Berlinale Bloggers

Film makers aren’t welcome in Cairo. Anyone who has ever tried to shoot a film in the city knows this. Nevertheless, the Lebanese director Reem Saleh has ventured into the ill-famed district of Rod El Farag for her documentary Al Gami’ya.

Kazuhiro Soda’s documentary film Inland Sea (Minatomachi), world-premiered at the Berlinale, paints a poignant portrait of the losers of urbanization.

Three actresses deliver brilliant performances in Italian director Laura Bispuri’s new film, which definitely deserves an award.

How to say goodbye to a beloved person? „Sekala Niskala“ (The Seen and Unseen) shows in enchanting pictures how fantasy provides an escape for a ten-year-old facing the loss of her twin brother.

“Bixa Travesty” (Tranny Fag) documents the life of the Brazilian trans artist Linn da Quebrada and her passionate fight against racism, homophobia and for the construction of trans-identity.

Zentralflughafen THF (Central Airport THF) and Styx: two films in the section Panorama show global immigration movements from different perspectives.

Christian Petzold’s Transit, a frontrunner in the Berlinale competition, turns Anna Seghers’ World War II novel of exile into a cautionary tale about present-day developments.

Berlinale blogger Gerasimos Bekas saw Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs, then rubbed shoulders with Berliners at rush hour.

In this interview, Jesse Cumming, film curator and author from Toronto, lets us know which colleagues he is most looking forward to see at the Berlinale. In addition, Cumming reveals what he wants to do first after the Berlinale.

Monster Hunt 2 will have its European premiere in Berlinale Special. It is the sequel to Monster Hunt (2015), the highest grossing film in China of all times up until it was overtaken by Stephen Chow's The Mermaid in 2016. With almost tripled production costs, Monster Hunt 2 promises more special effects, more animated monsters, and more stars including Tony Leung Chiu-Wai.

The cinema of the Weimar Republic remains astonishing to this day for its sheer variety and productivity. Some of the German films from 1918–1933 featured in this Berlinale retrospective are real discoveries addressing issues that are highly topical in our day and age.

Spectacular, forgotten, memorable and utopian: Why the Berlinale is what it is.

Do documentaries become more important in times of crisis, and if so, can you see that at the Berlinale? Here’s what the Berlinale Bloggers have to say about that.

Film producer Damon D' Oliveira from Toronto reveals his latest film ideas and how to make the perfect elevator pitch.

The hunt for the Golden Bear has begun and the 68th Berlinale has some surprises in store for movie enthusiasts. Greek women filmmakers are enjoying international attention. Though the Greek film market is lagging behind them a bit, it too is visible thanks to several co-productions.

Winning a Golden Bear attracts a lot of publicity to a film, but does the audience always react positively to an award-winning film in China? Stories of the Four Chinese Movies that once won the Golden Bear

What trends are next-generation German filmmakers setting these days? Philipp Bühler looks at the “Perspektive Deutsches Kino” section of the Berlinale showcasing highly imaginative work of up-and-coming German talents.