(Michael Stütz, © Lindsay Bellinger) by LINDSAY R. BELLINGER   The new head of the Panorama Section of Berlinale Michael Stütz welcomed the packed house to the opening of the Panorama and led us with a moment of silence for the victims of the far-right extremist mass shooting that occurred in Hanau, Germany late Wednesday evening. Shortly thereafter Stütz introduced Argentinian director Clarisa Navis who presented the world premiere of her film Las Mil y U...

Xaver Böhm is a Berlin based filmmaker. O Beautiful Night, a dark and poetic interpretation of one's fear of death, is his first feature film and it premiered at the Panorama section at the 69th Berlinale, February 7-17 2019.      How did you get the idea to do a film about being afraid of dying?    The fear of dying has always been very present in my life and I wanted to make an honest film, something very personal.  Also, growing up somehow takes ...

If Arab cinema had a punk movement, then Hicham Lasri would be its Johnny Rotten. Rasha Salti (TIFF 2015) A has-been filmmaker sets out to engrave a painful chapter in her country’s history by interviewing a notorious political strongman about the part he played in a brutal former regime. The filmmaker’s glory days are quite as faded as the political power her subject once enjoyed. And her old crew is no longer cohesive or motivated. They all go round and round, circling the...

  Justin Kelly - I am Michael, 2015 US - Interview by Martin I. Petrov    Justin Kelly is an American writer and director, who has mainly directed music videos before entering the film industry with several short films. I am Michael is his first feature film that premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and it was part of the Berlinale Panorama. The film tells the story of a gay activist and writer, who suddenly turned to religion, developing a theory against ho...

  Justin Kelly - I am Michael, 2015 US - Interview   Justin Kelly is an American writer and director, who has mainly directed music videos before entering the film industry with several short films. I am Michael is his first feature film that premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and it was part of the Berlinale Panorama. The film tells the story of a gay activist and writer, who suddenly turned to religion, developing a theory against homosexuality and is starring...

Interview with Lirio Ferreira, director of Blue Blood - opening film of Berlinale Panorama 2015  by Martin I. Petrov Lirio Ferreira was born in Recife in 1965. He started directing films while studying journalism. His first feature Baile Perfumado premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 1997, followed by Árido movie (2005) and many documentaries that have won numerous prizes in Brazil and beyond. Blue blood is his third feature film, open...

Blue Blood (Sangue Azul), dir. Lirio Ferreira, 2014 Brazil - Berlinale Panorama    by Martin I. Petrov  Vibrant images, breathtaking sea horizons, a passionate macho Latino and some romance in the background - is there anything else to ask for from Brazilian cinema?  Acclaimed director Lirio Ferreira presents a story for contemporary filmgoers, keeping it at heart a traditional old-style Brazilian romanzo. Pedro, a handsome young circus performer, returns to his ho...

  While some people in America may already be nostalgic for George W. Bush (do not count me in that group), one of the guilty pleasures that one could perhaps pine for was the former President’s odd use of the English language. Although he was educated at Harvard, he was prone to colloquialisms that were bad mashups of words that he kind of, sort of just made up. He shares this quality with the lead actor in the new Italian satirical comedy QUALUNQUEMENTE translated as WHATSOEVERL...

  The Panorama section of the Berlinale, known for its edgy programming, is celebrating two significant anniversaries this year. The first is the 30 year involvement of Wieland Speck, the handsome honcho who began his involvement as an assistant to the legendary Manfred Salzgaber, a producer and film exhibitor who began the section as an alternative to the somewhat stuffy programming of the main Berlinale section. With an emphasis on queer and outsider cinema, the Panorama was event...

Hi there !I just finished my new documentary "Andy and the Jumbies" ... 2 years of work, following Andy Narell, the king of the steel pan ... He is white, born in Brooklyn, and the most famous composer for steel bands ... I followed him from New-York to Trinidad as he get ready for a big concert that may help him to be accepted as a true trinidadian … An incredible dive right at the heart of Trinidad, the home of steel pan ...52' HD french and english versions .... See the trail...

  While there is certainly a network of gay film festivals around the globe, the Berlinale (in particular the Panorama section) is considered ground zero for programmers and distributors interested in films with a gay persuasion. The Festival not only proudly showcases the work but also is the only major A list festival to give out a specific award for gay cinema, the legendary Teddy Awards. The Teddys celebrate their 24th anniversary this year as the "gay Oscar". Feature...

  The  Panorama section of the Berlin International Film Festival, affectionately called the Berlinale, has always been devoted to stories about people on the edge. The program strand, which was founded by legendary archivist and distributor Manfred Salzgeber and continues under the exquisite taste of current director Wieland Speck, is also home to the gay and lesbian films that will inevitably cause a stir and make their mark at gay film festivals around the world. It could be s...

HUMAN ZOO  The non-competitive Panorama section of the Berlinale often contains the festival’s most provocative and sought after films. While the works are by lesser known filmmakers, the quality is consistently high and leave both audiences and critics with something to debate and ponder long after the lights come up. This year, the section is presenting 17 feature films in its Main Programme, 15 in Panorama Special, and 16 in its Panorama Dokumente series. In addition, as part ...

The International Panorama of Independent Film Makers (http://www.independent.gr/) having existed for 9 years hopes that it had presented an effluence of sounds and pictures which united various cultures and  promote diversity. Our goal is to continue "the dream of art's freedom ".  In the 9th International Panorama people met and bonds made in a cultural event which took place in the city where it belongs, far from the fake star system, in the era of globalization, demonstrations, s...

Sunday, February 18-----The audience has decided.....the Panorama Audience Award, sponsored by “radioeins” of RBB, Berlin-Brandenburg’s public radio and television broadcasting station, and Berlin’s city magazine “tip” in collaboration with the Berlinale’s Panorama section – goes to the film BLINDSIGHT (Lucy Walker, Great Britain). The documentary tells the extraordinary story of a group of blind mountain climbers, who use their remaining senses to allow them to literally soar t...

Sunday, February 11----The Panorama section is the non-competitive sidebar of the Berlinale that has a reputation among Festival veterans as the most ambitious and exploratory program in the Festival. The section has introduced many of world cinema’s most illustrious talents. Showcasing more than 50 films, most making their international premieres, the Panorama opened on Friday with Canadian director Bruce McDonald’s THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS, a visually inventive exploration of a fifteen-year-...

The Cinema Club of T.U.C.TH. - Greece, wishes you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Creative - full of great movies - year!!! ...

AWARDS - ΒΡΑΒΕΙΑ : BEST FULL LENGTH GREEK PICTURE Omega - B.Mplioumis - GR- Fict - 68' - 2006 BEST FULL LENGTH FOREIGN PICTURE Sonya - Kirsi Marie Liimatainen - DE - Fict - 73' - 2006 BEST SHORT PICTURE The letter - Martin Doepner - CA - Fict - 7' 31'' - 2006 BEST DOCUMENTARY Mimetoliths - Algis Kemezys - CA - Doc - 60' - 2006 BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING Glasshouse - Aaron Kim - KOR - Fict - 29' - 2005 BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY Imaginary Ordinary - Kristoffer Borgli Tho...

The Trade Union Centre of Thessaloniki and the Cinema Club of Culture Department, welcomes you at 8th Panorama of Independent Film Makers - T.U.C.TH With plenty of care by the team of volunteers of our Club, the entire support of Secretary of Culture Grigoris Katsiarmas, as well as the big correspondence of the Film Makers that honoured our festival with their attendances, we exceeded all the problems and kept the "dream", for one year more, alive! We thank our sponsors for their precious...