Berliners, Sabine ‘Bee’ Koch writes, were very much looking forward to this year’s Berlinale 2025.
After five years the not-so-dynamic duo of Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian who, in my opinion, never connected with the festival, the city, and foremost its people, have handed over the reins to London Film Festival alumni Tricia Tuttle.
While the film selection was fine during the Rissenbeek and Chatrian years, I felt a distinct distance to what makes this festival so special for me.
So what did that mean for 2025?
Tricia Tuttle was simply more “there”. We can most certainly forgive her for not having learned German, because we care more about her devotion to movies and our cold city. I applaud her for tackling the difficult political climate with her warm presence and I felt she understood what we and the filmmakers from all over the world needed.
Indeed a breath of fresh air!
This Jubilee Berlinale (a sprightly 75 years old) had more than 240 films from 26 countries vying for all the awards.
An impressive 41% share of directors were female, 2% non-binary, making for a more diverse viewpoint.
Unfortunately, the great centre for the festival at Potsdamer Platz is a mere shadow of itself. After having lost almost all venues there, the public have to roam the icy streets for the special ‘festival feeling’ and because Berlin is so vast, you have to be organised in order to see the best films at the best venues in the best time frame.
Now to the movies: as you all know, my favourite section will forever be the Generations programme. Once again there were some wonderful films and I was lucky enough, to see a good many of the winners:
Christy (Ireland)
Expanding on his short film of the same name, first time feature film director Brendan Canty tells the story of two estranged brothers and their struggles in the tight knit community they come from. It is very close to its protagonists and gives an exact insight into lives in precarious circumstances without neglecting the importance of family, friends and indeed community. All the characters are nuanced and fun, even under these dire circumstances – special shout out to Jamie Forde, who’s foul-mouthed, character Robot stole each scene he was in, swearing and rapping ‘n all. Great acting, great production design and great camera work makes for a thoroughly wonderful experience. As always the Q&A afterwards was a joy – what makes the festival so special.
Team ‘Christy‘ – director Brendan Canty and his main cast.
Têtes Brûlées (Belgium)
One of the many great entries by young, female directors. Maja-Ajmia Yde Zellama draws from her own experience as a Belgian with Tunisian roots. Her protagonist Eya (a stellar Safa Gharbaoui) is feisty, self-assured firecracker, who is very much supported by her whole family. When tragedy hits, she can rely on her people to help her through this process. Maja-Ajmia was very adamant in her Q&A, that her experience is not singular and that there are many supportive Muslim parents and families, who want the best for their girls and let them take their and stand and make their own decisions. What a great way to show us, that women in Muslim society are not always and not necessarily weak, misunderstood and marginalised.
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- Team ‘Tetes Brulees’ – director Maja-ajmia Yde Zellama, actor Mehdi Bouziane, actress Safa Gharbaoui
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- Team ‘Tetes Brulees’ – all of them!
Sunshine (Philippines)
Another female-centric story by a female director. Antoinette Jadaone’s film about an Olympic gymnast, whose career is threatened by her falling pregnant, is poignant and at times infuriating. In a deeply Catholic country the access to abortions is basically non existent and women (and girls) who are in dire need, are left alone to try to take their life back. The fact, that the film doesn’t judge the protagonists and the choices they make, feels very powerful. The ending felt very real world without any preaching one way or the other. Well done Antoinette!
The Q&A afterwards provoked numerous contributions by women, who experienced the same, so you could see, that the movie couldn’t have been more timely and important.
Team ‘Sunshine’ – director Antoinette Jadaone and actor Elijah Canlas
Having said all this, the Berlinale had some fantastic entries in other sections and I want to give a shout out to my other top 3.
Drømmer (Norway)
This is the winner of the competition – Golden Bear, and I am very happy about that. The Berlinale tends to go very serious and this film tackled a serious subject but made the storytelling around it light and fun (can’t believe that I use these kinds of words for a Berlinale winner!). The third in a playful trilogy from Norwegian novelist and film-maker Dag Johan Haugerud.
17-year old Johanne has a crush on her new teacher and writes about her feelings and experiences. Her grandmother and then her mother get to read the memoir and what ensues is an examination of all three women’s idea of what happened and how Johanne put it in words. Interesting characters that don’t follow any tropes but feel real and well observed. And the actors portraying them are simply perfect.
Olmo (USA, Mexico)
The 14-year old protagonist has a lot on his plate with an overworked mother, a bickering sister and a sick father he has to take care of, when he much rather just spends time with his buddy Miguel.
Being of a certain age I could really relate to the setting and the lifestyle portrayed in this coming of age story. The country and the background as an immigrant family is not my experience, but the frictions in a family under duress and the importance of friendship and connection was beautifully observed. The actors were phenomenal and utterly charming. I especially liked Diego Olmedo as the sweet Miguel, who can see the good, where the stressed family can only see the bad. Very uplifting!
Team ‘Olmo’ – director Fernando Eimbcke
Magic Farm (USA, Argentina)
This might just be me as a person involved in film making, but I had such a blast with this one. The movie follows a crew of hapless filmmakers on the look out for the next international fashion trend. When they realised, they made a mistake in their research, that sends them all over, even to the wrong country and the wheels come off.
You immediately get the characters. The story involves the Americans, the locals and many, many dogs to great effect and tons of fun. Screenwriter, director and actor Amalia Ulman knows how to assemble the perfect ensemble and to give all of her actors a place and time to shine. You might have thought this to be the Chloe Sevigny show, but every one gives it their all and it shows!
Team ‘Magic Farm’ – director and actor Amalia Ulman, actors Chloë Sevigny, Alex Wolff and Joe Apollonio
In the end, this year’s Berlinale was a feast with numerous other films that I enjoyed but that I can’t all mention here and I am already looking forward to next year…
Read my take on how to do the Berlinale here.
READ MORE…
To celebrate this year’s 75th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival, an official commemorative stamp is being issued which can be ordered from Deutsche Post’s online shop at shop.deutschepost.de
In addition, the German Federal Government is bringing out a specially minted 20 euro coin to mark this anniversary. These can be purchased at face value in all branches of Deutsche Bundesbank or via the Münze Deutschland shop at shop.muenzedeutschland.de.
The festival trailer is the opener for every film screening during the Berlinale programme of all sections.
https://www.berlinale.de/en/photos-videos/festival-trailer.html
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