#MoviesMusicPlaysFilmFestivalsConcerts: Berlin 2015

Showing posts with label Berlin 2015. Show all posts

Film Review: "EL CLUB"

Film Review: "El Club"
Official Submission of Chile to the 88th Academy Awards
AFIFEST 2015 Official Selection
November 2015

First this disclosure: I am a catholic and I know when my faith is being attacked, I get mad but I was taught to be more understanding and forgiving.

I had to compose myself before writing a quick review in my FB account of Pablo Larrain's Berlin-winning follow-up to his Oscar-nominated film "No" because I thought "El Club", a movie about priests with criminal pasts, was vicious, vile and offensive and I was so ready to rip it apart but I realized that it was the exact reaction the filmmaker was aiming for when he made this film and I have to respect that because in all objectivity his film is a powerful indictment and an eye-opening expose of the apparent hypocrisy of the catholic church.

With that said, I decided to expand my review and give it a full one after I have given it much more thought.

This film is blatantly sacrilegious and it is obvious from the first moment you see the main characters train a racing dog and later engage in gambling which is forbidden by the church, specially among clergymen.

"El Club" tells the story of a group of defrocked priests exiled in a secluded villa in a remote seaside town as punishment and penance for the various sins and offenses they have committed -- their crimes range from kidnapping infants to sexually abusing kids.

They all surprisingly live in relative comfort with the town unaware of their presence or their past crimes but all that comes to a standstill one morning when a new priest is brought into town to join them. The priest is accused of the same crimes as the other tenants in the villa ran by a sweet-talking nun who has come to enjoy looking after the priests and the occasional dog racing they engage in. She considers it her "vocation".

Soon, a seemingly mentally unstable and disheveled stranger shows up at the gate looking for the new priest and starts exposing in lurid details the abuse he suffered at the hands of this priest. This disturbance will end in a tragedy that was so perfectly staged by the director. May I add here that the cinematography is brilliant!

But the tragedy only marks the beginning of what will become an odd investigation of the priests activities, their role in the tragic incident and the threat to permanently close down the villa. How the group resolve this intrusion is where I take strong issue with. The film depicts the group as a gang of criminals who would go to extreme lengths to protect their own, keep their crimes under wraps, while preaching the word of God but to try to condemn the filmmaker's interpretation of the events or to censor and dissuade others from watching this film would be tantamount to endorsing the grossly unchristian acts depicted in the film. I will not do that. Instead, i will give this film the rating it rightfully deserves even if i strongly disagree with its message of hate. I invite you all to watch it and form your own opinion about it.

Rating; 4 1/2 Stars

XXX

Raymond Lo

Film Review: "AFERIM!"

Film Review: AFERIM!
Official submission of Romania to the 88th Academy Awards

Saw this film recently at the annual European Film Promotion screening series in Los Angeles. I loved it! It's a dark comedy about the roots of racism set in 1800s Romania or the region known before as Wallachia.

Like most films about slavery, the film is an atonement for this unforgivable sin but this one does it with biting humor that invites the audience to laugh along with every utterances of bigotry that by the time the end credits roll, you'll find yourself stuck in your seat, unable to stand, carrying the shame and the guilt for having been a party to the cruelty you just witnessed.

One will be reminded of the Quentin Tarantino film "Django Unchained" when they watch this film but I find this film's treatment of the subject more masterful and its conclusion more resonant and powerful. The subject of racism is relevant today and will stay relevant as long as there's class discrimination and wealth inequity in every society. I love what the lead character said towards the end of the film, "We live life based on what we can and not based on what we want."

Aferim means bravo in English. Its usage in the film is designed to create a sense of irony whenever it is uttered but believe me when I say that the filmmakers, actors and craftsmen did a truly outstanding film that they deserve an Aferim! for their work.

