The Forum section of the Berlin International Film Festival revealed its lineup Wednesday, with 43 films in its main program, 29 of which are world premieres and 10 are international premieres. The Special Screenings will be announced separately.
North American cinema once again has a strong presence in Forum. Alex Ross Perry\u2019s \u201cGolden Exits\u201d tells the story of a young Australian woman who comes to New York for a few months, and unwittingly throws the lives of two couples into disarray.
\u201cMenashe,\u201d the feature debut by Joshua Z. Weinstein, is set in Borough Park, Brooklyn, and is almost entirely in Yiddish. The titular Menashe fights to keep custody of his son following the death of his wife. \u201cThe Hasidic community demands he lead a more ordered life and find a new spouse, neither of which comes easily to this kind but awkward loner,\u201d according to a festival statement.
Amman Abbasi is showing his debut feature, \u201cDayveon,\u201d which depicts \u201ca search for brotherhood in an African-American community in the rural South.\u201d It tells the story of a 13-year-old who has \u201clost direction following the death of his brother, meaning that being initiated into a local gang now appears a necessary step toward becoming a man.\u201d
Jeremy Levine and Landon Van Soest\u2019s documentary \u201cFor Ahkeem\u201d focuses on Daje, who lives with her single mother in St. Louis. Like many teenagers in the neighborhood, \u201cshe has problems at school, while her everyday life is shaken again and again by the violent deaths of her friends.\u201d
Another regional focus is Latin America, with six works from the continent \u201cexhibiting a wide range of different formal approaches.\u201d
Davi Pretto\u2019s \u201cRifle\u201d is a modern Western set in the plains of southern Brazil. \u201cA taciturn former soldier is employed to guard a small landholder\u2019s estate. But when an agricultural company seeks to buy up the land, he reacts in truly drastic fashion.\u201d
In \u201cR\u00edo Verde: El tiempo de los Yakurunas\u201d (Green River: The Time of the Yakurunas), Peruvian brothers Alvaro und Diego Sarmiento \u201cfind stunning images to convey the leisurely flow of life in a verdant river landscape.\u201d The film is \u201can attentive observation\u201d of the daily routines of the indigenous inhabitants of Peru\u2019s Amazon region.
In \u201cCasa Roshell,\u201d Chilean director Camila Jos\u00e9 Donoso portrays an unusual institution in the Mexican capital, a place where men learn to be women during the day, before the parties get going at night. \u201cAll manner of boundaries blur in this tiny utopia: between gay, straight and bi, male and female, past and present, reality and fiction.\u201d
Vladimir Dur\u00e1n\u2019s debut feature \u201cAdi\u00f3s entusiasmo\u201d (So Long Enthusiasm) is both \u201crealistic and surreal,\u201d and one of three Argentinian films showing in the main program. Ten-year-old Axel lives with his mother and three sisters in an apartment in Buenos Aires. \u201cThey\u2019d be a perfectly normal family if only the mother weren\u2019t imprisoned in one of the rooms.\u201d
\u201cEl teatro de la desaparici\u00f3n\u201d (The Theater of Disappearance), directed by sculptor and installation artist Adri\u00e1n Villar Rojas, presents \u201ca hypnotic triptych, which depicts latent states of war, drawing on sensual images seemingly only tenuously connected that employ disparate styles, and jump freely from continent to continent.\u201d
Albertina Carri\u2019s \u201cCuatreros\u201d (Rustlers) examines Argentina\u2019s complex recent past: Isidro Vel\u00e1zquez was a bandit and dissident active in the 1960s whose story formed both the basis for a sociology book by her father Roberto Carri, and a feature film that is now lost. \u201cThe director draws on archive images to bring her own biography into alignment with wider historical events.\u201d
The many strong documentaries in the program includes Ann Carolin Renninger and Ren\u00e9 Fr\u00f6lke\u2019s \u201cAus einem Jahr der Nichtereignisse\u201d (From a Year of Non-Events). It follows a year in the life of a 90-year-old north German farmer, who lives alone.
Heinz Emigholz returns to Forum with his \u201cStreetscapes\u201d series, which loosely links together four separate films. \u201c2+2=22 [The Alphabet]\u201d documents the recording sessions for the album \u201cABC\u201d by electronic music group Kreidler in Tbilisi, Georgia. \u201cBickels [Socialism]\u201d examines the architecture of Samuel Bickels, who created numerous kibbutz buildings and museums in Israel. \u201cStreetscapes [Dialogue]\u201d is \u201ca fictionalized dialogue about filmmaking based on the protocols of a mammoth psychoanalysis session,\u201d and was shot in buildings by Julio Vilamaj\u00f3, Eladio Dieste and Arno Brandlhuber in Uruguay and Berlin, some of which then pop up again in the final chapter, \u201cDieste [Uruguay]\u201d.
Nicolas Wackerbarth\u2019s feature \u201cCasting\u201d is also dedicated to the process of filmmaking. \u201cDirector Vera is unwilling to compromise when it comes to finding the right lead actress for a Fassbinder remake for television. Acting assistant Gerwin delivers dialogues with a bevy of famous actresses and soon realizes that this could be his big chance.\u201d The cast includes Ursina Lardi, Andrea Sawatzki, Corinna Kirchhoff, Judith Engel and Marie-Lou Sellem.
