Berlinale – About the 70th edition
The 2020 Berlinale marks the 70th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival. Created at the beginning of the Cold War, as a “showcase of the free world”, Berlinale continues on bringing to the general public powerful films that explore current issues without any filters.
The festival will take place this year between February 20 – March 1, and several Romanian films are to be presented in world premiere, such as The Exit of the Trains (dir. Radu Jude), Uppercase Print (dir. Radu Jude, Adrian Cioflâncă), Malmkrog (dir. Cristi Puiu) and Služobníci (dir. Ivan Ostrochovský), a Slovakia, Romania, Czech Republic and Ireland co-production.
The Berlinale program is divided into the following categories:
Competition – is the festival’s centrepiece and screens the films that will be talked about. Among the past winners of the Golden Bear and the Silver Bear are also the Romanian directors Florin Șerban (If I want to Whistle, I Whistle), Călin Peter Netzer (Child’s Pose), Radu Jude (Aferim!), Adina Pintilie (Touch Me Not).
Encounters – conceived as a counterpoint and a complement to Competition, Encounters is a competitive section devoted to innovative cinematic visions. There will be three awards: Best Picture, Best Director and Special Mention.
Berlinale Shorts – perhaps the most eclectic category of the festival, is the place that fosters the selected shorts.
Panorama – is explicitly queer, explicitly feminist, explicitly political – and at the same time seeks to think beyond these categories – always looking for what is new, daring, unconventional and wild in today’s cinema.
Forum and Expanded Forum – aim to expand the understanding of what film is and how it relates to the world in new ways. The programmes can include anything that serves these ends: contemporary and historical, analogue and digital film, installation art, performance and music.
Generation – for young audiences and for everyone else. Films with young protagonists, controversial stories, which seek to challenge and nurture an open dialogue, thus exploring the lives and worlds of children and teenagers.
Perspectives Deutsches Kino – section dedicated to German films.
Berlinale Special – reflects the festival’s special concerns. Berlinale Special explores contemporary political contexts and trends, through film screenings and post-screening panel discussions.
Berlinale Series – offers an exclusive first look at the most exciting new series productions from around the world.
Retrospective, Berlinale Classics and Homage – bring works from international film history back to the big screen in high-quality digital formats.
Berlinale Goes Kiez – with a selection of films and events from the various Berlinale programmes, this special presentation offers a cross-section of the festival at decentralised cinema venues.
Besides film screenings, the festival also hosts audience discussions and expert panels, concerts and exhibitions.
Berlin International Film Festival will take place between February 20 – March 1, 2020. For more details you can check the full program here.
The festival can be watched live on the Berlinale website.
Writer, photographer and videographer. For Films in Frame she writes news about the latest happenings in the film world and brings to the readers' attention the productions that can be seen at the cinema. When she's not writing articles, she's photographing people in a small studio or searching for new cake recipes.