Berlinale 2023 Red Carpet Dresses

byDerya •20 February

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The Berlinale lives up to its reputation of being the most political of all film festivals this year. With many canvas works that address Putin's attack on Ukraine. Sean Penn's documentary "Superpower" is likely to arouse the most interest.

"The Berlinale takes place exactly one year after the outbreak of war," says festival director Carlo Chatrian. Showing the legal film by the controversial Hollywood icon here makes a lot of sense because of Berlin's geographical location: "Because many people from Ukraine live here and because the political orientation of the documentary corresponds to our festival."

The Berlinale also signals its proximity to Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his country, which has come under fire, with its pin: this year it does not shine in gold as usual, but in the national colors of Ukraine: blue and yellow.

Becker and Spielberg – in a class of their own

In the international competition, 18 films will compete for the Golden and Silver Bears. The most important section of the Berlinale is making full use of the variety of forms this year: in addition to the usual dramas and historical films, Carlo Chatrian also has comedies (like Matt Johnson's "BlackBerry"), documentaries (like Nicholas Philibert's "Sur l'Adamant") and animes (like Makoto Shinkai's «Suzume») selected.

The field of invited creatives is somewhat less diverse: almost half of the people who are eligible for the main prize are going bear hunting again. Only three debuts can be seen on the biggest stage. In addition, only a third of the competition films were directed by women. For this, audience favorite Steven Spielberg receives an Honorary Golden Bear for his life's work, which is still growing.

In terms of public interest, Germany's scandal-ridden tennis icon Boris Becker is also in a league of its own. The six-time Grand Slam champion, who was arrested for property crimes in 2022, is known to have only recently been released. It will be interesting to see whether Alex Gibney's documentary «Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker »becomes as gaudy and controversial as the title promises.

Swiss accents everywhere

And how is Switzerland doing? Traces of Swiss filmmaking can be discerned in no fewer than ten world premieres. These are often European co-productions.

In the international competition, two titles fit into this category: Margarethe von Trotta's biopic "Ingeborg Bachmann - Reise in die Wüste" and Philippe Garrel's "Le grand chariot". So fingers crossed for these two films: the former was co-produced by Tellfilm and SRF, the latter by Geneva-based Close-Up Films founder Joëlle Bertossa and RTS.

Swiss producers were also often involved in the most important supporting series: for example Anne Walser (C-Films) on Frauke Finsterwalder's "Sisi & Ich" (also co-produced by SRF) with Stefan Kurt and Sophie Hutter in supporting roles. Or Elena Tatti (Box Productions), who is represented with two films by the Franco-Iranian director Mehran Tamadon: "Mon pire ennemi" and "Là où Dieu n'est pas".