Berlinale 2024 Begins – What Will the Big Discoveries Be This Year?
by Alex Billington
February 15, 2024
Wir sind wieder da für mehr Kino. The 2024 Berlin Film Festival, known locally as Berlinale celebrating its 74th year, kicks off today in the capital city of Germany. With every year, the festival continues to fade further & further into irrelevance (read my report from last year), with an unimpressive line-up and staunch refusal to make any changes to the way the festival runs. Most major film festivals nowadays need to evolve, adapt, update and improve in so many ways right now. Berlinale is one of the most defiant, standing firm in its badly positioned slot in February (right after Sundance, and just before SXSW & Cannes) focusing on so many bleak and boring films. Not much ever makes it out of his festival anymore… Much like Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, Berlinale is becoming a fest where films go to be forgotten, where they have one big premiere and then are never get talked about again. Many of my colleagues get really grumpy when they hear me say this, but it’s how I feel about this festival and their film selection. But I am always watching new films anyway – hoping for a few discoveries. There’s always a few surprises to be found in any fest’s line-up.
As a participant in film criticism, I do believe it’s important to always be honest and clear when offering criticism – including criticizing a festival and the films they program. Berlinale is a big festival with a big ego that has lost its way, though they do try every year to feature some good films. And I’m happy to encounter them! I do want this festival to program better films again. At the 2023 Berlin Film Festival last year, there were a handful of stand-out discoveries from the selection: Femme (watch the trailer) which opens soon in the US; The Teacher’s Lounge (watch the trailer) which ended up being nominated for an Oscar this year – rightfully so; Samsara (watch the trailer) which many cinephiles describe as an incomparable cinematic experience, Tótem (watch the trailer) one of the best films about family from Mexico; BlackBerry (watch the trailer) the amusing Canadian tech story with Jay Baruchel & Glenn Howerton, and Past Lives (which really is a Sundance film anyway). I’d also name Kiss the Future, the U2 + Sarajevo doc that I really loved (watch the trailer), but my press screening of this was entirely empty (it literally was only me and one other guy) and no one else has talked about it since then. Sadly another (good but) forgotten film from Berlinale…
So what will be the worthwhile discoveries from the 2024 festival? Will there at least be another 3 or 4 great films playing here? Much of the Berlinale 2024 is filled with plenty of Sundance discoveries (and a few from 2023 festivals as well), which is what I recommended in my article from last year anyway. Bring in good films even if they aren’t world premieres! My favorite film from Sundance 2024, The Outrun, is also in the Berlinale line-up. Along with other important Sundance premieres including A Different Man, Love Lies Bleeding, Sasquatch Sunset (watch the trailer), Between the Temples, I Saw the TV Glow, Brief History of a Family, and Reinas. All of these are good films and I am glad they’re showing up at both fests. In the “weird” realm, I’m curious about The Box Man, and Cuckoo (a new supernatural film from the German director of Luz previously). There’s also this very strange Netflix sci-fi film Spaceman starring Adam Sandler and a giant space spider voiced by Paul Dano. Sure, why not. In the Main Competition, Black Tea (watch the trailer) and La Cocina are high on the list of my most anticipated premieres to see. Pepe, the film about a hippopotamus, also sounds like good fun. As usual, the best discoveries are often surprises.
Despite my frustration with this festival and its bland selection the past few years, there are some films that I am happy to have discovered here. Some of my other favorite films from the last few years include Mogul Mowgli with Riz Ahmed, the exhilarating Jóhann Jóhannsson documentary feature Last and First Men, the German family drama System Crasher (from the same director as The Outrun), the Chilly Gonzales music biopic doc Shut Up and Play the Piano, the Norwegian comedy Ninjababy, and the super sweet Language Lessons with Mark Duplass and Natalie Morales (here’s my interview with the two of them). I just really miss the days when films like Snowpiercer and The Grand Budapest Hotel were premiering at Berlinale. But those days are over, that era of this festival is long gone. Next year, a brand new director will be taking over Berlinale – the former head of the London Film Festival, named Tricia Tuttle, will begin her next era running this fest instead. What changes will she make? Or will she not change anything? How will she steer this ship through troubled waters? Only time will tell… The festival doesn’t need to show big Hollywood movies, that isn’t the right choice either, but it does need to figure out how to be relevant again.
For now – it’s time to start watching while keeping an eye on the festival buzz. The best part about Berlinale is how accessible & open this festival is. Anyone can buy tickets for screenings in the city at various cinema venues all over. They borrow many of the city’s best movie theaters (Zoo Palast 1, Cinemaxx, Colosseum) to show festival films during these two weeks and they encourage locals to buy some tickets to see something interesting & different. This is what makes Berlinale great! It’s a festival for everyone! The tickets are still affordable (15€ for most, 18€ for Palast premieres – more info here) so that you can wander in to something that might just blow your mind. Or it might bore you so much you get a nice nap. You never know! I’ve been to both of these kind of films at the festival, and I’ve experienced everything here: empty cinemas, sold out shows, snoring audience members, rapturous crowds. It’s what makes big city festivals so much fun. My goal as a cinephile is still the same: be on the lookout for the best of the best – the real breakouts, go to as many interesting screenings as I can, and engage in conversations with colleagues as much as possible. Viel Spaß.
 |
