A Film by Clair Denis. Starts Dezember, In french with ger­man subtitles.

This dra­ma (if that is the cor­rect word) fea­tures Isabelle, a divorced artist in paris. She is now sin­gle, lives alo­ne, and unable to deci­de if sear­ching for the One is an urgent prio­ri­ty or a fatui­ty which is pre­ven­ting her from enjoy­ing life and expe­ri­en­cing plea­su­re. She has lovers and the­se liai­sons are dan­ge­rous in that they don’t seem to pro­vi­de the satis­fac­tion they ought.
All the romance, the ero­ti­cism, the exqui­si­te dis­sa­tis­fac­tion of not kno­wing how or whe­ther to be in love, is all disper­sed into tal­king and deba­te and the intellec­tu­al inter­play of ide­as. Of cour­se that may sound like an un-sexy ordeal and very French. And in bla­ckest of black comic sen­ses that is pre­cis­e­ly what it is. The talk’s comic con­tent is most­ly wit­hout the easy laughs and obvious comic beats of, say, Woody Allen or Noah Baumbach. But the­re are big, genui­ne laughs here, too: chief­ly when Isabelle explo­des with rage at an artists’ rustic retre­at when one of her con­tem­po­r­a­ri­es gives vent to an insuf­fera­ble dis­cour­se on his rela­ti­onship to the coun­try­si­de. (Peter Bradshaw)

Credits:
OT: Un Beau Soleil Intérieur
Frankreich 2017, 94 Min., frz. OmU
Regie: Claire Denis
Kamera: Agnes Godard
Schnitt: Guy Lecorne
Darsteller: Juliette Binoche, Xavier Beauvois, Philippe Katerine, Paul Blain, Gérard Depardieu, Nicolas Duvauchelle

A film by Agnieszka Holland. In polish with ger­man subtitles.

Retired civil engi­neer Duszejko lives a secluded life in a moun­tain vil­la­ge clo­se to the bor­der bet­ween Poland and the Czech Republic. She is cha­ris­ma­tic and eccen­tric, a pas­sio­na­te astro­lo­ger and a strict vege­ta­ri­an. One day her bel­oved dogs dis­ap­pear. On a sno­wy winter’s night short­ly after­wards she dis­co­vers the dead body of her neigh­bour and, next to it, deer tracks. More men die in a simi­lar­ly mys­te­rious way. All of them were pil­lars of the vil­la­ge com­mu­ni­ty, and all were pas­sio­na­te hun­ters. Were the­se men kil­led by wild ani­mals? Or has someone been pro­vo­ked to pur­sue a bloo­dy ven­det­ta? At some point Duszejko hers­elf comes under suspicion …
After her foray into the realm of seria­li­sed dra­ma, Agnieszka Holland returns to the big screen with a sub­ver­si­ve thril­ler. Pokot is set in a land­scape of chan­ging sea­sons; howe­ver, the wild beau­ty of the coun­try­si­de can­not hide the cor­rupt natu­re, cruel­ty and stu­pi­di­ty of the peo­p­le who live the­re. Deeply roo­ted in the rea­li­ty of rural Poland, the film is as anar­chic as its heroi­ne, and bold­ly mixes gen­res – from humo­rous detec­ti­ve sto­ry to exci­ting eco-thril­ler to femi­nist fairy-tale.

Berlinale 2017: Silberner Bär Alfred-Bauer-Preis

Regie: Agnieszka Holland
in Zusammenarbeit mit Kasia Adamik
Kamera: Jolanta Dylewska, Rafał Paradowski
Schnitt: Pavel Hrdlička

mit: Agnieszka Mandat (Duszejko)
Wiktor Zborowski (Matoga)
Miroslav Krobot (Boros)
Jakub Gierszał (Dyzio)
Patricia Volny (Dobra Nowina/Good News)
Borys Szyc (Wnętrzak)

Termine: 

A film by Julian Rosefeldt. In eng­lish with ger­man subtitles.

The film inte­gra­tes various types of artist mani­fest­os from dif­fe­rent time peri­ods with con­tem­po­ra­ry sce­na­ri­os. Manifestos are depic­ted by 13 dif­fe­rent cha­rac­ters, among them a school tea­cher, fac­to­ry worker, cho­reo­grapher, punk, news­rea­der, sci­en­tist, pup­pe­teer, widow, and a home­l­ess man.

The film con­sists of 13 seg­ments, each 10:30 minu­tes long. In each, a cha­rac­ter reci­tes parts of mani­fest­os of various poli­ti­cal or artis­tic movements.

D/Ö 2017, 98 Min., engl. OmU, 
Regie: Julian Rosefeldt
Kamera: Christoph Krauss
Schnitt: Bobby Goode
mit:
Cate Blanchett, Ruby Bustamante, Ralf Tempel

A film by David Lowery. In eng­lish with ger­man subtitles.

Lauded film­ma­ker David Lowery, last at the Festival with the lyri­cal Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (2013), reu­ni­tes with his col­la­bo­ra­tors for a haun­ted tale like no other—one con­cei­ved in secret and fue­led by the spi­rit of pure, crea­ti­ve expression.

