Tag Archives: Berlinale Classics

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The Final Selections for the Berlinale Classics Section – classics by Woody Allen, James Cameron, James Ivory and George A. Romero on the Big Screen

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

Five of the seven restored versions screening in Berlinale Classics will be celebrating their world premiere in Berlin. In addition to the films from Germany, Israel and Mexico the section will include four additional restored versions of international classics, by Woody Allen, James Cameron, James Ivory and George A. Romero.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger is back. In new, three-dimensional form, the T-800 returns to the big screen. DMG Entertainment and Studiocanal, working with James Cameron and his production company Lightstorm Entertainment, initiated the restoration and 3D conversion of Terminator 2: Judgment Day 3D (USA, 1991/2017). In the science-fiction classic, an android played by Arnold Schwarzenegger travels back through time to save from assassination the future leader in the human battle against the machines. To create the new version, the original negative was scanned in 4K at Deluxe LA and then digitally processed by Technicolor Hollywood, while StereoD undertook the conversion to 3D. Studiocanal will release the new, digitally restored 3D version of the film, which won four Oscars in 1992, theatrically. All the restoration work was personally supervised by director James Cameron and his team.

“Famous for its one-liners, Terminator 2: Judgment Day set a new bar for special effects and became a cult film. We’re very pleased to be celebrating the release of the new 3D version of the classic here in Berlin”, says Rainer Rother, head of the Retrospective section and artistic director of the Deutsche Kinemathek.

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George A. Romero’s black-and-white film Night of the Living Dead (USA, 1968) is considered a milestone and a classic of the horror genre. The film is about a group of diverse personalities who barricade themselves into a secluded house in Pennsylvania to fend off an attack by a growing number of zombies. The impetus for the restoration was when the film’s Image Ten partners, Gary and Russell Streiner, donated the original camera negative to The Museum of Modern Art in New York. It was scanned in 4K by Cineric for digital processing and audio restoration was done by Audio Mechanics in Burbank. Night of the Living Dead was restored under the aegis of The Museum of Modern Art, New York and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the George Lucas Family Foundation and the Celeste Bartos Preservation Fund.

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Maurice (UK, 1987) won three awards at the 1987 Venice Film Festival – for director James Ivory, and the lead actors James Wilby and Hugh Grant. The film is based on the eponymous book by E.M. Forster and tells the story of a homosexual attraction. At the centre of the tale is young Cambridge graduate Maurice Hall, who must fight to realise his dreams in the puritanical England of the early 20th century. The restoration, by the Cohen Media Group, used a 4K scan of the original camera negative. Director James Ivory gave the nod to the digitally restored version of his film, and cinematographer Pierre Lhomme supervised the colour correction.

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Annie Hall (USA, 1977), Woody Allen’s world-renowned comedy, which won four Oscars, is now available in a digitally restored theatrical version. In this semi-autobiographical tale, Allen plays the neurotic stand-up comedian Alvy Singer who occasionally talks directly to the audience as he relates the story of his relationship with the title character, using flashbacks and moving around in time. The film was restored by Park Circus and MGM at Deluxe, Culver City. The 4K restoration, using the original camera negative, was supervised by Grover Crisp in co-operation with the office of Woody Allen.

The full programme of the Berlinale Classics section:

Annie Hall
By Woody Allen, USA 1977
World premiere of the digitally restored version
In 4K DCP

Avanti Popolo
By Rafi Bukaee, Israel 1986
International premiere of the digitally restored version
In 2K DCP

Canoa
By Felipe Cazals, Mexico 1976
World premiere of the digitally restored version
In 2K DCP

Maurice
By James Ivory, UK 1987
World premiere of the digitally restored version
In 4K DCP

Night of the Living Dead
By George A. Romero, USA 1968
International premiere of the digitally restored version
In 4K DCP

Schwarzer Kies (Black Gravel)
By Helmut Käutner, West Germany 1961
World premiere of the digital version
In 2K DCP

Terminator 2: Judgment Day 3D
By James Cameron
World premiere of the digitally restored version
In 2K DCP

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(Source: Berlinale Press Office)

#Berlinale, #BIFF, Berlin Film Festival

The Berlinale Festival profile

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

Berlin: an exciting, cosmopolitan cultural hub that never ceases to attract artists from around the world. A diverse cultural scene, a critical public and an audience of film-lovers characterize the city. In the middle of it all, the Berlinale: a great cultural event and one of the most important dates for the international film industry. More than 335,000 sold tickets, more than 20,000 professional visitors from 122 countries, including more than 3,800 journalists: art, glamour, parties and business are all inseparably linked at the Berlinale.

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The entire world of film

The public program of the Berlin International Film Festival shows about 400 films per year, mostly international or European premieres. Films of every genre, length and format find their place in the various sections: great international cinema in the Competition, independent and art house in Panorama, films for young audiences in Generation, new discoveries and promising talents from the German film scene in Perspektive Deutsches Kino, avant garde, experimental and unfamiliar cinematography in the Forum and Forum Expanded, and an exploration of cinematic possibilities in Berlinale Shorts. The Berlinale Special, including Berlinale Special Gala, is showing new and extraordinary productions and honours great cinema personalities. Berlinale Special Series, which began in 2015, presents selected international series. The program is rounded out by a Retrospective as well as an Homage, which focuses on the œuvre of a great personality of cinema, curated by the Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen. Beginning in 2013, the Retrospective expanded to include presentations of Berlinale Classics. They show current restorations of film classics as well as rediscovered films.

