Berlin: Download THR's Day 5 Daily

BERLIN
D A ILY
5
FEB. 15, 2016
THR.COM/BERLIN
Odin's Eye D5 021516.indd 1
2/14/16 4:10 PM
2016-BERLIN-Hollywood-Fri_Sat_Sun.pdf
09/02/16
11:35
LAST PRIVATE
SCREENING FOR
BUYERS, BY
INVITATION ONLY
TODAY, Monday 15th
at 11:20 at Db-Kino
THE CHOSEN
Spy-thriller/ English / 2016 / 124
OUR LOVERS
Romantic Comedy / Spanish / 2016 / 80
BARCELONA
CHRISTMAS
NIGHT
LAST PRIVATE
SCREENING FOR
BUYERS,
BY INVITATION ONLY
LAST MARKET
SCREENING
TOMORROW,
Tuesday 16th at 9:30
at CinemaxX 2
TOMORROW,
Tuesday 16th at 17:00
at Kino Arsenal 2
Romantic Comedy / Spanish-Catalan

2015 / 104
FILMAX INTERNATIONAL AT EFM:

Marriott #272-270
lmaxint@lmax.com
www.lmaxinternational.com
ICEX D5 021516.indd 1
2/9/16 3:48 PM
FEBRUARY 15, 2016

THR.COM/BERLIN
TODAY
BERLIN
WEATHER
AND HIGH 41 F
TEMPS
5 C
BE R L IN
TOMORROW
39 F
4 C
International
Buyers Toast
Drunk Parents
By Rebecca Ford
CLEMENS BILAN/GETTY IMAGES
uyers are raising a

glass to Drunk Parents,
the comedy starring
Alec Baldwin and Salma Hayek
that Fortitude International is
selling in Berlin.
Fortitude has closed deals in
multiple international territories, including Wild Bunch for
Germany and Entertainment
One for Canada.
The comedy also has sold to
Dutch FilmWorks for Benelux,
Tanweer for Greece, Praesens
for Switzerland, Lusomundo
for Portugal, HBO for Pan
Asia Pay TV, Impossible for
India, PT Prima for Indonesia,
Octoarts for the Philippines,
Falcon for Middle East,
Filmdom for Turkey and
Prorom for Eastern Europe.
Directed by Fred Wolf from
a screenplay he wrote with
Peter Gaulke, Drunk Parents
stars Baldwin and Hayek as a
couple who hit the bottle hard
the night after dropping their
daughter off at college, which
leads to some bad decisions, a
kidnapping and a disastrous
case of mistaken identity.
Jim Gaffigan, Joe Manganiello,
Bridget
Moynahan and
Ben Platt also
star in the
comedy, which
is currently in
Baldwin
production.
A Powerful Statement
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, now a Berlin resident, recently unveiled an art installation of some 12,000 life vests used by refugees, which
he attached to the columns of the Konzerthaus Berlin on Gendarmenmarkt, the site of a Cinema for Peace gala to be held Monday.
Berlin Sparks Early Oscar Talk
Charlotte Ramplings awards-season buzz began at the Berlinale. Now insiders see a handful
of films and performances that also could go the distance By Rebecca Ford and Scott Roxborough
he Berlin Film Festival has a spotty record of

delivering films that go on to Oscar glory.
The awards season success of Berlins
2014 lineup, which included Wes Andersons Grand
Budapest Hotel (nine nominations, four Oscars) and
Boyhood (six noms, a best supporting actress win for
Patricia Arquette) is the exception to the rule.
More typical was last years Berlin, where the
only Oscar-nominated performance to come out
of the festival was Charlotte Ramplings. Her road
to the 2016 Academy Awards started with the
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
Motion Picture Domain D5 021516.indd 1
D5_Berlin_news1+2_E.indd 1
best actress Silver Bear she picked up for Andrew

Haighs 45 Years. Co-star Tom Courtenay took Berlins
best actor prize, and the film was snatched up by
Sundance Selects for U.S. distribution.
It was an important debut, says Arianna Bocco,
senior vp acquisitions for IFC Films & Sundance
Selects. Charlotte and Toms acting wins obviously
set the stage for the film with the critics and set us
up to position the film as an awards film.
But while few expect a flood of awards contenders
C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 2
2/5/16 11:20 AM
2/14/16 8:41 PM
theREPORT
HEAT INDEX
Midnight Special
I R A S AC H S
The director drew buzz with coming-ofage drama Little Men in Sundance. The
Greg Kinnear film continues to do well in
Berlin, where it had its international bow
on Friday as Altitude nabbed it for the U.K.
LARS EIDINGER
The sole German on the Berlin jury got
a strong crowd reaction by DJing at a
party organized by a German magazine
and BMW. Unfortunately, he also felt
compelled to moon the crowd.
KNOW YOUR DEALMAKER
YUNJEONG KIM
DIRECTOR OF INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS, FINECUT
Her Seoul-based sales company closed

several territories for CJ E&Ms big-budget
Korean War film Operation Chromite,
in which Liam Neeson stars as
Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Kim secured
deals for Germany, Austria, Benelux,
Yugoslavia and Taiwan for the title.
MEANWHILE, IN THE REAL WORLD

Deadpool grossed $135 million
over the Valentines Day weekend
and set opening records for
Fox and an R-rated movie.
Jennifer Lawrence donated
$2 million to the Kosair Childrens
Hospital in her hometown of
Louisville, Ky., to establish a
cardiac intensive care Unit.
After the death of Supreme
Court justice Antonin Scalia,
President Obama said he
would nominate a successor, but
Republicans urged him to let the
next president fill the role.
Oscar
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
to emerge from Berlins 2016

line-up, Oscar handicappers are
eying a handful of projects and
performances that could breakout and go the distance.
Jeff Nichols sci-fi chase drama
Midnight Special premiered in
competition and opened to strong
reviews, leading to speculation
that it could be a strong awards
contender. While genre films
arent often a part of the Oscar
discussion and the movie has an
early (March 18) opening in the
U.S., Michael Shannons performance as a father protecting his
superpowered young son and
Kirsten Dunsts weighty role as the
mother could earn recognition
further down the line.
Loving, another film from
Nichols, screened at Berlins
European Film Market and
impressed awards-season
a favorite for Berlins best actress

prize. Cynthia Nixon also is getting
strong reviews for her portrayal
of Emily Dickinson in Terence Davies
A Quiet Passion.
As with Boyhood, two films
playing in Berlin after strong
debuts at Sundance could continue to pick up steam. Former
Focus chief James Schamus
Indignation could generate heat
for supporting actor Tracy Letts
(who has a buzzworthy 10-minspecialists Focus Features. In
ute battle-of-the-wits scene with
its first acquisition since ousting
Logan Lerman), while Ira Sachs
Peter Schlessel to refocus on
Little Men could do the same for
specialty films, Focus bought
Greg Kinnear.
Loving for the U.S. market for
Watch out for Andre Techines
about $9 million. The true-life
Being 17, which, depending on
story, starring Joel Edgerton and
whats offered in Cannes, could
Ruth Negga as an interracial
be Frances official Oscar subcouple in the 1950s, seems like
mission, and, for documentaries,
obvious Oscar bait.
Gianfranco Rosis refugee film Fire
Other likely contenders to
at Sea is a clear front-runner to
follow in Ramplings Berlin-towin a Golden Bear on Feb.20.
Oscar-nomination footsteps are
Typically, there are always a
Emma Thompson and Brendan
few films that stand out for the
Gleeson for playing a couple who
U.S. market, whether
resist the Nazis in Vincent Perezs
they are the high-end
Alone in Berlin; Colin Firth and
foreign-language
Jude Law for Michael
films or prestigious
Grandages literary
English-language
biopic Genius;
films, says Bocco.
and French icon
[Berlin is] extremely
Isabelle Huppert,
focused on the filmwho dazzled in
makers, and the
the competition
festival offers a wide
entry Things
Rampling in 2015 with
her Silver Bear.
variety of films to
to Come and is
consider.
being tipped as
Streep: Hollywood Closing the Gender Gap By Etan Vlessing
eryl Streep said Hollywood is giving female

enough in clubby boardrooms. They [older men]
directors more opportunities to tell their
dont feel invested in that journey. Younger men do,
own stories and the green light is coming and thats good, Streep said.
from younger decision-makers, not gray-haired
She added that you have to make noise to get
studio execs.
more women into leadership positions, in an echo
The three-time Oscar-winning actress, taking
of the current diversity debate in Hollywood. Streep
time away from serving as jury president at the
earlier in the festival attracted attention when she
Berlin Film Festival to give an acting master
said we are all Africans, really when asked about
class on Sunday, was asked
concerns over the all-white Oscar
whether women were getting more
acting nominations this year.
directing gigs in Hollywood. Yes,
Streep also talked about her
its moving in a very positive direclegendary career during her
tion, Streep replied.
master class and revealed that her
She added that closing
favorite director was the late Mike
Hollywoods gender gap behind the
Nichols. After working together on
camera called for getting minds
such projects as Silkwood, Angels
to open up in executive suites.
in America and Postcards From
We need 40- to 50-year-old white
the Edge, Nichols would quiz her
males to be interested in the stories
about other directors.
of their wives and their mothers,
Its like being asked about the
Streep told the Hebbel am Ufer
other boyfriends youve had, she
Theater audience.
said. Does he do it better than
Streep
Thats not happening nearly
me? is what I heard from him.
D5_Berlin_news1+2_E.indd 2
2/14/16 8:41 PM
Keshet Intl D5 021516.indd 1
2/11/16 7:04 PM
theREPORT
R
RT
Oldies but Goodies: Aging Stars

