My Personal Berlinale Ranking - 2015
A ranking from films I saw at the Berlinale 2015.
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29 titles
- DirectorJafar PanahiStarsJafar PanahiNasrin SotoudehBanned from making movies by the Iranian government, Jafar Panahi poses as a taxi driver and makes a movie about social challenges in Iran.
- DirectorFrançois DelisleStarsLuc SenaySimon PoitrasDidier LucienA separate couple meet again after ten years when we found the body of their missing son. During their forced reunion, they both handle the death of their child in their own way. Amid the guilt of losing a loved one, they haltingly move toward affirmation of life, acceptance of death and even the possibility of reconciliation. Chorus is a love story that emerges from mourning and leads to two survivors clinging to each other as if to heal the deepest cut of all.
- DirectorNatalya KudryashovaStarsNatalya KudryashovaDarya MorozAleksey Mitin1987. Olga, Katya and Andrey are going to be Pioneers. They are going to be the last Pioneers of the USSR. Nowadays in their 30's, they are facing another reality with no place for heroic deeds.
- DirectorMalgorzata SzumowskaStarsJanusz GajosMaja OstaszewskaJustyna SuwalaA busy attorney, worried that his anorexic daughter Olga might try to harm herself, since she's still grieving over her recently deceased mother, sends her to see a psychiatrist, Anna, who's dealing with her own loss in an unusual way.
- DirectorPatricio GuzmánStarsMartín CalderónCristinaPatricio GuzmánDelving into the nearly-religious significance of water, this profound rumination on memory and loss bridges the gap between its mystical origins, Pinochet's coup d'état, and the secret of a mother-of-pearl button at the bottom of the sea.
- DirectorAnna MuylaertStarsRegina CaséHelena AlbergariaMichel JoelsasWhen the estranged daughter of a hard-working live-in housekeeper suddenly appears, the unspoken class barriers that exist within the home are thrown into disarray.
- DirectorMathieu DenisStarsAnthony TherrienAntoine L'ÉcuyerKarelle TremblayA teenage Québecer in the 1960s evolves from pro-independence activist to radical terrorist, in this gripping chronicle of the origins of the FLQ in the decade preceding the 1970 October Crisis.
- DirectorYosef BarakiStarsFarzana NawabiHashmatullah FanaiQadir Aryaie12 year-old Mina cooks, sews, washes and works selling knick-knacks on the war-torn streets of Kabul to feed her neglectful father and senile grandfather. Nobody praises her. She spends her life walking without looking back or stopping.
- DirectorAli AhmadzadehStarsMohammad Reza GolzarTaraneh AlidoostiMehrdad SedighianOn their way back from a wild party, Arineh and Nobahar cause a car accident. A mysterious stranger by the name of Toofan offers to cover the costs. This won't be the last time they'll cross his path over the course of the night. Cars form a popular setting in Iranian cinema. They move through the public sphere, yet their occupants remain among themselves. But what happens if a policeman suddenly gets into your vehicle, finds black market DVDs and forces you to admit, tipsily, that Argo is a film hostile to Iran? This road movie through Tehran by night begins as a hyperactive, drugged-up farce that pokes fun at the authorities, interprets the cultural history of Western toilets, and postulates other daring intercultural theories. Yet gradually the atmosphere changes and tension steadily rises in the car, thanks to Toofan, who keeps appearing again and again out of the blue. He plays a diabolical game with the two friends, one that crosses the boundaries into the metaphysical realm. As fanciful and spooky as the plot may seem, it is clearly anchored in Iran's present.
- DirectorAndrey ZaytsevStarsGleb KalyuzhnyyUlyana VaskovichOlga OzollapinyaA teenage boy feels infatuation for the first time.
- DirectorBeata GårdelerStarsFatime AzemiJohn RistoEva MelanderA 14-year old girl reports that she has been raped, but is not believed. The entire village turns against her and her family.
- DirectorTudor GiurgiuStarsEmilian OpreaMihai ConstantinAndreea VasileCristian, a young idealistic prosecutor whose career is on the rise, tries to crack a case against a senior colleague accused of corruption. The dilemma of choosing between his career and the truth weighs heavily on his shoulders. Looking further to solve the case, he enters a danger zone paved with unexpected and painful revelations.
- DirectorPeter GreenawayStarsElmer BäckLuis AlbertiMaya ZapataThe venerated filmmaker Eisenstein is comparable in talent, insight and wisdom, with the likes of Shakespeare or Beethoven; there are few - if any - directors who can be elevated to such heights. On the back of his revolutionary film Battleship Potemkin, he was celebrated around the world, and invited to the US. Ultimately rejected by Hollywood and maliciously maligned by conservative Americans, Eisenstein traveled to Mexico in 1931 to consider a film privately funded by American pro-Communist sympathizers, headed by the American writer Upton Sinclair. Eisenstein's sensual Mexican experience appears to have been pivotal in his life and film career - a significant hinge between the early successes of Strike, Battleship Potemkin, and October, which made him a world-renowned figure, and his hesitant later career with Alexander Nevsky, Ivan the Terrible and The Boyar's Plot.
- DirectorAleksey German Jr.StarsLouis FranckViktoriya KorotkovaMerab NinidzeEpisodic, spiritual and existentialistic look at the state the Russia is in in 2017, exactly one hundred years after the communist-led Russian Revolution. The future looks gloomy, since the world is on the brink of yet another world war.
