Long considered one of the more noteworthy events on the global filmmaking calendar, the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) returns for the 75th edition, taking place Thursday, Feb. 13 through Sunday, Feb. 23 in venues throughout Berlin. Among the expansive lineup of some 200 films across genres and formats are world premieres by School of Film/Video faculty Lee Anne Schmitt and James Benning and alum Mooyoung Kim (Film/Video BFA 11, MFA 13), whose documentaries will each be screened in the Forum Special program.
Evidence (Lee Anne Schmitt)
From the Berlinale website:
Poisoned water, damaged earth, and elevated cancer rates: environmental clean-up sites are one of the legacies left behind by the American chemical and munitions manufacturer “Olin Corporation.” Its other legacy was the John M. Olin Foundation, which donated millions to pushing a conservative agenda from the 1970s to the early 2000s. As a by-product or direct effort, the Olin Corporation and other conservative think tanks have had a deep and unsettling impact on American politics, family values, and women’s health. Working again the field of the 16mm New Left essay film, Lee Anne Schmitt connects an array of topics, books, and objects to reflect on the rise of the new conservative movement and the effects of dark money on American politics and culture. In easily her most personal film to date – as her father worked for Olin – she considers these values and their implications after becoming a mother. In the face of appalling attacks on women’s biological rights and the current dominance of the Republican party, Evidence is a sobering primer on the state of America today.
The film will have the following screenings throughout the festival (note that times are in Central European Time):
- Sunday, Feb. 16 | 1 pm
Venue: Arsenal 1 - Tuesday, Feb. 18 | 10 pm
Venue: Zoo Palast 2 - Thursday, Feb. 20 | 6 pm
Venue: Delphi Filmpalast
little boy (James Benning)
“A film looking at the past to warn about the future, from a little boy’s point of view. A companion to American Dreams (lost and found) (1984)” – James Benning
Screening dates and venues:
- Saturday, Feb. 15 | 3 pm
Venue: Delphi Filmpalast - Sunday, Feb. 16 | 9:45 pm
Venue: Zoo Palast 2 - Thursday, Feb. 20 | 10 pm
Venue: Arsenal 1 - Saturday, Feb. 22 | 8:30 pm
Venue: Cinema Betonhalle@Silent Green
The Sense of Violence (Mooyoung Kim)
About the film from the Berlinale:
Kim Mooyoung analyses the visual material in his found footage film with almost scientific precision (newsreel images, architectural images, film images; images of the enemy, images of women, images of the family), exposing traces of memory of the war of images that began during the Korean War and took on new forms under President Park Chung-hee in the 1960s and 70s. Via images and narratives, state-supporting anti-communist ideologies were built from the ground up. In its artistic portrayal, the censors asked for the real violence to be adorned with feelings of sadness and moral superiority, or to disappear completely. Rigorously edited, The Sense of Violence traces propaganda-fuelled hatred and its camouflaging in the archives to write an alternative film history. An off-screen female narrator comments and reflects on the patterns in which violence has been preserved – in which it is hidden. And at some point, not only do insights become tangible, the pain that propaganda has engraved in the hearts and minds of generations does too. A rich and fabulously argued film that searches for memories that ideology has not reproduced.
Screening dates and venues:
- Monday, Feb. 17 | 5:45 pm
Venue: Cinema Betonhalle@Silent Green - Wednesday, Feb. 19 | 10 pm
Venue: Arsenal 1 - Saturday, Feb. 22 | 11 am
Venue: Delphi Filmpalast
Find the complete program for the festival at the Berlinale website.
Coinciding with Benning’s Berlinale screenings is a gallery opening at the Neugerriemschneider Gallery in Berlin for a two-person show with Vietnamese artist and longtime friend Danh Vo titled jb & dv. The exhibition, which runs from Saturday, Feb. 15 to Saturday, March 15, is billed as a physical manifestation of the artists’ “mutual exploration of histories through details and relics.” The opening reception takes place on Friday, Feb. 14 from 6-9 pm.
