Filmed in glossy black and white, and adopting a non-judgmental vérité approach, director Carlos Alfonso Corral’s debut is a humanizing look at a small section of the homeless population in El Paso, Texas. “Dirty Feathers,” is a short, but thematically rich, film about those on the margins of society. Foregrounding about a half dozen characters, as they wander the streets, often attempting to score drugs, Corral’s camera centralizes the complexity of his subjects, as they grapple with the day-to-day grind of their life.

Continue reading ‘Dirty Feathers’ Is A Compassionate & Heartbreaking Look At Homelessness [Berlin Review] at The Playlist.

It’s 1943. A particularly cruel winter has swept through the occupied Soviet Union. Its rural territories are an endless landscape of frosty forests, pocked with horse-swallowing sinkholes. Making do amid the bitter freeze, two hunters float down a misty river on a makeshift raft. With them they carry their latest prize: a hefty buck, provisions for a month or so in current conditions, one would think, well rationed. Understandably skittish, they spot a soldier at the edge of the river.

Continue reading ‘Natural Light’ Beautifully Explores How A Man Can Be Corrupted By The Horrors Of War [Berlin Review] at The Playlist.

One year in the life of a teenager can feel like an eternity. The intensity of the fleeting romances, the wild swings between happiness and despair, the thrilling yet uneasy anticipation of a future that seems simultaneously imminent and distant — it’s a wonder that we come out of adolescence intact. But that time shapes who we become, and with her feature debut, Ukrainian filmmaker Kateryna Gornostai chronicles that all-important pre-graduation year, where nothing — and everything — matters.

Continue reading ‘Stop-Zemlia’ Is A Sympathetic Portrait Of The Tidal Forces Of Teenagehood [Berlin Review] at The Playlist.

The first thing to understand about the social dynamics in Mexico around police is that they differ greatly from how the public in the United States relates to law enforcement officers.

Stateside, both the uncritical reverence some feel toward them—namely the Blue Lives Matter crowd—and the terror they incite among BIPOC communities emanate from their violent efficaciousness and status as inflexible figures reveling in a lack of accountability. For the privileged (the wealthy and the white), their actions, even murder, are justified to “protect” the public.

Continue reading ‘A Cop Movie’: An Incisive & Formally Daring Deep Dive Into Mexico City’s Police Force [Berlin Review] at The Playlist.

As industry guests enjoy the Berlinale from home this year, eagle-eyed viewers will take pleasure in spotting a familiar location in the latest film from South Korean auteur and festival-regular Hong Sang-soo. If we can’t stroll around Potsdamer Platz this year, at least the characters in “Introduction“ can share a moment there. 

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2021

At 66 minutes long, and like many of the director’s other works, the film is an exercise in frugality.

Continue reading ‘Introduction’: A Smaller, Quieter Addition To Hong Sang-soo’s Already Intimate & Delicate Touch [Berlin Review] at The Playlist.

The latest from T.J.Martin and Daniel Lindsay, directors of “Undefeated” and “LA 92,” “TINA” looks like another documentary that came off of a factory line, complete with the usual panning shots of contact sheets, dramatic zooms into rolling tapes, cross-cutting between audio interviews and their published print versions, melodramatic score cues doing their best to emulate Philip Glass.

Continue reading Despite Clichéd Aesthetics, ‘Tina’ Is An Emotionally Potent Documentary [Berlin Review] at The Playlist.

There is an unavoidable distance in life between ourselves and those who came before. Parents, grandparents; no matter how open and honest they are with their children or younger relatives, there is a sense that their pasts remain partial enigmas. The young were not there to experience the personalities, the joys, the fears, the relationships of the old. What if you could, however, meet your mother’s younger self and spend afternoons building huts from tree branches and twine, or make pancakes in her childhood home?

Continue reading ‘Petite Maman’:Céline Sciamma Delivers An Intimate Tale Of Grief And Parenthood [Berlin Review] at The Playlist.

For the students at a remote boarding school for Kurdish boys, survival is a matter of course, particularly during the frigid depths of winter. The meals are meager, the heating doesn’t work, and even the principal’s car won’t start. Even if it did, he can’t afford snow tires, rendering his vehicle useless in the thick blanket of snow that covers the Eastern Anatolian mountains. All one can do is endure, and fifth-grader Yusuf (Samet Yildiz) has learned that keeping a low profile will spare him the exacting punishments the teachers dole out on his more rambunctious classmates.

Continue reading ‘Brother’s Keeper’ Is A Damning Study Of The Ruthless Inertia Of Bureaucracy [Berlin Review] at The Playlist.

It’s always interesting to see what an actor will deliver as they make the step towards directing, and for “Next Door” director and star Daniel Brühl has not shied away from a premise that closely parallels, yet distorts, his own life. It’s a film that explores a space of conversation highlighted to great effect in Bong Joon-ho’s recent towering success, “Parasite,” toying with societal dichotomies and opening up discussions around wealth, class, gentrification, and spatial divides.

