Artistic Director's Blog

A festival programme is, even more than just a (hopefully coherent) line-up of films, the result of a year’s worth of work, of meetings, of travel, of frequently unexpected and instantaneous viewings. When putting together the selection, this part of the experience doesn’t get its moment in the spotlight, but I’ve become increasingly aware of the importance of this unseen part that precedes and accompanies the film viewings.

Safeguarding a space where it is not imperative to immediately respond to the signal one has received – as in the rush of the pure selection process - is not only healthy but also essential, if we want a line-up that isn’t consumed over the course of eleven days but lingers in the minds and bodies of the viewers. Writing these small notes, a journal chronicling the months that unfold, is an attempt to stop the frantic flow of time and screenings and try to give a personal, approximate answer to the smoke signals that grabbed my attention. More often than not, they have no direct correlation with the Berlinale programme, but they bow before it by recalling what has been or by announcing what will be.

…recounting the years does not claim to be a history of the Berlinale. It is more of a collection of thoughts that are self-contained and not leading to a specific destination. The idea of the project is simple: to recount the years of the Berlinale I did not get to experience as a viewer, discussing seven films that, after their festival screening, made their way into my corner of the world, and grabbed me…