69th Berlinale - Berlin International Film Festival

Jury Statements
“Synonyms”. Startling original, shaking the boundaries of narrations, through a complex character, the movie entangles different culturals and identities. It’s a powerful piece of work with a sharp sense of humour and a subtle political message.
“Dafne”. For the touching and deeply human portrait of a courageous daughter and her loving father trying to overcome grief and for the unforgettable performances by Carolina Raspanti and Antonio Piovanelli.
 “Die Kinder der Toten”. The actors are amateurs, as well as the directing, the make up looks cheap, the director’s didn’t even read the novel they were adapting. Everything could have gone wrong with this film, but it did not fail. Instead it brings life to a novel almost impossible to transpose by doing a silent film about the rise of the living dead, which is not only the rise of the repressed past, but also a rise of cinema, using the nearly dead format – super 8, reminiscent of home movies. The result is hilarious, edgy, at times confusing, funny and something not everyone will agree on. But this is cinema: We need to disagree!

Websites: www.berlinale.de (Competition, Panorama) and www.arsenal-berlin.de/en/forum (Forum).
Young critics at work: Talent Press 2019

Photos, thanks to
Guy Ferrandis / SBS Films (Synonymes)
Greta De Lazzaris / Vivo film (Dafne)
Nature Theater of Oklahoma (Die Kinder der Toten)

Reports will follow.