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Darling, Berlin! Online fest screens six independent German films
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Friendship: 'Schwimmen' is one of six films screened during the Darling, Berlin! Berlin, Sayang! Berlin, Teerak! online film festival, which runs from Dec. 6 to 27. (Courtesy of UCM.ONE/-)
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ix independent films straight from German capital Berlin are being screened for free from Dec. 6 to 27 as part of an online film festival called Darling, Berlin! Berlin, Sayang! Berlin, Teerak!
The festival, put forward by the Goethe-Institut Indonesien, Thailand and Malaysia, are being premiered on the Darling Berlin YouTube channel and can be accessed free of charge at youtube.com/darlingberlin. No registration is needed.
Head of Cultural Programs at Goethe-Institut Indonesien, Ingo Schöningh, said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post that the six films were the most promising films to entertain film enthusiasts all over Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.
“Darling Berlin stands for fresh and unusual independent films from the capital. A new generation of directors and actors is shooting funny and dramatic cinema effectively and with passion. Touching, authentic, unconventional, uncompromising,” he said.
The films were mainly made by directors who had only one or two professional films to their credit — young directors who studied at the Film Academy in Berlin and worked in the capital.
Their works exhibit great enthusiasm and courage in experimenting with uncompromising visual language and performances by as yet unknown actors.
The filming location Berlin and its surroundings are also of special importance in these stories because this year celebrates the 30th anniversary of the reunification on Oct. 3, 1990 of the formerly divided Germany, which began on Nov. 9, 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall thanks to the peaceful revolution.
The film festival opened with a screening of Datsche - Blühende Landschaften (2018) on Dec. 6.
Directed by Lara Hewitt, the comedy film is a refreshing summer fairy tale about friendships that cross borders and garden fences.
The 93-minute film tells the story of Valentin, an unsuccessful New York actor, who moves to a sunny allotment garden near Potsdam after the death of his grandfather. But instead of peace, he finds Adam, an Ethiopian refugee in hiding from impending deportation.
Other films include Schwimmen (2018), which centers on two very different girls, Elisa and Anthea, whose friendship gives them support and orientation during a difficult phase in their lives; Oliver Alaluukas’ film Rakete Perelman (2017), in which 10 people live their own versions of freedom and independence in the artists’ colony Rakete Perelman.
Other films include Lotte (2016), Rückenwind von vorn (2018) and Luca tanzt leise (2016).
All six premieres start at 7 p.m. After each premiere, the films will be freely accessible on the Darling Berlin YouTube channel until Dec. 27.
