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Berlinale 2015: Day Ten

by Maximilien Luc Proctor on February 15, 2015
Berlinale 2015

Tonight marked the closing ceremonies of the Berlinale 2015. Despite the existence of tomorrow’s repeat screenings, this was effectively the end of the festival. At this point, I had seen all the competition titles I could and the ones I still wanted to see were no longer screening (except for an already sold-out repeat of El Club). So, I decided to take it easy and make my valentine’s day a German documentary day. I saw Sprache: Sex (translated as the bizarrely punctuated Sex:Talk) and Wim Wender’s 2011 3D documentary, Pina.

Sprache: Sex consisted entirely of interviews shot in Berlin about sex, relationships, etc. as well as five or six shots of everyday people going about their normal lives. What was interesting about these shots was the way the interview material that preceded them re-contextualized seemingly normal activities into sex or attention-seeking ones. After listening to so many people talk so openly about their relationships and experiences for about five minutes, it already felt far less taboo, and in a Q&A session following the screening, directors Saskia Walker & Ralf Hechelmann (who are also partners) mentioned this had been exactly their intention. The film’s star interviewee – a teenage boy who spoke about the difficulty of meeting girls when they are always at home, shopping, or preoccupied with their phones – turned out to be Saskia’s son. Short, funny, engaging and human, Sprache:Sex is a small film with a big heart.

Between screenings I went to the press box office to pick up tickets for the final day of screenings, only to find a sad and empty area with a sign directing me elsewhere. No more crazy people in a hurry, no more fervor or electricity. The war had ended and the outposts, abandoned. I walked half a block, crossed the street, and took an elevator up five floors. Suddenly I was in an office space that seemed to be in charge of running the entire festival. Ten days and I was only now realizing the scope of this secret-filled sky-labyrinth of power and mystery. I’m going to have to do a whole lot more exploring next year.

Berlinale 2015

Pina

Then I went to see Wim Wenders’ most recent film before this year’s Every Thing Will Be Fine, the 2011 3D German documentary Pina, about the late dance choreographer, Pina Bausch. I had never seen it before, and I thought to myself, “When will you ever get the chance to see this film in a theater, in 3D again, Max?” And I thought, “probably not for years if ever, Max,” so I went for it. It proved an excellent, relaxing, and inspiring choice. The 3D in Pina was great, highlighting the depth of deep focus compositions and the dancers’ spatial relationships to physical objects, and seeing it just days after Every Thing Will Be Fine in 3D, it really had me appreciating the immense improvement in 3D technology in the latter. A documentary that acts more like a multimedia performance piece, Pina is a wonderful film capturing the beauty, energy, and artistry of dance.

As I left Potsdamer Platz, I saw the crowd and a few stars headed for the red carpet. What a bonanza. A bonanza I’ll miss.

Return to Our Berlinale 2015 Daily Coverage
(All Features), Event Coverage, Features, The 65th Berlin International Film Festival
65th BerlinaleBerlinaleBerlinale 2015Film FestivalsPinaSprache: Sex
65th Berlinale, Berlinale, Berlinale 2015, Film Festivals, Pina, Sprache: Sex
About the Author
Maximilien Luc Proctor
Maximilien Luc Proctor
Maximilien Luc Proctor graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Film and Media Studies at the University of Oklahoma. In his spare time he plays guitar and sings in a band, as well as watching and making films however and whenever possible – as a one-man-production-team making avant-garde shorts or as a director of a small-scale independent feature productions. He likes what he sees in cinema and wants to celebrate the good stuff whenever possible.
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Berlinale 2015: Best of the Fest!

by Maximilien Luc Proctor on February 14, 2015
Berlinale 2015 had an incredible amount of screenings to offer. As such, I wasn’t able to begin to see everything, or even everything I’d hoped to see, but I was very lucky to get to see as much as I did. Three of the big winning films were ones I didn’t manage to see (45 […]
 
Berlinale 2015

Berlinale 2015: Day Nine

by Maximilien Luc Proctor on February 14, 2015
It took me nine days – now the penultimate day for press screenings and the third from last of the festival – to find out the Berlinale Palast (where the majority of the screenings I attended were held) has not one, but two (!) balconies. I went all the way to the top to take […]
 
Berlinale 2015

Berlinale 2015: Day Eight

by Maximilien Luc Proctor on February 12, 2015
We are nearing the end of the Berlinale 2015. You can sense it all starting to wind-down and wrap-up. It’s the end of the shoot. It’s been strange, being a part of this enormous, dysfunctional family of critics. Most of all though, it’s just been very inspiring and encouraging to witness so much concentrated love […]
 
Berlinale 2015

Berlinale 2015: Day Seven

by Maximilien Luc Proctor on February 12, 2015
I never thought I would see the day that I would be treated to a Peter Greenaway film in a theater – much less get pushed by a bunch of old people racing to a packed screening of his latest release – but today was that day. The film was Eisenstein in Guanajuato and it […]
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