Here is a quick overview from the Chat Cinema Podcast on the 75th edition of the Berlinale. There is a PLUS and a Minus.
Tag: movie news
Berlinale 75th
For this episode of Chat Cinema we talk about the Berlinale. The 75th edition starts February 13th. Has the film gathering event turned a major corner with a new head? The Honeymoon period was pleasant. Now comes the hard part. Turning the Berlin gathering into a true “A-List” festival.
But, beneath the mixed headlines, we also found some gems that will screen over the course of ten days.
Check out the podcast with co-host Steven Yates.

Director Wes Andre Goodrich talks about his short film MEAL TICKET on this episode of Chat Cinema Podcast. The work centers on a story of a choice and an opportunity. The up and coming Brooklyn based filmmaker’s delves into the conscience of a person taking a step upward, but at what price?
Reviving the Berlinale

The Berlinale is a few months away, however the press tour has already started. New head Tricia Tuttle held a meet and greet for local press discussing the plans for making the city’s biggest cinema event more relevant. The American born said “she wanted to bring back enthusiasm to the Berlinale.” Was this a polite snub to previous heads Carlo Chatrian and Dieter Kosslick? It has been no secret Berlin has lost its luster over the years with filmmakers and other professionals. Europe’s third biggest film festival fell far behind Cannes and Venice. The American gatherings, Sundance and SXSW aim for youth over politics.

Tricia has her hands full, the first female while being fourth head in six years. A newbie in a city with many cultural and structural differences. Former East, former West attitudes make a peculiar tasting soup when combined in a pot. Chatrian got pushed out by backroom forces. The former London Film Festival head took over after many disagreements over the direction of festival. Where does the Berlinale stand in the circuit? Commercial? Politics? Mainstream? European Arthouse? Tuttle wants to attract younger audiences with a new social media plan along with cheaper tickets for students. That plan looks good on paper; however, a film festival is about films. A Deadpool or Dune sequel would get the under 30 crowd attention, not typical Berlinale Palace fare.
Festivals are not just gatherings, but places to discuss cinema. The organisation’s press room is more a sterile inoculation clinic than a conversational space. The 300 or so titles running in the different sections are not fully curated forcing attendees to ask each other for recommendations. Sadly, as Potsdamer Platz no longer functions as a central point, chit chatting is difficult. One film unrolls in Friedrichshain, then seven km to Charlottenburg for another, shoes, patients and luck will be needed. Hopefully, the Berlinale will find a new physical center. And sadly, there are still no midnight screenings.
Good Luck Ms. Tuttle. Restoring a reputation is hard work.
Will we attend the 75th Berlinale February 3rd after the 2018 banning? We will apply and see.
The 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival is coming across a bit soft this year. After Hollywood’s writers and actors strike, the South of France cinema gathering has the star power but not the potent zest. Many of the anticipated titles from industry heavy weights Coppola and Costner came up short with critics.
Coppola’s Return?
The big news from Cannes Film Festival 2024 is the return of 1970’s auteur Francis Coppola with MEGALOPOLIS. The American Born director’s first feature in thirteen years. Early notices about the $120 million production have not been positive with industry professionals calling the work “Challenging”. The all star sci-fi drama includes acting heavyweights Adam Driver, Dustin Hoffman and Giancarlo Esposito will need a big push to recover its costs. This is not the first time the five time Academy Award Winner has gotten bad news during early previews. APOCALYPSE NOW equally divided opinion
makers in 1979. The Vietnam War drama in my opinion is a work of “Bombastic Pageantry” that at times try’s to numb you into believing it is a great film.
Can Francis get his mojo back at 85? On May 17th we will see.
Feeling #Vindicated
I have no pleasure in Carlo Chatrian’s abrupt departure. The Swiss native is a cinema enthusiasts. During my interview with the former Locarno Film Festival head, I found him to be engaging, positive and passionate about the cinematic art form. After taking the helm in Berlin in 2020 following the departure of Kosslick, Carlo seemed a right fit to elevate the event into the same leagues as the Cannes and Venice fests. Skeptical thoughts came to my mind cause of Chatrian’s intellectual demeanour. The German capital’s institutions are not known for easy change especially headed by outsiders. After having my accreditation rejected cause of the Chat Cinema Podcast critiquing the Berlinale, this is an organisation resistant to even listening. Now, I feel vindicated.
As I was attending an event on Saturday September 2nd, suddenly a push notification came on my phone, “Resignation” at the Berlinale. Another one! Following Mariette Rissenbeek’s earlier exit, the dual in charge of one of the world’s biggest film festival checked out. Statements have been flying from the Ministry of Culture about only wanting one creative head.
With his contract over in 2024, the search is on for a new creative director. The Berlinale will continue, the question is who would want to head the February Festival?
Barbie and Oppenheimer
This is a Summer Blockbuster Weekend with two highly anticipated films hitting cinemas, Greta Gerwig’s BARBIE and OPPENHEIMER starring Cillian Murphy from Christopher Nolan. Which will win the box office race? BARBIE scored the biggest grosses, but OPPENHEIMER has prestige buzz.