This film won the Silver Bear for Best Director at Berlin earlier this year for acclaimed filmmaker Radu Jude. The cast headed by Teodor Corban and Mihai Comanoiu (they play father and son searching for a fugitive gypsy named Carfin played with superb restraint by Cuzin Toma) offer outstanding performances that will almost make you believe they did come from that period.

Aferim! will be released in New York and Los Angeles on January 22, 2016 by Big World Pictures. Watch it!

Rating: 5 glorious stars!

XXX
Raymond De Asis Lo

Berlin 2015: Winners!

"Taxi" (Jafar Panahi, Iran)

Iranian film "Taxi" from banned filmmaker Jafar Panahi takes both Jury and Critics top prizes!

The winners of the 65th Berlinale

PRIZES OF THE INTERNATIONAL JURY

GOLDEN BEAR FOR BEST FILM (awarded to the film’s producer)
Taxi by Jafar Panahi

SILVER BEAR GRAND JURY PRIZE
El Club (The Club) by Pablo Larraín

SILVER BEAR ALFRED BAUER PRIZE (for a feature film that opens new perspectives)
Ixcanul (Ixcanul Volcano) by Jayro Bustamante

SILVER BEAR FOR BEST DIRECTOR (Tie)
Radu Jude for "Aferim!"
Małgorzata Szumowska for "Body"

SILVER BEAR FOR BEST ACTRESS
Charlotte Rampling in 45 Years by Andrew Haigh

SILVER BEAR FOR BEST ACTOR
Tom Courtenay in 45 Years by Andrew Haigh

SILVER BEAR FOR BEST SCRIPT
Patricio Guzmán for El botón de nácar (The Pearl Button)

SILVER BEAR FOR OUTSTANDING ARTISTIC CONTRIBUTION (Tie)
(in the categories camera, editing, music score, costume or set design)
Sturla Brandth Grøvlen for the camera in Victoria (Victoria) by Sebastian Schipper
Evgeniy Privin and Sergey Mikhalchuk for the camera in Pod electricheskimi oblakami (Under Electric Clouds) by Alexey German Jr.

BEST FIRST FEATURE AWARD (endowed with € 50,000, funded by GWFF)
600 Millas (600 Miles) by Gabriel Ripstein

GOLDEN BEAR JURY PRIZE (SHORT FILM)
HOSANNA by Na Young-kil

SILVER BEAR JURY PRIZE (SHORT FILM)
Bad at Dancing by Joanna Arnow

BERLIN SHORT FILM NOMINEE FOR THE EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS
Dissonance by Till Nowak

AUDI SHORT FILM AWARD (endowed with € 20,000, enabled by Audi)
PLANET Σ by Momoko Seto

PRIZES OF THE JURIES GENERATION

CHILDREN'S JURY

CRYSTAL BEAR for the Best Film
Min lilla syster (My Skinny Sister) by Sanna Lenken

SPECIAL MENTION
Dhanak (Rainbow) by Nagesh Kukunoor

CRYSTAL BEAR for the Best Short Film
Hadiatt Abi (Gift of My Father) by Salam Salman

SPECIAL MENTION
The Tie by An Vrombaut

THE GRAND PRIX OF THE GENERATION KPLUS INTERNATIONAL JURY
(for the best feature-length film, endowed with € 7,500 by the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk)
Dhanak (Rainbow) by Nagesh Kukunoor

SPECIAL MENTION
Min lilla syster (My Skinny Sister) by Sanna Lenken

THE SPECIAL PRIZE OF THE GENERATION KPLUS INTERNATIONAL JURY
(for the best short film, endowed with € 2,500 by the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk)
Giovanni en het waterballet (Giovanni and the Water Ballet) by Astrid Bussink