Now Driving Hot Projects
Ford
By Alex Ritman
year on from her Berlinale Silver Bear (and

subsequent Oscar nomination) for 45 Years,
Charlotte Rampling is experiencing a great
deal of good fortune. This week, the actress nabbed
the lead in the Jane Austen adaptation Sanditon
and a key role alongside Josh Hartnett in the sci-fi
fantasy Valley of the Gods
Gods.
The dramatic rise of the art house icon who cel
celebrated her 70th birthday this month underlines
a growing trend in a market where flashes of gray
are becoming increasingly sought-after.
Official Secrets
Secrets, toplined by Harrison Ford, 73,
and Anthony Hopkins
Hopkins, 78; Oppenheimer Strategies,
starring Richard Gere
Gere, 66; The Sleeping Shepherd,
with Isabelle Huppert
Huppert, 62, and Willem Dafoe, 60; and
Carrie Pilby
Pilby, with Nathan Lane, 60, and Gabriel Byrne,
65, are just some of the big-name EFM projects that
feature the industrys older talents. Then theres
J.K. Simmons
Simmons, 61, whose profile has soared since his
Oscar win last year; he has EFM titles The Bachelors,
The Runaround and Worlds Apart in the mix.
Tannaz Anisi
Anisi, the president of 13 Films, which is
repping the romance Worlds Apart, says the pedigree such names bring supports all level of budgets.
Up-and-comers are more risky, but if a film is
packaged with a great balance of proven actors
and up-and-comers, you might just have a winning

combination, he says.
Buyers also are after projects that appeal to more
senior cinemagoers, a burgeoning demographic.
Older people are the fastest-growing age group
in the West, and they love to go to the cinema but
for intelligent, character-driven stories, not just
for visual effects and things blowing up, adds Mimi
Steinbauer, CEO of Radiant Films (Carrie Pilby),
pointing to the two Best Exotic Marigold Hotel films
($220 million combined), Bridge of Spies ($163 million) and Quartet ($59 million) as recent successes.
The gray dollar is strong in Japan, where
33 percent of the population is older than 60,
roughly double the share of the U.S.
Many production companies are shifting toward
more dramas, targeting older people, says Miyuki
Takamatsu, managing director of sales banner
Freestone Productions. Meanwhile, leading studios
Toho is developing its first elder thriller.
Perhaps EFM title Beyond the Sun has trumped
them all, landing the services of arguably the
most famous older face on the planet: Jorge Mario
Bergoglio, 79, aka the pope.
Patrick Brzeski contributed to this report.
EFM Startups
Going Back
to the Future
Exclusive
First Look
By Patrick Brzeski
Ashes in the Snow
In the World War II drama based on Ruta Sepetys best-seller Between Shades of Gray, Bel Powley plays an
aspiring artist who is forced to live in a Serbian work camp, where she attempts to use her art to send messages
to her imprisoned father. Jonah Hauer-King also stars in the drama, now in production in Lithuania.
D5_Berlin_news3 C.indd 1
he European Film
Markets budding
tech program, EFM
Startups, will debut version
2.0 on Tuesday morning.
The two-day program will
provide a platform for 10 cutting-edge startups to introduce
their new production, distribution and marketing technology
to a hand-picked group of film
industry professionals.
We want to open up the
market to the tech world, because
technology and data are changing our business, whether we
want it or not, says EFM director Matthijs Wouter Knol.
In addition to pitch sessions
and networking opportunities,
EFM Startups will host a discussion of virtual reality and
German tech developments moderated by THR European bureau
chief Scott Roxborough.
The event will be held in the
Gropius Mirror Restaurant. THR
2/14/16 10:28 AM
Your one stop shop from script to screen
e-mail info@nuboyana.com
telephone +359 2 933 2500
address 1616 Sofia, Bulgaria,
84 Kumata Str.
Nu Boyana D1 021116.indd 1
Berlin THR ad.indd 3
google
street
view
Development
Scheduling
Budgeting
Production
Equipment Rental
Editorial
VFX
Sound Design
Mixing
Coloring
DCP Delivery
Marketing
web site nuboyana.com

facebook Nu Boyana Film Studios
instagram and twitter @nuboyana
VFX reel
wwfx.net
2/2/16 11:07 AM
29.01.16 . 19:08
theREPORT
BERLINALE IN BRIEF
Chess Doc Magnus Sells
for Germany, Hong Kong
Magnus, a feature documentary

on Norwegian world chess champion Magnus Carlsen, has been
snatched up by multiple buyers in
Berlin, one of several strong sellers
from Scandinavian sales outfit
TrustNordisk. Magnus sold to
NFP for Germany and Austria, EDKO
for Hong Kong, September Film
Rights for Benelux and Discovery
Film for the former Yugoslavia.
Benjamin Rees doc, which
explores Carlsens rise from bullied
boy to grandmaster, also features
chess stars Garry Kasparov and
Viswanathan Anand.
Magnus
True Colours Thriller

Confessions Sells Wide
Italian sales outfit True Colours

has sold the political thriller
The Confessions, directed by
Roberto Ando and set during
a G8 meeting, to Spain, Latin
America, South Korea and several
other countries. The cast includes
The Great Beauty lead Toni Servillo.
Kusturica Named Head

of Shanghai Fest Jury
Serbian director Emir Kusturica has

been named head of the
Shanghai International
Film Festivals
competition jury. Fu
Wenxia, the events
Kusturica
vice secretary general,
unveiled the appointment
at a reception Saturday night in
Berlin. The 19th Shanghai festival
will take place June 11-19.
London Fest Lines Up

Dates, New Bursary
The BFI London Film Festival, once

again lining itself up as a potential awards-season booster, has
confirmed the dates of its 60th
edition. This years event is set to
run Oct. 5-16 and will include a
new funding award worth 50,000
($72,500) from Swiss watchmakers
IWC Schaffhausen to be given to an
emerging British filmmaker.
n
H i d d eS
GEM
Love, Saudi Arabian Style
Mahmoud Sabbaghs rom-com Barakah Meets Barakah playfully examines dating

in a world with strict rules about how men and women interact By Alex Ritman
Fageeh stars as a
civil servant who falls
for a woman with a
popular online show.
oy meets girl. Boy loses

girl. Boy gets girl. So
goes the standard structure of most rom-coms. Things
get a little more complicated,
however, when you set the story
in Saudi Arabia, a country with
a few additional stumbling
blocks when it comes to unmarried boys and girls hooking up
with one another.
So lies the basic outline for
Barakah Meets Barakah (Barakah
Yoqabil Barakah), an unlikely
love story from first-timer
Mahmoud Sabbagh that is set in
the port city of Jeddah.
I wanted to make a film
about the disenfranchised youth,
the millennials, who are more
voiceless and have less political
representation, less economic
opportunities, says Sabbagh,
who, like many emerging Saudi
creatives, cut his teeth making
YouTube videos. Its also about

censorship, the layers of censorship and authority.
The story sees twentysomething civil servant Barakah run
into Bibi, an online star with a
hugely popular vlog. But where
other rom-coms might follow
the hilarious consequences of
the would-be-couples various
interactions, the ever-watchful eye of Saudis rather strict
authorities coupled with any
unchaperoned public meeting
being strictly prohibited makes
even getting to the first date a
near-impossible endeavor.
Its a love story against the
odds, says Sabbagh, who points
out that, hindered by such
restrictions, youngsters have
turned to smartphones and social
media in a rather big way, with
many blossoming relationships
played out in cyberspace.
berlin according to ...
D5_Berlin_Gem_Barakah_I.indd 6
THE PR E S S BOS S
FRAUKE GREINER
Head of press and publicity,
Berlin International Film
Festival
Your favorite Only
in Berlin moment
Enjoying the view of the
city while drinking in the
Monkey Bar on the 10th floor
of the Bikini Berlin building.
While sipping your cocktail,
you can watch the animals in
the zoo below. The Berlinale
offices used to be in the Bikini
house before the festival
moved to Potsdamer Platz
And in casting his romantic

male lead, he turned to one of
countrys rising social media
stars. Hisham Fageeh, alongside
his friends Fahad Albutairi and
Alaa Wardi, became an Internet
sensation in 2013 with his song
No Woman, No Drive, which
used Bob Marleys No Woman,
No Cry to mock the notorious
female driving ban. The YouTube
video racked up some 13 million views and helped show the
world that, despite what many
might think about their countrys
seemingly harsh exterior, Saudi
Arabians arent averse to laughing at themselves.
But aside from the comedic
elements at play, Sabbagh says
he hopes to use his film as a
standard-bearer during what has
become an interesting period in
the Kingdoms history.
There is this notion of change
in Saudi now; we have a younger
leadership, and it seems this
change has been coming at
faster pace than ever, he says,
adding that hes hoping Barakah
Meets Barakah has a domestic
screening despite the lack of theaters (although theres no official
ban, there arent any cinemas in
the country). We profit from
this new political climate. The
kids over there are doing a great
job, and wed like our film to be
a symbol of change and growing
opportunities for the youth.
in 2000. The building has

recently been restored to its
1950s splendor.
The strangest
late-night experience
youve had in Berlin
Meeting foxes the animals,
not the actresses on the
street where I live, right in the
very heart of the city.
Your advice to a Berlin
first-timer
Take a Berlin-by-boat tour,
which takes you to the
Reichstag, the Berlin Dom,
the museum island, the government quarter and many

more sites. You will discover
the city from a different
perspective.
The best place to
get away from the
festival stress
The Tiergarten, the beautiful
park that was designed
so long ago by famous
landscape gardener Peter
Joseph Lenne. An eightminute walk from the
Berlinale Palast, and youre in
the green lung of the city.
2/14/16 6:40 PM
MARKET PREMIERE TOMORROW

FEB. 16 CINESTAR 5 11:00
WORLDWIDE SALES, CONTACT THE ANNEX

ALEX HUGHES, MGB #145 TEL: +1.416.363.9971 EXT. 241
The Annex D5 021516.indd 1
2/4/16 12:57 PM
Q&A DIRECTOR
Thomas
Vinterberg
The Danish auteur on how living in a

commune as a kid it wasnt like free
sex and drugs everywhere led to his
most personal film By Scott Roxborough
How did the idea for this film come about?

When I was 7, my mum and dad decided to
move with me and my sister into a commune.
In America, I know communes are looked at
as a kind of sect, something religious, or hippies living on vegetables in the countryside.
It wasnt like that. These were academics,
people working in TV, professionals. My dad
was a film critic. They lived a completely normal, atheist, slightly leftist lifestyle. It wasnt
like free sex and drugs everywhere. But it
was a very optimistic, free-spirited atmosphere. With maybe a few too many beers.
Why did you decide to make a movie about it?
I was thinking a lot about how many people
now live alone in Denmark. Even couples
often live separately. A lot of people live with
loneliness. I wanted to talk about loneliness.
And abroad, whenever I mentioned the word
commune, people said, You have to do that.
I was doing a stage version of my film The
Celebration at the Burgtheater in Vienna, and
the director said, We have the best actors in
the world here, do your commune play with
them. So I improvised the play with the
actors. When I saw the opening, with people
in tears, laughing and crying at the same
time, I felt the warmth of my childhood come
back. That was my main gasoline for making
the film, the nostalgia.
I do my own films,
which are the films no
one else could have
done, Vinterberg
says. Some are good,
some are bad, but
theyre mine alone.
How close is the story to your own experience?

