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