- DirectorJayro BustamanteStarsMaría Mercedes CoroyMaría TelónManuel AntúnOn the slopes of an active volcano in Guatemala, a marriage is arranged for seventeen-year-old María by her Kaqchikel parents.
- DirectorDoze NiuStarsEthan JuanJianbin ChenRegina WanFollows the adventures of a boy who serves his military service in Unit 831 from 1969 to 1972 in preparation for a war that could erupt at anytime.
- DirectorMark NoonanStarsLauren KinsellaAidan GillenNiamh ShawAfter her mother's death, Stacey (Lauren Kinsella) moves with her Uncle Will (Aiden Gillen) to a remote region in the Irish midlands. As the two cautiously get to know each other, they must deal with the dark shadows of the past. An astute character-driven study on the need to regain footing and let go, told with a good dose of Irish humor.
- DirectorRadu JudeStarsTeodor CorbanMihai ComanoiuToma CuzinSet in early 19th century Romania, a policeman, Costandin, is hired by a nobleman to find a Gypsy slave who has run away from his estate after having an affair with his wife.
- DirectorMasashi YamamotoStarsHyunriShuriJun MurakamiMinjung, a young zainichi Korean woman, draws a small but fervent following as the puppet leader of God's Water, a cult in which she is said to communicate with a water oracle in order to heal pain of the damaged and lonely. When her following starts to pick up and her estranged father enters the picture, things start to unravel, prompting Minjung to seek out her roots, and ultimately find herself.
- DirectorWen JiangStarsWen JiangYou GeYun ZhouSet in 1920s Shanghai, Ma Zouri and Xiang Feitian establish a notorious beauty pageant called the Flowers Competition. All of the city's elite attend the gala event, but when Wanyan Ying unexpectedly wins, it sets into motion a series of tragic events that change their destinies.
- DirectorBrian PerkinsStarsShine Htet ZawKo Yin Saw RiKo Yin Than MaungStory of four young monks left alone in their remote monastery in Myanmar. Shot entirely in newly-opened Myanmar with non-actors, the film bridges spirit, cinema, and traditional Burmese storytelling to open a view onto an unseen world.
- DirectorRuijun LiStarsLong TangWenhao FengSongtao GuoRIVER ROAD is the story of two Yugur ethnic minority brothers, Bartel and Adikeer. They set out on a journey across the prairies of northwestern China in search of their parents, skillfully maneuvering their camels over the vast expanse of dry ground. The allure of the film's core components - the great outdoors, children, and animals - instantly catch our attention. Though realistic, the boys' journey, powered by dreams and anxiety, is depicted with a touch of fantasy. And to firmly establish his characters, director Li Ruijun imbues this impressive effort - a coming-of-age drama couched in the guise of an adventure - with a winning sense of humor rooted in careful attention to detail. At the heart of the film, however, is a mournful air, bemoaning the disappearance of ethnic minorities and the destruction of nature. As suggested by its epic scale, the work has the classic qualities of a film that allows us to enjoy being emotionally affected emotional by what we see.
- DirectorAlante KavaiteStarsJulija SteponaityteAiste DirziuteJurate Sodyte17 years old Sangaile is fascinated by stunt planes. She meets a girl her age at a summer aeronautical show. Sangaile allows Auste to discover her most intimate secret and in the process finds the only person that truly encourages her to fly.
- DirectorPablo LarraínStarsAlfredo CastroRoberto FaríasAntonia ZegersA crisis counselor is sent by the Catholic Church to a small Chilean beach town where disgraced priests and nuns, suspected of crimes ranging from child abuse to baby-snatching from unwed mothers, live secluded, after an incident occurs.
- DirectorJK YounStarsHwang Jung-minYunjin KimOh Dal-suAmid the time of Korean War, a young boy's vow to take care of his family marked the beginning of a lifelong promise spanning 60 years.
- DirectorLírio FerreiraStarsDaniel de OliveiraCaroline AbrasSandra CorveloniTwenty two years ago, an arid, volcanic and island paradise nestled in the middle of the South Atlantic, a nine year old boy, Pedro was separated from his sister, Raquel. Rosa, their mother, fearful of a forbidden attraction between them, decides to send his son, not daughter, for the continent. The boy was taken by Kaleb, the rider of an old circus, passing by the island. On the mainland, Kaleb instructed the boy in circus arts and spirit, where the former islet became Zolah the Bullet Man. BLUE BLOOD begins when Zolah and the circus back to paradise. The circus is established as an island within an island, and the most solitary of these isles Zolah himself, a beautiful man who seduces everyone and everything, yet remains deeply lonely, because he could not love anyone.
- DirectorDang Di PhanStarsDo Thi Hai YenHa Phong NguyenHoang Le CongIt is the late nineties, Vietnam is in economic turmoil and overpopulation has sparked political concern. Vu, a photography student, arrives in the sprawling metropolis of Saigon and moves into a slum neighborhood where he meets a mix of eccentric characters including Thang, a charismatic young man, who convinces Vu to get a vasectomy in order receive money from the government.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsNicole KidmanJames FrancoRobert PattinsonA chronicle of Gertrude Bell's life, a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, and political attaché for the British Empire at the dawn of the twentieth century.
- DirectorBenoît JacquotStarsLéa SeydouxVincent LindonClotilde MolletA scheming servant works for a wealthy couple in France during the late 19th century.