The Berlinale has rounded out its special screenings programme with three more films.
Omar Sy-starring The Strangers’ Case by Brandt Andersen is a Berlinale Special Gala.
Two Japanese mid-length films - Chime by Kiyoshi Kurosawa and August My Heaven by Riho Kudo - will play as Berlinale Specials.
Andersen’s The Strangers’ Case is about a tragedy that strikes a Syrian family in Aleppo which triggers a chain reaction of events involving five different families in four different countries. The cast includes Omar Sy, Jason Beghe and Yasmine Al Massri.
It is based on a 2020 short, Refugee, that Andersen wrote and directed that also starred Sy, Beghe and Al Massri. The short film opened at the Cairo International Film Festival and was short-listed for an Academy Award.
Andersen has executive producer credits including Lone Survivor, Everest and American Made.
In Kurosawa’s Chime, a student at a culinary school, hears voices in his head. His teacher remains unconcerned but then the student claims that half of his brain has been replaced by a machine. The Japanese director won best director at Venice in 2020 with Wife Of A Spy.
Kudo’s previous features include Orphans’ Blues and Let Me Hear It Barefoot, the latter selected for Rotterdam’s line-up in 2022. Her latest, August My Heaven, centres on a professional stand-in actor for hire who plays a relative, lover or friend for her clients and attends ceremonies. After an encounter at a funeral, her professional and private live begin to merge.
In a statement, the Berlinale said that both Japanese films “are great examples of the art of shaping riveting stories in a shorter length.”
The three additions complete the Berlinale Specials line-up for 2024. Other films playing in the strand include Abel Ferrara’s doc Turn In the Wound, Netflix series Supersex, Amos Gitai’s Shikun, Atom Egoyan’s Seven Veils and Rose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding.
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