Berlinale-Blogger 2020

In his vlog, Arjun Pavakkulath takes us on a tour of the Berlinale, tells us what he has in common with the Indian film Sthalpurna by Akshay Indikar and why film festivals are so important today in particular.

India is represented by only four films at the Berlinale, even though no country makes more films. At the Berlinale, Anjana Singh investigates whether Indian cinema is underrepresented and what this has to do with the balance between sales and art.
 

Indian films have been established at the Berlinale since the early years of the festival: an Honorary Silver Bear went to India as early as in 1956. But what about the presence and themes of Indian films in the anniversary year?

What is actually the situation of European film in India? Anjana Singh finds out more at the European Film Market (EFM), one of the important marketplaces for promoting films.

You could feel co-director Bassam Tariq’s documentary background when watching Mogul Mowgli. The film didn’t just represent an identity struggle of a British Pakistani rapper called Zed, every small detail was offered. From the pile of folded cream sheets every Asian household seems to have in the hallway, to plastic covered sofas, and biscuit tins older than the children filled with anything but biscuits.

Social media is the window into people’s lives that’s constantly left ajar. This modern type of closeness was captured not only in film scripts at the Berlinale, but artists used it as a medium to tell tales of today.

And, action! It’s that time of the year again at Berlin's Potsdamer Platz, with the 70th Berlinale now officially underway. Goethe-Institut Australia’s festival blogger Sarah Ward says she there are five things she's especially looking forward to this time around.

If your only chance of staying alive is to flee your own country, what can you do but get out? “Welcome to Chechnya”, screening in the Panorama section of the Berlinale, is a documentary film about the systematic persecution of LGBTQI people in Chechnya and activists’ efforts to extract and protect them.

Between racism and absurd expectations: Several films in the “Panorama” section explore post-migrant perspectives on Germany.

Three films in this year’s competition, “Berlin Alexanderplatz”, “Undine” and “Schwesterlein”, are set in Berlin. They’re about crime, love and death.

Ranging from a horror film to a portrait of a Bavarian family – the next-gen filmmakers’ section “Perspektive Deutsches Kino” explores a complicated issue.

Post-war glamour and glory, scandalous films and a movie star on the red carpet wearing a paper bag over his head: some highlights from the tumultuous history of the world’s biggest film festiva

Some big changes are coming to Germany's biggest and biggest-name film festival this year. Here’s the lowdown on what’s new at the Berlinale 2020.
 

The Berlinale 2020 has undergone a reshuffling at the top: Carlo Chatrian is its new artistic director, working alongside the festival’s new executive director, Mariette Rissenbeek. In this interview, Chatrian talks about films as a mirror of troubled times and about the inestimable importance of the film-going public.