I wrote the screenplay with Thomas, and we
changed it. Its not a film about my childhood
anymore, its become fiction, its become
drama. It starts out positive and happy, but
the second hour is pretty dark Im exposing all sides of life, both the electric feel I
remember from my childhood and the tragic
consequences of trying to share too much.
Like The Hunt, its an exploration of a community and the relationship of a community to
the individual. And its about a loss of innocence. I met my own commune a month ago.
I hadnt seen most of them for 20 years. In my
head, they were the same vital, young group
of people. But they are separated, they are
divorced. Theyve gotten old. I had somehow
lived under the idea that one day I could move
back. But I realize that isnt going to happen.
So what will be your next homegrown movie?

Thomas and I are developing a movie about
Why do you think the communes didnt work?
alcohol, a celebration of alcohol, a love letter.
The world changed. In 1975 in our commune,
Its an acknowledgment that when you start
you had a table full of people, and some
drinking, the conversation expands. World
guy would suggest paying rent according to
War II was won by a huge boozer, and some
income. And that guy would be the one earnof the best literature on the planet was writing the most money! But in the 1980s,
ten by drunk people. Drinking
the values of freedom and indion the one hand makes life grow.
vidualism were introduced, and
BY THE NUMBERS
On the other hand, you die from
it was the beginning of the end.
it. But the story of how you die
And communes werent new or
from it has been told many times.
sexy. There might be another
The film is a response to the very
wave coming. Lots of youngsters
Age when Vinterberg first
moved into a commune with
medical and chaste way of living
my daughters ages are moving
his family in Copenhagen
thats spreading like a disease.
into apartments together. And
the older generation who lived
Whats it called?
in communes are moving into
The number of films
Maybe Ill call it Drunk. No,
communities together.
Vinterberg has written with
Thomas Lindholm
actually it doesnt have a title.
Theres a Danish one, but its
Youve done a couple of Englishuntranslatable. We have a lot
language films, and youre attached
Age when he was accepted
more words for drinking than
to direct a movie, written by Robert
to the Danish Film Academy as
you have in English.
Rodat, about the Kursk Russian
its youngest-ever student
19
D5_Berlin_QA_Vinterberg_G.indd 8
submarine disaster. But you keep coming back to

Denmark. Why?
Thomas and I wanted to do The Hunt as an
American movie. We pitched agents and they
said, Forget it. With that topic child abuse
you wont be able to raise a dime. Go back
to your artistic subsidies in Europe. And Im
so happy we did because it made it so real and
pure. Im Danish. I guess I come from the soil
here. I can do a film in a spaceship or, like with
Kursk, a submarine, where the world is alien
for everyone. But if its close to everyday life, I
have to be careful. If I walk into a Copenhagen
deli, I know everything on the shelves, I know
something about the guy behind the counter.
If I go to a New York deli, thats foreign territory. And that familiarity is important when
you make personal, truthful films.
THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
HE HU NT, T H E PR EV IOUS F I L M F ROM
Danish director Thomas Vinterberg,

was a dark tale of small-town Danish life
and how a community can turn against
their own in this case when a kindergarten
teacher (Mads Mikkelsen) is falsely accused
of child abuse. Now, after a detour to make
the period drama Far From the Madding
Crowd (starring Carey Mulligan and Matthias
Schoenaerts) for the BBC, the director, 46, is
back at home with The Commune, which premieres Wednesday in competition. Vinterberg
drew on his childhood as source material for
his story written with The Hunt co-writer
Thomas Lindholm of a group of idealistic
young families in 1970s Copenhagen that
decide to live together. He spoke with THR
about nostalgia, the difference between a
commune and a cult and why his next Danish
movie will be a love letter to alcohol.
2/14/16 11:50 AM
PRO MOT IO N
INUTE
M
S TAY
E
-TH
U P -TO
WITH
THE
BERLIN
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
FILM FESTIVAL
THR.COM/BERLIN
DOWNLOADABLE FESTIVAL DAILIES,
BRE AKING NEWS AND REVIEWS,
PLUS E XTENDED PHOTO GALLERIES
AND ORIGINAL VIDEOS
NEWSLETTERS
GET BERLIN NEWS IN YOUR IN-BOX .
SIGN-UP FOR THRS INTERNATIONAL
AND FESTIVAL NEWSLET TERS AT
THR.COM/NEWSLET TERS
CONTACT: UNITED STATES | Debra Fink | debra.fink@thr.com

EUROPE | Alison Smith | alison.smith@thr.com Tommaso Campione | tommaso.campione@thr.com
Frederic Fenucci | frederic.fenucci@billboard.com | +44 7985 251 814
ASIA | Ivy Lam | ivy.lam@thr.com AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND | Lisa Cruse | lisa@spiritedmedia.co.nz
thrhaff_FP_berlin_online_2016.indd 1
2/5/16 10:06 AM
SPECIAL FEATURE
BINGE BOOM: T
TV HITTING
THE TIPPING
POINT?
As the EFM launches the second edition of its small-screen

sidebar Drama Series Days, insiders wonder if the bubble is
about to burst: Its very exciting but very frightening as well
BY SCOTT ROXBOROUGH
D5_Berlin_Drama_J.indd 10
H E G OL DEN AGE OF T V H A S
become a tired cliche by now

(more like a golden shower!
snorts Steve Coogan in character
as hapless journalist/failed celebrity Alan
Partridge in a recent op-ed for The Guardian).
However, its hard to ignore the sheer
volume of high-end drama being produced
worldwide and the vast sums being pumped
into series. The shows picked by Berlins
European Film Market for its Drama Series
Days showcase are a mere sampling of what
has become an avalanche of complex, challenging and binge-worthy content, much of
it now being made outside the U.S. and often
not in the English language.
Its a kind of frenzy; nobody wants to miss
out, and because theres the opportunity that
something small from anywhere in the world
can become a cult hit, everyone is looking at
everything, says Amelie von Kienlin, senior vp
scripted acquisitions and co-productions at
Red Arrow, an umbrella group that controls
about a dozen TV production companies
across Europe and the U.S. Its very exciting
but very frightening as well.
Frightening because where there is a boom,
a bust must follow. At the moment, the money
is flooding in. Broadcasters worldwide are
shifting their budgets away from reality and
entertainment shows to drama series, adding
to the cash being pumped into the market by
SVOD giants like Netflix and Amazon. Netflix
alone will invest hundreds of millions of
dollars on international series productions
this year, including a jaw-dropping $140 million for the first two seasons of its new British
series The Crown, written by Peter Morgan,
directed by Stephen Daldry and starring Claire
Foy, Matt Smith and John Lithgow.
We are definitely in the midst of an investment boom; all the new platforms are taking
big bets, says Philipp Steffens, head of drama
at leading German commercial channel RTL,
who, like many in the industry, sees the boom
as a bubble waiting to burst.
But with all that money coming in, and with
independent film despite the record sales
out of Sundance still struggling, its no
surprise that movie makers are moving into
TV. Every big indie film company now has a
TV division even French cinema specialists
Wild Bunch launched a small-screen operation last year and the above-the-line talent
for international series is impressive.
Increasingly, these series also are financed
like indie features as co-productions among
two or three countries and with a world sales
company on board to handle distribution.
We put together Cleverman in patchwork
fashion, like an indie movie, says Rosemary
Blight of Goalpost Pictures, a producer on
the heavily hyped Australian sci-fi series that
premieres in Berlin. We
got ABC [Australian
ILLUSTRATION BY
Broadcasting Corp.] as a
Celyn
anchor network, then Red
Brazier
Arrow came in as a major
10
2/14/16 11:46 AM
sales partner and took rights for the world,

then we got subsidies from Screen Australia
and used the New Zealand/Australian tax
rebates. Its very much the model that independent film has been using for years.
One reason this is happening is the international television market is diversifying.
Only a few years ago, every major territory
was dominated by a couple of big free-to-air
broadcasters only interested in broad-appeal,
mainstream series. Now niche networks on
cable and online are everywhere. As of this
year, Netflix is available in every country in
the world bar three (China, North Korea and
Syria, plus the disputed Crimea region). AMC
International Networks offers its specialty
channels, including versions of its flagships
AMC and SundanceTV, to nearly 400 million homes worldwide. Even traditional
broadcasters are going niche with digital
and on-demand services see Channel 4s
Walter Presents, which specializes in foreign-language shows, including German spy
thriller Deutschland 83, Danish vampire series
Heartless and French comedy Kabul Kitchen.
Perhaps no series in Berlin better illustrates
how much the TV world has changed
than The Writer. The Sayed Kashua dramedy
looks at the life of an Israeli Arab, living,
Kashua says, in constant confusion as a
minority in the Jewish state. Even the shows
Israeli network, Kashua says, was scared of
commissioning a series so close to reality,
it hurt. But The Writer is in Berlin, and sales
outfit Keshet International is confident it
will find buyers.
Ive heard we are reaching a saturation
point when it comes to series, but I think the
audience is still there for blue-chip drama,
says Blight. If its a bubble, were still in it,
and while we are, were going to try to do as
much high-quality stuff as we can.
Jamie Laurenson, head of TV at See Saw
Films behind last years festival hit
Mr. Holmes, Jane Campions TV debut Top of
the Lake and a producer on Love, Nina sees
a bust coming, at least for the newbies to the
television scene, the indie film producers.
TV is a different business, he says.
Broadcasters are still the cornerstone, they
commission the shows and they are always
taking a risk. You live and die by those commissions. You can have the best concept with
the best talent, but you still have to deliver.
Thats why so many [film producers] find it
so hard to break into the business. In the next
few years, I think youll see a consolidation,
with most of [the newcomers] falling away.
Rola Bauer, a producer of such international
TV productions as Pillars of the Earth and Last
Panthers and now head of StudioCanals U.S.
television production business, says the real
trick is keeping local viewers satisfied while
also appealing to an international audience.
Look at House of Cards. It isnt a global hit,
but in the countries where it lands, its very
successful, he says. The question is, how
can we do that? Thats our challenge.
The Night Manager
Cleverman
Splitting Up
Together
The Writer
Drama Series Days: 6 Sure Things

