand including new Daldry and My brother The Devil #shedbff
msc45 nimals, drawing and taxidermy #shedbff
msc45 News from the strasse - Scott Thomas and Fiennes reunited for The Invisible Woman and....#shedbff
msc45 Mexican cannibal film We Are What We Are to get English language remake set in Catskills NY state #shedbff
MaddyProbst Day1@berlinale Llamas have never looked so good, striking mise en scene in Denis Cotes' (Curling) Bestiaire #shedbff
MaddyProbst Looking fwd to Swiss dir. Ursula Meier's (Home) Sister in comp especially now i've found out it's scored by Bristol's John Parish #shedbff
MaddyProbst
Got 2d animation Zarafa lined up for am, can't wait to follow an orphaned giraffe from Sudan to Paris #shedbff t.co/
msc45 Unfortunately Dennis doesn't have the plot/character muscle to stretch to feature film in Teddy Bear #shedbff
msc45 Opening film Benoit Jacquot's period drama Farewell, My Queen gets good review in trades. Creaky thriller Amergo got me jumping #shedbff
MaddyProbst Sharp contrast from kid friendly zen epic inspired by 1st giraffe in France to no future 'tude of rebel w/out a pause in KidThing #shedbff
msc45 Brit film My Brother The Devil dir by Sally El Hosaini is neat rework of London estate gang plot with multicultural n other twists #shedbff
MaddyProbst Ended eve with 'The Woman in a sceptic tank' a skillfull (p*ss) take on the making of Filipino slumxploitation film 'With Nothing' #shedbff
msc45 Taviani bros return with play within film within prison and transformative effects of shakespeare on prisoners #shedbff
msc45 At ticket desk I am given the hideous dilemma - "do you want Bob Marley or Ornette Coleman ?" #shedbff
MaddyProbst Floyd & young bro' Elsayed shine in My Bro' is the Devil by El Hosaini adding a touch of poetry & world politics 2 Hackney G film #shedbff
msc45 Bumped into former Bristolian now Madrid based director filmmaker Peter Domankiewicz in search of completion funds for feature #shedbff
msc45 Also caught up with a heavily pregnant Maike curator of Betlinale shorts progs - baby due immediately after festival ! #shedbff
msc45 Met Yorgos Tsourgiannus producer of the extraordinary Dogtooth who tells me @EncountersSFF is a great festival - very nice #shedbff
MaddyProbst Blown away by Malik Benjelloul's Searching For Sugarman aka Rodriguez, extraordinary! #shedbff
msc45 Searching for Sugar Man is most extraordinary doc on 70s lost and found music icon Rodriguez #shedbff
msc45 Can't believe It, Angelina Jolie is stopping me from getting into her film - some people ! #shedbff
MaddyProbst Been on dark side of the moon with nazis, crowdfunding scifi sensation Iron Sky makes Chris Morris look pc! Blame it on the sauna #shedbff
msc45 Angelina doesn't pull her punches in the harrowing Land of Blood and Honey about Serbian conflict #shedbff
msc45 From Nazi's on the moon and invading a Palin led USA to terrorism in Philippines-a morning @Berlinale #shedbff
msc45 Mendoza's Captive is compelling filmmaking that throws you directly into a terrorist nightmare #shedbff
MaddyProbst Met Bob Marley son Rohan after the premiere of Kevin McDonald's new doc, looking fwd to watching it tonight #shedbff
MaddyProbst Stunning 9th cent. hilltop monastery in Meteora. Greek orthodox monk (Theo Alexander) falls head over 'hills' for neighbouring nun #shedbff
MaddyProbst Taste needs to be nurtured; Aviva Silver on Creative Europe - audience development & film literacy will be key areas of focus #shedbff
MaddyProbst Less is more? Creative Europe are looking for simplification; simpler forms & more lump sum funding, sounds great to me #shedbff
MaddyProbst
Thoughts on the new shape of Creative Europe ? #shedbff t.co/
MaddyProbst
And the proposed Creative Europe budget, likely to find out more in June #shedbff t.co/
msc45 Warm reception for James Marsh's tense thriller set in 90s Belfast Shadowdancer now for Ai Wei Wei doc #shedbff
msc45 Bumped into a very happy Peter Carlton who celebrated Tyrannosaur's BAFTA with a large pretzel #shedbff
MaddyProbst Having tasty Italian dinner with a view on Berlinale jury members jake gyllenhaal and mike leigh #shedbff
msc45 Got a fortune cookie message from Ai Weiwei which I've to tweet - coming up next #shedbff
msc45 Words can be deleted but the facts won't be deleted with them - Ai Weiwei #neversorry #shedbff
msc45 The Ai Weiwei doc is an incredible glimpse into the most significant artist of our generation #shedbff
msc45 Christian Petzold's Barbara leads Screen's critics poll with Taviani bros a close 2nd #shedbff
MaddyProbst One love! I thought I knew everything about Marley, it turns out there's much more to his story in Kevin McDonald's definitive doc #shedbff
MaddyProbst Ok am biased but fav film is Swiss set Meier's Sister (Home) tough tender with stunning images by Agnes Godard & score by J Parish #shedbff
msc45 Zhang Yimou's Flowers of War the most expensive Chinese film takes Hollywood on at it's own game #shedbff
msc45 And is as melodramatically naive. Hot ticket Cherry set in San Fran porn industry similarly simplistic #shedbff
MaddyProbst Is this the #Berlinale year of the giraffe & zoos? Bestiaire, Zarafa and now Jakarta set Postcards from the zoo #shedbff
msc45 Liked very much Miguel Gomes' Tabu a languid memory reflection, in particular the 'sad and melancholic alligator' #shedbff
msc45 Now for cinematography masterclass with Ed Lachman who shot Ulrich Seidl's brilliant Import/export #shedbff
msc45 Lachman shot Larry Clarke film - herzog said 'good but it's kids stuff'- you should meet Ulrich Seidl #shedbff
MaddyProbst
Bumped into t.co/
msc45 Lachman worked/learned under Robbie Muller, Sven Nyqvist and Vitorrio Storarro - #shedbff
msc45 Godard to Lachman - Kodak does 70% of the work, the lights 20% why does a cinematographer get paid so much ? #shedbff
msc45 Alex de la Iglesa gives a modern moral update of Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole in La Chispa de La Vida #shedbff
MaddyProbst Are you lonely? Ever thought of renting a cat? My #berlinale guilty pleasure: Naoko Ogimami's Rent-A-Cat #shedbff
msc45
Surprise but pleased that Taviani Brothers' Caesar Must Die wins Golden Bear @ Berlinale t.co/
