Berlin: Inaugural Encounters Competition To Bow New Films From ‘Donnybrook’s Tim Sutton & ‘Sieranevada’s Cristi Puiu

Tom Grater

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The 70th Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 20 – March 1) unveiled its Encounters program today, featuring the premieres of new works by Tim Sutton (Donnybrook, Dark Night) and Romanian director Cristi Puiu (Sieranevada, Aurora).

Also screening is Josephine Decker’s Shirley with Elisabeth Moss and Michael Stuhlbarg, marking the film’s international premiere after its upcoming Sundance bow, and Gunda by Victor Kossakovsky, whose last pic was the 2018 Venice doc Aquarela.

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Encounters is a newly-created competitive section at the Berlin festival that looks to highlight “new voices in cinema and to give more room to diverse narrative and documentary forms.” A three-member jury will choose the winners for Best Film, Best Director and a Special Jury Award.

“As a result of passionate research, the 15 titles chosen for Encounters present the vitality of cinema in all of its forms. Each film presents a different way of interpreting the cinematic story: autobiographical, intimate, political, social, philosophical, epic, surreal. The films take the challenge of shaping a world rather than reproducing it,” said Carlo Chatrian, Berlin’s new Artistic Director.

Puiu’s film, Malmkrog, described as “a journey through time and thought”, will open the strand.

Here’s the full Encounters program:

Funny Face (USA)
by Tim Sutton
With Cosmo Jarvis, Dela Meskienyar, Jonny Lee Miller, Victor Garber, Jeremy Bobb, Rhea Pearlman, Dan Hedaya
World premiere

Gunda (Norway / USA)
by Victor Kossakovsky
World premiere / Documentary form

Isabella (Argentina)
by Matías Piñeiro
with María Villar, Agustina Muñoz, Pablo Sigal, Gabi Saidón
World premiere

The Shepherdess And The Seven Songs(Laila aur satt geet) ( India )
by Pushpendra Singh
with Navjot Randhawa, Sadakkit Bijran, Shahnawaz Bhatt, Ranjit Khajuria, Mohammed Yaseen
World premiere

Los Conductos (France / Colombia / Brazil )
by Camilo Restrepo
with Luis Felipe Lozano, Fernando Úsaga Higuíta
World premiere / Debut film

The Last City (Die letzte Stadt) ( Germany)
by Heinz Emigholz
with John Erdman, Jonathan Perel, Young Sun Han, Dorothy Ko, Susanne Sachsse, Laurean Wagner
World premiere

Malmkrog (Romania / Serbia / Switzerland / Sweden / Bosnia / Macedonia )
by Cristi Puiu
with Frédéric Schulz-Richard, Agathe Bosch, Diana Sakalauskaité, Marina Palii, Ugo Broussot, István Téglás
World premiere

The Metamorphosis Of Birds (A metamorfose dos pássaros) (Portugal )
by Catarina Vasconcelos
World premiere / Documentary form / Debut film

Naked Animals (Nackte Tiere) (Germany)
by Melanie Waelde
with Marie Tragousti, Sammy Scheuritzel, Michelangelo Fortuzzi, Luna Schaller, Paul Michael Stiehler World premiere / Debut film

Orphea ( Germany )
by Alexander Kluge, Khavn
with Lilith Stangenberg, Ian Madrigal
World premiere

Shirley ( USA)
by Josephine Decker
with Elisabeth Moss, Michael Stuhlbarg, Odessa Young, Logan Lerman
International premiere

Servants (Služobníci) (Slovakia / Romania / Czech Republic / Ireland )
by Ivan Ostrochovský
with Samuel Skyva, Samuel Polakovič, Vlad Ivanov, Vladimír Strnisko
World premiere

The Trouble with Being Born ( Austria / Germany )
by Sandra Wollner
with Lena Watson, Ingrid Burkhard, Dominik Warta, Jana McKinnon
World premiere

The Works And Days (Of Tayoko Shiojiri In The Shiotani Basin) (USA / Sweden / Japan / Hong Kong, China / United Kingdom)
by C.W. Winter, Anders Edström
with Tayoko Shiojiri, Hiroharu Shikata, Ryo Kase, Mai Edström
World premiere

Kill It And Leave This Town (Zabij to i wyjedz z tego miasta) ( Poland)
by Mariusz Wilczyński
with the voices of Krystyna Janda, Andrzej Chyra, Maja Ostaszewska, Małgorzata Kożuchowska
World premiere / Animation / Debut film

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