Deutschland Blog

Golden Bear for Semih Kaplanoglu

After ten days of original films, special events and high society, the sixtieth film festival Berlinale came to a closing this weekend.

Saturday evening’s award-ceremony highlighted the best films in the Berlinale-competition with an Oscar-like distribution of “Golden and Silver Bears“. The international judging panel, with eminent names like Renée Zellweger and others, awarded the Turkish-German production “Bal“ (“Honey“), by Semih Kaplanoglu, with the Golden Bear for Best Film. “Bal“ is the final part of a trilogy and tells the story of an enchanting relationship between a father and his young son through the eyes of the six-year old boy. The director chose to employ the rich sounds of nature rather than bland music in his film, which gave the film a very personal touch and a “real feel“.

“Hau den Ball ins Tor hinein!” – Bundesliga blog for the 23rd day of play

“Haach de Klicker in’s Goal enei!” – der Fußball-Bundesliga-Blog: 23. Spieltag

“Haach de Klicker in’s Goal enei!”, hat mein Trainer immer zu mir gesagt. So einfach ist Fußball. “Hau den Ball ins Tor hinein!” Oder hat Ihrer statt dessen gesagt: “Heute müssen wir Gras fressen, sonst steigen wir ab.“? Wahrscheinlich schon, denn fast jeder Fußballer hört in seiner Karriere irgendwann mal diesen Satz des unbedingten „Gewinnenmüssens“. Es sei denn vielleicht, er kickt bei einem Team, das immer Meister wird. Aber das tun die wenigsten in all ihren Fußballerjahren. Und so ist die Abstiegsgefahr, die Abstiegsangst, der Abstiegskrimi ein permanenter, spannender Begleiter im Fußball und besonders in der Bundesliga, der Fans genauso fasziniert wie der Meisterschaftskampf.

The Berlinale is slowly coming to an end, and when I look back at the last couple of days, they were filled with exciting, fun and thought-provoking experiences. From running late to a press conference, but ending at a screening of a documentary; from missing Leonardo DiCaprio, but watching a short film in a miniature-cinema; and from being stunned by future film-talents soon coming our way through the Berlinale Talent Campus, I can truly say that the Berlinale was a great success. Then I got to thinking, if I had such wonderful experiences during the Berlinale, what must the experiences of the other five thousand visitors be like?

The Berlinale Talent Campus is an initiative for talented future filmmakers and was first established in 2002 by Berlinale-director Dieter Kosslick. His goal for the Talent Campus was to assist up-and-coming filmmakers in the film industry. Every year for five days during the Berlinale, the Talent Campus gives 350 participants from all five continents the chance to take part in workshops and discussions as well as to learn from professional film directors.

Just put it in the net!” – the Bundesliga Blog: 22 match of the season

“Just put it in the net!” my trainer always said to me. It’s that simple in football. “Just thump the ball into goal!” Or did your’s instead tell you: “Don’t drink too much the night before the match.”? That is probably one of the most common suggestions in football. At least in the lower-order amateur leagues in the 18-plus category. And without doubt that coach’s instruction was to be heard all over Germany last weekend, if it had not been carnival night and the federations had sensibly opted to ordain there would be no play on Sunday.

The Berlinale-weekend anounced some promising events. Friday night opened with the outdoor screening of long-lost “Metropolis“. Saturday began with the take-off of the eighth Berlinale Talent Campus, followed by the world-premiere of “Shutter Island“, and ending with an afterparty at the hottest club in town.

Berlin was a frozen winter wonderland on friday night, but I had an open-air screening of “Metropolis“ at the Brandenburg Gate on my schedule. I wasn’t expecting to be part of a large audience, but to my surprise hundreds of film-fans joined me. Some clever ones brought folding chairs from home, others got comfortable on the snowy ground with tea or booze to keep them warm.