The shots of the terrible year

Berlinale-2023: Sean Penn and Mansky are withdrawing war, Malika Musaev tells about women Chechnya and Ingushetia

On February 16, the 73rd Berlin Film Festival begins. This year, one of the main film scabs has an impressive program - from special sections of Ukrainian and Iranian films and festival intellectual classics to drama about the libertarian sect and a fantastic anime. One Russian film was included in the program - a picture of Chechen and Ingush women “The Cage is looking for a bird” of a student Sokurov Malika Musaeva. The main competition for the Golden Bear will be a shame for the chief representative of the Berlin school Christoph Petzold, the French master Philip Garrel and several debutants. The New Gazeta Europe tells what to expect from Berlinal in the war year.

Focus-2023

Berlinale has always been not just the most affordable festival from the point of view of the simple viewer, but, perhaps, the most social and political. Now it is felt even more acute, especially against the background of film -tests of 2022, and even more so in contrast from the festival of the pandemic years. The Directorate of Berlinale was not limited to simple words of solidarity and beautiful political gestures - such as, for example, a Cannes festival. The President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky discovered him from the video, but only one Ukrainian film - “The Natural History of Destruction”, the painting by Sergey Loznitsa about the Second World War.

In Berlin, the President of Ukraine will also open a review, after which two completely political programs will start.

The main focus is on Ukrainian documentary and Iranian feature cinema.

“In the time of revolutionary shocks, art and culture, as it were, lose their excuse. The reality is so emotionally charged that films cannot compete and should take second places, ”the Directorate of the festival on the eve of the opening explained this optics.

There are already two paintings from the PRC, as well as Syria, Balkans and other “complex” regions from a European point of view in the list. As always, the political Berlinal goes hand in hand with the Berlinal of social: this year there is even greater emphasis on films working with refugee, emigration and self -identification topics. They make up a huge part of out -of -competition programs.

The main competition

The contrast and geographical spread in the main competition, which usually half consists of German cinema. This time it included 19 films from Spain, China, Germany, Canada, France, Great Britain, USA, Australia, Portugal, Mexico and Japan. The jury led by actress Kristen Stewart will judge them.

One of the favorite directors of Berlinale, Christoph Petzold , will show the tragicomedy “Red Sky” . This is a story about a young writer who goes with friends to a cottage on the shores of the Baltic Sea to finish his manuscript, but gets stuck - and in every sense: in a love quadrangle, creative crisis and in the wilderness. Because of the forest fire, the heroes cannot leave the cottage. As in his previous film, “Undine”, Petzold continues to encounter realism with symbolism, and love with death.

Another festival master - Philip Garrel - will present the tender family saga "Big Chariot " about the Puppeteers clan. The French director is known for cooperation with his son Louis. This time, all three children of Garvel played the main roles.

Margaret von Trott , veteran of the New German Cinema and the author of the films Hannah Arendt and Rosensstrasse, will be presented by the Bayopic "Ingeborg Bakhman: Journey to the Desert." The outstanding Austrian writer was played by the owner of the Golden Cannes branch of Vika Cripas (“Phantom Thread”, “Corsage”, “Time”).

Another interesting premiere is the second full meter of the South African experimenter John Trengov , whose debut took place on Berlinal in 2017. In the "Manodrome" Trengov talks about a taxi driver-bodibielder who enters into the Libertarian sect and begins to lose touch with reality. The main roles in the drama were played by Jesse Aisenberg and Edrian Brody.

The program also includes two Asian animated films. The Chinese Art-College 1994 talks about a group of students who are trying to adapt to the sharp wisternization of the PRC in the 90s. And in “Suzume closes the doors” one of the main anime recessors of our time Makoto Sinkai reflects on the topic of natural disasters and global warming.

There are several debuts in the competition. The most entertaining is the “disco” of the Frenchman Jakomo Abbrutzze . This is the story of Belarusian Alexei, who enters the foreign legion and goes to fight in Nigeria.

Ukraine

The topic of war in Ukraine is represented by documentaries scattered in several parallel sections. The main intrigue is two major docks in the Encounters competitive section. The first is the "Eastern Front" of Vitaly Mansky . For six months, the director shot the Ukrainian volunteer Eugene, who went to the advanced ambulance. “Six months, full of drama, despair, fear, hatred, bitterness, love and, most importantly, faith in victory,” so the filmmakers describe him. The premiere of the "Eastern Front" will be held on February 24, on the anniversary of the war.

The second contender for victory in this program is Superila, Sean Penn . The Hollywood actor began to make a film in November 2021, even before the beginning of full -Milk military operations, and continued after the invasion of the Russian army. Penn managed to fix the life of peaceful Kyiv on the eve of the war and immediately after its beginning, as well as take several thorough interviews from Vladimir Zelensky. The artistic director of the festival Carlo Chatrian believes that Super -West is a film shot in very difficult circumstances, but at the same time showing the role of art and artists in difficult times.

Russia

The only Russian picture that fell into the Berlinal program is “the cell is looking for a bird” the director of Malika Musaeva . A student of Alexander Sokurova shot a debut in her own scenario with non -professional actresses.

The film unfolds in a small village on the border of Ingushetia and Chechnya. There are several women in the center of the plot trying to cope with external and internal conflicts. Last year, the organizing committee of the Cannes festival refused to include a “cage” in the competitive program without explaining reasons.