The first 14 films have been selected for the Competition and Berlinale Special section of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival. So far 10 productions and co-productions have been invited to the Competition from Belgium, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Lebanon, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, and the USA. In the mix are director Sally Potter’s The Party, Oren Moverman’s The Dinner and Alain Gomis’ Felicite.
As part of the official program, Berlinale Special also presents topical works by contemporary filmmakers, documentaries and extraordinary formats. To date four productions have been invited, including Raoul Peck’s The Young Karl Marx and Fernando Perez’s Last Days in Havana.
Further announcements regarding program selections will be made in the coming weeks.
Here’s a rundown of the first films of the Competition program 2017 Competition
Teströl és lélekröl (On Body and Soul)
Hungary
By Ildiko Enyedi (My 20th Century, Simon the Magician)
With Géza Morcsányi, Alexandra Borbély, Zoltán Schneider
World premiere
Ana, mon amour
Romania / Germany / France
By Călin Peter Netzer (Child‘s Pose, Maria)
With Mircea Postelnicu, Diana Cavallioti, Carmen Tănase, Adrian Titieni, Vlad Ivanov
World premiere
Beuys – Documentary
Germany
By Andres Veiel (Black Box Germany, Addicted To Acting, If not us, Who)
World premiere
Colo
Portugal / France
By Teresa Villaverde (The Major Age, The Mutants, Trance)
With João Pedro Vaz, Alice Albergaria Borges, Beatriz Batarda, Clara Jost
World premiere
The Dinner
USA
By Oren Moverman (The Messenger, Rampart)
With Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Steve Coogan, Rebecca Hall, Chloë Sevigny
World premiere
Félicité
France / Senegal / Belgium / Germany / Lebanon
By Alain Gomis (L’Afrance, Andalucia, Tey)
With Véro Tshanda Beya, Gaetan Claudia, Papi Mpaka
World premiere
The Party
United Kingdom
By Sally Potter (Orlando, Yes, Ginger & Rosa)
With Patricia Clarkson, Bruno Ganz, Cherry Jones, Emily Mortimer, Cillian Murphy, Kristin Scott Thomas, Timothy Spall
World premiere
Pokot (Spoor)
Poland / Germany / Czech Republic / Sweden / Slovak Republic
By Agnieszka Holland (Europa Europa, Bitter Harvest, In Darkness)
With Agnieszka Mandat, Wiktor Zborowski, Miroslav Krobot, Jakub Gierszał, Patricia Volny, Borys Szyc
World premiere
Toivon tuolla puolen (The Other Side of Hope)
Finland
By Aki Kaurismäki (The Match Factory Girl, I Hired A Contract Killer, Juha, Le Havre)
With Sakari Kuosmanen, Sherwan Haji
International premiere
Una Mujer Fantástica (A Fantastic Woman)
Chile / Germany / USA / Spain
By Sebastián Lelio (El Año del Tigre, Gloria)
With Daniela Vega, Francisco Reyes, Luis Gnecco, Aline Küppenheim, Amparo Noguera
World premiere
Berlinale Special
Berlinale Special Gala at the Friedrichstadt-Palast
La Reina de España (The Queen of Spain)
Spain
By Fernando Trueba (The Year of Awakening, Belle Époque, The Girl of Your Dreams)
With Penélope Cruz, Antonio Resines, Chino DarÃn, Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Neus Asensi, Ana Belén
International premiere
Le jeune Karl Marx (The Young Karl Marx)
France / Germany / Belgium
By Raoul Peck (Sometimes In April, Moloch Tropical, Fatal Assistance)
With August Diehl, Stefan Konarske, Vicky Krieps, Hannah Steele, Olivier Gourmet
World premiere
Berlinale Special at the Kino International
Últimos dÃas en La Habana (Last Days in Havana)
Cuba / Spain
By Fernando Pérez (Life Is to Whistle, Madrigal)
With Jorge MartÃnez, Patricio Wood, Gabriela Ramos
European premiere
Berlinale Special at the Volksbühne
Acht Stunden sind kein Tag (Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day)
Federal Republic of Germany 1972 – TV series with 5 episodes
By Rainer Werner Fassbinder
With Hanna Schygulla, Gottfried John, Luise Ullrich, Werner Finck, Irm Hermann
World premiere of the restored version
Review: Writer-Director Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance”
In its first two hours, "The Substance" is a well-made, entertaining movie. Writer-director Coralie Fargeat treats audiences to a heavy dose of biting social commentary on ageism and sexism in Hollywood, with a spoonful of sugar- and sparkle-doused body horror.
But the film's deliciously unhinged, blood-soaked and inevitably polarizing third act is what makes it unforgettable.
What begins as a dread-inducing but still relatively palatable sci-fi flick spirals deeper into absurdism and violence, eventually erupting — quite literally — into a full-blown monster movie. Let the viewer decide who the monster is.
Fargeat — who won best screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival — has been vocal about her reverence for "The Fly" director David Cronenberg, and fans of the godfather of body horror will see his unmistakable influence. But "The Substance" is also wholly unique and benefits from Fargeat's perspective, which, according to the French filmmaker, has involved extensive grappling with her own relationship to her body and society's scrutiny.
"The Substance" tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a famed aerobics instructor with a televised show, played by a powerfully vulnerable Demi Moore. Sparkle is fired on her 50th birthday by a ruthless executive — a perfectly cast Dennis Quaid, who nails sleazy and gross.
Feeling rejected by a town that once loved her and despairing over her bygone star power, Sparkle learns from a handsome young nurse about a black-market drug that promises to create a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of its user. Though she initially tosses the phone number in the trash, she soon fishes it out in a desperate panic and places an order.
The one rule to follow is that... Read More