SPECIAL MENTION
Agnes by Anja Lind

YOUTH JURY

CRYSTAL BEAR for the Best Film
Flocken (Flocking) by Beata Gårdeler

SPECIAL MENTION
Prins (Prince) by Sam de Jong

CRYSTAL BEAR for the Best Short Film
A Confession by Petros Silvestros

SPECIAL MENTION
Nelly by Chris Raiber

THE GRAND PRIX OF THE GENERATION 14PLUS INTERNATIONAL JURY
(for the best feature-length film, endowed with € 7,500 by the Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung | Federal Agency for Civic Education)
The Diary of a Teenage Girl by Marielle Heller

SPECIAL MENTION
Nena by Saskia Diesing

THE SPECIAL PRIZE OF THE GENERATION 14PLUS INTERNATIONAL JURY
(for the best short film, endowed with € 2,500 by the Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung | Federal Agency for Civic Education)
Coach by Ben Adler

SPECIAL MENTION
Tuolla puolen (Reunion) by Iddo Soskolne and Janne Reinikainen

PRIZES OF THE INDEPENDENT JURY

ECUMENICAL JURY PRIZE

COMPETITION: El botón de nácar (The Pearl Button) by Patricio Guzmán

PANORAMA: Ned Rifle (Ned Rifle) by Hal Hartley

FORUM: Histoire de Judas (Story of Judas) by Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche

FIRESCI JURY PRIZE

COMPETITION: Taxi by Jafar Panahi

PANORAMA: Paridan az Ertefa Kam (A Minor Leap Down) by Hamed Rajabi

FORUM: Il gesto delle mani (Hand Gestures) by Francesco Clerici

PRIZE OF THE GUILD OF GERMAN ART HOUSE CINEMAS

Victoria by Sebastian Schipper

CICAE ART CINEMA AWARD

PANORAMA: Que Horas Ela Volta? (The Second Mother) by Anna Muylaert

FORUM: Zurich by Sacha Polak

LABEL EUROPA CINEMAS

Mot Naturen (Out of Nature) by Ole Giæver and Marte Vold

TEDDY AWARD

Best Feature Film: Nasty Baby by Sebastián Silva

Best Documentary/Essay Film: El hombre nuevo (The New Man) by Aldo Garay

Best Short Film: San Cristóbal by Omar Zúñiga Hidalgo

Teddy Jury Award: Stories of Our Lives by Jim Chuchu

READERS' JURIES AND AUDIENCE AWARDS

READERS’ JURIES AND AUDIENCE AWARD

Panorama Audience Award fiction film

Que Horas Ela Volta? (The Second Mother) by Anna Muylaert

Panorama Audience Award documentary film

Tell Spring Not to Come This Year by Saeed Taji Farouky and Michael McEvoy

BERLINER MORGENPOST READERS’ JURY AWARD

Victoria by Sebastian Schipper

TAGESSPIEGEL READERS’ JURY AWARD

Flotel Europa by Vladimir Tomic

ELSE - SIEGESSÄULE READERS’ JURY AWARD

Zui Sheng Meng Si (Thanatos, Drunk) by Chang Tso-Chi

OTHER AWARDS | GRANTS

MADE IN GERMANY – PERSPEKTIVE FELLOWSHIP

(endowed with € 15,000, funded by Glashütte Original)

Oskar Sulowski for Rosebuds

FGYO-AWARD DIALOGUE EN PERSPECTIVE

(endowed with € 5,000, funded by the French-German Youth Office | FYGO)

Ein idealer Ort (A Perfect Place) by Anatol Schuster

Lobende Erwähnung

Im Sommer wohnt er unten (Summers Downstairs) by Tom Sommerlatte

CALIGARI FILM PRIZE

Balikbayan #1 Memories of Overdevelopment Redux III by Kidlat Tahimik

PEACE FILM PRIZE

The Look of Silence by Joshua Oppenheimer

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL FILM PRIZE

Tell Spring Not to Come This Year by Saeed Taji Farouky and Michael McEvoy

HEINER CAROW PRIZE

B-Movie: Lust & Sound in West-Berlin by Jörg A. Hoppe, Klaus Maeck and Heiko Lange

THINK: FILM AWARD (Tie)

