Running through the cinema listings, horror film festivals and specials which are taking place in Berlin the next couple of months, I feel a little drunk and dizzy by the sheer abundance of films I want to see, events I want to attend... Too much, almost. Let's take a look!
In the new year Yorck Kino continues bringing to you horror weekly with its Creepy Crypt showings. The two remaining showings in January are both movies I want to see, Carpenter's The Thing (Jan. 13), because I've never seen this favorite of mine on the big screen (between us, this looks like a hit, there are already 3 separate showings planned for that night) and on Jan. 20 Slotherhouse which I have missed in the late summer because of my sick time in Bucharest. Showings are always at 10.30 pm at the Rollberg Kino, Neukölln.
But it's not only in Neukölln that Yorck is showcasing horror, next Wednesday January 17 at 8:30 pm, I'll be able to see on the big screen another classic and favorite of mine, An American Werewolf in London in Odeon in Schöneberg. Can you even imagine watching the iconic transformation scene on the big screen, Blue Moon playing calmly in the background? I'm very excited for this, I think it has the potential to be grandiose.
Final Girls Berlin Film Festival 2024
Of course, my favorite Final Girls in Berlin are back like every February and what they prepared for us truly knocked me off my socks... 11 shorty blocks, 11 feature films, 4 talk events and 3 workshops including a collage, a production design and a vampire killer workshop! I want to attend so many of these and watch most movies, but it looks like due to the amplitude of events there are some that take place at the same time, and I will have to make choices. Also some movies go really late, and I still need to wake up in the morning reasonably early, so I am actually planing a hybrid model this year - I will go join the talks and see the feature films and those shorts which are shown on daytime in person at the City Kino Wedding, and I'll just order the late ones and the ones that are shown simultaneously online and watch them comfortably at home. This looks sooooo good, I don't even have words for it. I marked the showings I'm interested in with a black heart, let's see how many I can actually make!
🖤Feb 7, 6pm - Shorts 1 - Workplace Horror
Feb 7, 8pm - Feature 1 - Booger
🖤Feb 7, 10pm - Shorts 2 - Tech Horror
Not even a week after the FGBFF (Or, is it even within the same week?), the most important Berlin cinematic event starts - Berlinale.
I have a love-hate relationship with Berlinale, mainly because I'd love to be able to get more tickets for movies I want to see, but the tickets are usually sold out quickly and if you don't hurry, you can easily miss some good movies.
In the past I usually proceeded like this:
1. make a list of the movies that interest me,
2. make a flexible weekly plan with all showings I can make,
3. on the Monday before the festival begins, go to one of the selling points (usually Kino International) early in the morning, stand in line and try to buy tickets for as many movies as I want to see. You used to be able to buy tickets for all the movies shown in Friedrichstadt Palast (and not only three days in advance) so I bought them in advance, even though the seats are very uncomfortable there - but the atmosphere is glamorous!
4. just show up in the mornings at the movie theaters where a showing will take place in the evening and try to see if I spontaneously can get some tickets.
5. ask computer-savvy friends if they can buy tickets online.
Last year my worst fears came true and they switched to online sale only... Luckily I had my plan ready and went directly to the movies that were important to me, it pays to be a well organized Virgo during these times. Even though I spent many mornings clicking on the refresh button for sold out showings I could watch the majority of the films I wanted to see, but missed a lot too.
As you see, buying a mere Berlinale ticket involves a lot of work, blood, sweat and tears. It can be stressful, but the joy is all the bigger when things go your way. Of course, in order to be able to concentrate on the Berlinale, I usually take a leave from work for those two weeks in February.
Right now, the program is still incomplete, but in a first step I started picking out the movies that interest me all the same. Here are the titles so far; Banale Tage, Denk bloß nicht, ich heule, Das deutsche Kettensägermassaker, Faruk, Brief History of a Family, Kısmet, Kısmet and Tobby. I will probably be able to see maximum maybe two of these, haha.
And among all this giddying craziness which awaits me, there's always the regular cinema showings. It has happened in the past that frustrated after not finding a ticket for a movie I wanted to see at the Berlinale, I just went to a regular showing. These films are being shown either right now or will be released in the upcoming months and I'm excited for them; The Ghost Station, Handling the Undead, The Portrait, Return to Silent Hill, Baghead, The Crow, and Monolith.
From the planing to preparations, to the joy of anticipation and actually seeing the movies - it looks like the coming weeks and months will be anything but boring, I can't wait!
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