It may sound improbable that a 70-year-old Finnish composer has written an opera that strikes straight to the heart of America's gun-violence epidemic, but that's exactly what Kaija Saariaho has done with her latest opera, “Innocence”. Be forewarned about that title. In this opera, almost no one is innocent. The people who die in the…Read more Saariaho’s “Innocence” is the terrifying opera America needs to see
Update-Documentary “Sur l’Adamant” takes top Berlinale prize
The French documentary “Sur l’Adamant” (On the Adamant) about mental patients aboard a floating clinic in the Seine river in Paris won the prestigious Golden Bear top prize at the Berlinale film festival on Saturday night. Two films with transgender themes also won top awards. Spanish child actress Sofia Otero, who plays an eight-year-old boy…Read more Update-Documentary “Sur l’Adamant” takes top Berlinale prize
Nuclear “nomads”, mental health, Ukraine in Berlinale spotlight
The boundaries of what documentary filmmakers can do seem to expand all the time and this year the 45 or so documentaries shown at the Berlinale gave a taste of where the format is going. As might be expected of this most political of major European film festivals, documentaries about the war in Ukraine loomed…Read more Nuclear “nomads”, mental health, Ukraine in Berlinale spotlight
Can a film be too perfect? Berlinale is about to say
When is a film too perfect? We may be about to find out when the fate of Korean-Canadian director Celine Song's continent-spanning love triangle “Past Lives” is decided on Saturday night by the international jury which hands out the Berlinale's Golden Bear award for best film. Playwright Song's debut feature is a semi-autobiographical story about…Read more Can a film be too perfect? Berlinale is about to say
Trump, Putin, Zombies and Tom Hanks — all in one film at Berlinale
https://videopress.com/v/VdaGzJhf?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true Trailer for "Hello Dankness" which is screening at the Berlinale film festival Tom Hanks has a starring role in the movie “Hello Dankness” in which zombies stalk America after Donald Trump is elected president. Bill Gates is shown running a secret laboratory to create deadly Covid vaccines while the Phantom of the Opera has…Read more Trump, Putin, Zombies and Tom Hanks — all in one film at Berlinale
“Arkitekten” delights Berlinale with a dark, droney future
Drones walk dogs, live models sauntering on treadmills show off expensive clothes in shop windows and banks in the Norwegian capital Oslo won't let you in the door unless you pay a 350 euro ($370) fee to see a personal assistant. Rents in the city are so astronomical that young people who can't afford them…Read more “Arkitekten” delights Berlinale with a dark, droney future
Mob “Mothers” Wins Series Prize at Berlinale
An Italian-language streaming series based on real events about a woman prosecutor who enlisted gangsters' wives to crack the 'Ndrangheta Sicilian mob, and a whimsical series about an over-priced Oslo of the “near future” where young people are reduced by astronomical housing prices to living in parking garages, won the first Berlinale prizes for series…Read more Mob “Mothers” Wins Series Prize at Berlinale
Spielberg feted at Berlinale — where he’s never won
Director Steven Spielberg's films have never won a prize at the Berlinale, but on Tuesday he was like one of the awe-struck characters in his movies as he became this year's recipient of the festival's Honorary Golden Bear award for lifetime achievement. “Right now I'm very happy, I must have done a couple of things…Read more Spielberg feted at Berlinale — where he’s never won
U2 “Kiss” at Berlinale is Rock film with Rifles
The documentary “Kiss the Future”, which had its premiere at the Berlinale on Sunday, is about a 1997 concert by the Irish supergroup U2, but unlike most rock-band films, this one comes with shots of buildings with shattered windows, burnt-out cars and people running for cover from sniper fire. That's because the concert took place…Read more U2 “Kiss” at Berlinale is Rock film with Rifles
Ukraine wins — at the Berlinale film festival in Berlin
The world constantly sees videos of the carnage and suffering Russia is inflicting on neighbouring Ukraine, so what more could the Berlinale film festival have to offer to the understanding of the biggest war in Europe since World War Two? The answer, on the evidence of films and events at the 73rd edition of the…Read more Ukraine wins — at the Berlinale film festival in Berlin
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