Lowery’s meti­cu­lous­ly spar­se nar­ra­ti­ve con­tem­pla­tes a spec­tral figu­re who was once a man (Casey Affleck). Prematurely taken from this Earth, he makes his way toward his for­mer home, whe­re he is fated to remain fore­ver­mo­re. Shrouded in a white sheet, he obser­ves the lament of his grief-stri­cken lover (Rooney Mara). Bearing unseen wit­ness to her pain, the wisp stands sen­try for years to come, inter­ac­ting only with time as it hurt­les fur­ther and fur­ther for­ward, the rem­nants of his huma­ni­ty quiet­ly evaporating.

Making full use of his sin­gu­lar abili­ties as a visu­al sto­rytel­ler and fine­ly tun­ed craft­sman, Lowery bold­ly returns with an enri­ching expe­ri­ment in micro-cine­ma that gor­ge­ous­ly defies categorization

„But the­re is a kind of sen­ti­men­tal romance in the ghost’s silent stoi­cism and deter­mi­na­ti­on to car­ry on. The awful ine­vi­ta­bi­li­ty of death is com­pli­ca­ted by the thought that you might have to sur­vi­ve, as a ghost, for reasons as arbi­tra­ry and meanin­g­less as the cau­se of your death. Which is sca­ri­er still.“ Peter Bradshaw | The Guardian

USA 2017, 90 Min., engl. OmU 
Regie, Buch & Schnitt: David Lowery 
Kamera: Andrew Droz Palermo 
mit:
Casey Affleck,
Rooney Mara,
Will Oldham,
Rob Zabrecky

A film by Katell Quillévéré. In french with ger­man subtitles.

Surfing usual­ly stands for life and free­dom. Sometimes the oppo­si­te: In the light of dawn, three young sur­fers head for the oce­an. Surf’s up! Stormy swells pro­mi­se powerful brea­k­ers. A few hour­se later, one of them, Simon, is just an emp­ty shell being kept ali­ve by machi­nes. At the same time, a woman waits for the organ donor that will save her life. In moving, sen­si­ti­ve images, cross­cut­ting adre­na­line-laden sports pho­to­gra­phy with the lifel­ess body in the ICU, direc­tor Katell Quillévéré exami­nes the dif­fi­cult ques­ti­on of how the living should deal with the dead. Based on the novel by Maylis de Kerangal.

Réparer les vivants
F 2016, 103 Min., frz. OmU 
Regie: Katell Quillévéré
Buch: Katell Quillévéré, Gilles Taurand
Kamera: Tom Harari
Schnitt: Thomas Marchand
mit: Tahar Rahim, Emmanuelle Seigner, Anne Dorval, Bouli Lanners, Dominique Blanc

A film by Cecilia Atán & Valeria Pivato. In spa­nish with ger­man subtitles.

54-year-old Teresa has work­ed for deca­des as a live-in maid with a fami­ly in Buenos Aires. When the fami­ly sells the house, she is forced to take a job in the distant town of San Juan. Although fee­ling uncom­for­ta­ble with tra­ve­ling, she embarks on a jour­ney through the desert. During her first stop, in the land of the mira­cu­lous “Saint Correa”, she loses her bag with all her belon­gings. This unex­pec­ted inci­dent leads her to cross paths with El Gringo, a tra­ve­ling sales­man, the only one who can help Teresa find her bag. What see­med like the end of her world will ulti­m­ate­ly pro­ve her salvation.

La Novia del Desierto, Arg./Chile 2017, 78 Min., span. OmU,
Regie: Cecilia Atán, Valeria Pivato,
Kamera: Sergio Armstrong,
Schnitt: Andrea Chignoli,
mit: Paulina Garcia, Claudio Rissi u.a.

A film by Alexandra Balteanu. In roma­ni­an with ger­man subtitles.

Short moments and con­ver­sa­ti­ons pie­ce tog­e­ther the por­trait of three women’s working day. Lidia rai­ses pige­ons and lives a mun­da­ne exis­tence with a hus­band and two child­ren. Denisa, the feis­tier of the three, wants to buy her freel­oa­der boy­fri­end a new pair of snea­k­ers. Vanesa, the youn­gest, dreams of fin­ding the per­fect guy with green eyes. All three share a work­place as sex-workers under a bridge on the high­way con­nec­ting Bucharest to the next city. In spi­te of their rival­ry, the three women try to make their time wort­hwhile by sha­ring food or spaw­ning sto­ries about their hard­ships and their loves. Besides the con­stant com­pe­ti­ti­on, they are also pres­su­red by the thre­at from the local poli­ce. Most days are punc­tua­ted by visits from the dis­trict poli­ce­men, who come to coll­ect their ‚pocket money‘. The men enjoy play­ing a game of ‚cat and mou­se‘ with them and one day, such a visit takes an unex­pec­ted turn.

