Of the 18 films in the official section, an Argentine-Mexican production stands out: ‘Robe of gems’ (‘Túnica de gemas’).
The latin american cinema will once again be a strong presence in the Berlinaleboth in the fight for golden bear, through the Argentine-Mexican production Robe of gems (gem tunic) the directorial debut of Natalia Lopez Gallardo, as in the other sections of the German festival.
The film, which mixes realism with dreams and metaphors, “creates a special sensation of suspension of reality, confronting the viewer with a violence that is so terrifying as practically invisible”, underlined the artistic director of the Berlinale, Carlo Chatrian, by presenting your program in full.
López Gallardo’s film has been included among the 18 films from the official section to competition, which will open on the 10th the film Peter von Kant, by the French François Ozon and performed by Denis Méchonet, Isabelle Adjani and Hanna Schygulla.
For Ozon it will be the sixth time competing in that festival and it will do so with a film considered a tribute to the mythical The bitter tears of Petra von Kant de Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
According to Chatrian, the festival management seeks a “balance between established and new talents”, in which names like López Gallardo or the Spanish Carla Simon and Isaki Lacuesta.
Also in the official competition, but in the short section Berlinale Shorts, will aspire to award the Peruvian film heroines, by Marina Herrera, and the Brazilian Sunday morning, by Bruno Ribeiro, as well as Four Nights, by Deepak Rauniyar, a co-production between the United States, Mexico and Nepal.
In the encounters section, created in 2019 to support the new voices of cinema and give greater space to the various narrative and documentary forms in the official selection, will be screened A Little Love Package, by the Argentinian Gastón Solnicki, shot almost entirely in Austria, the film’s co-producer country.
Argentine filmmaker Lucrecia Martel returns to the Berlinale as part of the program Berlinale Special with his short documentary north terminus, starring the singer Julieta Laso. The Berlinale in 2001 was the international catapult for this filmmaker, who triumphed with The swamp.
The Panorama section includes the Mexican film north over the void, by Alejandra Márquez Abella, and the French-Brazilian corporation bonfire, by Flavia Neves.
In the Forum section, dedicated to experimental cinema, Argentine films will be screened Camouflage, by Jonathan Perel, and the middle ages, by Alejo Moguillansky and Luciana Acuña; the Chilean the veteran, by Jerónimo Rodriguez, and the Brazilian three sad tigers, by Gustavo Vinagre and Dry bush on fire, by Adirley Queirós and Joana Pimenta, co-produced with Portugal.
The section Forum Expanded presents in its programming the Brazilian film the dragon’s tooth, by Rafael Castanheira Parrode, the Colombian-Portuguese co-production Yarokamena, by Andrés Jurado, and the installation The path is made by walking, by the Brazilian Paula Gaitán.
The Generation section includes the Argentine film Sublime, by Mariano Biasin, and the short an invisible apprentice, by Emilia Herbst; and the Colombian-Chilean-Romanian co-production Alis, de Clare Weiskopf y Nicolas van Hemelryck.
The program of this section includes films with Mexican participation God’s kingdom, by Claudia Sainte-Luce; there Baby, by Rebeca Huntt, and the short Soul and Peace, by Cris Gris, both co-produced between Mexico and the United States.
Finally, in the section Berlinale Series will be presented Iosi, the repentant spy, directed by the Argentine Daniel Burman, winner in 2004 with The split hug and regular director of that festival in later editions.
Spain and its double bet in competition
the filmmakers Lacuesta and Simon will represent Spanish cinema in the Berlinale competition, which will also feature two spanish shorts in the official section and the debut of Alauda Ruiz de Azúa in the Panorama section.
Lacuesta will present one year one night, while Simón will arrive with his second feature film Alcarràs to the competition section.
one year one night, stars Nahuel Pérez Biscayart and Noémie Merlant. It is based on a book and on conversations with survivors of the 2015 terrorist attack in the Bataclan room in Paris.
In his new film, the filmmaker “opts for a fragmented narrative, constantly blurring imaginary and reality”, he underlined when presenting the Chatrian festival programme.
Meanwhile, Simón returns “with the long-awaited Alcarràs, which takes us back to a rural area in Catalonia”, said Chatrian.
“Like many other towns, Alcarràs is a place where they frequently collide tradition and innovation just as the wishes and actions of different generations do,” he added.
The movie Summer 1993, award for best first film in 2017 within the Generation section, dedicated to children’s and youth cinema, “was one of the festival’s great successes” and Simón “left us fascinated with its young protagonist”, recalled the artistic director of the Berlinale.
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