20 films have been confirmed for the Panorama section of the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival. The Panorama section with its Main Programme, Panorama Special and Panorama Dokumente series will screen some 50 films in all.
Two works by European directors are opening the Panorama Special:
Tony Gatlif is returning to Panorama with Indignados. Inspired by Stéphane Hessel’s bestseller “Time for Outrage!” this French film allows viewers, in both enacted scenes and real situations, to see the recent protests of our times through the eyes of an illegal woman immigrant. She experiences the Occupy movement, the poverty of those who share her fate, and the dissatisfaction of a young generation of European society in revolt. Previously, Gatlif presented in Panorama his films Rue du départ in 1987 and Swing in 2002.
As in her second feature film, Ono (Stranger), which screened in Panorama in 2005, Polish director Malgoska Szumowska once again radically probes gender relations. With Juliette Binoche in the lead, Elles leaves much room for contemplation and in a masterly fashion reveals the underlying longing that apparently every notion of relationship, and especially that of the nuclear family, attempts to conceal.
Alongside renowned names such as Hou Hsiao-Hsien (who with 10+10 is presenting a survey of works from Taiwan by ten well-known and ten new directors), Volker Schlöndorff, Cao Hamburger, Pen-ek Ratanaruang and Teona Strugar Mitevska, this year’s feature films include new works by Ira Sachs, Kirsten Sheridan and Srdjan Dragojevic as well as by newly discovered filmmakers such as Umut Dag from Austria, Helena Klotz from France, Faouzi Bensiada from Morocco and Ngoc Dang Vu from Vietnam.
Feature films to date:
10+10 by Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wang Toon, Wu Nien-Jen, Sylvia Chang, Chen Guo-Fu, Wei Te-Sheng, Chung Meng-Hung, Chang Tso-Chi, Arvin Chen, Yang Ya-Che and others, Taiwan
Death For Sale by Faouzi Bensaïdi, France
With Fehd Benchemsi, Fouad Labiad, Mouhcine Malzi, Imane Elmechrafi, Faouzi Bensaïdi
Die Wand (The Wall) by Julian Roman Pölsler, Austria/Germany
With Martina Gedeck
Dollhouse by Kirsten Sheridan, Ireland
With Seana Kerslake, Jonny Ward, Ciaran McCabe, Kate Brennan, Shane Curry
Elles by Malgoska Szumowska, France/Poland/Germany
With Juliette Binoche, Anais Demoustier, Joanna Kulig
Fon Tok Kuen Fah (Headshot) by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, Thailand/France
With Nopachai Jayanama, Sirin Horwang, Chanokporn Sayoungkul, Apisit Opasaimlikit, Krerkkiat Punpiputt
From Seoul To Varanasi by Kyuhwan Jeon, Republic of Korea
With Donghwan Yoon, Wonjung Chio
Hot boy noi loan – cau chuyen ve thang cuoi, co gai diem va con vit (Lost In Paradise) by Vu Ngoc Dang, Vietnam
With Luong Manh Hai, Ho Vinh Khoa, Linh Son, Phuong Thanh, Hieu Hien
Indignados by Tony Gatlif, France
With Isabel Vendrell Cortès
Keep The Lights On by Ira Sachs, USA
With Thure Lindhardt, Zachary Booth, Julianne Nicholson, Souleymane Sy Savane, Paprika Steen
Kuma by Umut Dag, Austria
With Nihal Koldas, Begüm Akkaya, Vedat Erincin, Murathan Muslu, Alev Irmak
La mer à l’aube (Calm At Sea) by Volker Schlöndorff, France/Germany
With Léo Paul Salmain, Ulrich Matthes, Martin Loizillon, Jacob Matschenz, André Jung, Harald Schrott, Thomas Arnold, Christopher Buchholz
L’âge atomique by Héléna Klotz, France
With Eliott Paquet, Dominik Wojcik
Leave It On The Floor by Sheldon Larry, USA/Canada
With Ephraim Sykes, Miss Barbie-Q, Phillip Evelyn, Andre Myers, James Alsop
Mei-wei (My Way) by Kang Je-kyu, Republic of Korea
With Jang Dong-gun, Odagiri Joe, Fan Bingbing
Mommy Is Coming by Cheryl Dunye, Germany
With Esther Maria Ufer, Maggie Tapert, Ignacio Rivera
Parada (The Parade) by Srdjan Dragojevic, Serbia/Republic of Croatia/ Macedonia/Slovenia
With Nikola Kojo, Milos Samolov, Hristina Popovic, Goran Jevtic, Toni Mihailovski
The Woman Who Brushed Off Her Tears by Teona Strugar Mitevska, Macedonia/Germany/Slovenia/Belgium
With Victoria Abril, Labina Mitevska, Jean Marie Galey, Arben Bajraktaraj
Wilaya by Pedro Pérez Rosado, Spain
With Nadhira Mohamed, Memona Mohamed, Aziza Brahim, Ainina Sidameg, Ahmed Molud
Xingu by Cao Hamburger, Brazil
With João Miguel, Felipe Camargo, Caio Blat, Maria Flor