Berlinale Bloggers 2023
Back to the Big Screen

Illustration: Tobias Schrank © Goethe-Institut

A constantly evolving Festival: This is how the 73rd Berlinale, which ran from 16 to 26 February 2023, described itself. Our bloggers from eight countries have moved curiously back and forth between the film festival's cinemas – and are now presenting their highlights from a selection of more than 400 films.

Sofía Otero in “20.000 especies de abejas”. Director: Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren

Berlinale 2023
A few surprises at the end of the festival

The audience is back, Steven Spielberg does a dance, and the Golden Bear goes to a French documentary film. What else has been happening at the Berlinale?

Vicky Krieps in “Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert” by Margarethe von Trotta

Berlinale 2023
The beautiful dawn of normality

Hollywood stars will be there, the competition includes 19 films from 19 countries, and Kristen Stewart is president of the International Jury – what more do you need to pique your interest in the Berlinale?

Contributions of our bloggers

Une femme couchée sur le bord d'une fleuve. « Concrete Valley » arrêt sur l'image.

"Concrete Valley"
A forest as large as life

Emma Soares on a contemplative film that nevertheless carries a strong message.

Reyhaneh Jabbari

"Seven Winters In Teheran"
The innocents who paid the price

One of the most moving moments of the Berlinale 2023 was certainly the presentation of Steffi Niederzoll's documentary film "Seven Winters in Tehran". Daphnée Martel and Ianèle Bellemare from Montreal's Collège Maisonneuve were there.

Leib Lev Levin, Neomi Harari et Yoav Bavly dans « Ha’Mishlahat »

Generation 14plus
"Ha’Mishlahat" (The Delegation)

"The Delegation", or "Ha'Mishlahat" in its original language, is one of the 17 films in the "Generation 14plus" category presented at Berlinale 2023.

Film students of Collège Maisonneuve in Berlin

Conclusion
Our participation in the Berlinale

After ten exciting days in Berlin, the students of the Collège Maisonneuve draw a positive conclusion.

Filmstill Nouvelle Personne

Interview with director Vincent Bonin-Arena
A "Nouvelle personne" at the Berlinale

Quebec director Vincent Bonin-Arena presented his first feature film, "Nouvelle Personne", at the Berlinale. Émilie Kessler and Emmy Champagne took the opportunity to interview their compatriot about his work and life path.

Gaby les Collines | Still: Lou Thompson as Gaby

Berlinale Bloggers 2023
The difficulties of becoming an adult

One film in particular caught the eye of the students of Collège Maisonneuve at the Berlinale: It is the short film "Gaby les collines" by Zoé Pelchat, which had its world premiere at the Berlinale.

BlackBerry | Still: Jay Baruchel in Blackberry

"BlackBerry"
The rise and fall of a global brand

"BlackBerry" is a Canadian fictional documentary film directed by Matthew Johnson that focuses on the origin story of the famous BlackBerry cell phone brand. The film was screened in competition at the Berlinale.

Gaby les Collines | Still: Gaby and Fourmi

Berlinale Bloggers 2023
Québec at the Berlinale

This year's Berlinale entries from Québec focused primarily on the experiences of young people. From puberty to the consequences of sibling rivalries to intimate family portraits, a wide variety of topics were covered.

Filmstrip with water damage, emulsion degradation, colour cast

Berlinale Bloggers 2023
“Preservation means a lot of action”

Many people contribute to making the Berlinale an important event in the calendar of all film enthusiasts every year. Elisa Jochum, head of the Film Heritage Department at the Deutsche Kinemathek, talks about her entry into the festival world and the offer of discovering old films in a whole new way

“Roter Himmel“ (Afire) 2023. Director: Christian Petzold. In scene: Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs

Berlinale Bloggers 2023
A terribly beautiful summer

Christian Petzold’s Competition film Roter Himmel (Afire) hovers dreamlike between utopia and dystopia. Learn more about the film and the press conference.