SAG Works Out

The Summer of Strikes hit Hollywood with a loud bang on Friday. The entertainment industry stopped. Following Writers Guild of America, the actors union, SAG-AFTRA ordered work stoppages around the country. This means not reporting to sets additionally, no promotional work including red carpets or press junkets.
In an emotional speech from Los Angeles SAG-AFTRA head Fran Drescher made the call to her 160.000 members. There is a misunderstanding about Hollywood. A list actors get to go to the big parties around but most actors earn a regular living paying a mortgage taking their kids to school. The minimum an actor needs to earn to qualify for insurance is $26.000 a year. That is getting harder and harder with the new media content models. But their is a bigger question. Why should you have to earn money to deserve health care coverage?
“The jig is up”, “The Nanny” star said on Thursday. The business model has changed by streaming and AI. The old agreements no longer works. Before streamers, a series order was twenty episodes, today that is now eight to ten. Performers earn less money in a production season. The other battle with streaming services is financial transparency and residuals. Residual checks in the past were based on viewer counts and ads, on streamers it is based on subscriber numbers. My advice to SAG, “Good luck trying to get real numbers from a technology company.”
AI is a big bone of contention as productions could soon replace actors with artificial performers or their likeness. Reusing the image in different films, shows or commercials without paying the actor. Would a studio exploit talent too such a level? Ask the decedents of the Three Stooges about their relationship to Columbia Pictures.
It Got Nasty Fast
A war of attrition is now being fought. Studios on one side and talent on the other. The new media moguls are just as imperial as their predecessors. Disney honcho Bob Iger told CNBC the union demands are not realistic. Meanwhile, the corporate head got a $4 million annual raise to $27 million with additional options, not bad if you can get it. Of course he gets to use the corporate jet.
Make no mistake, a lot is at stake, an industry coming to terms in a new reality. Workers are tired of being exploited. Corporations under pressure from Wall Street to pay dividends. Throw in new technologies that could swallow them all. These elements could be a Hollywood Blockbuster script.

The 73rd Berlinale European Shooting Stars Awards were presented at a festive gala on 20th February, 2023. The evening awards recognizing new talent were moderated by journalist Nadine Kreutzer. During the weekend before the event, the ten Shooting Stars nominees participated in promotional interviews. Black and Paper talked to three of them.



Judith State from Romania had classical ballet training and is now a professional actress, choreographer and dancer. She says, “I always see myself first and foremost as a dancer.” In 2016, State made her screen debut in Cristi Puiu’s Sieranevada. She considered her involvement in the film as a “beautiful accident”. After premiering in Cannes, she was also nominated for a Romanian Gopo Award for Best Supporting Actress. She adds, “Ever since that moment I have been involved and have been lucky to now combine my careers in dance and film.”
State received a Gopo Award for Best Actress in Marius Olteanu’s 2018 debut film Monsters, and Cristi Puiu’s Manor House in 2020. Both films premiered at the Berlinale and Cristi Puiu also won the Encounters Award for Best Director. In 2020, State also starred in Daniel Sandu’s The Father Who Moves Mountains and Liviu Marghidan’s Refuge. The dance film Zenith, by Hungarian director Gyuri Kristoff, followed in 2021. In 2022 she played the lead role in Cristian Mungiu’s R.M.N., which premiered in Cannes. Otherwise, State doesn’t feel Romania appreciates home grown films despite international awards, adding “It is quite painful!”
Gizem Erdogan’s Turkish parents moved to Sweden in the 1970s, where she was later born. She studied at the Conservatory in Sweden then did a couple of years on stage. In 2014 she got the part in her debut feature film Dream On. For the film, Erdogan was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Guldbaggen Swedish Academy Awards. In 2020 the TV series Caliphate made her a national star. She has since won three Best Actress awards and says, “Caliphate was a breakthrough role for me.”
“I am afraid of going back to the theatre,” Kristjansson
This is Erdogan’s first participation at the Berlinale. However, she confessed, “I had been dreaming about Shooting Stars since I went to drama school.” She also admitted that it is a busy schedule for the participants. Erdogan added, “I hope Shooting Stars will give me the opportunity to do international co-productions.” One such co-production is scheduled soon, but is something she can’t talk about at the moment.
Thorvaldur Kristjansson started out in the theatre, admitting there were initially less opportunities in film. His first film role was Black’s Game in 2017, earning him a nomination for Best Actor at the Eddan Icelandic Film and TV Awards. In 2020 Kristjansson won Best Supporting Actor for The Minister, a TV Series. Roles followed in the locally popular films I Remember You and Life in a Fishbowl. He then provided voice-over for the 2021 animated short Yes-People, the film receiving an Oscar nomination. In his latest film, A Letter from Helga, he adapted the Lee Strasberg method acting style. The film topped the Icelandic box office in 2022.
Last year Iceland had four films at the Berlinale but nothing this year. Kristjansson explains, “We are a growing industry but it’s such a small market, funded by the government.” However, he is happy they are now making independent productions, hence more variety. Currently based in Stockholm, Kristjansson is focusing on his film and TV work. He says, “I am afraid of going back to the theatre, to be honest. It is a muscle that you have to exercise.” However, with film, he adds, “You have to be in a perfect mode of focus. You need to go out and then go in (again).”
Meanwhile, at the Berlinale, Finnish stage, TV, and film actor Alina Tomnikov won the European Shooting Stars Award for 2023. Her current film is the comedy drama The Worst Idea Ever.
By Steven Yates