Guarantee No Sophomore Slump
The second edition of the EFM showcase offers buyers a look at new series featuring
Tom Hiddleston, Helena Bonham Carter, an Arab-Israeli writer and Down Under dystopia
ITH ITS
inaugural
Drama Series
Days last
year, the European Film Market
and the Berlinale proved to have
the golden touch, as every one of
the six shows picked for the Berlin
galas became a critical darling
and international sales success
story. Now Berlin is hoping to
continue its hot streak with its
sophomore session. While it
has stacked the deck a bit this
time around it seems a given
that the second season of Better
Call Saul will dazzle the 2016
selections suggest the curators
havent lost their knack for picking
winners. The six shows on display which include an Aussie
sci-fi actioner, a John le Carre
spy thriller and an Arab-Israeli
dramedy speak to the dizzying
breath and scope of small-screen
drama worldwide.
Better Call Saul

The second season of the Golden
Globe-nominated Breaking Bad
prequel will screen for Berlin
festival attendees within hours
of its U.S. premiere on AMC
(and before it goes global on
Netflix outside the States). Fans
already know what to expect,
but who hasnt been jonesing for

another dose of Bob Odenkirks
sleazeball attorney?
The Writer
For this self-lacerating comic
drama, successful Arab-Israeli
writer Sayed Kashua has drawn
comparisons to Louis C.K. for
his warts-and-all view of life as
a successful Arab-Israeli writer
suffering from a crisis of identity
as his work is embraced by the
Jewish elite but he finds himself
estranged from his family.
Cleverman
One of the biggest shows ever to
come out of Australia also is one
of the most ambitious. Cleverman
graphs Aboriginal origin myths
onto a dystopian future version of
Down Under, where an authoritarian government tries to scapegoat
the Hairypeople, a super-humanoid species that emerged from
the outback and lives uneasily
next to white Australians in the
countrys biggest city.
The Night Manager

This adaptation of the le Carre
best-seller of the same name
boasts above-the-line talent
D5_Berlin_Drama_J.indd 11
worthy of a Berlin festival entry or

Oscar winner. Tom Hiddleston
stars as an ex-British solider
recruited by an intelligence
operative (Olivia Colman) to
infiltrate the network of a notorious arms dealer (Hugh Laurie).
Its the series debut of Susanne
Bier, who directed the Oscarwinning foreign-language film
In a Better World.
Splitting Up Together
Dogma meets sitcom in this
Danish series, in which a couple
decides to divorce only to realize
they are so underwater on their
mortgage that selling their house
is impossible so they decide
to stay under the same roof. Its
directed by Hella Joof of local
comedy hit All Inclusive.
Love, Nina
Shifting gears from Netflixs
feminist superhero series
Jessica Jones, director S.J.
Clarkson takes on 1980s Britain
in this adaptation of the Nina
Stibbe best-seller adapted
by Brooklyn Oscar nominee
Nick Hornby in which a young
nanny (Helena Bonham Carter)
from a provincial town struggles
to find her feet in London. S.R.
11
2/14/16 11:46 AM
BERLIN WALL TO W
Alexander Skarsgard (left)

and Michael Pena
Feb. 12, 5:15PM, The Regent Hotel

In John Michael McDonaghs black comedy
War on Everyone, the pair play gleefully corrupt
Albuquerque cops. It [the script] was just so
different. It felt so unique, says Skarsgard. Adds
Pena: Any research I wanted to do for this film, it
didnt help to watch CSI and those kinds of shows.
Just watching [McDonaghs] movies, seeing their
specific tone, that really helped me.
Cynthia Nixon
Feb. 14, 10AM, Grand Hyatt Hotel

Says Nixon of playing Emily Dickinson in
Terence Davies A Quiet Passion: She
was deeply concerned with gender and
thought that inequality between the
sexes was wrong. But I think, frankly,
calling her a feminist would be kind of
reductive. Shes bigger than that.
D5_Berlin_portfolio_J.indd 12
12
2/14/16 7:25 PM
O WALL
Between sparkly red-carpet premieres and late-night afterparties,

the Berlinales top talent paused to pose for THRs cameras
P H O T O G R A P H E D B Y FA B R I Z I O M A L T E S E .
Sarah Gadon and

Logan Lerman
Feb. 14, 2:05PM, Berlin Regent hotel

Marcus and Olivia are outsiders, says
Gadon of her and Lermans characters in
Indignation, James Schamus adaptation
of the Philip Roth novel. When youre
growing up, its a pretty common feeling
to feel as though you dont fit in. Thats
something people really connect to.
Alba Rohrwacher
Feb. 14, 4:40PM, Berlinale Palast

The Berlin Jury member has
made quite an impression as an
actress on the fest circuit, most
recently in Matteo Garrones
Cannes entry Tale of Tales. She
returned to Berlin after being
named a shooting star in 2009.
D5_Berlin_portfolio_J.indd 13
13
2/14/16 7:25 PM
EFM SCREENING GUIDE

2016
FEB. 15
9:00 Ninja the Monster,

CinemaxX 19, 81 mins., Japan,
Shochiku
S Is for Stanley, Kino Arsenal
2, 78 mins., Italy, Rai Com
The Canterville Ghost,
CinemaxX 1, 92 mins., France,
TF1 International
Marseille, CinemaxX 3,
100 mins., France, Pathe
International
The Mystery of Snow Queen,
CinemaxX 17, 91 mins., Russia,
Amadeus Entertainment
Whos Gonna Love Me Now?,
Kino Arsenal 1, 84 mins., Israel,
Autlook Filmsales
Ogres, CineStar 6, 145 mins.,
France, Pyramide
The World Is Mine, CinemaxX
15, 104 mins., Romania,
Romanian Film Center
The Settlers, MGB-Kino,
110 mins., Israel, France,
Canada, Cinephil
9:15 The Olive Tree, CinemaxX
9, 99 mins., Spain, Germany,
Seville International
Thirst, CinemaxX 13, 90 mins.,
Bulgaria, Alpha Violet
Buddhas Little Finger,
CinemaxX 2, 84 mins.,
Germany, Canada, USA,
Filmoption International
Boris Without Beatrice,
Canada, Films Boutique
My Scientology Movie,
CinemaxX Studio 11, 99 mins.,
United Kingdom, HanWay
Films
9:20 Abattoir No Press,
CineStar 1, 100 mins., USA,
Versatile
9:30 White Pillow, Marriott 1,
45 mins., Germany, USA, Wind
Child Entertainment
Highway to Hellas, CineStar
7, 89 mins., Germany, ARRI
Media
Up for Love, CinemaxX 8,
100 mins., France, Gaumont
In the Last Days of the City,
Parliament, 118 mins., Egypt,
Still Moving
The Ones Below, CineStar 5,
86 mins., United Kingdom,
Protagonist Pictures
Those Who Jump,
Denmark, Forum/Office
Tomorrow, CinemaxX Studio

12, 118 mins., France, Elle
Driver
Hevn (Revenge),
Norway, Canada, Beta Cinema
Weiner, CinemaxX 14,
96 mins., USA, Dogwoof
The Yard, CinemaxX 16,
80 mins., Sweden, Germany,
The Yellow Affair
Hedi, CineStar 2, 93 mins.,
Tunisia, Belgium, France,
Luxbox
9:45 Illegitimate, dffb-Kino,
89 mins., Romania, Poland,
France, Versatile
10:00 Wild Soccer Bunch
The Legend Lives!, CinemaxX
5, 100 mins., Germany, Global
Screen
Urmila My Memory Is My
Power, Zoo Palast 2, 90 mins.,
Germany, zero fiction film
GmbH
Cleverman, EFM Cinemobile,
104 mins., Australia,
New Zealand, Red Arrow
International
10:20 What a Wonderful
Family!, Kino Arsenal 2,
108 mins., Japan, Shochiku
10:30 Heavenly Nomadic,
Kyrgyzstan, Pluto Film
District Zero, Kino Arsenal 1,
71 mins., Spain, Windrose
Dancing With Margot,
Marriott 1, 105 mins., Cuba,
ICAIC
10:45 The Last King,
CinemaxX 1, 98 mins., Norway,
TrustNordisk
Holding the Man,
Australia, Goalpost Film
10:50 Death by Death,
Belgium, France, Stray Dogs
Sum of Histories, CinemaxX
15, 85 mins., Belgium,
Netherlands, Media Luna New
Films
11:00 Shepherds and
Butchers, MGB-Kino, 106
mins., USA, South Africa,
WestEnd Films
Kill Command, CineStar 4,

Protagonist Pictures
The Most Beautiful Day,
Germany, Picture Tree
International
Blood Father, CinemaxX 9,
88 mins., France, Wild Bunch
I, Olga Hepnarova, CinemaxX
16, 106 mins., Czech Republic,
Poland, France, Arizona
Distribution
11:10 Kalinka, CineStar 1,
87 mins., France, Studiocanal
11:15 Hanas Miso Soup,
CinemaxX 18, 118 mins., Japan,
Gaga Corporation
11:20 The Chosen By
Invitation Only, dffb-Kino,
125 mins., Spain, Mexico,
Filmax International
The Complexity of
Happiness, CinemaxX 14,
118 mins., Italy, Rai Com
12:40 Down by Love,

CinemaxX 9, 110 mins., France,
Studiocanal
11:30 Chasing Bonnie and

Clyde, When Texas Gets
Smart on Crime, CinemaxX 17,
87 mins., France, Windrose
Baby Bump, Parliament, 90
mins., Poland, Film Republic
Jailbirds, CinemaxX Studio 12,
98 mins., France, Elle Driver
24 Weeks, CinemaxX 10, 102
mins., Germany, Beta Cinema
Pattaya, CineStar 6, 97 mins.,
France, Gaumont
12:45 Baden Baden, CineStar

2, 95 mins., France, Belgium,
Jour 2 Fete
Come What May, CineStar 4,
114 mins., France, Pathe
International
12:55 Spanish Affair 2,
CineStar 1, 107 mins., Spain,
Film Factory Entertainment
11:45 The Unspoken,

Canada, Arclight Films
13:00 The Demons, CinemaxX

Studio 11, 118 mins., Canada,
Be for Films
Cromo, MGB-Kino, 97 mins.,
Argentina, Pyramide
International
Clean Hands, CinemaxX 13,
108 mins., Netherlands, Wide
Thru You Princess, CinemaxX
2, 80 mins., Israel, Go2Films
Two Buddies and a Badger,
CineStar 5, 75 mins., Norway,
Sweden, Sola Media
Im Not a Rebel, CinemaxX 17,
104 mins., Mexico, Spain,
Media Luna New Films
A Conspiracy of Faith,
Denmark, Germany, Norway,
TrustNordisk
12:00 Hedi Schneider Is

