Berlin’s European Film Market Off to a Sluggish Start

Burhan Qurbani's Berlin Alexanderplatz, a modern-day adaptation of the 1930s-set literary classic, is the front runner for this year's German Film Awards, the Lolas, having picked up 11 nominations, including for best film. Berlin Alexanderplatz premiered at this year's Berlin International Film Festival.

The German Film and Television Academy Berlin (DFFB), one of Germany’s most prestigious film schools, has sacked its British director, Ben Gibson, following an incident during the Berlin Film Festival in which he exposed his backside to a female student during a heated argument.

By Tom Grater

A Jewish prisoner pretends to be Iranian to escape being shot and is then forced to teach Farsi, a language he doesn’t speak, to a Nazi superior inPersian Lessons, the new film from Ukrainian-born, Canada-based director Vadim Perelman (The House of Sand and Fog).

A small but splendid Indian tale inspired by poems written by Lalleshwari, a 14th century woman mystic from Kashmir, as well as a Rajasthan folk story, Pushpendra Singh’s The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs(Laila aur satt geet) takes the viewer deep into the heart of northwest India, where a young nomadic bride plays with her desires and toys with the lust of a young ranger.

Overshadowed by a grisly, racially motivated shooting in western Germany and the growing pains of new festival leadership, this year’s Berlinale served to illuminate the market dynamics and global issues set to impact the international film and television industry in the run-up to Cannes — provided coronavirus stays away from the Croisette.

Arriving between Pawel Pawlikowsi's Cold War and Limonov — the award garlanded second and eagerly anticipated third segments of the boxy-monochrome trilogy begun with Oscar winner Ida — Ivan Ostrochovsky's steely drama Servants somewhat bravely adopts a very similar approach in terms of style and editing.

Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s drama “There Is No Evil” took home the top Golden Bear prize at the 2020  Berlin Film Festival.

It’s a brave young director who has the gumption to revisit Alfred Doblin’s 1929 Weimar Republic classic Berlin Alexanderplatz. A 1931 film version directed by Piel Jutzi was notably followed by Rainer W.

Few of the executives hustling from meeting to meeting amidst the non-stop stress of this year's European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin would take the time to think of the environment, much alone their own mental health. But people's growing awareness of the global climate crisis and, within the film and television industries, of a home-made mental health crisis, have put both issues in focus.

Constantin Film, Germany's leading indie production company, unveiled its new slate of high-end series Monday as part of the Berlin Film Festival's Berlinale Series section on small-screen productions. The big new show announced was Der Palast (The Palast) from famed director Uli Edel (The Baader Meinhof Complex), a period drama set at famed eastern Berlin theater the Friedrichstadt-Palast.

Rodolphe Buet may be one of the few EFM attendees who would miss snowy Berlin in February. The newly appointed head of distribution at Newen, controlled by French media giant TF1 Group, is heading into his 15th Berlin market.

Leonine, the new producer/distributor formed via multiple acquisitions by private equity giant KKR in Germany, has acquired all rights to Asterix & Obelix, The Silk Road for Germany and Austria.The all-rights licensing deal with Pathé Films was unveiled Friday during the European Film Market in Berlin.The film marks the fifth live-action adventure based on the comic book characters created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo and takes the heroes to China.

Best Berlin nightmare story?I was at U-Bahn Schönhauser Allee. A guy stopped me and sold me an apparently unused daily ticket for the metro.

Best Berlin nightmare story?I was at U-Bahn Schönhauser Allee. A guy stopped me and sold me an apparently unused daily ticket for the metro.

Under the new leadership of industry veteran Kristina Zimmermann, Orange Studio, the film/TV division of the French telco group Orange, is launching three new projects at Berlin’s European Film Market: “Last Film Show,” “Old Fashioned” and “Love Song for Tough Guys.”

Lana Del Rey has canceled her upcoming European tour, one day before it was set to begin.

Lana Del Rey has cancelled her entire Norman F**king Rockwell UK and European tour.

The Berlin International Film Festival, which runs Feb. 20 to March 1, turns 70 this year and, as with any septuagenarian, the anniversary has triggered some existential reflection.

Defiant Dedryck Boyata insists Scottish football's snipers have got it all wrong because Celtic helped make him a Belgium star.