Berlin is co-leader in securing American star power, the return of Asia and the ban on Iran-Russia: “One of our goals was to bring back the missing glamor side”

Berlinale Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian and Managing Director Mariëtte Rissenbeck will unveil key selections from the festival’s competition and encounters at a press conference on Monday 23 January as they prepare for their first fully personal edition since 2020 from 16-16 January. Prepare February 26.

The festival has already announced more than 100 titles in the sidebars of Panorama, Forum, Berlinale Special, Berlinale Series and the youth-oriented generation.

Following on from the earlier announcements, the festival pulled out all the stops to bring in big names, bringing back American and Asian titles and professionals who had been largely absent since at least 2020, if not 2019, due to pandemic travel restrictions.

meeting Chatrian and Rissenbeck caught up with Monday’s press conference for some initial thoughts on the upcoming 73rd edition.

MEETING: How does it feel to finally return to a full physical edition for the first time in three years?

MARIETTE RISSENBEEK: It is very exciting for me because I will finally meet all these people at the festival. Carlo has been making films for a long time, but I haven’t.

Carlo Chatrian: The feeling is very positive. A festival is not only about supporting films, but also about meeting people, having a big public event and enjoying the emotions of the audience, which happened in the last two editions, but on ‘ a limited scale.

MEETING: In terms of what the festival has announced so far, such as Kristen Stewart as jury president and American titles such as Reality, Perpetrator and Passages, it feels as if they have worked hard this year to connect American titles and talent and to create a more outstanding line. come along – up?

Chatrian: I’m glad you say that. One of our goals in the selection process was to bring back the glossy side that was missing in recent editions. We were lucky, but we also worked hard for it. There will be a consistent presence of American films and popular and well-known artists.

There is also Guy Nattivs Gouda cheese with Helen Mirren; John Malkovich will be at the festival with a great performance Seneca. reality in Panorama is a very unique piece starring Sydney Sweeny. It’s not just about increasing the presence of American talent. We also just announced the documentary kiss the future, about the siege of Sarajevo involving U2 and Bono. We also have the movie with Fan Bingbing. We expect all guests to be at the festival again, with more to be announced soon.

MEETING: Will Joan Baez fill in for Karen O’Connor’s documentary Joan Baez I Am A Noise, announced for Panorama?

Chatrian: The full guest list will be announced in February. The film was only selected 10 days ago, so we are still talking about her (Baez) presence with police and other people around her.

MEETING: Back to the greater American presence. They announced that Jacqueline Lyanga will be joining the team to work with Ryan Werner as US representative this summer. Did that strengthen your connection in LA or did you already have strong ties there??

Chatrian: Berlin has always been a great platform to launch American films, either in conjunction with Sundance or as a standalone platform. Companies were more confident this year. They were confident in 2021, to tell you the truth, but things got out of hand in the fall. On the other hand, I know Jacqueline since my time in Locarno. We talked to her when she was at AFI. I was looking for a stronger presence in LA. She is wonderful. She knows everyone. She helped us a lot.

MEETING: How do Werner and Lyanga work together?

Chatrian: Based in New York, Ryan is involved in many films. The decision to seek additional support was his suggestion as he is very busy with campaign films and November, December and even now are very busy times for him. We are good friends and he is still very supportive, but we agreed that it would be good to have someone in LA. We now have two people who get along well and each brings something different because they come from different backgrounds. The bond between Berlin and American cinema, both independent and with the studios and now the streamers, is very strong. We want to maintain and strengthen it where possible.

MEETING: Do you think the widening gap between Sundance (January 19-29) and the Berlinale (February 16-26) will attract more American professionals to Berlin?

Chatrian: There was also a gap in 2020 because the festival was even later. People in the US said it was better because they had time to go back to Los Angeles or New York to finish and then fly to Berlin. Also this year we have about 10 to 12 titles showing at both festivals, both US titles and international titles. We have a very good relationship with Joana (Vincente), Kim (Yutani), John (Nee) and now Eugene (Hernandez). We have both known Eugene for a long time and look forward to chatting with him.

MEETING: How did you win over Kristen Stewart as jury president? She is an artist more associated with Cannes than Berlin.

Chatrian: She attended the festival in the past, but festivals don’t own talents, they don’t belong in festivals. It’s like UNESCO, when they’re big, they belong to all of humanity. I met Kristen Stewart in Cannes when she starred in Olivier Assayas clouds of Sils Maria, which we also showed in Locarno. I was impressed by her as an actress, but also as a person. We were looking for someone who was established, politically committed, but also young. She also felt that the type of choices we make and the values ​​we represent in Berlin suit her well. It wasn’t a long fight.

MEETING: China has recently lifted its strict Covid restrictions and we are seeing the Chinese again enthusiastically embracing international travel. Do you expect a large Chinese contingent and a larger Asian presence in general this year?

RISSENBEEK: In the market we hear that the accreditation requests from Asia, China, Korea and Japan are strong again. We therefore assume a strong participation.

Chatrian: In terms of the lineup, we have a very strong Asian presence this year. That was another one of our goals. We had a movie last year Back to dust which was very successful, perhaps even too successful, as it was so successful that it was banned from cinemas. We are not only talking about China, but about Asia in general. We have already announced a few titles green night in the Panorama with Fan Bingbing. We chose a very funny genre film Crazy Destiny, produced by Johnnie To for the Berlinale Special, and we have Chinese films in Competition and Encounters. We also invited the very original Japanese thriller #manhole.

MEETING: Two areas that will be less present are Iran and Russia. How many festivals, They announced that organs, professionals and films with links to the governments of these areas are not welcome. How does it work? Sometimes professionals working for government-sponsored agencies are not necessarily politically aligned with their government’s mindset.

RISSENBEEK: You’re right. It is not always clear. We announced in the summer that we did not want to boycott Russia or Iran, but would rather look very closely at who works for whom and which films are financed by which government agencies. This has taken a lot of time over the past few months as we have looked at this on a case-by-case basis.

Chatrian: There will be an Iranian presence in the series, but all films will be made by Iranian filmmakers living abroad. It is very, very difficult for an Iranian filmmaker living in Iran to travel abroad. We were told that in order to travel they had to sign an agreement not to say anything about the government.

It says more about the situation in Iran. There are many protests in the country and many artists living abroad who cannot help but use the opportunity to speak out to support their people who are struggling at home. There is political value in that. Sepideh Farsi (whose film The Siren open panorama) is a good example of this. We also have the documentary where God is not on the forum on torture. There is also And on the way to Happy Alleys. It’s about a young Indian filmmaker who talks to personalities like Jafar Panahi and Tara Alidoosti about the role of film in society and the difficulties they face in expressing their ideas.

MEETING: The final days of the festival coincide with the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Are you planning any special events this year to support Ukrainian films and filmmakers??

RISSENBECK: We are going to do something at the festival and are also in discussion with a number of other entities. The city of Berlin will definitely do something on February 24th. You have some activities planned and we want to sync as much as possible.

Chatrian: In addition, the EFM organizes a number of events and a handful of films shot in Ukraine have already been announced in the Panorama and Forum selections. There will be a big announcement on Monday. Ukrainian cinema and professionals will be present at the festival to support the people fighting in Ukraine.