The Berlin Film Festival has unveiled the first 11 titles to play in its Panorama section, seven of which are world premieres.
The line-up includes Josef Hader’s second film Andrea Gets a Divorce, following on from his 2017 Berlinale competition film Wild Mouse. The Austrian feature centres on a rural policewoman Andrea who commits a hit-and-run after her drunken soon-to-be ex-husband runs out in front of her car.
Ray Yeung returns to Panorama with Hong Kong-China production All Shall Be Well, having world premiered Suk Suk in the section in 2019. His latest focuses on a woman who, following the death of her long-term partner, defends her right to property and to having a say.
Jeremy Clapin, whose animation I Lost My Body played in Cannes’ Critics Week in 2021, will world premiere Meanwhile on Earth, about a sibling whose brother disappeared on a space mission - until one day she is contacted by an unidentified life form.
Aslı Özge returns to Panorama with Faruk about an old man who becomes the protagonist in the film his daughter is making about the impending demolition of his block of flats in Istanbul. Özge’s most recent feature Black Box premiered at Munich this year, while 2016 feature All Of A Sudden debuted in Berlinale Panorama.
Elsewhere in the Panorama line-up is the European premiere of Nora Fingscheidt’s The Outrun, starring Saoirse Ronan. The Orkney Islands-set film has its world premiere at Sundance next month. Jane Schoenbrun also brings the international premiere of A24 horror I Saw Your TV Glow, which also debuts at Sundance.
Panorama 2023: first titles*
All Shall Be Well (HK-China) dir. Ray Yeung
When her partner Pat unexpectedly dies, Angie is left to worry about the flat in which the couple lived together for over 30 years. Supported by her chosen family, Angie begins a later-life journey into emancipation. World premiere
Andrea Gets A Divorce (Austria) dir. Josef Hader
Rural policewoman Andrea wants to end her marriage and become a detective inspector in the city. After a birthday party, her drunken soon-to-be ex-husband runs out in front of her car. In a state of shock, Andrea commits a hit-and-run. World premiere
Betânia (Braz) dir. Marcelo Botta
After losing her husband, 65-year-old midwife Betânia is persuaded by her daughters to leave her remote village. She moves near the sand dunes of Lençóis Maranhenses in northern Brazil and ventures a new beginning. World premiere
Faruk (Ger-Turkey-Fr) dir. Aslı Özge
Faruk, who is over 90 years old, increasingly becomes the protagonist in the film his daughter is making about the impending demolition of his block of flats in Istanbul. A story about gentrification and a complex father-daughter relationship. World premiere
I Saw The TV Glow (US) dir. Jane Schoenbrun
Teenager Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a mysterious late-night TV show – a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own. In the pale glow of the TV, Owen’s view of reality begins to crack. International premiere
I’m Not Everything I Want to Be (Cz-Slovakia) dir. Klára Tasovská with Libuše Jarcovjáková
After the suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968, photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková strives to break free from the constraints of the repressive Czechoslovakian regime and embarks on a long journey towards freedom. World premiere, documentary
Brief Historry Of A Family (China-Den) dir. Lin Jianjie
In China following the aftermath of the one-child policy, the fate of a well-off family becomes mysteriously intertwined with that of their son’s enigmatic new friend. Suppressed emotions, unmet expectations and unspoken secrets come to light. European premiere
The Outrun (UK-Ger) dir. Nora Fingscheidt
After living life on the edge in London, Rona attempts to come to terms with her troubled past. She returns to the wild beauty of Scotland’s Orkney Islands – where she grew up – hoping to heal. European premiere
Paradises Of Diane (Switz) dir. Carmen Jaquier, Jan Gassmann
Immediately after the birth of her child, Diane abandons her boyfriend and baby in a Zurich hospital and disappears into a Spanish city she does not know on the Mediterranean. But the changes her body is going through remind her of what she is fleeing from. International premiere
Meanwhile On Earth (Fr) d ir. Jérémy Clapin
Siblings Elsa and Franck were very close. Since Franck disappeared during a space mission three years ago, Elsa has struggled to move on with her life. Until one day she is contacted by an unidentified life form. World premiere
I Saw Three Black Lights (Col-Mex-Fr-Ger) d ir. Santiago Lozano Álvarez
A wise old man embarks on his final journey, entering the Colombian jungle to find a place to die. But the paramilitary soldiers who control the area endanger his peaceful transition to the realm of the dead. World premiere
*synopses supplied by Berlinale
No comments yet