Stuck, Zoo Palast 2, 92 mins.,
Germany, Norway, The Match
Factory GmbH
Sparrows, CinemaxX 19,
99 mins., Denmark, Croatia,
Iceland, Versatile
12:10 Vulcania, Kino Arsenal
2, 91 mins., Spain, Sweden,
France, SND Groupe M6
12:20 The Bodyguard,
CinemaxX 15, 90 mins., China,
All Rights Entertainment
12:30 The Beginners,
CinemaxX 1, 125 mins., Italy,
France, Films Distribution
Tsukiji Wonderland, CineStar
D5_Berlin_SG B.indd 1
IMAX, 110 mins., Japan,

Shochiku
Land Legs, Marriott 1,
90 mins., France, Stray Dogs
13:05 Life, Animated,
Parliament, 91 mins., USA,

Dogwoof
13:15 The Violin Teacher,
CineStar 6, 100 mins., Brazil,
Films Boutique
Cafard, CinemaxX Studio 12,
93 mins., Belgium, France,
UDI Urban Distribution
International
13:30 Fukushima, mon
amour, CinemaxX 10,
109 mins., Germany,
The Match Factory
Being AP, CinemaxX 16,
HanWay Films
Awaiting, dffb-Kino, 96 mins.,
Spain, Lithuania, Latido Films
Neon, CinemaxX 14,
83 mins., Australia, Mongrel
International
13:35 The Devils Mistress,
CinemaxX 18, 110 mins., Czech
Republic, Germany, Global
Screen
13:40 Nobel, EFM Cinemobile,
47 mins., Norway, Czech
Republic, DRG
13:50 Homecoming,
Finland, The Yellow Affair
Maraakames Dream,
Kino Arsenal 2, 90 mins.,
Mexico, Mexican Film Institute
(IMCINE)
14:00 Wreck It!, Zoo Palast 2,
14
2/14/16 2:01 AM
Germany, Wide
Above and Below, Zoo
Palast 2, 118 mins., Germany,
Switzerland, Maximage
Norskov, EFM Cinemobile,
42 mins., Denmark, DR Sales
16:10 Dad in Training,
CineStar 4, 95 mins., France,
TF1 International
16:20 Europe, She Loves,
Switzerland, Germany, Autlook
Filmsales
Louis Ferdinand Celine,
Parliament, 97 mins., France,
Other Angle Pictures
FIlms
Boutiques
Boris Without
Beatrice
98 mins., Germany, Tamtam

Film GmbH
Cinema, mon amour,
Romania, Romanian Film
Center
14:05 Free in Deed, Marriott 1,
99 mins., USA, Stray Dogs
14:25 Crew, CineStar IMAX,
180 mins., Planeta Inform Film
Distribution
Between Fences, CinemaxX 2,
85 mins., Israel, France, Doc &
Film International
14:30 On the Other Side,
CineStar 2, 85 mins., Croatia,
Serbia, Cercamon
14:40 Dont Call Me Son,
CineStar 4, 82 mins., Brazil,
Loco Films
Touched With Fire,
Myriad Pictures
14:45 Follow the Money
Season 2, EFM Cinemobile,
58 mins., Denmark, DR Sales
Happiness Is a Four
Letter Word, Parliament,
93 mins., South Africa, AAA
Entertainment
15:00 Little Grey Fergie
Country Fun, CinemaxX 17,
78 mins., Norway, Ireland,
Attraction Distribution
Girl Asleep, CinemaxX 14,
77 mins., Australia, Memento
Films International
Baskin, CinemaxX 13,
97 mins., Turkey, Turkish Films
The Patriarch, CinemaxX
4, 103 mins., New Zealand,
Wild Bunch
Summer of 92, MGB-Kino,
93 mins., Denmark, United
Kingdom, HanWay Films
Paul a Quebec, CineStar 6,
98 mins., Canada, Seville
International
15:05 Operation Avalanche,
USA, Canada, XYZ Films
15:15 Panamerican
Machinery, CinemaxX 16, 86
mins., Mexico, Poland, Luxbox
Drifters, CinemaxX Studio 12,
97 mins., Sweden, The Match
Factory
15:30 My Revolution, Kino
Arsenal 2, 81 mins., France,
Visit Films
Life After Life, CinemaxX 6,
81 mins., China, Forum/Office
Brother & Sister, CinemaxX
15, 90 mins., Germany,
Salzgeber & Co. Medien
Alpha Violet Private
Screening II, CinemaxX 18,
104 mins., Alpha Violet
15:50 Coldness, Marriott 1,
87 mins., Iran, Farabi Cinema
Foundation
16:00 The Interrogation,
CinemaxX 2, 84 mins., Israel,
15, 93 mins., Venezuela,

Mexico, Celluloid Dreams
The Woods Dreams Are
Made Of, CinemaxX 18,
144 mins., France, Switzerland,
Be for Films
17:35 Being 17, CinemaxX 10,

116 mins., France, Elle Driver
19:15 The Revolution Wont

Be Televised, CinemaxX 6, 111
mins., Senegal, Forum/Office
17:50 The Bosss Daughter,

Wild Bunch
The Bureau 2, EFM
Cinemobile, 111 mins., France,
Federation Entertainment
16:30 The Girl in the Book,

Myriad Pictures
The Endless River, CinemaxX
14, 110 mins., France,
South Africa, UDI Urban
Distribution International
18:00 The Here After,

Poland, Sweden, France,
New Europe Film Sales
Dancer, CineStar 2, 82 mins.,
U.K., WestEnd Films
16:45 Back to Moms!,

Pathe International
Lily Lane, CinemaxX Studio 11,
91 mins., Hungary, Films
Boutique
Vive le Cinema!, CinemaxX 13,
90 mins., France, Bac Films
A Man Called Ove, MGBKino, 115 mins., Sweden,
TrustNordisk
This Summer Feeling,
France, Pyramide International
18:10 Dark Inclusion,

Belgium, Films Distribution
The Last Will Be Last,
Parliament, 103 mins., Italy,
True Colours
18:15 Creature Designers:
The Frankenstein Complex,
Le Pacte
The Tag-Along, CinemaxX 16,
93 mins., Taiwan, Ablaze
Image
16:50 The Break, EFM

Cinemobile, 52 mins.,
Belgium, Ella Prod
Parasol, CineStar 6, 73 mins.,
Belgium, Be for Films
18:20 Mini Force: New

Heroes Rise, CinemaxX 13,
68 mins., South Korea, 9ers
Entertainment
Author: The JT LeRoy
Story By Invitation Only,
USA, Dogwoof
17:00 Alena, CinemaxX Studio

12, 84 mins., Sweden, The
Match Factory
17:05 Democracy, CinemaxX
15, 105 mins., Germany, Doc &
Film International
17:15 Out of Love, Kino Arsenal
2, 101 mins., Netherlands, Reel
Suspects
18:30 Tikkun, CinemaxX 14,

119 mins., Israel, Bleiberg
Entertainment
To My Beloved, CinemaxX
Studio 12, 113 mins., Brazil,
Pluto Film
17:20 Cooking at the Worlds

End, CinemaxX 18, 94 mins.,
Spain, Wide House
18:35, Despite the Night,

France, Films Boutique
17:30 When Geek Meets
19:00 From Afar, CinemaxX
D5_Berlin_SG B.indd 2
Serial Killer, dffb-Kino,

90 mins., China, All Rights
Entertainment
The Model, CinemaxX 2, 109
mins., Denmark, TrustNordisk
The Call Up, CineStar IMAX,
Altitude Film Sales
Shipwreck 1890, Marriott 1,
127 mins., Turkey, Japan,
Turkish Films
19:05 Palm Trees in the

Snow, dffb-Kino, 161 mins.,
Spain, Film Factory
Entertainment
19:30 Scream Week,

Netherlands, Belgium,
Incredible Film
Planet Single, CinemaxX 13,
129 mins., Poland, New Europe
Film Sales
Wounded Land, CineStar 2,
80 mins., Israel, IsraeliFilms
19:35, Fire at Sea, CinemaxX
10, 107 mins., Italy, France,
Doc & Film International
19:50 The Rift, CineStar 4,
90 mins., South Korea, Serbia,
Slovenia, More In Group
20:00 The Church of
Karadima, Parliament,
95 mins., Chile, Ocio Films
21:30 Rio Corgo, CinemaxX 6,
96 mins., Switzerland,
Portugal, Forum/Office
FEB. 16
9:00 Cloudy Sunday,

