Cristi Puiu's Malmkrog to open Berlinale's Encounters competition

by Vladan Petkovic

20/01/2020 - 15 films will compete for three awards in the newly established section, while the festival has also announced the full Perspektive Deutsches Kino line-up

Cristi Puiu's Malmkrog to open Berlinale's Encounters competition

Malmkrog by Cristi Puiu

One of the most important changes that new artistic director Carlo Chatrian is bringing to the 70th edition of the Berlinale (20 February-1 March) is a new competitive strand dubbed Encounters. A three-member jury will choose the winners for Best Film, Best Director and a Special Jury Award.

“As a result of passionate research, the 15 titles chosen for Encounters present the vitality of cinema in all of its forms. Each film presents a different way of interpreting the cinematic story: autobiographical, intimate, political, social, philosophical, epic, surreal. The films take up the challenge of shaping a world, rather than reproducing it,” says Chatrian.

The section will open with Romanian auteur Cristi Puiu's newest film, Malmkrog [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cristi Puiu
film profile], a co-production with Serbia, Switzerland, Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia. Described as “a tour de force of words and mise-en-scène”, the title is part of a selection that also includes documentaries such as Viktor Kossakovsky's Gunda [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Norway/USA) and Catarina Vasconcelos' debut, The Metamorphosis of Birds [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Catarina Vasconcelos
film profile] (Portugal), the animated feature debut Kill It and Leave This Town [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mariusz Wilczyński
film profile] by Poland's Mariusz Wilczyński, Tim Sutton's Funny Face (USA), Matías Piñeiro's Isabella [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Argentina/France), Pushpendra Singh's The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs (India), Camilo Restrepo's debut, Los conductos [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (France/Colombia/Brazil), Ivan Ostrochovský's Servants [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivan Ostrochovský
film profile] (Slovakia/Romania/Czech Republic/Ireland), Sandra Wollner's The Trouble with Being Born [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sandra Wollner
film profile] (Austria/Germany), CW Winter and Anders Edström's The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin) [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (USA/Sweden/Japan/Hong Kong, China/UK), Josephine Decker's Shirley (USA), and three German productions: The Last City [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Heinz Emigholz, Naked Animals [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Melanie Waelde and Orphea [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Alexander Kluge and Khavn. All of the titles save for Shirley, which is coming straight from Sundance, will have their world premieres at the Berlinale.

After a first announcement (read the news), the festival has also announced the full line-up of Perspektive Deutsches Kino, a traditional section that gained more international visibility last year when Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay's Oray [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
film profile] won the Berlinale's Best First Feature Award. In 2020, the selection consists of eight films. Four of them are fictions: Daphne Charizani's Greek co-production Sisters Apart [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Michael Venus' Sleep [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Eliza Petkova's A Fish Swimming Upside Down [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Barbara Ott's Kids Run [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which will officially open the section. The documentary titles in the line-up are: Automotive [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Jonas Heldt, Wagenknecht [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Sandra Kaudelka, Garage People [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Natalija Yefimkina and Walchensee Forever [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Janna Ji Wonders. Another documentary, Out of Place [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Friederike Güssefeld, is listed as a “guest of Perspektive Deutsches Kino”.

The eight films will compete for the Compass-Perspektive-Award, which is endowed with €5,000. The winner will be decided by director Mia Spengler, screenwriter Bernd Lange and producer Melanie Andernach.

The list of films selected:

Encounters

Malmkrog [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cristi Puiu
film profile] - Cristi Puiu (Romania/Serbia/Switzerland/Sweden/Bosnia-Herzegovina/North Macedonia) (opening film)
Funny Face - Tim Sutton (USA)
Gunda [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Victor Kossakovsky (Norway/USA) (documentary)
Isabella [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Matías Piñeiro (Argentina, France)
The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs - Pushpendra Singh (India)
Los conductos [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Camilo Restrepo (France/Colombia/Brazil)
The Last City [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Heinz Emigholz (Germany)
The Metamorphosis of Birds [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Catarina Vasconcelos
film profile] - Catarina Vasconcelos (Portugal) (documentary)
Naked Animals [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Melanie Waelde (Germany)
Orphea [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Alexander Kluge, Khavn (Germany)
Shirley - Josephine Decker (USA)
Servants [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivan Ostrochovský
film profile] - Ivan Ostrochovský (Slovakia/Romania/Czech Republic/Ireland)
The Trouble with Being Born [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sandra Wollner
film profile] - Sandra Wollner (Austria/Germany)
The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin) [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - CW Winter, Anders Edström (USA/Sweden/Japan/Hong Kong/UK)
Kill It and Leave This Town [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mariusz Wilczyński
film profile] - Mariusz Wilczyński (Poland)