Hamburg horror and chaos at the Berlinale

If you want to have a chance of winning the Golden or Silver Bear at the Berlinale, you have to make it into the "Competition" section. This is where the coveted trophies are awarded each year to the two best films at the festival. This year, 23 films from all over the world are competing for the awards, 20 of which are celebrating their world premiere in the capital. The North is even represented with two films in the competition this year.

Creepy world premiere

Hamburg's cult director Fatih Akin is back in competition 15 years after winning the Golden Bear with "Against the Wall" - but this time with a horror film. "The Golden Glove" is about the true story of the murderer of women Fritz Honka, who killed four women in the 1970s, sawed them up and left them to rot in the back of his Ottenser flat. So it's no light fare, but anyone familiar with Heinz Strunk's novel will know what they're in for with Akin's new film. The leading role is played by shooting star Jonas Dassler, who was last seen in the cinema films "The Silent Classroom" and "Work without a Script Writer". However, the 23-year-old is unrecognisable in his role - the make-up has done a great job here. Squinting and with a deformed face, Dassler mumbles his way through the magnificent 70s scenery, which Fatih Akin and his team have brought to life in the studio and at original locations. The film was of course shot entirely in Hamburg, with Uwe Rhode, Tristan Göbel (known from "Tschick") and Hark Bohm also appearing in other roles. By the way: If you weren't able to get a ticket for the premiere at the Berlinale, you won't have to wait long - the film will be released in German cinemas on 21 February.

The next generation on the big screen

Directors Nora Fingscheidt's new film "Systemsprenger", which is also celebrating its world premiere in the competition, is not horror, but is likely to be just as disturbing. At the centre of the story is nine-year-old Benni (Helena Zengel), who drives her fellow human beings to despair and is kicked out of each of her foster families after a short time. The drama is set in the environment of youth welfare offices, homes and foster families and is a project full of up-and-coming talent from Hamburg: from Directors and Script Writer Nora Fingscheidt to the young production companies Weydemann Bros. and Oma Inge Film. Fingscheidt has already received several awards for her script, including the Emder Drehbuchpreis. With over 35 days of shooting, the majority of the filming took place in Hamburg in early 2018.

Panorama and forum

But of course the Berlinale is not just about the competition: for the 40th time, the film festival is showing films in the "Panorama" section that are intended to stir and shake up audiences and challenge their viewing habits. Directors Edward Berger has made it into this category with his new film "All My Loving". What is it about? It's about three siblings (played by Lars Eidinger, Hans Löw and Nele-Mueller-Stöfen) who have all reached a crossroads in their lives and want to change something quickly before the second half of their lives begins. Edward Berger, who also directed the mini-series "Patrick Melrose" with Benedict Cumberbatch, among others, shot the film just outside Hamburg in Wedel.

In his documentary "Olanda", Hamburg-based Directors Bernd Schoch places a group of mushroom pickers in the southern Carpathian Mountains of Romania at the centre of the action. The filmmaker followed the collectors for several weeks in their makeshift tent camps, whose valuable produce is sold abroad for many times the price - a juxtaposition of microcosm and international economic structures. The Documentary "Beauty and Transience" by Directors Annekatrin Hendel, funded by Filmwerkstatt Kiel, accompanies the Berlin icon Sven Marquardt and two of his companions from the East Berlin punk era, whose careers are characterised by their artistic view of the world.