Series of Talks at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele

The new format launched with In The Land Of Blood And Honey, Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut. The film tells a painful love story set against the backdrop the war in Bosnia. Following the screening, Angelina Jolie talked with Bosnian director Jasmila Žbanić, who won the Golden Bear for her post-war drama Grbavica at the Berlinale in 2006. A meeting between two filmmakers who have approached the same controversial topic in very different ways.

For her documentary portrait Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry American director Alison Klayman accompanied Chinese artist Ai Weiwei for years, and reveals the inseparable link between his artistic work and his political engagement. Following the screening, Alison Klayman talked with Klaas Ruitenbeek, director of Berlin’s Museum for Asian Art. The event was held in cooperation with Amnesty International.

Werner Herzog’s Death Row, a work that has an unusual format for a film festival, was given a platform at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele. The former President of the International Jury (Berlinale 2010) presented his four-part TV series, each of which gives an individual portrait of a person who has been sentenced to death in the USA. Afterwards, the audience had the opportunity to discuss what they had seen with Werner Herzog.

For the documentary film project Side By Side, Keanu Reeves interviewed over the years many masters of contemporary cinema. He asked them about the significance of digital technology for cinema and the art of filmmaking. The result is a number of very interesting conversations with legendary directors, such as Martin Scorsese and Steven Soderbergh. Following the screening, Keanu Reeves discussed the topic with Chris Kenneally, the film’s director, and Michael C. Donaldson, a lawyer who is an important advocate of independent filmmakers and an expert on digital rights.

Althawra ... Khabar (Reporting ... A Revolution) by Bassam Mortada accompanies six journalists from a Cairo daily paper, all of whom received training in video journalism right before the first demonstrations. With their newly acquired skills, they unexpectedly find themselves in the middle of a revolution. In a panel discussion with film journalist Alaa Karkouti from Kairo, Kismet El Sayed, Noura Younis, Shaayma Adel and Samah Abdel Aaty reflected on the events and the conflict of having to position themselves between journalist duty and active participation.

Javier Bardem presented Hijos de las nubes, La última colonia (Sons Of The Clouds, The Last Colony) by Álvaro Longoria. The film draws attention to the current plight of the people of Western Sahara – a region that for decades has been a pawn on the board of European colonial interests. Following the film, Javier Bardem and Álvaro Longoriawill discussed the political situation with the audience. Berlinale delegate for the Maghreb & Mashreq and head of the World Cinema Fund Vincenzo Bugno moderated the panel.

The film from Berlinale Shorts Magyarország 2011 (Hungary 2011) is an omnibus film initiated by Béla Tarr (Berlinale 2011 Silver Bear for A torinói ló / The Turin Horse) about the current situation in Hungary. Eleven contributions including those by Bence Fliegauf, whose film Csak a szél (Just The Wind) was also in the Competition 2012, György Pálfi, Márta Mészáros, Péter Forgács and Miklós Jancsó showed the diversity of contemporary Hungarian cinema despite strict restrictions that had been imposed on freedom of the press and expression in the arts. Following the screening, Béla Tarr and Bence Fliegauf were talking with Berlinale delegate Nikolaj Nikitin about the possibilities of art, and film in particular, to influence or even change the political situation in a country. With this event, the Berlinale sent a clear signal of support for independent Hungarian cinema.