Siegessaeule BlogSchwul-lesbischer Blog für Berlin und Deutschland

Friday night on February 18 was unforgettable. This year I didn’t go to a lot of Berlinale parties (perhaps because there weren’t so many. Good old last year!..) so I was looking forward to the Teddy Award very much. The ceremony was beautiful but a little bit too long (2.5 hrs non-stop!). People who have not seen all the movies and have not known people on stage got tired. Still loud applause was awarded to the gigs of Evita Bezuidenhout and Ennio. There were also some awkward slips of tongue by Annette Gerlach when she announced Tomboy to be the Berlinale’s opening film (not of Panorama) or when she mixed pronouns “he” and “she” while introducing Romy Haag. Not exciting either was a political appeal by Rosa von Praunheim: willing to blame homophobia in Uganda he commanded the audience to stand up and say three times “Shame!” for “things that happen in Afrika”. Given the presence of South African ambassador among the guests who gave a rather gay-supportive speech this generalization was not politically correct. Nor was it gender correct: Rosa talked mostly about gay men, mentioned lesbians once and didn’t say a word about transgender people.

But the most important part was the winners.

I am really happy with the Else-winner movie Harvest and the best documentary The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye. Both are beautiful love stories, touching and sincere.

Here handsome director of the “Harvest” Benjamin Cantu with Else and the jury.

And here amazing Marie Losier, director of “The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye”.

I was so impressed by this movie that I went to the concert of Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and Tony Conrad yesterday night. This was an incredible experience. The music was overwhelming. I felt like I have reached other galaxy and stayed there for a long time even after the concert ended.

I was also pleased that Tomboy got The Special Jury Award. Unfortunately Celine Sciamma got sick this day and couldn’t get to the stage (imagine how she would feel!..).

Unfortunately I haven’t seen Teddy’s Best Feature Film Ausente, so I can’t give you my opinion. It was  completely sold out for the next day, no wonder. I was very glad that The Mountain was nominated although it did not succeed. After watching around thirty movies I can say that this has been my favorite feature film this year. This may not be a movie for everyone. Like for somebody who asked “Why couldn’t these women just talk to each other?”. If people do not understand the conflict of the film how can they like it? I dare to say there were two sorts of people at Berlinale: some were sleeping/snoring during this film, the others were crying at the end. I belong to the second group.

Then there was a party…which I loved a lot! The former Berlin airport Tempelhof  was really an outstanding location. Plus there were many nice people around and a very good music. We stayed until 5 am. I regret that Michael wasn’t there so we didn’t meet for real, only in a virtual space. Maybe next year?

Here a party picture of the cute actor of “Harvest” Kai-Michael Müller and myself.

I am coming to an end now. I’ve just come home from my last Berlinale film “Les femmes du 6ème étage” and I feel good, not even tired. Tomorrow I will leave for Sao Paulo where I’ll be wearing sun glasses and it will all be so fucking different!

Thank you all for reading this. It was a pleasure for me to report on Berlinale gigs and kicks for you.

Looking forward to the next Berlinale and see you all there.

Yours sincerely

Inga

AUSENTE (ABSENT) winning the Best Feature Teddy Award was a pleasant surprise. I really liked it and I could see why the Jury would reward such work. The other two nominees were TOMBOY and FJELLET (THE MOUNTAIN). TOMBOY was a great choice but the other one was just blah.

THE BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JANE won the Best Documentary Teddy Award. It’s an okay choice. But something that would probably end up not being seen by many people. It’s just for a niche market. You probably won’t even remember who won, this time next year. The other two nominees were HOW ARE YOU and THE QUEEN HAS NO CROWN. Is the Jury really serious? Both those films don’t even come close to the awesomeness of WE WERE HERE which should have at least been nominated. Big boo!

The Best Short Teddy Award went to two Barbara Hammer films. My beef with this decision is those two films were not even included in the Queer Shorts packet that was shown to the Jury and the accredited guests. So this decision came as a total shock! Teddy just gives Hammer too much love. It’s time to just give her a lifetime achievement award already and be banned from the Teddy. LOL. I can’t even lambaste the films since I didn’t even see them. And again, not many will. And I don’t understand the fascination with THE SHOWER. The Teddy folks should rethink this award. If there are not enough GLBT short films, then they should just get rid of the category. And not user Hammer’s films as the compromise winners. Yawn!

The Special Teddy Jury Award went to TOMBOY. Was that a consolation price.?

Big congratulations to the Siegesseaule Readers’ Jury Award for choosing STADT LAND FLUSS (HARVEST). It’s the perfect award for it.

