2025 | Historic Berlinale Debuts
Mala Noche - Gus Van Sant 1986
Scenes from Mala Noche
Mala Noche
Doug Cooeyate
Historic Berlinale Debuts
© mk2
Mala Noche
Doug Cooeyate, Tim Streeter
Historic Berlinale Debuts
© mk2
Mala Noche
Ray Monge, Doug Cooeyate
Historic Berlinale Debuts
© mk2
Mala Noche
Tim Streeter
Historic Berlinale Debuts
© mk2
Mala Noche
Doug Cooeyate
Historic Berlinale Debuts
© mk2
In 1986, Gus Van Sant’s debut feature film Mala Noche is presented in the section of the 36th Berlinale which was previously known as Info-Schau but is now renamed Panorama. With painterly grandeur and openly displayed homosexuality, the film marks the beginning of an impressive artist’s career – and the starting point of Gus Van Sant’s marathon as a pioneer of queer cinema.
In the film, the young salesman Walt meets the Mexican immigrant Johnny in a run-down area of Portland, Oregon, and falls in love. Johnny, however, has other worries including how to survive as an “illegal” and gives Walt the brush off. Now Walt transfers his desire to Johnny’s friend Pepper and the two spend a “bad night” together ... In Mala Noche, the great sensitivity with which Gus Van Sant portrays (young) outsiders in search of identity and a home is already apparent. This theme goes on to shape his entire œuvre, with that classic of queer cinema, My Own Private Idaho (1991), starring Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix, being one of the most prominent examples.
Gus Van Sant at the Berlinale 1986
In Mala Noche, Van Sant not only succeeds in conjuring up a homosexual relationship complete with intense desire on screen in an unsentimental and documentary style, but also almost incidentally addresses racism and exploitation. From this point forward, social and societal perspectives are part of his cinematic DNA. Shot on 16mm in grainy black and white, the low-budget production, which the director self-financed, reveals his admiration for John Cassavetes, but also the influence of Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Van Sant’s work later reaches grander dimensions: the success of Good Will Hunting (1997) not only brings in millions at the box office worldwide but also impresses at the 1998 Berlinale where leading actor and screenwriter Matt Damon wins a Silver Bear for the film. Despite this overwhelming financial success, Gus Van Sant remains loyal to arthouse cinema, including with Elephant which triumphs at Cannes in 2003. As a multi-talent (director, producer, photographer, writer and musician), he also creates style-defining music videos, including for David Bowie and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The multitalent at the Photo Call for Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot in 2018
Gus Van Sant is a regular at the Berlinale. In 1987, just one year after Mala Noche, he wins the first ever TEDDY AWARD with two short films. Drugstore Cowboy is shown in the 1990 Forum. The director is represented in the Berlinale Competition for the first time in 1998 with Good Will Hunting and goes on to become a regular participant in the section: in 2001, he returns with Finding Forrester; in 2013 with Promised Land; and in 2018 with Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot. In addition, the Oscar-winning biopic Milk (2008) screens in the 2009 Panorama programme. In Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot, Joaquin Phoenix plays the late cartoonist John Callahan who never loses his self-respect as an alcoholic. Here it is again: Gus Van Sant’s inexhaustible love and empathy for the outsider – whether in Portland or Berlin.