The Berlin International Film Festival has announced 11 films for its 2017 Panorama program, and six of them are directed or co-directed by women, amounting to about 55 percent of the slate. While that percentage is something worth getting excited about, it should be noted that approximately 50 films will screen in the Panorama section, so there are still many titles yet to be announced — hopefully plenty of them will be women-directed.
“Two prominent themes have already emerged among the films selected to date,” an official press release from the Berlinale details: “a fresh historically reflective approach to the history of black people in North America, South America, Africa, and ‘Europa Europa,’ which explores how progressive forces might best defend themselves in light of a zeitgeist that makes it seem as if yesterday never went away.”
Films screening in the Panorama program include Daniela Thomas’ “Vazante,” a drama portraying the legacy of slavery in Brazil, and Kitty Green’s “Casting JonBenet,” “a sly and stylized exploration of the world’s most sensational child-murder case, the still unsolved death of six-year-old American beauty queen, JonBenet Ramsey,” the film’s official synopsis reads. “Over 15 months, the filmmakers traveled to the Ramsey’s Colorado hometown to elicit responses, reflections, and performances from the local community, creating a bold work of art born from the collective memories and mythologies the crime inspired.” “Casting JonBenet” will also screen at Sundance next year.
As we reported, the first set of films announced as part of the fest’s Main Competition are 40 percent women-directed.
The Berlin International Film Festival runs from February 9–17, 2017. Check out the female-helmed films screening in the Panorama program below. List adapted from the Berlinale, with plot summaries courtesy of the fest.
In Focus: Reclaiming Black History
“Vazante”
Brazil / Portugal
By Daniela Thomas
With Adriano Carvalho, Luana Nastas, Juliana Carneiro da Cunha, Sandra Corveloni, Roberto Audio
World premiere
Daniela Thomas, co-director of many joint productions with Walter Salles, presents her solo directorial debut. Brazil was the last country to officially abolish slavery in its historical form, in 1888. This film’s story (co-authored by Beto Amaral) is set in 1821, one year before the South American nation gained its independence from Portugal. The wealth that is extracted from the country comes in the form of gemstones from the mines of Minas Gerais. The precious jewels are excavated from the belly of the mountain by slaves; still absent today is any significant memorial to the suffering they endured. Although this era represents the foundation upon which today’s Brazil was built, its culture has yet to recover from the monstrosity of these events.
Europa Europa
“Casting JonBenet”
USA
By Kitty Green
International premiere
Produced by James Schamus and Scott Macaulay, this film is a highly intelligent attempt to revisit the facts surrounding the unsolved violent death of six-year-old “beauty queen” JonBenet Ramsey. What was conceived as a celebration of the American dream family became a nightmare 20 years ago for the ever so omnipotent petty bourgeoisie.
“Honeygiver Among the Dogs”
Bhutan
By Dechen Roder
With Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk, Sonam Tashi Choden
European premiere
This debut feature from director Dechen Roder, who already presented a short film at the Berlinale in 2015, is a veritable Buddhist film noir. Atmospherically dense cinema, dynamically charged between tension and serenity, faith and morality.
“Pendular”
Brazil / Argentina / France
By Julia Murat
With Raquel Karro, Rodrigo Bolzan
World premiere
Young director Julia Murat is a real discovery. Here she examines the relationship between a dance artist and a sculptor using the means of their particular art forms. A philosophical, original gender treatment of young bohemians poised on the verge of middle age.
“Ri Chang Dui Hua (Small Talk)”
Taiwan
By Hui-chen Huang
International premiere
A family story of a very special kind, produced by Hou Hsiao-hsien. The mother earns a living as a spirit guide for the deceased at their funerals: she was never at home, always out and about with her girlfriends instead. The daughter now goes to great lengths to attempt to understand her mother. A cosmos opens before us, one which manages to be of universal cultural significance and extremely intimate at the same time.
“Untitled”
Austria / Germany
By Michael Glawogger, Monika Willi
World premiere
“This film is intended to show an image of the world that can only be created when one does not pursue any subject, or make any value judgement or follow any objective. When one lets one’s self be carried along by nothing more than one’s own curiosity and intuition.” — Director Michael Glawogger passed away in 2014 during shooting for a movie. His editor Monika Willi has realized a fascinating film with material that was shot during a journey of four months and 19 days through the Balkan states, Italy, and Northwest and Western Africa — a journey undertaken in order to observe, to listen and to experience, with attentive eyes, bold and raw.