Okay that’s it for me! Chus!

Michael

For my final Berlinale 2011 film, I went to see RUNDSKOP (BULL HEAD) from Belgium – a thriller set against the backdrop of animal hormone mafia and beef farming in a Flemish province. The main story line is apparently inspired by a true crime from the 90s. The bull head in the title is pumped up Jacky Vanmarsenille, a young farmer who looks and acts more like a thug in a SOPRANO episode than someone who herds and raises animals for a living. But what starts out as an exciting crime/mafia thriller soon becomes far deeper and more involving film for me as soon as we learn more about the tragic past of Jacky (be warned about a violent scene involving kids – I dare you not to flinch or look away). Jacky looks like a gentle giant, a sympathetic brute – someone you might be afraid  of but would want to cuddle anyway, just so he knows that everything is going to be alright. Kudos to actor Matthias Schoenaerts for portraying such a complex character so well. By the film’s final scene, I was in tears.

I LOVED the film and I highly recommend it. Now, for the biggest question: Is it gay enough? I always get asked that question when a film’s focus isn’t on the gay character or the gay relationship or the gay topic. I think of it this way – will the film be any different if the gay aspect is taken away? If not, then you have the answer. Unfortunately for BULL HEAD, while the gay character is a good part of the story, his sexuality is a non-issue in the film. So I’d say it will not be an easy choice for a LGBT Film Festival to include BULL HEAD in their lineup. But sometimes, we can make exceptions. Especially for really good films. Right? Haha. I’m still so glad I changed my film schedule at the last minute to see this film.

Watch the trailer here:

Well, readers, it has been fun. This is my final review from Berlinale 2011. It’s been hard work but it certainly has been fun. I hope you enjoyed reading the blog posts these past few days as much as I enjoyed sharing them. And maybe we can do this again next year. I’m already in London as I finish this review. So I am missing the big Teddy Gala tonight. It’s good to know that my co-blogger Inga is there to give us all the juicy details.

I hope to do a final post for a commentary on the Teddy Jury’s choice of winners.

Till then.

Michael G

LIPSTIKKA (ODEM), a UK and Israeli co-production, is really one those films that you can’t write about if you walked out halfway into it. I say this because I chose to go to the Press screening on Thursday afternoon (instead of the premiere) and, as usual, some journalists walked out during the movie. So I’m hoping none of those people would write about the film after only seeing parts of it because it becomes a totally different movie in the second half.

Lara is introduced to the audience as somewhat of a bored middle class housewife who is trapped in an unhappy marriage. But since the film has a big “L” designation in the Teddy Queer List, there has got to be another girl who she is pining for, right? Her real love? So soon enough, Inam shows up at Lara’s front door. One can feel that there is some sexual tension there right away. But one can also feel that something isn’t right. Is she a lover? A bitter jilted former flame? Or just someone from her past? Through flashbacks, we do find out that these women share some history together as far back as when they were teens in Israel. And the more we learn about what this relationship is about, the more the film gets interesting (at least, for me). I thought both actresses are beautiful and worked well together (along with the two actresses who play their younger versions). But what I love the most about the film is it kept me guessing where this story would go – after a slow start. This is probably my favorite lesbian selection in this year’s Teddy. But I can’t even think of another lesbian title that I liked so I’m not sure that says much, LOL. (Note: I do not consider TOMBOY as a lesbian flick.)

However, this is from a gay man’s point of view … that I was happy with the film. I’m pretty sure my female colleagues will point out things that they were disappointed about. And it’s not that I’m insensitive to those things but I guess I’m looking at it differently. However, I do want to warn you about a couple of things: blood and a really painful scene involving a wire hanger. You’ll see it coming so can just look away if you must.

The human mind is a very complex thing. Sometimes we chose to remember the way things differently because it’s just easier that way.

Michael G

Hurrah! Tonight is the Teddy Award:

Party-party-party mood!!! I am so excited!

Inga

Uhm, I was definitely interested when I was watching the film. But Thursday afternoon, with the festival coming to a close, I was getting pretty tired of watching films and a documentary about a German artist and his works that I really did not know much about was not about to make me jump with joy and excitement. I appreciated the interviews with Werner Schroeter and seeing him in action. But I did not have a problem getting up from my seat after an hour before the film finished so I can catch the press screening for LIPSTIKKA. Oh and that was one surprising film! My review of that film follows next.

Anyway, MONDO LUX will probably be of most interest to German-speaking moviegoers and to the fans of the avant-garde filmmaker/artist. Not something most people will go line up and see.

Michael