47TH FORUM
\u201c2+2=22 [The Alphabet]\u201d by Heinz Emigholz, Germany \u2013 World Premiere
\u201cAdi\u00f3s entusiasmo\u201d (So Long Enthusiasm) by Vladimir Dur\u00e1n, Argentina\/Colombia \u2013 WP
\u201cAt Elske Pia\u201d (Loving Pia) by Daniel Joseph Borgmann, Denmark \u2013 WP
\u201cAus einem Jahr der Nichtereignisse\u201d (From a Year of Non-Events) by Ann Carolin Renninger, Ren\u00e9 Fr\u00f6lke, Germany \u2013 WP
\u201cAutumn, Autumn\u201d by Jang Woo-jin, South Korea \u2013 International Premiere
\u201cBarrage\u201d by Laura Schroeder, Luxembourg\/Belgium\/France \u2013 WP
\u201cBickels [Socialism]\u201d by Heinz Emigholz, Germany\/Israel \u2013 WP
\u201cCasa Roshell\u201d by Camila Jos\u00e9 Donoso, Mexico\/Chile \u2013 WP
\u201cCasting\u201d by Nicolas Wackerbarth, Germany \u2013 WP
\u201cChemi bednieri ojakhi\u201d (My Happy Family) by Nana & Simon, Germany\/Georgia\/France
\u201cCuatreros\u201d (Rustlers) by Albertina Carri, Argentina \u2013 IP
\u201cDayveon\u201d by Amman Abbasi, U. S. \u2013 IP
\u201cDieste [Uruguay]\u201d by Heinz Emigholz, Germany \u2013 WP
\u201cDr\u00f4les d\u2019oiseaux\u201d (Strange Birds) by Elise Girard, France \u2013 IP
\u201cFor Ahkeem\u201d by Jeremy Levine, Landon Van Soest, U. S. \u2013 WP
\u201cGolden Exits\u201d by Alex Ross Perry, U. S. \u2013 IP
\u201cJassad gharib\u201d (Foreign Body) by Raja Amari, Tunisia\/France
\u201cLoktak Lairembee\u201d (Lady of the Lake) by Haobam Paban Kumar, India
\u201cMaman Colonelle\u201d (Mama Colonel) by Dieudo Hamadi, Democratic Republic of Congo\/France \u2013 WP
\u201cEl mar la mar\u201d by J. P. Sniadecki, Joshua Bonnetta, U. S. \u2013 WP
\u201cEl mar nos mira de lejos\u201d (The Sea Stares at Us from Afar) by Manuel Mu\u00f1oz Rivas, Spain\/The Netherlands \u2013 WP
\u201cMenashe\u201d by Joshua Z Weinstein, U. S.\/Israel \u2013 IP
\u201cMittsu no hikari\u201d (Three Lights) by Kohki Yoshida, Japan \u2013 WP
\u201cMon rot fai\u201d (Railway Sleepers) by Sompot Chidgasornpongse, Thailand
\u201cMotherland\u201d (Bayang Ina Mo) by Ramona S. Diaz, U. S.\/The Philippines \u2013 IP
\u201cMotza el hayam\u201d (Low Tide) by Daniel Mann, Israel\/France \u2013 WP
\u201cMzis qalaqi\u201d (City of the Sun) by Rati Oneli, Georgia\/U. S.\/The Netherlands\/Qatar\/U. S. \u2013 WP
\u201cNewton\u201d by Amit V Masurkar, India \u2013 WP
\u201cOccidental\u201d by Ne\u00efl Beloufa, France \u2013 IP
\u201cQiu\u201d (Inmates) by Ma Li, China \u2013 WP
\u201cRifle\u201d by Davi Pretto, Brazil\/Germany \u2013 IP
\u201cR\u00edo Verde. El tiempo de los Yakurunas\u201d (Green River. The Time of the Yakurunas) by Alvaro Sarmiento, Diego Sarmiento, Peru \u2013 WP
\u201cShu\u2019our akbar min el hob\u201d (A Feeling Greater than Love) by Mary Jirmanus Saba, Lebanon \u2013 WP
\u201cSomniloquies\u201d by Verena Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor, France\/U. S. \u2013 WP
\u201cSpell Reel\u201d by Filipa C\u00e9sar, Germany\/Portugal\/France\/Guinea-Bissau \u2013 WP
\u201cStreetscapes [Dialogue]\u201d by Heinz Emigholz, Germany \u2013 WP
\u201cTamaroz\u201d (Simulation) by Abed Abest, Iran \u2013 WP
\u201cEl teatro de la desaparici\u00f3n\u201d (The Theater of Disappearance) by Adri\u00e1n Villar Rojas, Argentina \u2013 WP
\u201cTiere\u201d (Animals) by Greg Zglinski, Switzerland\/Austria\/Poland \u2013 WP
\u201cTigmi n Igren\u201d (House in the Fields) by Tala Hadid, Morocco\/Qatar \u2013 WP
\u201cTinselwood\u201d by Marie Voignier, France \u2013 WP
\u201cWerewolf\u201d by Ashley McKenzie, Canada \u2013 IP
\u201cYozora ha itsu demo saikou mitsudo no aoiro da\u201d (The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue) by Yuya Ishii, Japan \u2013 WP<\/p>\n

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