The Berlin Film Festival is historically the most political of all the major film festivals, and this year is no exception.
The 75th edition of the Berlinale unspools amid the turbulent lead-up to Germany’s Feb. 21 general elections that in recent weeks have seen thousands of Germans take to the streets in Berlin and other cities against the rise of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party which champions tough new rules pertaining to immigration.
And right on cue, the fest’s opening film, Tom Tykwer‘s “The Light,” depicts a deeply dysfunctional Berlin family that is saved by its Syrian housekeeper. It’s a “hardcore political” picture, said the director.
“The Light” is one of several films in the fest’s official selection that tackle themes pertaining to immigration and are deeply rooted in the city. “Berlin is so unfinished in so many ways: architecturally, socially, politically,” Tykwer noted. “Everything is always in turmoil, always in transition.”
Burhan Qurbani, who was born in Germany after his parents moved there as political refugees from Afghanistan, will be premiering his new drama, “No Beast. So Fierce,” a contemporary retelling of Shakespeare’s tragedy “Richard III.” It involves a bloody gang war in Berlin where Rashida, the youngest daughter of a victorious Arab clan, carries out a plot against the patriarchy in her family, killing her brothers, nephews, friends and enemies until she becomes the boss of the Berlin underworld. That’s when her psychic scars catch up with her.
“I’ve spent almost 20 years in Berlin,” said Qurbani. “And I can only channel what I see; what’s happening around me. And that is — of course — a clash of cultures. And also a certain anger, a certain feeling of: we are here now. But are we really welcome?”
Burhani pointed out that “The AfD are projected to get a quarter of all of the votes,” he said. “That means that a quarter of all of the voters are electing a party that looks at people like me with anger, with distrust.
“And for somebody like me, who grew up in this country and who has identified as much more German than Afghan, it feels like a punch in the face,” the director added.
Berlin-based helmer Ameer Fakher Eldin, who was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, to Syrian parents from the Golan Heights, will be premiering “Yunan,” the story of a prominent Arab author exiled in Berlin where, burdened by “an unforgettable past and an unidentifiable future,” as the director put it, Munir embarks on a journey to a remote island to contemplate suicide. There, Munir meets a wise elderly woman named Vaselka, played by German cinema icon Hanna Schygulla, whose simple acts of kindness rekindle his desire to live.
“Hanna herself was a refugee back in the day,” said Eldin. “She went to Munich [from Poland] and had her own story of traumas and post-trauma from Nazi Germany.”
Significantly, when the director and Schygulla discussed displacement and cultural alienation on the set, she struck an upbeat note. “She was telling me: ‘Why can’t someone have two homes?,’” Eldin recounted. “So when you watch Schygulla, who is 80, playing Hanna you feel that she’s really true to herself.
“And I think that can really resonate with the audience,” said Eldin. “They can watch her and think: ‘You know what? Maybe we should look differently at strangers.’”
Given that Berlin has always been the most political festival on the circuit, it’s going to be interesting how that plays out this year. “I understand that new artistic director Tricia Tuttle is trying to take a more detached approach,” said Martin Moszkowicz, former chief of German giant Constantin Film and now a prominent producer, who notes that Tuttle has done away with speeches held by politicians at the opening night ceremony.
“But I’m not sure that it’s going to work,” he added. “The city is extremely politicized, and on the eve of elections the Berlinale is bound to be involved.”
