Thursday, January 29, 2009

2009 Belinale Forum Lineup


Here is the incredibly long list of films that will be screened in the Forum section of the fest. There are more films in the Forum Expanded, Forum Expanded Shorts, Forum Expanded Exhibitions, and Forum Expanded Talk and Show.

Main Forum

(*)Aguas Verdes (Green Waters), Mariano De Rosa, Argentina, 2009
A Historyof Israeli Cinema, Raphaël Nadjari, Frane and Israel, 2009
Ai no mukidashi (Love Exposure), Sono Sion, Japan, 2008
Araya, Margot Benacerraf, Venezuela and France, 1959
Beewax, Andrew Bujalski, USA, 2009
Calimucho, Eugenie Jansen, Netherlands, 2008
(*)Cea mai fericită fată din lume (The Happiest Girl in the World), Radu Jude, Romania and Netherlands, 2009 (must be seen)
Chin yan (The Beast Stalker), Dante Lam, Hong Kong and China, 2008
D’Arusha à Arusha (From Arusha to Arusha), Christophe Gargot, France, Canada and Rwanda, 2008
Die koreanische Hochzeitstruhe (The Korean Wedding Chest), Ulrike Ottinger, Germany, 2009 (Yes this is the new Ottinger film!)
Die wundersame Welt der Waschkraft (The Wondrous World of Laundry), Hans-Christian Schmid, Germany, 2009
(*)Eoddeon gaien nal (The Day After), Lee Suk-Gyung, South Korea, 2009
Filmmakers Against Racism, various directors, South Africa, 2008
Generasi biru (The Blue Generation), Garin Nugroho, John De Rantau, Dosy Omar, Indonesia, 2009
Hashmatsa (Difamation, Yoav Shamir, Israel and Austria, 2009
Hayat var (My Only Sunshine), Reha Erdem, Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria, 2008
Heosuabideuleui ddang (Land of Scarecrows), Roh Gyeong-Tae, South Korea and France, 2008
H:r Landshövding (Mr Governor), Måns Månsson, Sweden, 2008
(*)Jangryesigeui member (Members of the Funeral), Baek Seung-Bin, South Korea, 2008
(*)Kan door huid heen (Can Go Through Skin), Esther Rots, Netherlands, 2009
Langsamer Sommer (Slow Summer), John Cook, Austria, 1976
La Sirena y el Buzo (The Mermaid and the Diver), Mercedes Moncada Rodríguez, Mexico, Spain and Nicaragua, 2009
L’Encerclement (Encirclement), Richard Brouillette, Canada, 2008
Letters to the President, Petr Lom, Canada and Iran, 2009
Ma dai fu de zhen suo (Doctor Ma’s Country Clinic), Cong Feng, China, 2008
Man tänker sitt (Burrowing), Fredrik Wenzel and Henrik Hellström, Sweden, 2009
(*)Marin Blue, Matthew Hysell, USA, 2009
Material, Thomas Heise, Germany, 2009
Meotjin haru (My Dear Enemy), Lee Yoon-Ki, South Korea, 2008
Mitte Ende August (Sometime in August), Sebastian Schipper, Germany, 2009
Mubobi (Naked of Defenses), Ichii Masahide, Japan, 2008
Ne me libérez pas, je m'en charge (My Greatest Escape), Fabienne Godet, France, 2009
Polamuang Juling (Citizen Juling), Kraisak Choonhavan, Manit Sriwanichpoom and Ing K, Thailand, 2008
Rachel, Simone Bitton, France and Belgium, 2009
Schwitzkasten (Clinch), John Cook, Austria, 1978
Seishin (Mental), Soda Kazuhiro, Japan, 2008
Semaan Bil Day’ia (The One Man Village), Simon El Habre, Lebanon, 2008
Soul Power, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, USA, 2008
Sumashedshaya pomosh (Help Gone Mad), Boris Khlebnikov, Russia, 2009
Sweetgrass, Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Ilisa Barbash, USA, 2009
The Exploding Girl, Bradley Rust Gray, USA, 2009
Treeless Mountain, So Yong Kim, USA and South Korea, 2008
Un Chat Un Chat (Pardon My French), Sophie Fillières, France, 2009
When it was Blue, Jennifer Reeves, USA and Iceland, 2008
Winterstite (Winter Silence), Sonja Wyss, Netherlands and Switzerland, 2008
(*)Wu Shen Feng Ling (Soundless Wind Chime), Kit Hung, Hong Kong, China and Switzerland, 2009
Yanaka Boshoku (Deep in the Valley), Funahashi Atsushi, Japan, 2009
Zum Vergleich (By Comparison), Harun Farocki, Germany and Austria, 2009 (a movie without dialogue… must be seen for me!)

(*) From the 25 films nominated for the Best First Feature Award, seven (7) come from the Forum section and the asterisk identifies them in the above list . By the way the members of the Best First Feature Award Jury are: screenwriter Diablo Cody (USA), producer In-Ah Lee (Germany) and director Rafi Pitts (Iran/France).

For those not familiar with this section here is a brief description.

The International Forum of New Cinema – or Forum – is the most daring section of the Berlinale programme. Avant-garde, experimental, essays, lengthy observations, political reportages and yet-to-be-discovered cinematographers: in the Forum everything new or unconventional comes together and finds an audience known for its enthusiasm and discerning cinematic eye.

The Forum places emphasis on young filmmakers and works that push the limits of the medium and perception itself. Appropriately, all formats are welcome. Documentaries and feature films are treated equally. The Forum programme reflects a desire for a radical, impartial exploration of the grey area between genres. The Forum also shows unusually long films that would have little chance of being screened elsewhere. More than a few unforgettable late nights belong to the history of the festival. The Forum has always explored the boundaries between art and cinema.

Definitively one of the most interesting sections of the Berlinale (especially all that come from France and one from Romania) and a section that is screening many interesting films as the ones listed above, but there are many more that you can browse by going here and filter by Forum.

To check The International Forum of New Cinema own site go here. Also check the mobile guide here that definitively is a must have if you’re one of the luckiest people to visit Berlin during the festival.

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