CinemaxX 9, 116 mins., Greece,
Feelgood Entertainment
The Beat of Love, dffb-Kino,
77 mins., Slovenia, Slovenian
Film Centre
Fukushima, mon amour,
Germany, The Match Factory
Robinson Crusoe, CineStar 1,
91 mins., Belgium, Studiocanal
9:15 Homo Sapiens,
CineStar 7, 94 mins., Austria,
NGF Nikolaus Geyrhalter
Filmproduktion
9:20 The Exile, CinemaxX 15,
87 mins., Spain, Cinema
Republic
Monsieur Chocolat, CineStar
2, 119 mins., France, Gaumont
15
2/14/16 2:01 AM
P RO M OT I O N
The Definitive
Voice of
Entertainment
News
BERLIN
DISCOUNT
ALMOS T
40% OFF
R E G U L A R R AT E
SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
THR.COM/BERLINSPECIAL
thrff_FP_berlin_subscribe_banks_2016.indd 2
2/5/16 10:46 AM
R E V I E WS
poetry while her personal life remained an arid desert
of frustrated desire (she referred to herself, only halfhumorously, as a no-hoper) with barely a fantasy lover
to populate it. Its not the kind of uplifting tale likely to
inspire generations of college lit majors, especially considering that only seven of the great poets 1,800 verses
were in print at the time of her excruciatingly painful
death from kidney failure at age 55.
Shot largely in Belgium, with some location shooting in Amherst, Mass., the film relies on expressively
lit interiors to convey intimate sentiments. Emily was a
homebody who eventually turned into a recluse, refusing to leave her well-to-do familys comfortable house.
But as the curtains open, Emily (a delightful Emma
Bell) is a wise-cracking student at Mount Holyoke
whose defiance of the stern headmistress evangelical
fervor earns her freedom. Her dashing father, handsome
brother Austin (Duncan Duff) and glowing sister
(Ehle) arrive like the cavalry to whisk her back home to
Amherst, where Nixon soon takes over the central role.
The Protestant religion of the day shaped Emilys
thinking and her work, and Davies brings out its
ambiguous influence well. Despite her free spirit
Nixon (left) and
and refusal to bow her head to its oppression (in one
Ehle play the
scene, she infuriates her father by refusing to get down
Dickinson sisters.
on her knees before the pastor), she participated in
church activities and ardently followed the sermons of
the good-looking Rev. Wadsworth (Eric Loren). The
only soul in the whole film who admires her poems
unconditionally, he becomes an object of deep affection
Cynthia Nixon plays iconic American poet Emily Dickinson
for Emily. Unfortunately, hes married to a woman so
in Terence Davies meticulous but somewhat static biopic
severe she would have put a Salem inquisitor to shame.
BY DEBORAH YOUNG
The big question here is how the audience can
understand Dickinsons pithy, dense haikus, which are full of abstract
HO BET T ER T H A N T ER ENCE DAV IE S, T H E
nouns that require time and repeated readings to digest. Numerous
introspective director of finely detailed literary
poems are read in the film, but their intricate meaning is ungraspable
adaptations like Edith Whartons The House of
before the dialogue that follows takes over. Its a frustration
Mirth and the Scottish Sunset Song, to bring a
compounded by the elaborate language of that dialogue; though the
definitive biography of revered 19th century poet
cast delivers their lines with nonchalance, it takes the ear time to
Emily Dickinson to the screen? That, at least, is the premise that
process the unfamiliar phrasing.
will draw many bookish viewers into theaters to see Cynthia Nixon
Far from the glamour of Sex and the City here, Nixon undergoes
pull back her hair and don the constricting taffeta gowns of the role.
a rather devastating transition from plain Jane youth into ailing
But despite a warmly interacting cast that includes Jennifer Ehle as
adulthood, sidestepping the theatrical in a complex role.
Emilys sister and Keith Carradine as her lion-maned, lionized father
As with many of Davies films, there is much to admire in the
and a valiant effort on the part of Nixon and Davies to externalize the
meticulous period re-creation and a dazzling use of light and motion
poets inner demons in emotional, high-tension scenes, the film cant
that create an unforgettable feeling of place and time.
escape an underlying static quality.
Its also quite a downer to watch the courageous, witty rebel Emily
Berlinale Special Gala
turn from a sharp-tongued girl into an embittered old maid, unable
Cast Cynthia Nixon, Jennifer Ehle, Keith Carradine, Catherine Bailey,
to break free of her unhealthy attachment to her family and create a
Jodhi May, Emma Bell, Duncan Duff, Joanna Bacon, Eric Loren
happy life for herself. Nixon gracefully portrays a life of quiet digDirector Terence Davies// 126 minutes
nity, in which her emotions were channeled into sublime, elliptical
A Quiet Passion
3 Questions with
Cynthia Nixon
By Scott Roxborough
What it is like moving from Sex and the City to the world of
Emily Dickinson?
I think the woman of Sex and the City and Emily Dickinson have
more in common that you would think. While I dont think Emily
would recognize the women on the show or understand them, I
think that a lot of the issues are the same: what is more important to me, my work or my love? What do I feel about having
children? What are the pluses and minuses of marriage?
Unlike similar period dramas, like those of Jane Austens
books, men and love affairs arent the focus in this film.
Well, the Jane Austen books are all marriage plots. But this is a
film about Emilys life. If you did a film about Jane Austens life,
it would have a lot in common: she never married, she was very
D5_Berlin_rev_quietD.indd 1
close to her family, she spent a lot of time in her parents house
writing, writing, writing.
Do you think she gets her due, as a writer?
I think she still does not. There is a bad history of
male writers dismissing her as frigid, uptight, depresNixon
sive. But I would say shes our best poet. She would
certainly give anyone else you would put in that category a
run for their money.
17
2/14/16 6:54 AM
REVIEWS
Being 17
Director Andre Techine again depicts

the awakening of gay adolescent desire in
this knockout coming-of-age drama
BY DAVID ROONEY
H AT A L R E A DY L OOK ED ON PA PER L IK E A N
intriguing collaboration pans out into something

quite extraordinary in Being 17, a naturalistic
slice of adolescent life that combines violence and
sensuality, wrenching loss and tender discovery.
Inevitable comparisons will be made to director Andre Techines
most personal film, Wild Reeds, which also explored the destabilizing
force of teenage desire in a rural setting ruptured by a distant war.
Likewise, a connective tissue can be traced to co-writer Celine
Sciammas coming-of-age stories about sexual identity, Water Lilies,
Tomboy and Girlhood. But Being 17 is more expansive in scope and
richer in tone than any of those works; its an intimate epic that builds
in wholly unexpected ways to a final act of searing poignancy.
It shouldnt be surprising that Techine and Sciamma work so
well together. Both filmmakers generally favor observation-driven
storytelling over plot mechanics, depicting complex internalized
feelings without forcing their characters to spell them out. The
sensitivity of their work is resistant to sentimentality.
Those qualities have been less apparent in some of Techines recent
films, notably the 2014 true-crime story In the Name of My Daughter.
But the directors strengths are at the forefront here, along with a
bracing sense of place. He locates something almost mythic in the
landscape of his setting in the French Pyrenees and in the shifting
elements of the seasons arresting scenes take place in heavy snow,
sleet, rain and dense mist. Those forces are harnessed by one solitary
character and then shared consecutively with two others as the
hesitant lines joining the dramas central triangle are consolidated.
In cinematographer Julien Hirschs establishing shots, the
camera hurtles along mountain roads winding higher and higher as
a smattering of snow on the low ground turns to a blanket of pure
white. Up high is the small sheep and cattle farm thats home to
Thomas (Corentin Fila), the biracial adopted son of Christine (Mama

Prassinos) and Jacques (Jean Fornerod). With deft economy, the
screenplay fills in the social context via casual references, for instance
in a sly detour later on that shows the rise of factory farming down in
the town, wiping out most of the traditional mountain farms.
The physicality that injects such vitality into Techines storytelling
here is evident from the start in footage of Toms arduous hourlong
trek to catch the school bus every day, trudging briskly through kneedeep snow and leaping across creeks.
Toms otherness no doubt partly explains why hes one of the last
to be picked for a basketball team in gym class, though his loner
nature is possibly more of a factor. The only student lower on the
popularity chain is Damien (Kacey Mottet Klein), an awkward, brainy
kid who does himself no favors by floridly reciting Rimbaud in class
or breezing through a complex math problem that stumps Tom. That
prompts Tom to trip him up and bully him after school, but Damien is
too tough to accept the victim role.
In scenes that mirror those of Toms daily journeys, Damien, who
lives down in the town, bounds over to visit family friend Paulo (Jean
Corso) each afternoon for boxing and self-defense training.
Damiens father, Nathan (Alexis Loret), is an army pilot stationed
in a combat zone abroad, and his mother, Marianne (Sandrine
Kiberlain), is a doctor. When she treats Christine for a pulmonary
infection and discovers the patients pregnancy, Marianne forces the
beginnings of a thorny connection between her son and Tom.
The eruption of confused feelings between Damien and Tom is
portrayed with pugilistic brutality, in violence that continues long
after they start sharing the same roof, but also with a strange state of
grace that shows Techine at his most emotionally penetrating.
Klein is a remarkable talent, with a unique screen presence thats
febrile and alien one minute, geeky and awkward the next. The actor
conveys the collision of hostility and desire with an intensity as raw
as it is understated, in looks that show how Damien cant keep his
eyes off Tom. The evolution of their relationship, from begrudging
coexistence to something much deeper, avoids predictable paths,
taking shape through external factors as much as their own volition.
As a portrait of adolescents wrestling with unfamiliar emotions, this
is an uncommonly moving teen film, conveying with great restraint
the boys loneliness, fear, longing and attraction in moments so tender
and private, you almost feel like an intruder.
And it depicts sexual discovery with a candor
that translates into corresponding emotional
transparency, even as it stirs up fresh unrest.
What makes the film so satisfying is that
while its ostensibly Damiens story, an equal
depth of understanding is invested in both
Tom and Marianne. Newcomer Fila is a
gifted natural, while Kiberlain manages the
tricky feat of making the perfect mother
unquestionably real and relatable.
Being 17 benefits from unhurried pacing
that allows every moment the space it needs
to resonate. Music is used sparingly, from
Alexis Raults contemplative string score to a
song by the late Burkinabe musician Victor
Deme that suggests Thomas roots. The look is
unvarnished but eloquent, with a commanding
stillness in glimpses of the mountain settings,
contrasting with the bristling handheld
shooting of scenes between the two boys.
Competition
Cast Sandrine Kiberlain, Kacey Mottet Klein,
Corentin Fila, Alexis Loret, Jean Fornerod
Director Andre Techine // 114 minutes
Fila (left) and Kiberlain

play a high school student
and a local doctor.
D5_Berlin_rev_17_shepB.indd 1
18
2/14/16 7:01 AM
Coogan defends
a prison guard
turned killer.
Shepherds and Butchers
Steve Coogan plays a lawyer battling the death penalty in Oliver Schmitzs
sincere but square South Africa-set courtroom drama BY JORDAN MINTZER
H E T R AU M A S OF
capital punishment
during apartheidera South Africa
are channeled into
a courtroom drama in Shepherds
and Butchers, which stars an
utterly straight-faced Steve
Coogan as an attorney trying to
prevent a prison hangman from
being hanged himself.
Directed by Olivier Schmitz
whose Mapantsula is a pivotal
work of anti-apartheid cinema
and adapted by Brian Cox from
Chris Marnewicks novel, this
well-intentioned if heavy-handed
historical affair is anchored by
Coogans turn, with support from
Andrea Riseborough as a state
prosecutor and newcomer Garion
Dowds as an executioner who
could end up facing the gallows.
With the feel of a polished TV
movie, it could drum up deals
worldwide, though likely for the
small screen.
An opening action sequence
shows 19-year-old Leon
Labuschagne (Dowds) driving
like mad through the rain and
nearly swerving into a minibus
filled with soccer players, all of

them black. Without warning,
Leon viciously guns them down
and is soon charged with the
cold-blooded murder of seven
innocent victims.
It sounds like a classic openand-shut case that is until
British barrister and death
penalty critic John Weber
(Coogan) decides to take it on,
using Leons experience as a
death row sentry to defend a
young man who may have acted
out in a moment of mad rage
brought on by witnessing so
many legal executions.
Taking on the form of a
vintage courthouse thriller,
Shepherds starts off on rather
shaky ground, with much
exposition in the opening
sequences but little in terms
of intriguing characterization
or cinematic ingenuity.
Yet as the narrative progresses
and we gradually learn more
about Leons harrowing
employment, the issues tackled
by former lawyer Marnewick in
his book come rushing to the
surface, challenging a long, local
history of capital punishment