Furthermore the Berlinale has regularly organized a program of special presentations that open up new perspectives, provide insight into key themes, make new connections and explore realms where film intersects with other creative disciplines. Food, pleasure and the environment – these are the topics that lie at the centre of the Culinary Cinema. Berlinale Goes Kiez is traveling from arthouse cinema to arthouse cinema within the city to present selected films from the Berlinale program and NATIVe – A Journey into Indigenous Cinema is devoted to the cinematic story-telling of Indigenous peoples worldwide.

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The film industry at the Berlinale

The Berlin International Film Festival is a source of inspiration in the global film community: film programs, workshops, panel discussions, joint projects with other social and cultural actors – the forms of cooperation and the possibilities for creative interaction are countless.

The most important meeting point is the European Film Market (EFM). Around 550 companies and more than 9,000 professionals from 110 countries build and foster contacts here, strengthen their position in the industry or negotiate film rights.

The Berlinale Co-Production Market, affiliated to the EFM, offers fertile ground for international co-productions.

Berlinale Talents brings high profile professionals attending the Berlinale to workshops and discussions with 250 promising young film talents from all over the world. Both sides benefit. The talents profit from the experience of the professionals, who in turn gain fresh ideas from taking part.

The World Cinema Fund (WCF) provides financial support to film projects in countries with weak film infrastructure thereby helping strengthen the regions’ position on the international film market.

The Berlinale Residency program offers international directors a grant to come to Berlin for several months. Working in close contact with individually selected mentors and market experts, the directors can take a decisive step toward placing their next film project on the way to a successful theatrical release.

The close connection between the festival and market is a unique characteristic of the Berlinale and always results in exceptional synergies.

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(Source: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin)

#Berlinale, #BIFF, Berlin Film Festival

First Films for the Berlinale Classics 2017 Are Announced

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

In addition to the German production Schwarzer Kies (Black Gravel) directed by Helmut Käutner, Rafi Bukaee’s Avanti Popolo from Israel and the Mexican film Canoa by Felipe Cazals will be shown in digitally restored versions as part of the Berlinale Classics section. Since 2013, that segment of the Retrospective has attracted enthusiastic audiences with its newly-digitised versions of classic and newly-discovered films.

Canoa by Felipe Cazals, Mexico 1976 (Photo credit: @IMCINE y STPC, 2002)

Canoa by Fililppe

Canoa by Felipe Cazals, Mexico 1976

Canoa by Mexican director Felipe Cazals won a Silver Bear (Special Jury Prize) at the 1976 Berlinale and has now been digitally restored by The Criterion Collection with the participation of the Mexican Film Institute (IMCINE) in honour of its 40th anniversary. The film is based on true events that took place in 1968 in the remote village of San Miguel Canoa. A group of young university employees from Puebla is stranded in Canoa during a weekend outing; suspected of being communist students, the villagers mount an attack on them. The digital restoration was approved by director Felipe Cazals. The screening of Canoa is part of a focus on Mexican cinema; Mexico is the partner country of the 2017 European Film Market (EFM).

Suhel Haddad and Salim Dau in Avanti Popolo by Rafi Bukaee’s, Israel 1986.  (Photo credit: @Israel Film Archive/Maayan Milo)

Director Rafi Bukaee’s debut film Avanti Popolo (1986), a tragicomedy about the absurdity of war, is one of Israeli cinema’s most significant auteur films and was selected to represent the country at the Academy Awards in 1987. Telling the story of two Egyptian soldiers wandering through the Sinai desert after the Six-Day War, Bukaee played with the stereotypical images of Israelis and Arabs, and turned conventional clichés upside down. The film’s dialogue is largely Arabic; it was the first time in the history of Israeli film that Arab protagonists were portrayed by Arab actors. The restoration by the Jerusalem Cinematheque – Israel Film Archive of the film was done on the basis of the original 16-mm negative.

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Anita Hofer and Helmut Wildt in Schwarzer Kies (Black Gavel) by Helmut Kautner, West Germany 1961 (Photo Credit @Deutsche Kinemathek – Gabriele du Vinage)

Schwarzer Kies (Black Gravel), made in 1961, was directed in American B movie style. After its premiere, the press was critical of the film, which took a pessimistic view of society in post-war Germany. One scene in the film also exposed Käutner to accusations of anti-Semitism. Käutner re-edited the film for the German market, giving it a somewhat less gloomy ending. The original version, as well as the theatrical version, survived in the archives of the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Foundation. The foundation has now undertaken to digitise the original, premiere version, to safeguard it for the future.

“Käutner’s film is an outstanding example of an unvarnished view of the depths of Western Germany’s post-war reality. The use of the direct and high-contrast language of a B movie makes it a rarity that can now be re-discovered”, comments Rainer Rother, head of the Berlinale Retrospective section and artistic director of the Deutsche Kinemathek.

The full Berlinale Classics programme will be announced in January 2017.

The following films have been confirmed:

Avanti Popolo
By Rafi Bukai, Israel 1986
International premiere of the digitally restored version
In 2K DCP

Canoa
By Felipe Cazals, Mexico 1976
World premiere of the digitally restored version
In 2K DCP

Schwarzer Kies (Black Gravel)
By Helmut Käutner, West Germany 1961
World premiere of the digital version
In 4K DCP

 

(Source: Berlinale Press Office)