Berlinale 18: What’s News
Dieter Kosslick will not renew his contract, ending May 2019, as head of Berlinale
Festival Director Dieter Kosslick in response to a letter signed by a group of German directors concerning the future of the Berlinale:
I can understand that these directors want transparency when it comes to the process of reforming the Berlinale. Its future is a matter of great importance for all us. Minister of State and Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media Prof. Monika Grütters will be in charge of any proceedings.
My contract ends on May 31, 2019. The Supervisory Board has asked me to submit a proposal for the potential restructuring of the Berlinale. I will do so — and this proposal will be totally independent of me personally.
Seventy-nine German directors wrote a petition asking for transparency in the process, it was recently published in Der Spiegel.
The Berlinale is one of the top three film festivals in the world, and the reorganization of the directorate offers the opportunity to programmatically renew and purify the festival, and we suggest that an international gender equality commission be set up The aim must be to find an outstanding curatorial personality who is passionate about cinema, well connected worldwide and capable of bringing the festival on an equal footing with Cannes and Venice into the future a transparent procedure and a new beginning.
German Culture Minister Monika Grütters is also responsible for the selection of the next director of Berlin film festival.
Berlinale: Wieland Speck Hands Over His Position as Head of Panorama to Paz Lázaro
Wieland Speck, until now head of the Berlinale’s Panorama section, will in the future be contributing his extensive range of expertise on film to the Berlinale as Consultant of the Official Programme. Starting in 1982, Wieland Speck joined forces with Manfred Salzgeber to build up Panorama (an autonomous section as of 1980, known as “Info-Schau” until 1985) and made its programme one of the most prestigious in arthouse film.
Wieland Speck took over as head of Panorama in 1992. Over the past 25 years he has continually enhanced and fine-tuned the section’s profile as well as brought international recognition to the Teddy Award. Launched with Manfred Salzgeber in 1987, it was the world’s first and, to this day, most important film prize for queer cinema. Speck has curated more than 1800 promising cinematic productions — fiction films, documentary works and short films — and offered them to the public, press and industry for political debate and cinematographic experience.
I want to thank Wieland from the bottom of my heart for the fantastic job he has done with Panorama. He established a platform for ambitious independent cinema, and successfully positioned it on the international market. I’m especially pleased that he will now be assisting us with his expertise and experience, and programming the Panorama’s 40th jubilee in 2019, says Festival Director Dieter Kosslick.
Dieter Kosslick has appointed a new team to run Panorama — headed by Paz Lázaro. Together with Michael Stütz and Andreas Struck she will curate the Panorama program.
All three have worked alongside Wieland Speck for years. Paz Lázaro became program manager of Panorama in 2006. Michael Stütz, to date responsible for program coordination, will — in addition to coordinating the Teddy Award — now contribute to shaping the section as program manager and curator. Andreas Struck, program advisor at Panorama as of 2006, will now be responsible — alongside his curatorial tasks — for editorial work and communicating the Panorama program.
German Director Tom Tykwer to Head Up the Jury for the 2018 Berlinale
German director, screenwriter, film composer, and producer Tom Tykwer will serve as jury president of the 68th Berlin International Film Festival. “Tom Tykwer is one of the highest-profile German directors and has established himself on the international stage as a great filmmaker. His outstanding talent and innovative trademark have been on display in a variety of film genres.
Berlinale Classics 2018 Presents Das alte Gesetz (The Ancient Law) by E.A. Dupont — World Premiere of the Digitally Restored Ver
As part of the Berlinale Classics programme, the 68th Berlin International Film Festival will be presenting Ewald André Dupont’s silent Das alte Gesetz (The Ancient Law, Germany, 1923) as a special screening with live music. The film, digitally restored under the auspices of the Deutsche Kinemathek, and accompanied by new music by French composer Philippe Schoeller, will have its world premiere on February 16, 2018 in the Friedrichstadt-Palast.
Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs to Open the 68th Berlinale, his 4th time with a film in Berlin
The 68th Berlin International Film Festival will open at the Berlinale Palast on February 15, 2018 with the world premiere of Wes Anderson’s animated film Isle of Dogs. Anderson has previously presented three films in the Berlinale Competition: The Royal Tenenbaums (2002), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2005), and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) which opened the 64th Berlin International Film Festival and won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize. “I’m most delighte…
Berlinale Talents 2018 Is Sharing Secrets
Berlinale Talents 2018 delves into the hidden worlds of film. With the theme “Secrets”, the 16th edition of the Berlinale’s networking platform focuses on the messages behind cinematic stories and images, and on unexplored paths into the film business. 250 international Talents and over 100 experts, mentors and Berlinale guests reveal their secrets of success and address the increasingly urgent social and political issues of how we share, disclose and protect knowledge.
Retrospective 2018 — “Weimar Cinema Revisited”
The Retrospective of the 68th Berlin International Film Festival will focus on the great variety of cinema in the Weimar era. Some one hundred years ago, at the end of World War I and the dawn of the Weimar Republic, one of the most productive and influential phases in German filmmaking began unfolding, a creative era that went on to shape international perception of the country’s film culture, even to the present day.
Berlinale World Cinema Fund: Latest Funding Recommendations
At the 27th jury session of the World Cinema Fund (WCF), the juries recommended contributing to the funding of 10 film projects. Six films from Chile, Argentina, Vietnam, Brazil and Paraguay have been nominated for production funding. In the additional WCF Europe funding programme, the jury has recommended funding the production of a project from Morocco. In the special programme WCF Africa, they have recommended funding a Sudanese project.
Improvements at the 2018 European Film Market:
EFM expands the programme in 2018 “DocSalon” is the new meeting point for the documentary film trade The European Film Market (EFM), hosting more than 9,000 participants annually and serving as the focal point of the film trade during the Berlinale, is improving its attractions for producers. The “EFM Producers Hub” — an initiative tailored to the needs of producers at the EFM and providing producers with free consultations on financing and distribution.
All serial formats at the Berlinale to be presented at Zoo Palast in 2018
The Berlinale Special Seriesprogramme, highly successful since its introduction three years ago, will run under the new name Berlinale Series and move to the new venue Zoo Palast for the 2018 festival. In 2015 the Berlinale was the first A-festival worldwide to create an individual special programme for series within the official programme. In doing so, the Berlin International Film Festival started a new trend and gave the high-quality serial narrative format a prominent platf…
Berlinale World Cinema Fund: New Funding Nominations
Berlinale World Cinema Fund: New Funding Nominations — artistically, structurally and geographically diverse At the 26th jury session of the Berlinale’s World Cinema Fund (WCF), the juries recommended contributing to the funding of 13 film projects. Five film projects from Bangladesh, Palestine, Brazil, Afghanistan and Uruguay were nominated for production funding. In the additional WCF Europe funding program, four projects from Tunisia, Brazil, Argentina and Egypt will receive funding.
Focus on Canada at coming EFM 2018
From left to right: Michel Pradier (Director Project Financing, Telefilm Canada), Marielle Poupelin (Director International Promotion, Telefilm Canada), EFM President Beki Probst, Berlinale Director Dieter Kosslick and EFM Director Matthijs Wouter Knol at the signing of the contract © Loïc Thébaud In 2018, Canada will be the next “Country in Focus” at the European Film Market (EFM) of the Berlin International Film Festival. The EFM’s “Country in Foc…
