Berlinale Forum Lines Up Hong Sang-Soo, Josephine Decker & More

As the Berlin Film Festival approaches so do ever more titles to be showcased across the sections. The Forum sidebar has now been completed at 44 films, with still others to come as Special Screenings. Among the offerings are Korean helmer Hong Sang-soo’s Grass, a cheerfully melancholy story about the guests at a small café whose owner loves classical music. Kim Min-hee, who won the Silver Bear for Best Actress in the director’s On The Beach At Night Alone last year, stars.

Josephine Decker (Thou Wast Mild And Lovely) is in the Forum with Madeline’s Madeline starring Molly Parker and Miranda July in a story of the analogies of creativity and insanity. The film world premieres at Sundance.

Romania’s Police, Adjective helmer Corneliu Porumboiu turns up with Infinite Football, which follows a local official’s attempts to bequeath the world an improved version of the beautiful game.

From the U.S., Ted Fendt’s second film, Classical Period is shot in Philadelphia on 16mm and tells a drolly melancholy story about intellectualism and loneliness as the members of a reading group exchange cultural and literary references with such vigor that there’s little room for anything else. The director won a FIPRESCI prize for his debut, Short Stay.

Ricky D’Ambrose’s first feature, Notes On An Appearance, is set in Brooklyn and uses both real-life documents and fictionalized writings to tell the story of a young man who one day disappears without warning.

And, Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa is making his first Berlinale appearance with Victory Day, an observance of the huge crowds that gather every May 9th at the Soviet War Memorial in Berlin-Treptow.

Berlin runs February 15-25. Here’s the full Forum lineup:

FORUM
14 Apples, dir: Midi Z
Taiwan/Myanmar – World Premiere

Afrique, La Pensée En Mouvement Part I, dir: Jean-Pierre Bekolo
Senegal – International Premiere

Aggregate, dir: Marie Wilke
Germany – International Premiere

Amiko, dir: Yoko Yamanaka
Japan – International Premiere

Stateless, dir: Narjiss Nejjar
Morocco – World Premiere

Departure, dir: Ludwig Wüst
Austria – World Premiere

The Bed, dir: Mónica Lairana
Argentina/Germany/Netherlands/Brazil – World Premiere

The Wolf House, dirs: Joaquín Cociña, Cristóbal León
Chile – World Premiere

Casanova Gene, dir: Luise Donschen
Germany – World Premiere

Classical Period, dir: Ted Fendt
U.S. – World Premiere

Facing The Wind, dir: Meritxell Colell Aparicio
Spain/France/Argentina – World Premiere

The Weak Ones, dirs: Raúl Rico, Eduardo Giralt Brun
Mexico – World Premiere

Victory Day, dir: Sergei Loznitsa
Germany – World Premiere

Die Tomorrow, dir: Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit
Thailand – International Premiere

Jamila, dir: Aminatou Echard
France – World Premiere

The Tree, dir: André Gil Mata
Portugal/Bosnia and Herzegovina – World Premiere

In The Realm Of Perfection, dir: Julien Faraut
France – World Premiere

An Elephant Sitting Still, dir: Hu Bo
China – World Premiere

Infinite Football, dir: Corneliu Porumboiu
Romania – World Premiere

Grass, dir: Hong Sang-soo
Korea – World Premiere

The Green Fog, dirs: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson
U.S./Canada – World Premiere

+ Accidence, dirs: by Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson
Canada – World Premiere

Interchange, dirs: Brian M. Cassidy, Melanie Shatzky
Canada – World Premiere

Jahilya, dir: Hicham Lasri
Morocco – World Premiere

The Chaotic Life Of Nada Kadić, dir: Marta Hernaiz
Mexico/Bosnia and Herzegovina – World Premiere

Last Child, dir: Shin Dong-seok
Korea – International Premiere

Madeline’s Madeline, dir: Josephine Decker
U.S. – International Premiere

Maki’la, dir: Machérie Ekwa Bahango
Congo/France – World Premiere

Mariphasa, dir: Sandro Aguilar
Portugal – World Premiere

Inland Sea, dir: Kazuhiro Soda
Japan/U.S. – World Premiere

Notes On An Appearance, dir: Ricky D’Ambrose
U.S. – World Premiere

Old Love, dir: Park Kiyong
Korea – International Premiere

Our House, dir: Yui Kiyohara
Japan – International Premiere

Our Madness, dir: João Viana
Mozambique/Guinea-Bissau/Qatar/Portugal/France – World Premiere

First Stripes, dir: Jean-François Caissy
Canada – World Premiere

Young Solitude, dir: Claire Simon
France – World Premiere

SPK Complex, dir: Gerd Kroske
Germany – World Premiere

The Son, dir: Alexander Abaturov
France/Russia – World Premiere

Theatre Of War, dir: Lola Arias
Argentina/Spain – World Premiere

The Pillar Of Salt, dir: Burak Çevik
Turkey – World Premiere

One Or Two Questions, dir: Kristina Konrad
Germany/Uruguay – World Premiere

The Waldheim Waltz, dir: Ruth Beckermann
Austria – World Premiere

Tower. A Bright Day., dir: Jagoda Szelc
Poland – International Premiere

Wild Relatives, dir: Jumana Manna
Germany/Lebanon/Norway – World Premiere

Yours In Sisterhood, dir: Irene Lusztig
U.S. – World Premiere