(funded by the Allianz Cultural Foundation)

Oskar Dawicki in The Performer by Łukasz Ronduda and Maciej Sobieszczański

Untitled (Human Mask) by Pierre Huyghe

Lobende Erwähnung

Thamaniat wa ushrun laylan wa bayt min al-sheir (Twenty-Eight Nights and A Poem) by Akram Zaatari

PRIZES BERLINALE CO-PRODUCTION MARKET & BERLINALE TALENTS

ARTE INTERNATIONAL PRIZE
(endowed with € 6,000)
Marcela Said (Chile) for Los Perros

EURIMAGES CO-PRODUCTION DEVELOPMENT AWARD
(endowed with € 20,000)
Emily Atef (Germany) for 3 Days in Quiberon

Special Mention
Syllas Tsoumerkas (Greece) for The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea

VFF TALENT HIGHLIGHT PITCH AWARD
(endowed with € 10,000)
Director Abner Benaim (Panama) and producer Gema Juarez Allen (Argentina) for Biencuidao

DOLBY® ATMOS POLICY TRAILER
Warren Santiago (Thailand/ Philippines)

BERLINALE TALENTS DOC STATION DEVELOPMENT GRANT
(endowed with € 3.000, funded by Canada Goose)
Marouan Omara (Egypt) for Dream Away

Congratulations to all the winners!!!

Berlin 2015: 24 Films in Competition!

New films from acclaimed filmmakers Wim Wenders, Jafar Panahi, Bill Condon, Werner Herzog, Terrence Malick, Peter Greenaway, Isabel Coixet, Jiang Wen, Pablo Larrain, Kenneth Branagh and many more are competing for the Golden Bear!

Journal d’une femme de chambre | Diary of a Chambermaid ...
FRA/BEL 2015
DIRECTOR: Benoit Jacquot
Lea Seydoux
© Carole Béthuel

Yi bu zhi yao | Gone With The Bullets
CHN/HKG/CHN 2014
DIRECTOR: Jiang Wen
Jiang Wen, Ge You
© Beijing Buyilehu Film & Culture Co., Limited

Queen of the Desert
USA 2015
DIRECTOR: Werner Herzog
Nicole Kidman, James Franco
© 2013 QOTD Film Investment Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Victoria
DEU 2015
DIRECTOR: Sebastian Schipper
Laia Costa, Frederick Lau, Franz Rogowski
© 2015 Senator Film

Ten no chasuke | Chasuke’s Journey
JPN/FRA 2015
DIRECTOR: Sabu
Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Ito Ohno
© BANDAI VISUAL, SHOCHIKU AND OFFICE KITANO

Cha và con và | Big Father, Small Father and Other Stories ...
VNM/FRA/DEU/NLD 2014
DIRECTOR: Phan Dang Di

Eisenstein in Guanajuato
NLD/MEX/FIN/BEL 2015
DIRECTOR: Peter Greenaway
Elmer Bäck

Pod Electricheskimi Oblakami | Under Electric Clouds ...
RUS/UKR/POL 2015
DIRECTOR: Alexey German Jr.
Dimitriy Vozdvizhenskij, Fillip D'yachkov

El botón de nácar | The Pearl Button | Der Perlmuttknopf...
FRA/CHL/ESP 2015
DIRECTOR: Patricio Guzmán
© Hugues Namur

Elser | 13 Minutes
DEU 2015
DIRECTOR: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Burghart Klaußner, Christian Friedel, Johann von Bülow
© Bernd Schuller

Nadie quiere la noche | Nobody Wants the Night
ESP/FRA/BGR 2014
DIRECTOR: Isabel Coixet
Juliette Binoche
© Leandro Betancor

Als wir träumten | As We Were Dreaming
DEU/FRA 2014
DIRECTOR: Andreas Dresen
Merlin Rose, Marcel Heupermann, Julius Nitschkoff
Peter Hartwig
© Rommel Film