Continue reading ‘Next Door’: Daniel Brühl’s Directorial Debut Interrogates His Own Life Doesn’t Dig Deep Enough [Berlin Review] at The Playlist.

There’s no doubt about it, it’s all in the eyes: an ice-blue stare, locked on you, promising satisfaction and loyalty without asking for anything in return. That’s what love is, and Dan Stevens is the humanoid robot here to give it to us.

One step further than the ideal man, Stevens is Tom, the product of a scientific experiment designing artificial life that can act as, and maybe even one day replace, your perfect romantic partner.

Continue reading ‘I’m Your Man’: A Wry, Meticulous Dystopian Romance That Understands Just How Valuable Dan Stevens Is [Berlin Review] at The Playlist.

Maybe it’s because the film is actually titled “Natural Light,” but it’s hard to watch the new trailer for the upcoming WWII drama and not be cognizant of the lighting. And it’s that lighting that adds to the overall dread and somberness that is prevalent in the upcoming film.

READ MORE: 2021 Berlin Competition LineUp: New Films By Celine Sciamma, Hong Sangsoo, Daniel Brühl, & More

As seen in the trailer, “Natural Light” tells the story of a Hungarian Farmer that is given the lead in a special unit of the army that is commissioned to scout locations for Russian partisans during World War II.

Continue reading ‘Natural Light’ Trailer: Dénes Nagy’s Berlin Competition Film Shows The Bleakness Of War at The Playlist.

New films by Celine Sciamma, Hong Sangsoo, Xavier Beauvois, Radu Jude, and the directorial debut of German actor Daniel Brühl were unveiled as part of the 15 competition titles at the 2021 Berlin Film Festival today.

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2021

The festival’s 71st edition will take place in two stages. The Industry platforms European Film Market, Berlinale Co-Production Market, Berlinale Talents, and the World Cinema Fund will be online March 1-5.

Continue reading 2021 Berlin Competition LineUp: New Films By Celine Sciamma, Hong Sangsoo, Daniel Brühl, & More at The Playlist.

What was reported earlier this week has come true—the 2021 Berlin Film Festival is going virtual in March with a (planned) in-person “celebration” in June. This hybrid strategy is something that differentiates it from the upcoming Sundance Film Festival and this year’s TIFF and Venice festivals. And as the Berlin Film Festival artistic director Carlo Chatrian said in an interview with Variety, this decision was made out of necessity but also the desire to make sure both the business behind the film industry and the fans of the medium both get an opportunity to celebrate.

Continue reading Berlin Film Festival Director Explains Splitting Event Into Virtual Festival & In-Person “Celebration” In 2021 at The Playlist.

With 2020 basically canceling much of the film festival season, or at least forcing many to go digital, the hope was that 2021 would be different. Well, COVID-19 doesn’t care about what the film industry wishes would happen. And now, it appears the Berlin International Film Festival is the latest victim of pandemic issues.

READ MORE: Cannes Director Reveals Three Contingency Plans For The Festival In Case May 2021 Is Not An Option

According to Variety, the 2021 Berlin International Film Festival is radically altering its plans after a spike in COVID in Germany is forcing the organizers to completely rethink what they were originally hoping would happen.

Continue reading 2021 Berlin Film Festival Is Going Virtual & Delayed Until March at The Playlist.

As we start to look past the nightmare that has been 2020 and look forward to a (slightly) more hopeful 2021, we’ll start hearing of the winter film festivals’ plans soon. First, it was Sundance announcing plans for a shorter edition of the festival, still taking place in person. Now, it’s the Berlin Film Festival announcing a physical event next year, as well as gender-neutral acting awards starting in 2021.

READ MORE: Sundance Gets Approval To Shorten 2021 Film Festival

A press release from the festival reads: “Instead of the awards for the Best Actor and the Best Actress, a ‘Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance’ and a ‘Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance’ shall each be awarded on a gender-neutral basis.”

“We believe that not separating the awards in the acting field according to gender comprises a signal for a more gender-sensitive awareness in the film industry,” said Berlinale directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian said in a statement.

Continue reading Berlin Film Festival Will Go Ahead Next Year; Switching To Gender-Neutral Acting Awards at The Playlist.

As we reported earlier, it appears that Cannes 2020 is officially dead. That news comes on the heels of Tribeca, SXSW, Locarno, and various other events canceling this year due to COVID-19. Now, all eyes are on TIFF, Venice, and the fall festivals that begin in September to see if they can be the first post-pandemic events in the industry.

Continue reading Paul Schrader Shares His Idea How Netflix Could Save The 2020 Film Festival Season at The Playlist.