Reyhaneh Jabbari in: “Seven Winters in Tehran“. Director: Steffi Niederzoll

Berlinale Bloggers 2023
Resisting the Patriarchy to the End

This year, the Nachwussektion Perspektive Deutsches Kino focuses on documentary films and the global situation of women. The documentary Seven Winters in Tehran describes the fate of the Iranian student Reyhaneh Jabbari, who was executed in 2014.

Mario Martone

Berlinale Bloggers 2023
Laggiù qualcuno mi ama!

With Laggiù qualcuno mi ama (international title: Somebody Down Here Likes Me) Mario Martone presents an exceptionally beautiful documentary about Massimo Troisi at the 73rd Berlinale. Here is our review.

Abeer Mohammed, Roaa Al-Hamshari, Omar Elyas, Islam Saleem, Khaled Hamdan in „The Burdened”. Director: Amr Gamal

Berlinale Bloggers 2023
Between nostalgia and a new beginning

The German film festival aims to hark back to the days before the Corona pandemic. Ahmed Shawky is full of anticipation. He discovers organizational and cultural changes at the 73rd Berlinale, some positive and some disappointing.

Marlene Burow in “Irgendwann werden wir uns alles erzählen” (Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything). Director: Emily Atef. Regie: Emily Atef

Berlinale Bloggers 2023
Flames of love

Trotta and Petzold, Schanelec, Atef and Hochhäusler – believe it or not, five out of 19 competition entries come from Germany, but something else is new too. Should we be expecting erotic fireworks?

Langston Uibel in "Roter Himmel"

#BerlinalePeople
Interview with actor Langston Uibel

Whether in front or behind the camera, from curators to directors: In the #BerlinalePeople series we meet the faces of the film festival. We start with young actor Langston Uibel, known from Netflix successes like How to sell Drugs online (fast) or Unorthodox. As Felix in Christian Petzold's competition film Roter Himmel, Uibel is celebrating his world premiere at the Berlinale.

Studierende des Collège Maissoneuve

Film students of the Collège Maisonneuve
From Montreal to Berlin

From Montréal to Berlin: This year, the Berlinale Blogger*innen team will be supported by young Canadian filmmakers. A group of 15 film students from Collège Maisonneuve will report on the film festival from a Canadian perspective as part of a Berlinale excursion.

The Berlinale Bloggers 2023

Jutta Brendemühl

Canada
Jutta Brendemühl

is programme curator of the Goethe-Institut Toronto and blogger at GermanFilm@Canada.

Philipp Bühler

Germany
Philipp Bühler

has been reporting on the Berlinale as a freelance film critic since 2000.

China
Yun-hua Chen

writes for a variety of magazines and gives lectures at international film seminars.

Instagram

Gruppenfoto junger Menschen

Canada
Students of Collège Maisonneuve

Antoine Demers, Ianèle Bellemare, Alessia Tomuleasa-Trelles, Catherine Ross, Ryan Machado, Nathan Lauzon, Daphnée Martel, Morgane Bondu, Emma Soares, Thalia Bissonnette, Timothée Bonnier-Aird, Emmy Champagne, Maya Chesnay, Lisa Tessier-Turcotte, Émilie Kessler.

Instagram

Camila Gonzatto

Brazil
Camila Gonzatto

is a screenwriter and director for film and television.

Corea
Hyejin Lee

is a film scholar and filmmaker. She works as an Overseas Correspondent at KOFIC and studies at the Film University Babelsberg.

Hyunjin Park

Korea
Hyunjin Park

has worked in South Korea as an editor specializing in visual culture and is currently studying East Asian art history in Berlin.

Black and white portrait of a man looking directly into the camera.

India
Prathap Nair

is an independent cultural journalist based in Düsseldorf, Germany, who covers the Berlinale for major Indian publications.

Photo of a young bearded man sitting in an armchair.

Italy
Carlo Giuliano

is an aspiring journalist. His film reviews and social media activities have already taken him to many film festivals.

Instagram

Black and white portrait of a bearded man looking directly into the camera.

Egypt
Ahmed Shawky

is a film critic, film festival programmer and holds many offices in the Egyptian film industry. He has sat on several film festival juries and writes regularly about cinema and the entertainment industry.

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