D 2016, 75. Min., rumän. OmU, 
Regie & Drehbuch: Alexandra Balteanu
Kamera: Matan Radin
Schnitt: Antonella Sarubbi
mit: Corina Moise, Iulia Lumânare, Iulia Ciochină, Sergiu Costache, Dragoş Olaru

A film by Thomas Kruithof. In french with ger­man subtitles.

Two years after a burn out, Duval, unem­ploy­ed, is cont­ac­ted by a mys­te­rious employ­er to retran­scri­be tap­ped tele­pho­ne calls. Without ever won­de­ring about the orga­niza­ti­on employ­ing him, Duval, in despe­ra­te straits, accepts the job.

Although this simp­le work allows him to get back on his feet, it will nevert­hel­ess place him at the cen­ter of a poli­ti­cal con­spi­ra­cy, plun­ged, despi­te hims­elf, into the bru­ta­li­ty and stran­gen­ess of the under­ground world of the secret service.

La Mécanique de l’ombre
F 2016, 90 Min., franz. OmU
Regie: Thomas Kruithof
Buch: Yann Gozlan, Thomas Kruithof
Kamera.: Alex Lamarque
Schnitt: Jean-Baptiste Beaudoin 
mit: François Cluzet, Denis Podalydès, Sami Bouajila, Alba Rohrwacher, Simon Abkarian

A film by Yesim Ustaoglu. In tur­ki­sh with ger­man subtitles.

Clair-Obscur is the psy­cho­lo­gi­cal dance of two women who are depri­ved of and distanced from their natu­ral right to matu­re and dis­co­ver them­sel­ves, to love and be loved, and to sus­tain a real rela­ti­onship of their choo­sing. The social cost of the­se psy­cho­lo­gi­cal wounds rever­be­ra­tes from micro to macro levels throug­hout socie­ty, rot­ting it from within.

Sorry, this ent­ry is only available in Deutsch.

Die Filme von Danièle Huillet und Jean-Marie Straub

Danièle Huillet (1936−2006) und Jean-Marie Straub (*1933) haben in 50 Jahren gemein­sa­mer Arbeit eines der ein­fluss­reichs­ten und kon­tro­ver­ses­ten Werke des moder­nen Kinos geschaf­fen. Ein Werk, das zunächst von den Widerständen her ver­stan­den wur­de, die es dem Üblichen und Gefälligen bot, das aber gleich­zei­tig eine Parteinahme ist für das, was da ist: für Körper und ihre Gesten, Stimmen und ihre Akzente, für Texte von Hölderlin, Pavese, Brecht u.a., für die Gemälde Cézannes, die Musik Bachs und Schönbergs, für den Wind und die Steine.
Der Programmzyklus Sagen Sie’s den Steinen ‒ Zur Gegenwart des Werks von Danièle Huillet und Jean-Marie Straub stif­tet zur Wiederentdeckung eines Werkes an, das lan­ge als her­me­tisch galt und sich nun als offen, ver­spielt und radi­kal zeit­ge­nös­sisch erweist.
Zum Programm gehört eine voll­stän­di­ge, chro­no­lo­gi­sche Retrospektive (ab 15.10.) an vier Spielstätten: Akademie der Künste, Zeughauskino, Brotfabrik und fsk-Kino. (Tobias Hering)

4.11.2017 | 16:30 Uhr | fsk Kino
Europa 2005 27 Octobre, R: Huillet/Straub, 2006, 12´, Joachim Gatti, R: Jean-Marie Straub, 2009, 1´, Corneille-Brecht, R: Jean-Marie Straub, 2009, 26´, O som­ma luce, R: Jean-Marie Straub, 2009, 17´, Gast: Christophe Clavert

4.11.2017 | 18:00 Uhr | fsk Kino
Un héri­tier, R: Jean-Marie Straub, 2010, 21´, L’Inconsolable, R: Jean-Marie Straub, 2010, 15´, Schakale und Araber, R: Jean-Marie Straub, 2011, 11´, La Madre, R: Jean-Marie Straub, 2011, 20´ Gast: Christophe Clavert

4.11.2017 | 20:00 Uhr | fsk Kino
Un con­te de Michel de Montaigne, R: Jean-Marie Straub, 2013, 35´, Dialogue d’Ombres, R: Jean-Marie Straub, 2013, 28´, À pro­pos de Venise, R: Jean-Marie Straub, 2013, 24´, Gast: Christophe Clavert

5.11.2017 | 16:00 Uhr | fsk Kino
Short Stay, R: Ted Fendt, 2016, 61´ Gast: Ted Fendt

5.11.2017 | 18:00 Uhr | fsk Kino
La guer­re d’Algérie!, R: Jean-Marie Straub, 2014, 2´, Kommunisten, R: Jean-Marie Straub, 2014, 70´, Gast: Christophe Clavert

5.11.2017 | 20:00 Uhr | fsk Kino
Machorka-Muff, R: Huillet/Straub, 1962, 17´, L’Aquarium et la Nation, R: Jean-Marie Straub, 2015, 31´, Gast: Christophe Clavert,
Moderation: Claudia Pummer