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A lot of good news in Berlin
February has for many and many years been a particularly special month for all film lovers. In February, in fact, the Berlinale, one of the most prestigious film events in the world, takes place. The festival has always been particularly attentive not only to what some of the most famous names in contemporary cinema have realised in the past year, but also to independent filmmakers who, with their unique directorial approach and their desire to experiment, have immediately revealed themselves to be particularly promising. According to these criteria, therefore, this Berlinale 2024 also looks rather interesting and rich in ideas. And on a first, brief reading of the programme, we can well hope for a more than satisfying edition.
The Berlinale 2024 will therefore take place from February 15 to 25, 2024, once again under the artistic direction of Carlo Chatrian. Who will win the coveted Golden Bear this year? Among the feature films and documentaries in competition, just to give a few examples, we will find Small Things like these by Tim Mielants (opening film of the festival), Hors du Temps by Olivier Assayas, but also A Traveler’s Needs by Hong Sangsoo, Another End by Piero Messina, Architecton by Victor Kossakovsky and, of course, The Devil’s Bath, the newest work by acclaimed Austrian filmmaker duo Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, produced by the Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion.
As usual, also at this Berlinale 2024 there will be numerous side sections providing us with the most comprehensive overview of contemporary cinema from all over the world. The Forum, Forum Expanded and Encounters sections, for example, are dedicated to independent filmmakers or authors who have always been looking for new ways of staging and new film languages, while the Panorama section will offer a selection of feature films with a more mainstream character, and the Berlinale Special section this year boasts names like Nicolas Philibert (with Averroès & Rosa Parks), winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlinale 2023, Edgar Reitz and Jörg Adolph (with Filmstunde_23), Atom Egoyan (with Seven Veils), Abel Ferrara (with Turn in the Wound) and Tsai Ming-liang (with Abiding Nowhere), just to name a few. If we add to all this the numerous retrospectives, short films and the Generation section, dedicated to the world of young people, we realise how much this precious Berlinale 2024 has to offer us.
But now let’s take a look at the news from Austrian cinema. In addition to the aforementioned The Devil’s Bath by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala in the running for the Golden Bear, in the Encounters section we once again find the great Ruth Beckermann (already winner of the same section at the Berlinale 2022 with Mutzenbacher), who will present her documentary Favoriten at this Berlinale 2024.
And while Andrea gets a Divorce, the second feature film as director by actor and cabaret artist Josef Hader (here also starring alongside Birgit Minichmayr), and one of the most eagerly awaited films in Austria, will have its world premiere in the Panorama section, in the same section we will also have the opportunity to attend the premiere of the documentary I’m not Everything I want to be by Klára Tasovská, the result of a cooperation between the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria.
Particularly interesting, at this Berlinale 2024, is also the Forum section. Here, in fact, in addition to the documentary Henry Fonda for President by Alexander Horwath, there will also be the premiere of Sleeping with a Tiger, the newest work by director Anja Salomonowitz inspired by the life of Carinthian painter Maria Lassnig (1919 – 2014), for the occasion played by Birgit Minichmayr. And apropos Maria Lassnig, some of her short films will be screened in this same section on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of her death
In short, the Berlinale 2024 will probably be full of surprises. Also as far as Austrian cinema is concerned. As has been the case for several years now, therefore, Cinema Austriaco will be following the festival closely and will be ready to discover how many beautiful works Austria has produced in recent months. Wonderful Berlin is just waiting to welcome us.
Below are all the reviews of the Austrian films at the Berlinale 2024.