whose casualties were for the
most part black, with 164 put to
death in the record year of 1987
(when the story takes place).
A series of grueling flashbacks
reveal how Leon, who was 17 at
the time, found himself hurled
into death row duties at the
Pretoria Central Prison. With
little training and zero in terms
of psychological assistance, hes
forced to care for the condemned
until eventually accompanying
them to the gallows,
participating in group executions
that are depicted with brutal
realism. No sound effect, facial
close-up or shot of leaking bodily
fluids is spared by Schmitz, who
clearly wants to emphasize the
barbarity of a practice that was
finally banned by the South
African courts in 1996.
Its certainly not the most
subtle of approaches, and
Shepherds and Butchers suffers
at times under the weight of
its subject matter, denouncing
both a legal and prison system
that any intelligent viewer with
hindsight can deplore. There
D5_Berlin_rev_17_shepB.indd 2
are a few moments such as

when Weber meets the grieving
mothers of Leons victims
where the issue is tackled from
another angle, but the film
mostly preaches to the converted,
even if it reveals with historical
gravity how capital punishment
was another way that apartheid
severely discriminated against
South Africas black population.
Theres more nuance to be
found in the constant back-andforth between the trials two
dueling attorneys, as Weber tries
to flesh out what seems like an
impossible defense against the
cold and clever remonstrations of
Kathleen Marais (Riseborough),
the government prosecutor who
seems at first to have the case
in the bag.
Playing one of his least comical
roles ever, Coogan does a good
job conveying the righteousness
of his characters long uphill
battle against the institution
that both built and broke his
client, though we unfortunately
learn next to nothing about
Weber beyond his deep-seated
convictions about the issues
at hand.
Riseborough (Birdman) is
harder to read as a lawyer who
wants to win but cant ignore the
cruel realities that her opponent
is constantly underlining, and
the English actress (speaking
in a South African accent)
manages to say a lot in a few
simple reaction shots. Dowds is
also strong as a killer who tries
to hide his psychological damage
until it all comes out in a handful
of very movie-like moments.
Tech credits are polished
in a very classical manner,
with cinematography by Leah
Striker a bit overlit during
the courtroom scenes, if more
effectively shadowed in the prison
sequences. Production designer
Mike Berg does an excellent
job re-creating the terror of a
functioning gallows, while sound
designer Nicky de Beer makes
sure we hear every tug of the rope
and crack of the neck.
Panorama
Cast Steve Coogan, Andrea
Riseborough, Garion Dowds
Director Oliver Schmitz
107 minutes
19
2/14/16 7:04 AM
REVIEWS
Dont Call Me Son
Anna Muylaerts film is an energetic look at a cross-dressing

teen and tangled family ties in Brazil BY JORDAN MINTZER
OU CA N T CHOOSE YOU R
family, though your family

can sometimes choose
you. Thats the troubling lesson
learned by the characters in Dont
Call Me Son (Mae Son Ha Uma), a
poignant and energetic Brazilian
drama that turns a potentially
bleak subject into a warmhearted
study of genetics, gender and the
true meaning of home.
Written and directed by Anna
Muylaert, who won last years
Berlinale Panorama Audience
Award for The Second Mother, this
fast-paced, endearingly performed story of a cross-dressing
teenage boy who finds out he was
stolen at birth and is then forced
to move in with his wealthy biological parents, could find itself
adopted by art house distributors
interested in both LGBT fare and
bittersweet entertainment that
doesnt shy away from the darker
side of growing up.
Pierre (Naomi Nero) is a
guyliner-wearing high school
student who, the first time we
see him, has sex with a girl in a
bathroom at a party, his pants

hitting the floor to reveal a black
lace G-string and garter belt.
When hes not getting busy or
playing in a band, Pierre hangs at
home with his working-class single mom, Arcay (Dani Nefussi),
and younger sister Jacqueline
(Lais Dais), going through the
usual minor adolescent crises.
But that all changes when
Arcay and her son are suddenly
asked to do DNA tests, and the
truth comes out: Pierre was
robbed from the cradle by his
mother, who is whisked away to
jail without warning, leaving her
faux family in the hands of social
workers.
Soon enough, Pierre whose
birth name is Felipe is introduced to his biological parents:
the affluent, very traditional
Gloria (again played by Nefusi)
and her straight-edge husband Matheus (Matheus
Nachtergaele), who want nothing
more than to get their little boy
back in their arms.
Keeping the action almost
Nero (second from

left) grapples with
gender and family.
exclusively glued to Pierres

viewpoint, the script reveals how
something as major as ones true
lineage might not matter at first
to a teenager exploring the transience of gender as a means to
find out who he is. But the question of Pierres true nature comes
flying to the forefront when hes
forced to move into the swank
household of Gloria, Matheus
and their very boyish younger
son, Joca (Daniel Botelho).
Working with a terrific cast
first-timer Nero is a real discovery Muylaert makes all the
traumatic twists in the story feel
both natural and almost casual
at times, as if were watching
Junction 48
Young Palestinians use hip-hop to fight back against Israeli oppression in

Berlinale veteran Udi Alonis upbeat but shallow musical drama BY STEPHEN DALTON
ET T I NG T H E ISR A EL -PA L E ST I N E
conflict to a hip-hop soundtrack,

Junction 48 is a local story with global
resonance. Back in the Berlinales Panorama
section for the sixth time, Jewish-American
director Udi Aloni returns with some famous
filmmaker friends, with Oren Moverman (The
Messenger) credited as co-writer and James
Schamus (Indignation) listed among his associate producers.
A multinational production supported by
the Israel Film Fund, among others, Alonis
comic drama is big on feel-good vibes but
light on nuance. Given its ever-topical subject
matter, Junction 48 should attract a curious
niche audience and further festival play. But
its commercial prospects will most likely
rest on the cult fame of its star and co-writer
Tamer Nafer, the charismatic frontman of
Palestinian protest-rap group DAM.
Aloni is an artist and activist who has long
campaigned for Palestinian rights and the
establishment of a single binational state
in Israel. He speaks of the Israeli regime in

terms of apartheid and ethnic cleansing,
so it is no surprise the Jewish characters in
Junction 48 are mostly negative caricatures:
racist police officers, violently nationalist
rappers and remote authority figures bent
on bulldozing Arab homes into rubble. By
contrast, the Palestinian protagonists are
essentially peaceful, compassionate and
tolerant. Wherever you stand on the political
spectrum, these stereotypes need to work a
lot harder before they can be considered more
Qupty (left) and
Nafar find love in
a hopeless place.
Panorama
Cast Naomi Nero, Daniel Botelho,
Dani Nefussi, Matheus
Nachtergaele, Lais Dias
Director Anna Muylaert
82 minutes
than one-dimensional.
Making a confident switch from music to
acting, Nafar plays Kareem, a lightly disguised version of his real self. Kareem is an
aspiring rapper growing up in Lod, a former
Palestinian town that is now a racially mixed
community close to Tel Aviv airport. The plot
centers on Kareems growing musical fame,
his everyday struggles with the Israeli authorities and his disapproving parents and his
implausibly chaste romance with the beautiful Manar (Samar Qupty).
Junction 48 is a sweet, polished portrait of
Palestinian life in contemporary Israel. The
attractive young cast and bright color palette
make it easy on the eye. Unsurprisingly, the
musical elements also are strong, with exquisitely sensual Arab folk songs woven around
Nafars witty, quick-fire raps in Arabic,
Hebrew and English. But the episodic drama
also feels sanitized to the point of glibness,
with too many schematic characters in place
of any thought-provoking political complexity.
Panorama Special
Cast Tamer Nafar, Samar Qupty, Salwa
Nakkara, Ayed Fadel, Sameh Zakout
Director Udi Aloni // 97 minutes
D5_Berlin_rev_son_junctionB.indd 1
everyday people whose lives have

suddenly been transformed into
a telenovela plot. Using the relatively unknown Nefussi to play
the role of both moms also was
an excellent idea on the directors
part, adding another layer of confusion to the subject of parentage
that lies at the heart of film
whose original title translates to
Theres Only One Mother. If
only it could be so simple.
20
2/14/16 6:44 AM
EFM INDUSTRY DEBATES 2016

FEB 1315
GROPIUS MIRROR RESTAURANT
NIEDERKIRCHNERSTRASSE
Hosted by
15
MONDAY
16:0017:00
Cross-Atlantic Series Success: (Re)MakingTV

for Europe and the World The boom in high-end television
series has ignited a creative explosion in Europe, and opened up new
opportunities for producers and talent to sell their shows as originals
or adaptations worldwide. But what does a show need to stand out?
What are international broadcasters looking for and how can you
make or remake a world-class series on a European budget.
MODERATOR
Scott Roxborough THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
SPEAKERS
Caroline Benjo HAUT ET COURT
Piv Bernth DANISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
Philipp Steffens RTL
Bruce Tuchman AMC / SUNDANCE
In cooperation with
Panel discusssion followed by networking drinks.
EFM D4 021416.indd 1
2/9/16 1:19 PM
REVIEWS
Letters From War
Takeuchi is
a woman who
grows curious
about a strange
neighbor.
Ivo M. Ferreiras portrait of Portuguese medic turned

novelist Antonio Lobo Antunes is gorgeous to look at and
listen to, but its less than the sum of its parts BY BOYD VAN
Creepy
Kiyoshi Kurosawa returns to the classic horror that made

him a cult name with mixed results BY DEBORAH YOUNG
H E G OOD N EWS FOR FA NS OF K I YOSH I K U ROSAWAS
early psychological J-horror is that the master is back with

all his signature tropes intact. The haunted houses and
scary atmosphere. The hypnotic evildoer who forces others to do
his unholy bidding. The good detective going insane over a case
that hits too close to home. His mentally unstable wife. A disappointing ending. As a matter of fact, Creepy feels an awful lot like
the directors 1997 Cure, with the caveat that theres more smoke
than fire in the mind games featured here, and one can see the
ending coming from a very long way off.
Still, this is prime real estate for midnight madness sidebars,
and the tale holds viewers in its grip for much of its 130 minutes.
An ace cast adds almost too much depth, and one can sense the
actors shimmying into their genre roles with difficulty.
Dapper and broodingly cool, police detective Koichi Takakura
(Hidetoshi Nishijima) is called in to interview a brash young serial
killer at headquarters. He is excited to talk to the perfect psychopath. But the youth escapes and sows panic in the building,
leading to a promisingly dynamic opening sequence.
A year later, Koichi has retired from the force and is teaching
his specialty, criminal psychology, to college students. He and his
wife, Yasuko (Yuko Takeuchi), are moving in to a new house to
start a new life. The only problem is the neighbors
The screenplay, which Kurosawa co-wrote with Chihiro Ikeda
based on Yutaka Maekawas novel, is laden with twists. Koichi
becomes curious about an unsolved missing persons case in a
nearby town. Meanwhile, back home, hausfrau Yasuko tries to
break the ice with the weirdo next door, Mr. Nishino (Teruyuki
Kagawa). Though he makes it abundantly clear he doesnt want
company, she insists on bringing over her home cooking in an
attempt to overcome his lack of social skills.
All these ingredients should come together in a mouth-watering
finale, but such is not the case; the film becomes more obvious and
less psychological as it goes on. A saving grace is the tongue-incheek humor that keeps popping up at unexpected moments.
Berlinale Special Gala
Cast Hidetoshi Nishijima, Yuko Takeuchi, Teruyuki Kagawa
Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa // 130 minutes
PORT UGU E SE COM BAT
medic stationed in 1971

