Rooney Mara as Julia and Raúl Briones as Pedro in "La Cocina" Once in a while a film comes along that is so audacious and outrageous it takes your breath away. One such was the 2014 Argentine film “Wild Tales”, a series of vignettes in one of which two male drivers fight to their deaths…Read more “La Cocina” looks at illegal immigrants through a kitchen lens
Berlinale
Classical music in the spotlight at Berlinale
The orphanage orchestra that plays a pop tune for the Pope in "Gloria" Classical music is often thought to have little place in today's arts and culture scene, but filmmakers at the Berlinale can't seem to get enough of it. Three films at this year's festival have classical music as central plot elements, and two…Read more Classical music in the spotlight at Berlinale
“Nothing is where it should be”: Africa looting is Berlinale theme
Songea, Tanzania residents in "The Empty Grave" tending grave of Maji-Maji Rebellion chief Mbuna, whose head was taken to Germany and never returned In director Mati Diop's powerful “Dahomey”, a competitor for the Berlinale's Golden Bear top prize, a wooden statue of the 19th-century Dahomey warrior King Ghezo, making a gesture with his right arm…Read more “Nothing is where it should be”: Africa looting is Berlinale theme
Scorsese says cinema “not dying” as he is honoured at Berlinale
Martin Scorsese said he thinks cinema is changing but not dying and, in an appearance at the Berlinale at the age of 81, said he is contemplating making a film about Jesus. “I don’t think it’s dying at all. No, I think it’s transforming,” Scorsese said when asked about the future of cinema at a…Read more Scorsese says cinema “not dying” as he is honoured at Berlinale
Cork actor Éanna Hardwicke sees Irish film going in a “great direction”
Daisy Edgar-Jones and Éanna Hardwicke in streaming hit "Normal People" Twenty-seven-year-old Irish actor Éanna Hardwicke had no films screening at the 74th Berlinale, but he was invited anyway to participate in a showcase of rising European talent, and to celebrate this banner year for Ireland's film and acting community, himself included. “It definitely feels like…Read more Cork actor Éanna Hardwicke sees Irish film going in a “great direction”
Japan’s “The Box Man”, U.S. “Sasquatch Sunset” challenge norms at Berlinale
How do you make films in one of which the main character spends most of the time inside a box that conceals all but a slit for his eyes, and has an opening so he can walk, and in the other no words are spoken and all oral communication is by grunts and hoots? The…Read more Japan’s “The Box Man”, U.S. “Sasquatch Sunset” challenge norms at Berlinale
Dumont’s “L’Empire” sci-fi satire fails on liftoff at Berlinale
Anamaria Vartolomei as Jane in Bruno Dumont's Berlinale competitor "L'Empire" The highly anticipated space sci-fi offering “L'Empire” from Bruno Dumont, one of the leading lights of French intellectual cinema, failed to achieve warp speed at the Berlinale, where it had its premiere on Sunday and is in contention for the festival's main Golden Bear prize.…Read more Dumont’s “L’Empire” sci-fi satire fails on liftoff at Berlinale
Rising star Reinsve has two shots at top Berlinale prize
Norwegian actor Renate Reinsve said on Saturday it was a huge challenge playing two very different people who share the same body in the sci-fi drama “Another End” that is competing at the Berlinale for the festival's top Golden Bear award. “It was hard it, it was demanding,” she said of portraying on the one…Read more Rising star Reinsve has two shots at top Berlinale prize
Absent directors denounce Iran’s “red lines” at Berlinale
Two empty chairs and a photo of the Iranian co-directors of the Berlinale competition film “My Favourite Cake”, which takes aim at Iran's strict morality rules and the country's treatment of women, were placed on stage for a press conference on Thursday to protest a ban on the directors traveling to the film festival. “Like…Read more Absent directors denounce Iran’s “red lines” at Berlinale
Cillian Murphy takes on nuns in “Small Things” Berlinale opener
In his last big screen role, Irish actor Cillian Murphy, played the nuclear physicist Robert Oppenheimer who ran the Manhattan Project that built the first atomic bombs to defeat the Axis powers in World War II. In his latest screen incarnation, he is the coal merchant Bill Furlong, delivering fuel to penny-pinching households during the…Read more Cillian Murphy takes on nuns in “Small Things” Berlinale opener
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