Angola then Portuguese
East Africa, still four years away
from independence suffers a
severe case of saudade in Letters
From War (Cartas da Guerra),
the third and most ambitious
film from writer-director Ivo M.
Ferreira (April Showers). The
twist here is that the titular correspondence refers to the actual
wartime letters of Antonio Lobo
Antunes, who would later become
one of Portugals most celebrated
novelists. In the film, however,
hes simply a young soldier
struggling with the absence of
his pregnant wife, whos back
in Portugal, and with his political ideas, which keep sliding to
the left the more the Portuguese
Colonial War drags on.
Shot in crisp black-and-white
in Angola, this film cant help but
recall Tabu by Ferreiras compatriot, Miguel Gomes. However,
this is a more traditional art
house film, combining Antunes
letters, heard in a voice-over, with
images that re-create, rather
convincingly and on an impressive scale, the life of a Portuguese
army doctor in Africa.
Antonio (Miguel Nunes) is first
spied being shipped to Angola.
Except in the opening and closing
scenes, all of Antonios letters are
read by a female voice, presumably that of his spouse, Maria
Jose (Margarida Vila-Nova).
The writing, credited to the
director and Edgar Medina,
seems to have been more of an
editing job, deciding on which
letters to include and then how to
illustrate them.
Early on, Antonio explains
in one of his letters that hes
beginning to realize he cant live
without a political conscience
and that hes gradually turning
more and more into a leftie
though the film doesnt tackle
politics meaningfully enough to
really get a sense of Antonios
transformation. Did he not
explicitly explore his growing
political conscience more deeply
D5_Berlin_rev_creepy_lettersB.indd 22
Nunes as a young
Antunes, now considered
one of Portugals
foremost novelists.
in his letters because he assumed

his wife wouldnt be interested
in politics, or did Ferreira and
Medina decide to concentrate on
his personal struggles because
they thought they were more
relatable? Its hard to tell, though
the question itself reveals the
limits of this kind of biopic.
That said, the relationship
between the aspiring writer and
the absent mother of his (future)
firstborn comes across as an
intense affair even when just
seen and heard from one side.
The films highlight, as well as
a good indicator of how dense
and effective Antunes prose
can be, is a cascade of fanciful
descriptions of his loved one that
suggest an act of lovemaking just
through words.
Nunes, who has become
famous as a TV actor, has a pretty
face but doesnt always manage to match the intensity of his
characters prose though this
can at least partly be blamed
on the fact that he doesnt have
much direct dialogue he can fall
back on to suggest his characters
transformation.
More impressive is the scale of
the production, which feels rather
large for an art house project and
which is captured by cinematographer Joao Ribeiro in sinuously
choreographed shots.
Competition
Cast Miguel Nunes, Margarida
Vila-Nova, Ricardo Pereira, Joao
Pedro Vaz, Simao Cayatte, Isac
Graca, Francisco Hestnes Ferreira
Director Ivo M. Ferreira
105 minutes
22
2/14/16 7:50 AM
PRO MOT IO N
SEE & BE SEEN

Daily, breaking news and reviews from the front lines
at all major international film festivals & markets
FILMART
HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL
FILM AND TV MARKET
March 14-17, 2016
CANNES
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
May 1 1-2 2, 2016
TORONTO
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
September 8-18, 2016
AFM
AMERICAN FILM MARKET
November 2-9, 2015
THR covers film festivals around the globe.

From previews in the print weekly issue to festival and
market dailies*, plus digital content on THR.com and events,
THR covers the festival circuit from start to finish.
CONTACT: UNITED STATES | Debra Fink | debra.fink@thr.com

EUROPE | Alison Smith | alison.smith@thr.com Tommaso Campione | tommaso.campione@thr.com
Frederic Fenucci | frederic.fenucci@billboard.com | +44 7985 251 814
ASIA | Ivy Lam | ivy.lam@thr.com AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND | Lisa Cruse | lisa@spiritedmedia.co.nz
*Excluding Busan International Film Festival
thrhaff_FP_festival_overview_2016.indd 1
2/5/16 10:14 AM
8 Decades of The Hollywood Reporter

The most glamorous and memorable moments from a storied history
Madonna and Penn were ushered

into the festival in 1986.
ACK I N 1986 , W H EN
newlyweds Sean Penn

and Madonna stalked
into the Berlinale with
the worlds paparazzi in pursuit,
they were Hollywoods hottest
couple, still enjoying the honeymoon phase of a relationship that
would end in infamy.
Married the summer before,
the two stars, then in their
mid-twenties, came to Berlin
for the premiere of Penns sixth
feature, the bleak At Close Range,
directed by James Foley and
co-starring Christopher Walken
and Mary Stuart Masterson.
Penn received raves for his performance as the misfit son of a crime
lord with a serious Oedipus complex, and Foley was nominated
for a Golden Bear.

The Material Girl, still early
in her career, walked the red
carpet in Potsdamer Platz for
professional reasons, too her
latest single, the moody ballad
Live to Tell, was featured in the
film, along with an original score
by Patrick Leonard comprised
mostly of motifs derived from the
singles minor key chord changes.
Live to Tell would appear the
next year on Madonnas third
studio album, True Blue, which
she dedicated to Penn, referring
to him in the liner notes as the
coolest guy in the universe.
With estimated sales of more
than 25 million copies worldwide,
True Blue would became the
best-selling album of the 1980s by
a female artist.
Shortly after this early career
high point, the couples personal
lives took a tumultuous turn.
In 1987, Penn was sentenced to
60 days in jail for assaulting a
photographer on a film set in
Nashville, and in December 1988,
Madonna summoned the
Los Angeles County Sheriff s
Department to their Malibu
home. What happened next
remains unclear. Rumors of a
D5_Berlin_endpg_Penn_D.indd 24
24
domestic assault dogged Penn

for decades, leading most recently
to his $10 million defamation
suit against Empire creator
Lee Daniels, who repeated the
claims in an interview with The
Hollywood Reporter. Madonna
has repeatedly denied that Penn
ever struck her, but the relationship was verifiably turbulent;
the pop star filed for divorce in
January 1989, citing irreconcilable differences. PATRICK BRZESKI
ERIKA RABAU/ULLSTEIN BILD VIA GETTY IMAGES
Before the Storm, Madonna

and Penn Swept Into Berlin
2/14/16 10:35 AM
4-7 April 2016 // Cannes // France
Just like Henrik Pabst, thousands of talented

people bring content to life.
Come and mip them.
Henrik Pabst, Managing Director, Red Arrow International
Join them
miptv.com
Join them for the FOCUS
4 days
11,000 participants
20,650 m2
1,632 exhibiting companies
100 countries
3,915 buyers (including 1,050 VOD buyers)
GE R M ANY
For more information, contact wessel@runze-casper.de
*March International des Programmes : Your content, your community. Any screen. The global TV and digital marketplace in April.
MIPTV D5 021516.indd 1
2/12/16 6:11 PM
KOFIC D5 021516.indd 1
1/28/16 10:48 AM

Berlin: Download THR&#39;s Day 5 Daily

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Berlin: Download THR&#39;s Day 5 Daily

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

BERLIN

FEB. 15, 2016

Odin's Eye D5 021516.indd 1

Romantic Comedy / Spanish-Catalan

FILMAX INTERNATIONAL AT EFM:

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

CLEMENS BILAN/GETTY IMAGES

uyers are raising a

Berlin Sparks Early Oscar Talk

he Berlin Film Festival has a spotty record of

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Motion Picture Domain D5 021516.indd 1

best actress Silver Bear she picked up for Andrew

KNOW YOUR DEALMAKER

Her Seoul-based sales company closed

MEANWHILE, IN THE REAL WORLD

to emerge from Berlins 2016

a favorite for Berlins best actress

Streep: Hollywood Closing the Gender Gap By Etan Vlessing

eryl Streep said Hollywood is giving female

Keshet Intl D5 021516.indd 1

Oldies but Goodies: Aging Stars

year on from her Berlinale Silver Bear (and

and up-and-comers, you might just have a winning

Ashes in the Snow

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Your one stop shop from script to screen

web site nuboyana.com

Magnus, a feature documentary

True Colours Thriller

Italian sales outfit True Colours

Kusturica Named Head

Serbian director Emir Kusturica has

London Fest Lines Up

The BFI London Film Festival, once

Love, Saudi Arabian Style

Mahmoud Sabbaghs rom-com Barakah Meets Barakah playfully examines dating

oy meets girl. Boy loses

YouTube videos. Its also about

berlin according to ...

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

And in casting his romantic

in 2000. The building has

the museum island, the government quarter and many

MARKET PREMIERE TOMORROW

WORLDWIDE SALES, CONTACT THE ANNEX

The Annex D5 021516.indd 1

The Danish auteur on how living in a

How did the idea for this film come about?

How close is the story to your own experience?

So what will be your next homegrown movie?

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

submarine disaster. But you keep coming back to

THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

HE HU NT, T H E PR EV IOUS F I L M F ROM

Danish director Thomas Vinterberg,

CONTACT: UNITED STATES | Debra Fink | debra.fink@thr.com

As the EFM launches the second edition of its small-screen

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

become a tired cliche by now

sales partner and took rights for the world,

The Night Manager

Drama Series Days: 6 Sure Things

Better Call Saul

Berlin: Download THR's Day 5 Daily

Berlin: Download THR's Day 5 Daily